is it gonna bite me!!
Discussion
Hi all, loving my chim! Had it for a few months now and getting more and more confident with it. When I first drove it, it scared the living day lights out of me!
Personally I am finding the vehicle very predictable e.g. cornering, if I give it a bit of throttle the back end drifts out and as soon as lift my foot the back end snaps back in.
Went for a sauna the other night and was delighted to find the - large - car park empty, couldn’t resist it. Took the opportunity to explore some of the cars handling characteristics and really enjoyed myself, even if I did shorten the life expectancy of my tyres by half. However I do not want to become too cocky! How can the car take you by surprise? Catch you out? What should i be especially carefull of?
I am begging to think that all cars should be made like Chims, driving around in a car with a 4.3 V8 engine, with no traction control, no power steering all encased in a fibre glass body! Really makes you pay attention to the process of driving!!
j x
Personally I am finding the vehicle very predictable e.g. cornering, if I give it a bit of throttle the back end drifts out and as soon as lift my foot the back end snaps back in.
Went for a sauna the other night and was delighted to find the - large - car park empty, couldn’t resist it. Took the opportunity to explore some of the cars handling characteristics and really enjoyed myself, even if I did shorten the life expectancy of my tyres by half. However I do not want to become too cocky! How can the car take you by surprise? Catch you out? What should i be especially carefull of?
I am begging to think that all cars should be made like Chims, driving around in a car with a 4.3 V8 engine, with no traction control, no power steering all encased in a fibre glass body! Really makes you pay attention to the process of driving!!
j x
Squebo
Keep a steady throttle through corners, and watch out when bringing the cluth up on down-changes: the torque can lock up the back wheels and then everything goes sideways, apparently.
Most of it's about driving smoothly and using common sense, I have found. Doesn't half slide around a lot on greasy winter roads though
.
Keep a steady throttle through corners, and watch out when bringing the cluth up on down-changes: the torque can lock up the back wheels and then everything goes sideways, apparently.
Most of it's about driving smoothly and using common sense, I have found. Doesn't half slide around a lot on greasy winter roads though
.Backing up Cavey's comment, see last month's Sprint article on "Clutch bite oversteer"!
My answer is change down pref whilst still on straight, but also don't change down like a learner; blip the throttle a la double de-clutching of old and match the revs. Get it right and problem completely eliminated. Also sounds fantastic.
No TVR should ever be driven the 'learner' way; changing down using the synchromesh to do the work just sounds so bad - makes me cringe every time (probably just me tho'!)
My answer is change down pref whilst still on straight, but also don't change down like a learner; blip the throttle a la double de-clutching of old and match the revs. Get it right and problem completely eliminated. Also sounds fantastic.
No TVR should ever be driven the 'learner' way; changing down using the synchromesh to do the work just sounds so bad - makes me cringe every time (probably just me tho'!)
Echo the comments that have gone before - all sound advice.
I find the best way to drive the Chim is to assume that it will bite me at every given opportunity. That way when she does go, you should be alert and ready to catch it (that's my theory anyway).
And with a car that sounds as good as a TVR, it would be sacrilege not to give the throttle a good blip on every downshift...
I find the best way to drive the Chim is to assume that it will bite me at every given opportunity. That way when she does go, you should be alert and ready to catch it (that's my theory anyway).
And with a car that sounds as good as a TVR, it would be sacrilege not to give the throttle a good blip on every downshift...
Cavey said:
Squebo
Keep a steady throttle through corners, and watch out when bringing the cluth up on down-changes: the torque can lock up the back wheels and then everything goes sideways, apparently.
I think you'd have to be decelerating at a hell of a rate to lock the back wheels when changing down ... i never had any suspicion this was going to happen when I had mine.
MikeyT said:
Squebo
Keep a steady throttle through corners, and watch out when bringing the cluth up on down-changes: the torque can lock up the back wheels and then everything goes sideways, apparently.
I think you'd have to be decelerating at a hell of a rate to lock the back wheels when changing down ... i never had any suspicion this was going to happen when I had mine.
Or alternatively the road surface is just that bit greasy. That's the problem and often it is why the car suddenly stepped out. "I was doing nothing wrong but it just went. Must be the car." Whizz bang... another insurance statistic.
The key to driving these cars is smoothness and learning the appropriate techniques. That means heel and toe gear changes and adjusting speed to suit the conditions. They do bite but it is usually cos the driver has done something wrong and caused the problem in the first place.
If you drive an average motor as well try heel and toeing in that, once you get used to it you end up driving everything that way, even diesel 4x4s.
This means you can blip the throttle match engine/gearbox speed and brake all at the same time.Don't try it in the Chim until your happy .
This means you can blip the throttle match engine/gearbox speed and brake all at the same time.Don't try it in the Chim until your happy .
It can be done with toes no the brake and heel on the gas.or the other way.If your feet are wide enough you can just rest the inside on the brake and the out edge on the gas and roll around the ball of your foot. It essential that when you brake that the pedal is roughly the same high as the shut throttle.
But as first lesson (heel & toe can be too much in one go) simply pause in middle of change down and blip throttle, then select next gear. You could bring up clutch to do this and you have double de-clutching, or simply blip whilst clutch down, and you have motorbike change
Brake before (and after if needed) and worry about heel&toe once you've mastered the above.
As said before - sounds fantastic and is a must for all posers!!
Brake before (and after if needed) and worry about heel&toe once you've mastered the above.
As said before - sounds fantastic and is a must for all posers!!
Hi there,
Ive had my Chim for about 9 months or so and i gotta say i share your sentiments. She is generally very predictable and i don't know if not having PAS helps but you can really feel whats going on.
However my advice would be to not get complacent. I use my Chim in most weather and whilst driving down an empty country lane the other week on a cold evening i gave it some moderately enthusiastic throttle and she stepped out big time. (no doubt on frost!)
I did catch it but it did remind me that even though Chims are extremely well balanced and possibly one of the best handling roadsters you have to respect that they weigh little over a tonne and have alot of instant torque.
On the heel n Toe point, i tried it in my Automatic BMW and caused a 30 car pile-up! Just kiddin!
Ive had my Chim for about 9 months or so and i gotta say i share your sentiments. She is generally very predictable and i don't know if not having PAS helps but you can really feel whats going on.
However my advice would be to not get complacent. I use my Chim in most weather and whilst driving down an empty country lane the other week on a cold evening i gave it some moderately enthusiastic throttle and she stepped out big time. (no doubt on frost!)
I did catch it but it did remind me that even though Chims are extremely well balanced and possibly one of the best handling roadsters you have to respect that they weigh little over a tonne and have alot of instant torque.
On the heel n Toe point, i tried it in my Automatic BMW and caused a 30 car pile-up! Just kiddin!
I used to drive my Chimaera everyday on A and B roads, 10 miles each way. 
Got to really know the handling characteristics - driving it became second nature. The only time I got caught out was when I jumped between cars (not in a Hollywood stuntman way
). Had a 200sx as a runaround, which had a different power delivery and lock-to-lock turn count, which resulted in me tankslapping in the wet on one occasion! (Thought I was actually going to crash but my head recalibrated by the 3rd tank slap and I straightened it up!!)
So be careful!
Got to really know the handling characteristics - driving it became second nature. The only time I got caught out was when I jumped between cars (not in a Hollywood stuntman way
). Had a 200sx as a runaround, which had a different power delivery and lock-to-lock turn count, which resulted in me tankslapping in the wet on one occasion! (Thought I was actually going to crash but my head recalibrated by the 3rd tank slap and I straightened it up!!) So be careful!
squebo, take care man... I've read too many posts on here whereby people have had a lucky escape but their pride and joy wasn't so lucky, and there must be others that we don't hear from who haven't been so lucky.
These are great cars and you don't have to push them hard to enjoy the experience.
These are great cars and you don't have to push them hard to enjoy the experience.
Re heel-and-toeing: I have size 12 feet and find there's limited room down there anyway! Can it be done with big feet?
I'm also 6'5" so I've had to push the pedals back as far as they can go.
My main advice is to be careful of accelerating on corners. I've had some exciting moments pulling off roundabouts in the wet!
If you can practice; I had some fun moments with a rental Clio in the Alps last week on a large snow-covered area of tarmac. I think the Clio enjoyed the change from the autoroutes :-)
I'm also 6'5" so I've had to push the pedals back as far as they can go.
My main advice is to be careful of accelerating on corners. I've had some exciting moments pulling off roundabouts in the wet!
If you can practice; I had some fun moments with a rental Clio in the Alps last week on a large snow-covered area of tarmac. I think the Clio enjoyed the change from the autoroutes :-)
Biggiles, get some racing boots there nice and narrow , they make you go faster !!. The problem is you look like a muppet when you pull up at the pub.
I used to live in the Caribbean for many years , we drove with no shoes everyday as flip flops are sure to make you hit a coconut tree mon !!( or is that the rum ).
I used to live in the Caribbean for many years , we drove with no shoes everyday as flip flops are sure to make you hit a coconut tree mon !!( or is that the rum ).
So have you been bitten yet?
I have.
In all seriousness, the biggest danger is when you are not thinking about driving 'hard' and are just getting a reasonable move on.
Picture this: The road is a little damp, like it very often is in this country. But it is not raining and the grip seems OK. You don't think much about it. Up ahead is someone travelling a little slower than you would like, so you plan to overtake. To make it a swift, safe maneover, you change down a gear, neatly heal-and-toeing, nice and smooth, poised, ready to pounce.
You see your opportunity and calmly press the accelerator
. The car starts its familiar surge forward and then suddenly it is going sideways 
. What happened?
What happened was that you were thinking about overtaking the car in front and forgot that the huge torque of a TVR engine hardly needs an excuse to break traction.
It happened to me once on a dual carriageway and I caught the slide
. It happened to me last week on the straight at Goodwood and I didn't catch it 
. That's how I got to learn the next big secret about these cars 
.
If you damage the car to the point that you need a new body panel, you may just have written the car off. I was gobsmacked to learn that a new nose section alone is about £1500 plus £3500 labour. If anything else needs doing, like a new radiator and steering rack, or wishbones, then you won't get much change from £10K. Just a little bump can be a big bill.
Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes.
Sermon over.
I have.
In all seriousness, the biggest danger is when you are not thinking about driving 'hard' and are just getting a reasonable move on.
Picture this: The road is a little damp, like it very often is in this country. But it is not raining and the grip seems OK. You don't think much about it. Up ahead is someone travelling a little slower than you would like, so you plan to overtake. To make it a swift, safe maneover, you change down a gear, neatly heal-and-toeing, nice and smooth, poised, ready to pounce.
You see your opportunity and calmly press the accelerator
. The car starts its familiar surge forward and then suddenly it is going sideways . What happened? What happened was that you were thinking about overtaking the car in front and forgot that the huge torque of a TVR engine hardly needs an excuse to break traction.
It happened to me once on a dual carriageway and I caught the slide
. It happened to me last week on the straight at Goodwood and I didn't catch it . That's how I got to learn the next big secret about these cars . If you damage the car to the point that you need a new body panel, you may just have written the car off. I was gobsmacked to learn that a new nose section alone is about £1500 plus £3500 labour. If anything else needs doing, like a new radiator and steering rack, or wishbones, then you won't get much change from £10K. Just a little bump can be a big bill.
Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes.
Sermon over.
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