New girl in town
Discussion
Hi all
Been the proud owner of my Chim for a week now and am already wondering how i coped with life with no TVR.
Am still getting to grips with driving 'the beast' but having never driven anything like this before i was wondering if it would be advisable to go on some kind of driving course? At the moment i'm only interested in driving some nice country roads rather than track racing. I've had a look and there seem to be a variety of courses and providers available - any advice /recommendations ?
Been the proud owner of my Chim for a week now and am already wondering how i coped with life with no TVR.
Am still getting to grips with driving 'the beast' but having never driven anything like this before i was wondering if it would be advisable to go on some kind of driving course? At the moment i'm only interested in driving some nice country roads rather than track racing. I've had a look and there seem to be a variety of courses and providers available - any advice /recommendations ?
Hi all
Been the proud owner of my Chim for a week now and am already wondering how i coped with life with no TVR.
Am still getting to grips with driving 'the beast' but having never driven anything like this before i was wondering if it would be advisable to go on some kind of driving course? At the moment i'm only interested in driving some nice country roads rather than track racing. I've had a look and there seem to be a variety of courses and providers available - any advice /recommendations ?
I have the same car as you. Best to go to track days. You learn quickly how to drive fast and there are plenty of people on hand more than willing to give advice. One small thing though the 5L Chim is a little underpowered and unresponsive for tracks. Try having a multithrottle induction kit from ACT installed plus one of Mark Adams Tornado chips--the improvement is dramatic. Cost about £1k+ but very well worth it. Mark has done this one already so he has a pretty good idea of the parameters so you don't essentially need a RR burning in but,as every car is slightly different, an RR session would be ideal. If money is no object V8 will do the bottom end for you as well and increase the capacity. A good tuner should realise about 100bhp per litre and it helps if you are going to compete at track days--your car could achieve 500+bhp. Driving lessons (yuk!) ---save your money and learn the best way through experience on the track
Hi all
Been the proud owner of my Chim for a week now and am already wondering how i coped with life with no TVR.
any advice /recommendations ?
Lorna, Congratulations 
A VERY BIG WELCOME TO THE FOLD!
If you need any information or advice on almost any subject, especially Tiv's then these guy's and girl's will supply copious amounts free of charge.
You ask for advice /recommendations:-
Go easy in the wet and keep it shiny side up.
Good luck and safe drives.
Regards
Big Al.
P.S.
It (She/He) may be a beast but it (She/He) looks very pretty, nice pic.
Sorry Spoiling Mistook.
>> Edited by ABBTVR (moderator) on Saturday 18th January 20:28 and another one, sorry been on the bevy.
>> Edited by ABBTVR (moderator) on Saturday 18th January 20:30
greeny said: Clint888- Did you read Lorna's post? She has just got a car that has got way more power than anything she has driven and you advise her to tune it up a bit!
OK OK! I got a bit carried away. It was that " driving lessons" bit which seemed so daft--you know "slow in fast out" etc. Go to a wet track day and you soon learn the limitations of the car by hard experience. AND-yes-I stand by my comment--all things are relative of course--it is underpowered in track day terms in terms of what can be achieved. These track day experiences grow on you and sooner or later you want optimum power--I am just saying that a simple ACT multithrottle plus MA chip (NOT expensive as these things go will anticipate what the lady will,I am sure, want sooner or later. Good luck anyway--but now it's yours use it like a sports car
PS All bits and pieces can be sent to your local dealer or independent--easy job.
>> Edited by clint888 on Saturday 18th January 22:25
Don't be so dismissive of extra tuition. You can never learn too much. Many of the techiques you learn on advanced courses are to do with your approach to driving and have less to do with driving at the limit as you would on a track day.
They can also make road driving much more rewarding.
Lorna, talk to the following companies to get the sort of tuition you refer to:
www.ridedrive.co.uk
www.carlimits.com
or see the advanced driving section of www.oilypages.com
They can also make road driving much more rewarding.
Lorna, talk to the following companies to get the sort of tuition you refer to:
www.ridedrive.co.uk
www.carlimits.com
or see the advanced driving section of www.oilypages.com
A good tuner should realise about 100bhp per litre and it helps if you are going to compete at track days--your car could achieve 500+bhp. Driving lessons (yuk!) ---save your money and learn the best way through experience on the track
Huh? My advise would be exactly the opposite. But, "compete at track days", OK now I see where you're coming from, clearly you don't compete or do track days. 500 bhp is simply not realistic for any sensible money.
I would say for somebody new to powerful rear wheel drive cars it's very sensible to get appropriate training - to drive these cars safely require skills that you can't really get chugging round in a eurobox. You do need things like slow-in-fast-out and engine-braking-is-not-your-friend to be second nature before you even think about exploring the car's limits.
Once you're comfortable driving the car, can recognise the warning signs telling you its about to slide, and make a decent job of catching it when it does, then if you want to be able to go faster, more on-track training is the way to go. If you are serious about going faster then later on you might decide to look at suspension and then brakes (in that order). More power would come way down the list. There is a massive hidden cost to these engine upgrades, an anyway very few drivers make full use of the power they have.
Just to add a different view to the discussion ...
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
>> Edited by greenv8s on Sunday 19th January 00:28
Hi Lorna, and welcome! Glad to see another TVR girl online. Hope you have many happy - and safe - hours of driving your new beast!
Yep, I'm with Peter on this one. I wouldn't be especially keen on tuning one of these up to 500+ BHP either, particularly if you've never driven a RWD sports car before - it's far too much for ordinary road use.
The advanced driving suggestions are good ones - why not give something like that a try? Once you've got the hang of all that power coming from behind you could consider track days, but you're better off learning how to use your car in "real life" first otherwise you'll scare yourself silly on the track - and on the roads as well....
Good luck!
>> Edited by SGirl on Sunday 19th January 05:01
greenv8s said: I would say for somebody new to powerful rear wheel drive cars it's very sensible to get appropriate training - to drive these cars safely require skills that you can't really get chugging round in a eurobox. You do need things like slow-in-fast-out and engine-braking-is-not-your-friend to be second nature before you even think about exploring the car's limits.
Yep, I'm with Peter on this one. I wouldn't be especially keen on tuning one of these up to 500+ BHP either, particularly if you've never driven a RWD sports car before - it's far too much for ordinary road use.
The advanced driving suggestions are good ones - why not give something like that a try? Once you've got the hang of all that power coming from behind you could consider track days, but you're better off learning how to use your car in "real life" first otherwise you'll scare yourself silly on the track - and on the roads as well....
Good luck!
>> Edited by SGirl on Sunday 19th January 05:01
HI Lorna..
The best learning experience I have had so far was tanking round Anglessey Race Circuit on a trackday, at least I now have a reasonable idea of how much grip the car has, how confident I can be when the tyres are squealing under cornering (in the dry!) and what happens when it steps out slightly. I'm still a beginner by far, but that day probably put me far ahead of most of the daily road users in the country who havent a clue how their cars actually handle.
Cheers and Welcome,
Matt
(with little 4.0l Chim)
The best learning experience I have had so far was tanking round Anglessey Race Circuit on a trackday, at least I now have a reasonable idea of how much grip the car has, how confident I can be when the tyres are squealing under cornering (in the dry!) and what happens when it steps out slightly. I'm still a beginner by far, but that day probably put me far ahead of most of the daily road users in the country who havent a clue how their cars actually handle.
Cheers and Welcome,
Matt
(with little 4.0l Chim)
Thanks for the great welcome
Was a bit shocked to read that i needed more power
think i'll get to grips with what i have at the moment - when i find that limiting then i'll consider some fine tuning.
Thanks for all your comments there certainly seems a split on the lessons v track days - but i think i will be heading off down the lesson road first and then see how i feel.
Been out driving today and managed about 1/2 hour with the roof down in between the rain showers - roll on the summer.
Was a bit shocked to read that i needed more power
think i'll get to grips with what i have at the moment - when i find that limiting then i'll consider some fine tuning. Thanks for all your comments there certainly seems a split on the lessons v track days - but i think i will be heading off down the lesson road first and then see how i feel.
Been out driving today and managed about 1/2 hour with the roof down in between the rain showers - roll on the summer.
M@H said: HI Lorna..
The best learning experience I have had so far was tanking round Anglessey Race Circuit on a trackday, at least I now have a reasonable idea of how much grip the car has, how confident I can be when the tyres are squealing under cornering (in the dry!) and what happens when it steps out slightly. I'm still a beginner by far, but that day probably put me far ahead of most of the daily road users in the country who havent a clue how their cars actually handle.
Cheers and Welcome,
Matt
(with little 4.0l Chim)
Cheers Matt---my point exactly. An instructor can tell you what you should do till he's blue in the face but nothing beats making your own mistakes and learning from them (if you don't get killed in the process that is)
PetrolTed said: Don't be so dismissive of extra tuition. You can never learn too much. Many of the techiques you learn on advanced courses are to do with your approach to driving and have less to do with driving at the limit as you would on a track day.
They can also make road driving much more rewarding.
Lorna, talk to the following companies to get the sort of tuition you refer to:
www.ridedrive.co.uk
www.carlimits.com
or see the advanced driving section of www.oilypages.com
Peter!
WGR 500+ is achievable with a highly modified 5(finally 5plus)L car. Handling etc has to be upgraded as well of course. Just look at the typical rally car and the bhp/litre achieved. The cost I agree is very high hence my suggestion of a simple multi-throttle + chip upgrade to improve the sluggish response of the typical 5L Chim. I am slightly worried about your rather ominous reference to "massive hidden costs". As I have one of these cars could you be a little more specific.
Finally again WGR if the lady has to be told the absolute basics of performance driving as you suggest then she obviously has very little aptitude for it and my advice would be don't drive faster than you feel comfortable especially under bad conditions (Lady if you has to ask you ain't got it)
Quinny said: to which my answer would be yes take as much tuition as you feel you need. I can understand her reluctance not to go on a track day as they are male dominated and female drivers can feel a bit intimidated.
True. Lorna, if you want to go on a track day, mail me through my profile.... I'm thinking of possibles and you'd be welcome to come along if you want.
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