Disappointing quarter mile time
Discussion
So I was at the Pod yesterday and thought I'd show a few of these Ford folks what a quick car looks like... my P.B. there before was a 13.98 in my old lightly modded 200sx (about 270 bhp) and I was hoping that the TVR would be around this mark, if not maybe a bit quicker. To be fair I didn't lose any of my races, thankfully, but I wasn't impressed with the times. It's a standard 4.0 with nothing wrong with it that I'm aware of, and decent rear tyres (Toyo T1R's) but even though I was getting respectable reaction times, my quarters were 14.8, 14.8 and 14.6 - is that about right for a standard car? Bit depressing to think my much cheaper, slightly heavier and not much more powerful (if you believe the stated BHP for the Chim) old Nissan with over double the miles on the engine is faster in a straight line.
So, is there a cheap way to add another 20 or 30 bhp to the standard engine, or is it not worth modding a 4 litre and better to buy a 4.5 or 5.0 if you want to go faster? And also, has anybody found putting 245's on the back helped you get the power down better for this sort of thing?
So, is there a cheap way to add another 20 or 30 bhp to the standard engine, or is it not worth modding a 4 litre and better to buy a 4.5 or 5.0 if you want to go faster? And also, has anybody found putting 245's on the back helped you get the power down better for this sort of thing?
A standard 4.0 might only be chucking out between 200-220 bhp so I doubt whether it would better your 270 bhp Nissan. There are regular comments on here about the Mark Adams re-chip making a good difference compared with cost so that might be worth a look. There is also another thread in here about somebody doing some runs in a Chim, you could compare your times.........
Autocar roadtested a 400 some years back and got about 13.7sec for the quarter from it. Though i've not done a quarter mile, i have compared in gear time with the road test figures and my 400 is marginally quicker.
The roadtest was probably carried out by a very good driver who can extract the best from the car. A lot will depend on traction, gear changes, getting the perfect start etc.
Though i said my in gear times are all marginally ahead, i've never been able to get the 5.2secs they recorded to 60mph. My best is 5.5mph - i'm not sure i'm talented enough to get better than this, but i'm sure the car can do it!
The roadtest was probably carried out by a very good driver who can extract the best from the car. A lot will depend on traction, gear changes, getting the perfect start etc.
Though i said my in gear times are all marginally ahead, i've never been able to get the 5.2secs they recorded to 60mph. My best is 5.5mph - i'm not sure i'm talented enough to get better than this, but i'm sure the car can do it!
jsr said:
Autocar roadtested a 400 some years back and got about 13.7sec for the quarter from it. Though i've not done a quarter mile, i have compared in gear time with the road test figures and my 400 is marginally quicker.
The roadtest was probably carried out by a very good driver who can extract the best from the car. A lot will depend on traction, gear changes, getting the perfect start etc.
Though i said my in gear times are all marginally ahead, i've never been able to get the 5.2secs they recorded to 60mph. My best is 5.5mph - i'm not sure i'm talented enough to get better than this, but i'm sure the car can do it!
The roadtest was probably carried out by a very good driver who can extract the best from the car. A lot will depend on traction, gear changes, getting the perfect start etc.
Though i said my in gear times are all marginally ahead, i've never been able to get the 5.2secs they recorded to 60mph. My best is 5.5mph - i'm not sure i'm talented enough to get better than this, but i'm sure the car can do it!
James, I think your pretty much backing up what I said here:
www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?p=1&f=13&t=382325&h=0
trackcar said:
My V8S is the same hp nas your chim, but slightly lighter and slightly lower geared and your car has better pod times, so i wouldn't be too disappointed with those times from a std 4 litre chim! My v8S always puts in a round 15 seconds no matter what i do to improve my technique.
Guess I was expecting a bit better due to the difference in power to weight ratios.
Chimaera is 1060kg, allegedly 240 bhp, therefore 239 bhp per tonne.
My 200sx was 1210kg, had at best 270 bhp, therefore 223 bhp per tonne.
Although I must confess getting the power down was hard work. My quickest run of the day was the one where I started off with the least revs and tried not to wheelspin. In most other cars I've had, some wheelspin, even if only a little bit, has been essential to get the best times on the quarter.
Also don't suppose hauling my bulk about did my times any favours, it's only just over 200bhp per tonne for the TVR when you include me driving it... my "performance enhancements" might have to involve laying off the pies a bit!!!
FTOandTVR said:
Mine was Dyno'd with 216bhp ATRW
Is it a chim 400 ? thats an amazing figure must have had a lot of work done...my 450 does 206bhp at the rear wheels which I am told is about right for a regular well running example - as told to me by both Austec and Surrey RR who came within 1BHP on the rollers :-)
, any Chim will give a good account of its self on a circuit - the guys that designed your car were circuit men , not staight liners - you owe it to them... 
.
Hi -JUT- i has the guy who spoke to you in the pit lane on your second run, i never saw your car run in the end 
as i said my 4.5 went a best of 13.66 @ 105mph a few weeks ago and it dyno'd at 249bhp at the crank
my Sierra was running like a dog on sun but i managed a best of 13.99 @ 101 towards the end of the day
what size are your rear tyres, i did glace at them and thought that profile looked quite tall... maybe its my eyes though
as i said my 4.5 went a best of 13.66 @ 105mph a few weeks ago and it dyno'd at 249bhp at the crank
my Sierra was running like a dog on sun but i managed a best of 13.99 @ 101 towards the end of the day
what size are your rear tyres, i did glace at them and thought that profile looked quite tall... maybe its my eyes though
Nano2nd said:
Hi -JUT- i has the guy who spoke to you in the pit lane on your second run, i never saw your car run in the end
as i said my 4.5 went a best of 13.66 @ 105mph a few weeks ago and it dyno'd at 249bhp at the crank
my Sierra was running like a dog on sun but i managed a best of 13.99 @ 101 towards the end of the day
what size are your rear tyres, i did glace at them and thought that profile looked quite tall... maybe its my eyes though
as i said my 4.5 went a best of 13.66 @ 105mph a few weeks ago and it dyno'd at 249bhp at the crank
my Sierra was running like a dog on sun but i managed a best of 13.99 @ 101 towards the end of the day
what size are your rear tyres, i did glace at them and thought that profile looked quite tall... maybe its my eyes though
Hello mate
225/50/16 Toyo Proxes T1R's on the back - was surprised they didn't seem to give me much grip off the line. Didn't think profile had that much effect on grip though - after all, lower profile often results in a smaller contact patch with the road. Perhaps I should have let a few PSI out of them first to increase it a bit more...
Podie said:
-JUT- said:
Chimaera is 1060kg, allegedly 240 bhp, therefore 239 bhp per tonne.
Chimaera is allegedly 1060kg
Cheapest way to get a faster car, is to buy a faster car.
Or build it
There's a very fast Corsa I've seen there a couple of times - ratty and externally standard looking purple thing complete with dodgy hubcaps. I've seen it running 12.5's before, and from what I've heard, it's a standard 2.0 16v vauxhall lump with nitrous, and just some heavy duty weight reduction - plastic windows, stripped interior, half of the dash haphazardly removed with a hacksaw... Can't have cost more than a couple of grand to build and slaughters far more expensive machinery every time it's out.
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