underperforming?!

[THE BIG DOG]

Have a friend who has a Griff 500 (just short of 280BHP)and he took me for a GOOD spin!
WoW. Now, I thought he just new his car.
Let him drive mine! He was shocked and so he should be! I have a hard job keeping up with the guy!!
Car is underperforming by miles.
The car smells rich in petrol.
Conks out when hot and cold (have to keep my foot resting on pedel till she has a few mins warming)
Oh..and arse kicked by a Griff (which I dont mind cause it TVR but so wrong!)
Has only done just under 1k miles from the last service (12k)
Have noticed that oil is way too high.
So, brought new oil and filter and also a serial cable in post for the laptop software.
Any Ideas? Anything else I might wanna try?

[pk500]

get a 4.5 that will sort it out

[Extra 300 Driver]

pk500 said:

get a 4.5 that will sort it out

Not very constructive or correct.

[Gazzab]

Do you know how to use the software? If not then just get it to a TVR specialist for looking at.
I reckon it could be:-
throttle pots
temp sensor
coil packs
fuelling issue
plugs
lamda sensors
cracked manifolds
etc...
Are you sure it has too much oil? Are you reading the readings properly on dip stick? They can smear. There is no water in the oil I take it?
The Cerb should be faster than a Griff ! Albeit both are very fast.

[Gazzab]

ps How have you only just noticed the oil is way too high? You have had the car for a month?

[GreenV8S]

Get a professional to sort it out. You say it's just been serviced. Was it running like this when you got it back? Was it running like this when you took it in? Did you mention it? Did they?

I'd expect them to have noticed it if there was a problem when they had it, especially if you had mentioned it to them. If you haven't already, tell them about it now and ask them to investigate the problem. The longer you leave it the more likely that you will damage something else in the meantime.

[TT Tim]

Get the laptop hooked up when the lead arrives, if the car is running too rich, or lean for that matter, it will show an AFR error, if the adaptives can't get the mixture correct.

But, what I would say is, if the car smells of fuel, then try to find out where it's coming from, fire in a plastic car really isn't funny.

I was horrified by the state of the fuel lines in my car, one ruptured as soon as I touched it.

Tim

[THE BIG DOG]

Thanks for your replies, Gazzab, yes I'v had the car a month now but havn't driven it much due to the bad weather. As this is my first TVR I didn't realise it was performing that badly until I started driving her properly and the service was carried out before I purchased her. As for the smell of petrol, sorry,let me clarify!!. I can't smell it but when my mate in his griff followed me he said there was a rich smell of burnt fuel.

[Gazzab]

MAte - even if you havent driven it much you have driven it and you have had it a month. THe user manual says to check the oil each time you use her. I say once a week or every two or three drives if you are driving more than a few times each week.

[Chimjunkie]

Here's where I get into trouble..But..A sorted 280+ Bhp Chim/Griff will easily match a 4.2 cerb.

[Gazzab]

Yeah a 280+ bhp griff chim will keep up with a 4.2 so long as 280 + is actually nearer 340 bhp or more.

[HarryW]

Chimjunkie said:

Here's where I get into trouble..But..A sorted 280+ Bhp Chim/Griff will easily match a 4.2 cerb.

just to add , sub license loosing speeds Barry's old steed was not a lot quicker, if at all, than my old V8S with similar power to the Chim it was probably a bit lighter too.
No harm in getting it checked out though.

[AlVal]

my 4.2 feels badly underpowered too, ill let you know how much an improvement comes with new cams/followers, coil packs, ht leads, 12k service with tappets/valve clearance/throttle pot setup etc, will have it back 2-3 weeks

[THE BIG DOG]

Gazzab said:

MAte - even if you havent driven it much you have driven it and you have had it a month. THe user manual says to check the oil each time you use her. I say once a week or every two or three drives if you are driving more than a few times each week.

Oh and of cause everything must be done by the book.!! No room for deviating!

[TimJM]

My car is being sorted as we speak (well maybe not right now at 11pm) for a similar problem. It all started when I had to have some engine out work for a new sump. Got the car back and it was running like crap. Turns out a lambda sensor was down (I must update the other thread I started on here). BUT it turns out this was not the main reason why the car was running like crap - the cam timing was way out. The car is having some final tweaks tomorrow and hopefully I will be getting her back on Thursday. Perhaps your timing is out also?

It has been nearly 2 months now without my cerb

[GreenV8S]

TimJM said:

BUT it turns out this was not the main reason why the car was running like crap - the cam timing was way out.

Is this something that managed to go wrong while you were having the sump done, or is this a case of something that's been wrong forever and only just been noticed?

[Gazzab]

THE BIG DOG said:

Gazzab said:

MAte - even if you havent driven it much you have driven it and you have had it a month. THe user manual says to check the oil each time you use her. I say once a week or every two or three drives if you are driving more than a few times each week.

Oh and of cause everything must be done by the book.!! No room for deviating!

Exactly why I suggested you can deviate away from checking it every time you drive. But buying a cerb and the waiting a month to check the oil is just asking for trouble. IMHO

[HarryW]

GreenV8S said:

TimJM said:

BUT it turns out this was not the main reason why the car was running like crap - the cam timing was way out.

Is this something that managed to go wrong while you were having the sump done, or is this a case of something that's been wrong forever and only just been noticed?

Not unusual on the AJP8 from new or factory rebuild, in fact a lot more common than it should be. Any apparently healthy Cerb that is not performing should have it checked.

[JensenA]

This may seem like a strange thing to say on a Cerb forum, but I think too many 'Newbies' are getting too pre-occupied with performance based on the things like the published 0-60 times. I've owned 2 Chimaeras prior to the Cerb (4.0 and 4,5) and my initial impressions of the Cerb was that it felt a lot slower than the Chim. The torquey RV8's give instant performance, just dab the throttle and they are off, real 'point and squirt' cars. After a few weeks of ownership a Primera GT (or was it a Toyota, I can't remember) was pi$$ing me off by racing me away from traffic lights along a 'Traffic light' infested dual carriageway. At the 3rd set of (red)lights I thought 'Right, I've had enough of this' and when the lights changed to green I floored it, $hit ! the bloddy thing almost took off, wheel spinning, back end fishtailing, it was amazing, the car was awesome. The Cerb is a car that you really have to drive to get the best out of it.
Also, it is a Supercar in the proper sense of the world. A well driven Civic Type 'R' will give me a run for the money in normal roads that we drive on 99% of the time, dual carriageways with roundabouts every mile etc etc, lesser cars will keep up with you, don;t worry about it. Because you know that when you get to 130 the Civic is running out of steam, and you will just carry on powering away from him. How often will you ever be able to do that? Well hardly ever, so just be content in the fact that you have a car that will pi$$ all over them, you just cant always show it.
Having said that, take it to a reputable Indie and just get it checked over and sorted to give you peace of mind.
there is lot more to Cerb ownership than worrying about other cars abilites to keep up with you on normal roads - the Cerbera isn't at home on normal roads, it isn't a normal car.

[satman]

JensenA said:

This may seem like a strange thing to say on a Cerb forum, but I think too many 'Newbies' are getting too pre-occupied with performance based on the things like the published 0-60 times. I've owned 2 Chimaeras prior to the Cerb (4.0 and 4,5) and my initial impressions of the Cerb was that it felt a lot slower than the Chim. The torquey RV8's give instant performance, just dab the throttle and they are off, real 'point and squirt' cars. After a few weeks of ownership a Primera GT (or was it a Toyota, I can't remember) was pi$$ing me off by racing me away from traffic lights along a 'Traffic light' infested dual carriageway. At the 3rd set of (red)lights I thought 'Right, I've had enough of this' and when the lights changed to green I floored it, $hit ! the bloddy thing almost took off, wheel spinning, back end fishtailing, it was amazing, the car was awesome. The Cerb is a car that you really have to drive to get the best out of it.
Also, it is a Supercar in the proper sense of the world. A well driven Civic Type 'R' will give me a run for the money in normal roads that we drive on 99% of the time, dual carriageways with roundabouts every mile etc etc, lesser cars will keep up with you, don;t worry about it. Because you know that when you get to 130 the Civic is running out of steam, and you will just carry on powering away from him. How often will you ever be able to do that? Well hardly ever, so just be content in the fact that you have a car that will pi$$ all over them, you just cant always show it.
Having said that, take it to a reputable Indie and just get it checked over and sorted to give you peace of mind.
there is lot more to Cerb ownership than worrying about other cars abilites to keep up with you on normal roads - the Cerbera isn't at home on normal roads, it isn't a normal car.

Well said!