Elise S1 v TVR Chimaera
Discussion
Has anyone had or got both?? And what did they think? Which was the better car 'overall' in their opinion?? Obvioulsy people have different reasons to sell up and change cars...eg fuel consumption etc so im trying to find out which one people thought was better?!
I currently drive a 4.3 Chimaera but i keep finding myself looking at S1's in the classifieds, before i bought the TVR it was a cross between that and an S1. I went the TVR route for the sound of the V8 but i dont know what it is about the Elise i just want one of them too!!??
I currently drive a 4.3 Chimaera but i keep finding myself looking at S1's in the classifieds, before i bought the TVR it was a cross between that and an S1. I went the TVR route for the sound of the V8 but i dont know what it is about the Elise i just want one of them too!!??
Then go and by one!!! You should have enough from the sale of the TVR to get a decent S1 and then, if you don't like it, sell that and buy back another TVR!!!
Bob's your uncle!!!
Try anything once. But trust me, as nice at the TVR is (my uncle has one. Nice sound.......), the Elise is just seriously, seriously addictive.........
Bob's your uncle!!!
Try anything once. But trust me, as nice at the TVR is (my uncle has one. Nice sound.......), the Elise is just seriously, seriously addictive.........
Not sure how much help this is!
Are you looking at getting both?
A friend has just recently swapped his cerbera 4.5 for a s2 elise. His cerbera was a beast. Sounded absolutely fantastic! could beat anything. He loved it but in the end it cost him to much! In the garage most of the time. At the end of the day its what you want from a car. Tvr blistering fast and sounds fantastic as do all tvr. He likes his elise as much but in a different way. His s2 elise has got itg,de cat,sports exhaust, so it isn’t quiet. He says the handling makes up for the lack of top end speed. And it does not cost him a fortune.
Are you looking at getting both?
A friend has just recently swapped his cerbera 4.5 for a s2 elise. His cerbera was a beast. Sounded absolutely fantastic! could beat anything. He loved it but in the end it cost him to much! In the garage most of the time. At the end of the day its what you want from a car. Tvr blistering fast and sounds fantastic as do all tvr. He likes his elise as much but in a different way. His s2 elise has got itg,de cat,sports exhaust, so it isn’t quiet. He says the handling makes up for the lack of top end speed. And it does not cost him a fortune.
Edited by buggs on Tuesday 20th June 13:49
Ive had both.
Im in an Elise now. For me the Chimaera (4.5) didn't fit the bill. Most of that was to do with not having cash to throw at it.
I found it:-
Expensive to run (MPG/maintenance)
Tiring to drive everyday (I only want to run one car)
Loud
Was great sometimes, but not everyday
HOT very very hot in the summer (air-con made feck all difference on my car) with heat sock into the cabin. It was basically quite hot
I found the handling a little scary at times, whilst quick in a straight line Im not a good enough driver to drive it quickly in anything but (a straight line)
After the the initial lust had faded i found i didnt fancy the styling anymore
The Elise.. for me, is the opposite of all those.
Its all totally personal though. I know people who you couldnt prise out of their Chimaera.
Im in an Elise now. For me the Chimaera (4.5) didn't fit the bill. Most of that was to do with not having cash to throw at it.
I found it:-
Expensive to run (MPG/maintenance)
Tiring to drive everyday (I only want to run one car)
Loud
Was great sometimes, but not everyday HOT very very hot in the summer (air-con made feck all difference on my car) with heat sock into the cabin. It was basically quite hot
I found the handling a little scary at times, whilst quick in a straight line Im not a good enough driver to drive it quickly in anything but (a straight line)
After the the initial lust had faded i found i didnt fancy the styling anymore
The Elise.. for me, is the opposite of all those.
Its all totally personal though. I know people who you couldnt prise out of their Chimaera.
Edited by admoss on Tuesday 20th June 14:10
I tried all variants of the Chim when I was looking at buying my first proper sportscar. All were fun and very quick in a straight line, but they never inspired confidence. I could only liken it to driving a very fast speedboat.
The Elise in comparison is much more pointy and feels like a sportscar, the Chim felt more like a GT.
The Elise in comparison is much more pointy and feels like a sportscar, the Chim felt more like a GT.
Ive had both.
Im in an Elise now. For me the Chimaera (4.5) didn't fit the bill. Most of that was to do with not having cash to throw at it.
I found it:-
Expensive to run (MPG/maintenance)
Tiring to drive everyday (I only want to run one car)
Loud Was great sometimes, but not everyday
HOT very very hot in the summer (air-con made feck all difference on my car) with heat sock into the cabin. It was basically quite hot
I found the handling a little scary at times, whilst quick in a straight line Im not a good enough driver to drive it quickly in anything but (a straight line)
After the the initial lust had faded i found i didnt fancy the styling anymore
The Elise.. for me, is the opposite of all those.
Its all totally personal though. I know people who you couldnt prise out of their Chimaera.
I think you have hit the nale on the head
There is just something that i cant put my finger on, like as you say....doesnt fit the bill!!
Its a 2nd car at the moment but im finding im driving it more and more, hence less in the wallet due to quite a few fill ups!!
I love the chim but really cant make up my mind what to do!!
Iv never spoke to an elise owner to find out what there opinions are hence why im asking on here
Thanks for the input
Im in an Elise now. For me the Chimaera (4.5) didn't fit the bill. Most of that was to do with not having cash to throw at it.
I found it:-
Expensive to run (MPG/maintenance)
Tiring to drive everyday (I only want to run one car)
Loud
Was great sometimes, but not everyday HOT very very hot in the summer (air-con made feck all difference on my car) with heat sock into the cabin. It was basically quite hot
I found the handling a little scary at times, whilst quick in a straight line Im not a good enough driver to drive it quickly in anything but (a straight line)
After the the initial lust had faded i found i didnt fancy the styling anymore
The Elise.. for me, is the opposite of all those.
Its all totally personal though. I know people who you couldnt prise out of their Chimaera.
I think you have hit the nale on the head
There is just something that i cant put my finger on, like as you say....doesnt fit the bill!!
Its a 2nd car at the moment but im finding im driving it more and more, hence less in the wallet due to quite a few fill ups!!
I love the chim but really cant make up my mind what to do!!
Iv never spoke to an elise owner to find out what there opinions are hence why im asking on here
Thanks for the input
There is nothing to separate S1 or S2 elise from a 4 litre chim on the road really but both cars should have it on track. A friend recently got rid of his chim in favour of a cerb (probably for this very reason). The cerb is mind meltingly quick and loud as war but has just spent 7 weeks at westover only to have the clutch master cylinder go as soon as he got it home. His chim was costly too but nowhere near what an elise costs a year.
Chim = loudish + £££ + ok handling
Cerb = LOUD + £££££££ + does not need any handling as so bloody quick in straight line
Elise = can be made loudish + £ + one of the best handling cars in the world + quick as chim (upto a ton)
Chim = loudish + £££ + ok handling
Cerb = LOUD + £££££££ + does not need any handling as so bloody quick in straight line
Elise = can be made loudish + £ + one of the best handling cars in the world + quick as chim (upto a ton)
I recently tried a 5 liter chimera. It was fast but not as fast as I thought it should be. under heavy braking, the car feels very unstable, but I'm used to the elise, and the handling speaks for itself. I really wanted to like the chimera, I love the cebera and newer models, but the old chimera just doesnt really cut the mustard in terms of driving pleasure. This one had a standard exhaust and was so quiet, I thought I'd gone deaf !!! I sure with some coilovers on it and a decent exhaust it would be miles better, but the elise just wins your heart every time you throw it through some corners...., mine was for sale, but now I have changed my mind. It was a daft idea to start with !!!
Hi Went through the same dilemma, Wanted a TVR, test drove a T350,i just did not get on well with it, looks etc are great, always felt there was achance of loosing it when you weren,t expecting it (my mate stuffed his cerb on a round about and to this day cannot rem how it happened!).
Test drove a 111s loved it , ended up with a 111r never looked back,so much fun to drive..............
Test drove a 111s loved it , ended up with a 111r never looked back,so much fun to drive..............
Hi Went through the same dilemma, Wanted a TVR, test drove a T350,i just did not get on well with it, looks etc are great, always felt there was achance of loosing it when you weren,t expecting it (my mate stuffed his cerb on a round about and to this day cannot rem how it happened!).
Test drove a 111s loved it , ended up with a 111r never looked back,so much fun to drive..............
Test drove a 111s loved it , ended up with a 111r never looked back,so much fun to drive..............
piooly said:
...mine was for sale, but now I have changed my mind. It was a daft idea to start with !!!
I had a funny feeling you'd come to that conclusion Oly, the asking price reflected the fact that you didn't really want to get rid quickly
FWIW, you've made the right choice - hopefully see you and the beasty again in July on the weekender.molydood said:
do you want handling or power? thats the decision maker for me
I wanted both which i thought i was getting with the chim but as other people are saying it does get a little scary when giving it to much! Its so easy to put to much power down and end up going sideways!!
I was intending on doing a few track days in the chim but not being one of the best drivers in the world i wouldnt feel comfortable hammering in TVR on the track....which i think could be another reason im looking at S1's!
I've driven my dads Cerbera a fair bit and yeah veyr nice but its just not as much fun as the elise. Thats what it boils down to.
SWORKS - Yeah I know the price is high, I was never desparate for it to go, just fancied a change but now I'm back and keen to stick with it. Sod the day to day ball ache of the cramped door entry, its worth the pain ! Fancy a run in your new car too. Honda route is what I really want but the funds wont permit. I'd love to put one in mine, but what you have makes more sense. The S2 is just so much more of an everyday motor to with and thats what I really want and being an ex sport 160 owner, you know where I'm coming from. So how long till you get the SC then?????
SWORKS - Yeah I know the price is high, I was never desparate for it to go, just fancied a change but now I'm back and keen to stick with it. Sod the day to day ball ache of the cramped door entry, its worth the pain ! Fancy a run in your new car too. Honda route is what I really want but the funds wont permit. I'd love to put one in mine, but what you have makes more sense. The S2 is just so much more of an everyday motor to with and thats what I really want and being an ex sport 160 owner, you know where I'm coming from. So how long till you get the SC then?????
An Elise S1 is quicker than a Chim500 up to about 60mph, my S1 with an inlet and exhaust and some lighter wheels will beat them up to about 80... in a quarter mile drag against them, which I've done plenty of times the Chim is only about 0.2s quicker. On track the Elise is MILES superior... even on Pukekohe (the track with the fastest average speed in the southern hemisphere) the Elise just annihiates the chim as the corner exit speed is so superior it takes the Chim most of the straights to make up the deficit. On the road in real-world driving the Elise again is quicker.
The Elise doesn't sound as good though, although can be made to sound pretty decent with the right induction/exhaust.
I lusted after a TVR, until I got my Elise.
The Elise doesn't sound as good though, although can be made to sound pretty decent with the right induction/exhaust.
I lusted after a TVR, until I got my Elise.
jodypress said:
Esprit said:
An Elise S1 is quicker than a Chim500 up to about 60mph,
what planet are you on????? i used to eat elise's for breakfast in my Griff 500. they are nowhere near, unless you count the rear view mirror.
I was talking from a standing start.... Elises hook up brilliantly off the line where as Chims/Griffs (especially the 5L versions) like to make smoke.
A good Elise will do the quarter mile in about 14.2, a good Griff 500 standard is about 13.5.... most of this discrepency is at the top end with the Elise leading the Tiv out of the hole.
from 10mp rolling start it's a different story though.
Edited by Esprit on Wednesday 21st June 02:34
Well after discussions on here im gonna get the chim ready to sell! Not sure im makin the right decision because i havnt had the chim for that long but i really fancy an elise and like people are saying if i dont like it i can allways sell up and buy another chim!
Anyone fancy swaping their elise for a chim
Anyone fancy swaping their elise for a chim
piooly said:
SWORKS - Yeah I know the price is high, I was never desparate for it to go, just fancied a change but now I'm back and keen to stick with it. Sod the day to day ball ache of the cramped door entry, its worth the pain ! Fancy a run in your new car too. Honda route is what I really want but the funds wont permit. I'd love to put one in mine, but what you have makes more sense. The S2 is just so much more of an everyday motor to with and thats what I really want and being an ex sport 160 owner, you know where I'm coming from. So how long till you get the SC then?????
If you want the feel of the S2 then look to change the suspension to a SteveB Bilstein kit. You're a young man Oly, don't get too old and go for low sills yet! The S2 is a bit easier but still no walk-in MPV!
As for the engine, yours is in good condition, keep it that way and it'll run and run. Meantime save up for your Honda if that's what you really want. Drive one first though, it's a big leap.
SC? Not for a long time I don't think, maybe even never. The NA is plenty fast enough for me, and I love the revvy nature of the engine as it is. Time to enjoy and improve driving skills now methinks!
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