4L Supercharger - had it 2 days - my initial thoughts...
Discussion
OK, I’ll start by saying that I am not a mechanic or technician so I can only give you a ‘drivers’ opinion on this. Do not expect me to tell you how many 'spludgeons' are going through the 'crankbottom' at 100,000 rpm – you’ll be disappointed. I went into this for the fun factor - not the techno kudos amongst my friends.
I’ve been driving my TVR SC400 since yesterday mid-morning when I picked it up from TVR Power and I’ll start by saying that in those 6 hours of motoring it has done nothing but rain except for one 15 minute spell yesterday – but, obviously the roads were extremely greasy even in that 15 minute spell of ‘brightness’.
I took it out this afternoon with my son who’s into all things ‘car’ when the weather was clear but the roads still a little slippy.
Colin at Autodesign had stressed to me that the power was progressive and that I should take a little time to get used to the feel of car and adapt my driving style accordingly just as I had to when I first bought her.
He said that this wasn’t the same car I had driven up here...and he wasn’t wrong.
The car is certainly a much ‘smoother’ drive when accelerating gently. I have not yet dumped the clutch and floored it in 1st as I can FEEL that the immediate increased power to the rear wheels will simply cause them to spin on the current wet surface and I will have a VERY ‘brown trouser’ moment. I cannot stress this enough – the car is VERY powerful and you MUST spend time getting to know its limits. As you know, it doesn’t have traction control – it is all down to YOU to control it.
The 3 key words are Traction, Traction, Traction.
I span the wheels once on the way home, on a greasy surface in 1st from a stopped position. This was entirely my fault but I now know at what point that happens (in the wet) and indeed it hasn’t happened again.
That said, I find it highly probable that you could, if you changed down gear at say 60 in 5th to 3rd and dumped the clutch whilst flooring it, spin the wheels again! This hasn’t happened to me yet as the first instance of it happening was enough to make me completely respect the increase in energy flowing to the rears.
Warning over – the good bit…
The car can be driven exactly as you drove it before the SC conversion if you so wish, indeed apart from the smoother ride, without the lack of a charger ‘whine’ you might never know that it was there. Give it to your wife/girlfriend to take to the shops and she might come back with no comments about how the car had ‘changed’ at all. My wife is a very sedate driver and I know she would have no idea that anything was different.
The gauges rest where they normally would and there is no discernable noise.
Petrol consumption on the way to Coventry from the south coast and then again back showed no real difference either.
You, of course, wont be buying it for that reason.
2nd gear upwards with gentle acceleration and the difference is clear. The car pulls tremendously and VERY vigorously. 3rd and 4th is exactly the same, even 5th gear now appears to be a serious ‘pulling’ gear and not just a fast cruising gear - with the right amount of throttle.
This afternoon I took my son out in the car onto a quiet dual carriage way and cruised up to 65 staying in 5th. I then selected 3rd, came through the clutch in a controlled manner (I didn’t just dump it) and the car roared. The acceleration was so fierce that my son said “dad, I’m begging you to slow down NOW…please” – Which I immediately did.
He said that it was absolutely “pant-wetting” and he was used to me doing that in the old 4L without comment.
Job done…really.
Worth the money? Well, do you want a (comparable) 5.5 lire Chimaera whilst keeping your own car?
If your happy with the performance of your 4L DO NOT buy this. It will only terrify you and end your love affair with your Chim. It changes the cars nature completely.
If you find the performance of you 4L has 'softened' and would like to move up whilst keeping your car then it’s the ONLY solution – and a bloody good one!
I cant wait for the dry roads and to get a feel for 1st gear acceleration. Colin says the 0-60 will be about 4 secs or just below – with my experiences so far in the other gears I have no reason to doubt it.
I have ordered 2 new rear tyres (sticky ones) today as I believe this to be crucial and will also be investing in some ‘heavier’ brakes at some point very soon.
If anyone lives near me and would like me to take them for a quick spin round the Horsham (West Sussex) by-pass PM me (and post on this thread that you've PM'd me) and I’m sure we can arrange something for a Saturday or Sunday. This would save you the journey up to Coventry to see the only other SC400 – the proto-type.
The engine bay layout is the standard they will be using for future customer conversions so you can have a look at that and when Colin gets them to me I’ll be able to let you have a diagram of the SC400 components and a description of what they do.
Neil did a tremendously professional job on the fitting of it together with the final presentation of the car in general.
This IS the most exciting upgrade you can get for your 4L – have no doubt about it.
Many, many thanks to Dom, Colin and Neil for taking the financial concerns I had at the outset of this expenditure and entirely dispelling it with the finished product!
Ian
I’ve been driving my TVR SC400 since yesterday mid-morning when I picked it up from TVR Power and I’ll start by saying that in those 6 hours of motoring it has done nothing but rain except for one 15 minute spell yesterday – but, obviously the roads were extremely greasy even in that 15 minute spell of ‘brightness’.
I took it out this afternoon with my son who’s into all things ‘car’ when the weather was clear but the roads still a little slippy.
Colin at Autodesign had stressed to me that the power was progressive and that I should take a little time to get used to the feel of car and adapt my driving style accordingly just as I had to when I first bought her.
He said that this wasn’t the same car I had driven up here...and he wasn’t wrong.
The car is certainly a much ‘smoother’ drive when accelerating gently. I have not yet dumped the clutch and floored it in 1st as I can FEEL that the immediate increased power to the rear wheels will simply cause them to spin on the current wet surface and I will have a VERY ‘brown trouser’ moment. I cannot stress this enough – the car is VERY powerful and you MUST spend time getting to know its limits. As you know, it doesn’t have traction control – it is all down to YOU to control it.
The 3 key words are Traction, Traction, Traction.
I span the wheels once on the way home, on a greasy surface in 1st from a stopped position. This was entirely my fault but I now know at what point that happens (in the wet) and indeed it hasn’t happened again.
That said, I find it highly probable that you could, if you changed down gear at say 60 in 5th to 3rd and dumped the clutch whilst flooring it, spin the wheels again! This hasn’t happened to me yet as the first instance of it happening was enough to make me completely respect the increase in energy flowing to the rears.
Warning over – the good bit…
The car can be driven exactly as you drove it before the SC conversion if you so wish, indeed apart from the smoother ride, without the lack of a charger ‘whine’ you might never know that it was there. Give it to your wife/girlfriend to take to the shops and she might come back with no comments about how the car had ‘changed’ at all. My wife is a very sedate driver and I know she would have no idea that anything was different.
The gauges rest where they normally would and there is no discernable noise.
Petrol consumption on the way to Coventry from the south coast and then again back showed no real difference either.
You, of course, wont be buying it for that reason.
2nd gear upwards with gentle acceleration and the difference is clear. The car pulls tremendously and VERY vigorously. 3rd and 4th is exactly the same, even 5th gear now appears to be a serious ‘pulling’ gear and not just a fast cruising gear - with the right amount of throttle.
This afternoon I took my son out in the car onto a quiet dual carriage way and cruised up to 65 staying in 5th. I then selected 3rd, came through the clutch in a controlled manner (I didn’t just dump it) and the car roared. The acceleration was so fierce that my son said “dad, I’m begging you to slow down NOW…please” – Which I immediately did.
He said that it was absolutely “pant-wetting” and he was used to me doing that in the old 4L without comment.
Job done…really.
Worth the money? Well, do you want a (comparable) 5.5 lire Chimaera whilst keeping your own car?
If your happy with the performance of your 4L DO NOT buy this. It will only terrify you and end your love affair with your Chim. It changes the cars nature completely.
If you find the performance of you 4L has 'softened' and would like to move up whilst keeping your car then it’s the ONLY solution – and a bloody good one!
I cant wait for the dry roads and to get a feel for 1st gear acceleration. Colin says the 0-60 will be about 4 secs or just below – with my experiences so far in the other gears I have no reason to doubt it.
I have ordered 2 new rear tyres (sticky ones) today as I believe this to be crucial and will also be investing in some ‘heavier’ brakes at some point very soon.
If anyone lives near me and would like me to take them for a quick spin round the Horsham (West Sussex) by-pass PM me (and post on this thread that you've PM'd me) and I’m sure we can arrange something for a Saturday or Sunday. This would save you the journey up to Coventry to see the only other SC400 – the proto-type.
The engine bay layout is the standard they will be using for future customer conversions so you can have a look at that and when Colin gets them to me I’ll be able to let you have a diagram of the SC400 components and a description of what they do.
Neil did a tremendously professional job on the fitting of it together with the final presentation of the car in general.
This IS the most exciting upgrade you can get for your 4L – have no doubt about it.
Many, many thanks to Dom, Colin and Neil for taking the financial concerns I had at the outset of this expenditure and entirely dispelling it with the finished product!
Ian
Ian,
Firstly I have to say I have HUGE respect
to you for carrying out this conversion. Probably at a cost of almost half the worth of the car. You certainly don't do this sort of work for financial gain though and it sounds like you got exactly what you wanted from the project. I'd love to have the spare cash/guts to have this done to mine - whilst the 400 is by no means slow there are often times at which I wish I had more power and short of selling up and upgrading theres no better way of getting it.
I look forward to hearing what it's like in the dry when you can really test the new power, are you planning on getting to a rolling road at any point to see just what power gains have been achieved?
Firstly I have to say I have HUGE respect
to you for carrying out this conversion. Probably at a cost of almost half the worth of the car. You certainly don't do this sort of work for financial gain though and it sounds like you got exactly what you wanted from the project. I'd love to have the spare cash/guts to have this done to mine - whilst the 400 is by no means slow there are often times at which I wish I had more power and short of selling up and upgrading theres no better way of getting it. I look forward to hearing what it's like in the dry when you can really test the new power, are you planning on getting to a rolling road at any point to see just what power gains have been achieved?
billynomates said:
Great stuff Ian got any RR stats?
Phil - yep.
Initially (per Dom), Within 0.01% of the proto-types 274 bhp at the wheels (approx 322 at the fly)
Then tuned (pegged) back to 268 at the wheels (approx 316 at the fly) to ensure certain components stay protected.
Max 275 ft-lbs of torque. (Apparently the same as a T350 according to one T350 owner on the thread mentioned below)
See here for pics/graphs (on page 1): www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=354600&f=155&h=0
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
True?
zippee said:
Ian,
Firstly I have to say I have HUGE respect to you for carrying out this conversion. Probably at a cost of almost half the worth of the car. You certainly don't do this sort of work for financial gain though and it sounds like you got exactly what you wanted from the project. I'd love to have the spare cash/guts to have this done to mine - whilst the 400 is by no means slow there are often times at which I wish I had more power and short of selling up and upgrading theres no better way of getting it.
I look forward to hearing what it's like in the dry when you can really test the new power, are you planning on getting to a rolling road at any point to see just what power gains have been achieved?
Firstly I have to say I have HUGE respect
to you for carrying out this conversion. Probably at a cost of almost half the worth of the car. You certainly don't do this sort of work for financial gain though and it sounds like you got exactly what you wanted from the project. I'd love to have the spare cash/guts to have this done to mine - whilst the 400 is by no means slow there are often times at which I wish I had more power and short of selling up and upgrading theres no better way of getting it. I look forward to hearing what it's like in the dry when you can really test the new power, are you planning on getting to a rolling road at any point to see just what power gains have been achieved?
Thanks zippee. See my reply to Phil above for RR figures/graphs/pics.
im said:
billynomates said:
Great stuff Ian got any RR stats?
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
Nope my old Chim was a 4
Got the graph some where I'll go and try and dig it out.
Edited by billynomates on Sunday 11th February 20:02
Do TVR-Power have an engine dyno or rolling road? I'd like to see back-to-back figures with say a standard 5 litre on the same dyno. I'd be impressed if it genuinely has 40bhp over a 5-litre.
Ian A.
Phil - yep.
Initially (per Dom), Within 0.01% of the proto-types 274 bhp at the wheels (approx 322 at the fly)
Then tuned (pegged) back to 268 at the wheels (approx 316 at the fly) to ensure certain components stay protected.
Max 275 ft-lbs of torque. (Apparently the same as a T350 according to one T350 owner on the thread mentioned below)
See here for pics/graphs (on page 1): www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=354600&f=155&h=0
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
True?
Ian A.
im said:
billynomates said:
Great stuff Ian got any RR stats?
Phil - yep.
Initially (per Dom), Within 0.01% of the proto-types 274 bhp at the wheels (approx 322 at the fly)
Then tuned (pegged) back to 268 at the wheels (approx 316 at the fly) to ensure certain components stay protected.
Max 275 ft-lbs of torque. (Apparently the same as a T350 according to one T350 owner on the thread mentioned below)
See here for pics/graphs (on page 1): www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=354600&f=155&h=0
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
True?
IPAddis said:
Do TVR-Power have an engine dyno or rolling road? I'd like to see back-to-back figures with say a standard 5 litre on the same dyno. I'd be impressed if it genuinely has 40bhp over a 5-litre.
Ian A.
Phil - yep.
Initially (per Dom), Within 0.01% of the proto-types 274 bhp at the wheels (approx 322 at the fly)
Then tuned (pegged) back to 268 at the wheels (approx 316 at the fly) to ensure certain components stay protected.
Max 275 ft-lbs of torque. (Apparently the same as a T350 according to one T350 owner on the thread mentioned below)
See here for pics/graphs (on page 1): www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=354600&f=155&h=0
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
True?
Ian A.
im said:
billynomates said:
Great stuff Ian got any RR stats?
Phil - yep.
Initially (per Dom), Within 0.01% of the proto-types 274 bhp at the wheels (approx 322 at the fly)
Then tuned (pegged) back to 268 at the wheels (approx 316 at the fly) to ensure certain components stay protected.
Max 275 ft-lbs of torque. (Apparently the same as a T350 according to one T350 owner on the thread mentioned below)
See here for pics/graphs (on page 1): www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=354600&f=155&h=0
Phil, you've had a 5L how does this compare - I'm told 5L's are lucky to make 268 AT THE FLY let alone at the wheels where a good un might make 227 at the wheels?
True?
Hi Ian
I do not have my print out's to hand but I had my 5ltr engine rebulit by TVR Power not long ago. After running the engine in the car went on their rollers, 225BHP at the wheels, and that is about as powerful as a std 5ltr gets. I can scan in my print outs or ask Dom to post the figures.
Thanks very much Dave - that might answer Ian A.'s question above. It does kinda show the improvement made to the 4L's output-performance by this mod/upgrade. What was your torque figure - do you remember?
Perhaps Dom can post them up - as its from the same RR it might help convince people that the figures quoted are real.
Perhaps Dom can post them up - as its from the same RR it might help convince people that the figures quoted are real.
Dave N500 CHM said:
No Problem Ian
When I get back tonight Ill have a look for the torque figure. I'm pretty sure the torque and bhp figures were close.
So how many miles have you done now?
When I get back tonight Ill have a look for the torque figure. I'm pretty sure the torque and bhp figures were close.
So how many miles have you done now?
I suppose about 170.
Wifes comment as we watched lost last night:
'bout time you wiped that silly grin off your face isn't it - you've been in for 5 hours now!
I'm hoping it is a dry day on Friday at Mallory. It seems 50/50 at the mo.
Your taking your new toy aren't you?
Just to reiterate what was posted in Major Mods:
TVR Power and SC Power have hired out Mallory race circuit this Friday, EVO magazine and Sprint magazine will be there to do reviews on the Supercharged engines.
Anybody is welcome to come. You may get the chance to drive TVR Powers SC400 or get passenger rides in the SC450 or SC500. People will be able to take their own cars out onto the circuit as well but phone Dom at TVR Power for costs.
Your taking your new toy aren't you?
Just to reiterate what was posted in Major Mods:
TVR Power and SC Power have hired out Mallory race circuit this Friday, EVO magazine and Sprint magazine will be there to do reviews on the Supercharged engines.
Anybody is welcome to come. You may get the chance to drive TVR Powers SC400 or get passenger rides in the SC450 or SC500. People will be able to take their own cars out onto the circuit as well but phone Dom at TVR Power for costs.
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