400/450/ or 500?

[AndrewL]

I am sure you chimaera owners must be bored with this question but which is best and why? I am currently trying to sell my TVR S1 and am thinking of upgrading to a Chimaera. I am not buying purely for performance ( I also have an M3) but more for reliability, ease of maintainance and service costs. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Chimjunkie]

Loads of info/opinions will come up if you do a search on this topic. I went from an Mr2 to a Chimaera so a 400 was more than enough for me. A few years down the line and much more power was in order so converted to a modified 500.

Power is a drug

[scotty_d]

I would say go for a good soild car with in your budget. i would say thay are all good cars if you get a good one that has been looked after, parts are easy to source for the RV8 i have a 400 and love it. only sill little niggles with it but i have taken it off the road for the winter to bring it up to my standard only had the car since FEB.

Iam sure the guys will give you more in depth in regards to performance diffrence ect.

[V8 Animal]

There's no particular best one all the same some slightly quicker than others.
Some say the 450's the pick of the bunch.
500 similar on power to the M3
If your hands on the TVR is easier to maintain and if used regularly very reliable.
Also cheap to insure as a second car.
500 is also the dearer one to buy due to the numbers produced.
6k-18k purchase price as a ball park figure.
Hopefully that's a start.

[pilgrim13]

I've had a 400 and 450 and driven a friends 500 a lot. I found the power of the 400 soon became not boring but just not exciting, the 500 I found to be hard to drive slowly and around town, obviously blistering performance but a bit harsh, however the 450 I have now is fantastic, no shunting, smooth all the way through the power and not much slower than the 500. Obviously these are just the particular cars I have driven (2 400's, 1 450 and 1 500) and other cars are set up differently and drive differently but I wouldnt change my 450.

[Gusbang]

What about the 430?

[Hoover.]

Gusbang said:

What about the 430?

quality

[450Nick]

Get a 450 and supercharge it! I'd say that was the pick of the bunch

[Don]

If you are after a younger car you will want a 450 as they remained in production later than the 4.0 and 5.0

We've run a 450 for nine years now! Great car - but stay on top of the maintenance...

[matt12023]

I had this choice, I picked up my 500 about 3 weeks ago. After speaking to mates who had the 400 or driven i decided i wanted a bit more power. Ideally the 500 but if the right 450 had come along then i would have maybe gone for that. If you've already got the m3 and have the patience to wait for the right one i'd go for the 500.

As for driving its lovely, I can pootle it round town due to all the torque and it comes alive when pushed i love it. best bet is a test drive though

[BBR]

I agree with Scotty in that condition is more important than ehgine size. My 400HC had the chasis and engine completely refurbished by the mechanical engineer former owner. It puts out just over 230 bhp, weighs around 1050kg and does 0-60 in 5 secs. A poorly maintained 500 may not be as fast, so go for condition and test drive.

[GAVC]

Had a 500

Got a 450

Want a 500 again, as blistering performance is what does it for me

[siwebster]

I've got a 450 - which I'm reliably told by ex-TVR employees is definitely the one to have - which is up for sale at the moment if you're interested. It's had a fair bit of work done over the last 12 months to get it to a high standard, it's superb now, really gutted to be selling it! If you're interested I'll email you all the details, I'm not a million miles away in the Midlands if you want a look.

Picked it up from Automedon in Blackpool on Saturday morning after it had the top diff bush replaced (poly bush, shouldn't ever need doing again) along with a new thicker 48mm core radiator, reconditioned header tank and stainless steel swan neck pipe. It ran 20 degrees cooler and more economically than it ever has on the way back and felt glorious. As I've said, gutted to be selling it at the moment!

[M@H]

condition, condition, condition.

I had an S Series, moved up to a 400 Chim, moved back to an S Series, and then back to a 400 Chim (I could have bought any engine but the 400 is plenty and I found a nice car/nice colour 400 first)

But.. what I acutally should have bought was a V8S.

Seriously, if you are a fan of the S Series but want to trade up then I would definitely say get a V8S as the Chimaera just isn't as "sporty" as the S Series and it has more character too.

Cheers,
Matt.

Edited by M@H on Thursday 23 October 16:11

[Zippee]

As everyone has already said buy on condition. BUT get the right engine decided and then buy that model based on condition. I had a 400 for 4 years but after only a few months started to wish I'd gone for a 450. Whilst the 400 is by no means slow it also isn't hugely fast. Obviously it has enough for most situations but you'll always want that little bit more. Like when a hot hatch chav comes up behind you the 400 will struggle to pull away from many new breed performance cars.

[M@H]

Zippee said:

As everyone has already said buy on condition. BUT get the right engine decided and then buy that model based on condition. I had a 400 for 4 years but after only a few months started to wish I'd gone for a 450. Whilst the 400 is by no means slow it also isn't hugely fast. Obviously it has enough for most situations but you'll always want that little bit more. Like when a hot hatch chav comes up behind you the 400 will struggle to pull away from many new breed performance cars.

This really is so subjective though.. I had engine choice about 3rd on my list of criteria, condition and colour being higher up. Having had a 400 previously and driven 430's, 450's and 500's I was completely happy having another 400. Yes it may be a bit slower and 0.01% more cars on the road but it really doesn't matter and 0-60 in 5 seconds is by no means slow.

In a straight line a 400 is quicker than a WRX imprezza or a DB7 so that is plenty for me (equally I have no problems dispersing the "hot hatch chav").
No matter what you drive there will always be a quicker car on the road somewhere.

Cheers,
Matt.

[davidindevon]

Hi,
I'd agree with pilgrim.

Plus just chose a nice colour, interior and one that's been well maintained. Do check the outriggers and wishbones.

Engine - well if money no object a modern 450.
However, if you are happy with only slightly less power then do search for the earlier 430 BV - not many of these around so they are a little bit different/special and will always be in demand.

Oh and the 430 doesn't have catalytic converters either so have a woooonderful sound

[900T-R]

davidindevon said:

Oh and the 430 doesn't have catalytic converters either so have a woooonderful sound

That only goes for the Griffith - all Chimaeras were registered in 1993 or later, so catalyst was mandatory.

The 4.3 litre gets my vote - but I'd say that wouldn't I?

[CLN1]

500

[roysum]

Had my 400 since may, no probs. Stonking performance.