TVR owner, loves skyline.......

[pvapour]

Took a Supra TT out a few months back and also an M3 EVO as I was looking at changing the Chimaera I had at the time.
However, neither of these cars impressed me, both examples were lazy barges in comparison to the TVR. &

Soooo I took a 5.0 Chimaera out and was gob smacked by how much quicker it was than my current (at that time) 4.0, done deal, it's now heavily modified and I still love the car to bits.

Took out a Tusacn and a Cerbera recently to see if I would be tempted, but no, they're nice but not 30k nice! and feel no quicker than the Chimaera.

So I'm guna buy another car for when the Chimaera is tucked for the winter. Today I took out an R32GTR Skyline, uprated to about 360 BHP I was told, I'd say they were right, bloody excellent car, within a mile of driving I was confident enough to be throwing it around with ease and the power delivery is so different to the TVR but just as intoxicating with it's wastegate churping and the whistle from the turbo, excellent, loved it, but the R32 is no beauty, and I can't bring myself to pay 12k for a car that looks the way it does, so I was thinking, similar Jap turbo car with as good a handling that looks good and is a bit cheaper..... Mazda RX7 sprung to mind, but here's the question, how easy are they to get 360-400 bhp out of and how reliable would it be? cost wise for tuning I'll have about 2k set a side.
Cheers, Nik

[nismobrown]

I have had skyline gtr s and my brother has had 7 tvrs and every one of them has been a leaking bucket of plastic shite.One thing you must have on a tvr is an aa membership or RAC even better a gps system to tell either recovery company your exact location when you break down.Stick to the jap cars .Both my skylines were approx 400bhp and never used one drop of oil even though they rev to 8,000.Try this in a TVR and you will break down a lot quicker than normal.JAPS CAN MAKE CARS,MOST BRITS CANT.

[pvapour]

Just aswell I only use it when it's sunny then as for reliability, it's been the perfect car actualy, 2 x 3000 mile trips round europe, ten track days and counting (I must have a good one though eh) the skyline / rx7 i'm guna get is for the winter, have you any HELPFULL advice on that score?

[nismobrown]

One thing I have to say is that out of all the tvrs my brother owned the chimaeras were his favourite .His last one,a 4.5 had no problems and was the only one which had a sweet motor.However these sort of cars are ideal in the summer but get yourself a nice 4wd performance jap car for the winter or for when the tvr fails to start.Hope this helps.

[pvapour]

nismobrown said: However these sort of cars are ideal in the summer but get yourself a nice 4wd performance jap car for the winter or for when the tvr fails to start.Hope this helps.

as I said TWICE, a Skyline or RX7 will be an additional car to my TVR! FOR USE IN THE WINTER!

hope this helps!



>> Edited by pvapour on Sunday 8th June 22:31

[CraigAlsop]

nismobrown said: However these sort of cars are ideal in the summer but get yourself a nice 4wd performance jap car for the winter or for when the tvr fails to start.Hope this helps.

I'm fortunate enough to have had both a Subaru P1 as well as my Chimaera for the last 3 years - of the 2, my Chimaera has been the only one that has been 100% mechanically reliable (P1 needed a gearbox rebuild in the 1st year, as the factory hadn't tightened a bolt properly)
Just goes to show that not all stereotypes are true - don't get me wrong, I love my Scooby, but it's nice to know I have something reliable to drive when it needs to be fixed

[nubbin]

CraigAlsop said: - of the 2, my Chimaera has been the only one that has been 100% mechanically reliable

I love my Scooby, but it's nice to know I have something reliable to drive when it needs to be fixed

>> Edited by nubbin on Monday 9th June 00:01

[shadowninja]

do your research about the rx7. those wankel engines need keeping an eye on if you are to avoid hefty repair bills... and your best bet is to get a knowledgeable pro (ie not the AA, who can only check normal cars) to thoroughly check any rx7 you are considering purchasing. lovely cars otherwise.

[trackdemon]

nismobrown said: I have had skyline gtr s and my brother has had 7 tvrs and every one of them has been a leaking bucket of plastic shite.One thing you must have on a tvr is an aa membership or RAC even better a gps system to tell either recovery company your exact location when you break down.Stick to the jap cars .Both my skylines were approx 400bhp and never used one drop of oil even though they rev to 8,000.Try this in a TVR and you will break down a lot quicker than normal.JAPS CAN MAKE CARS,MOST BRITS CANT.

Just wondering: If the TVR's you're brother had were such 'piles of plastic sh!te' then why did he get through 7 of them rather than purchasing an evidentally superior Nissan?

[Mr E]

shadowninja said: do your research about the rx7. those wankel engines need keeping an eye on if you are to avoid hefty repair bills... and your best bet is to get a knowledgeable pro (ie not the AA, who can only check normal cars) to thoroughly check any rx7 you are considering purchasing. lovely cars otherwise.

Agreed.

RX-7 is a beautiful car. And goes like stick.

Big power is pretty easy to extract.

However, from what I've heard;

Rotor tips wear and need replacement every 60,000 miles.
It'll drink fuel like nothing else.
Tends to have all or nothing power delivery - more so if you mod it. I suspect it takes appropriate skill to drive fast and hard.....

RX7 club would know a lot more.

In the same bracket - Nissan Fairlady (300ZX) or 3000 GTO might be worth a look.....

[pvapour]

Thanks for all your advice, took a 3rd generation out RX7 out today, loved it, better than the skyline in lots of ways, and as I find out now, quite easy to get 350 bhp out of and stay reliable, just get a goodan in the 1st place, I don't think fuel will be a shock runing along side the TVR tho.

300zx and GTO a bit to big and heavy for me I think, bit like the Supra I tested.

Can't wait to play with the new toy!

Nik