Thinking of a new car!
Discussion
I currently drive a turbo MX5, it is great, handles really well and has loads of power but I'm finding it a bit hard with the uprated suspension and just a little basic inside. I,ve narrowed my choice down to a Z3M roadster or a TVR chimera, the chimeras seem to be a little cheaper and my brother currently owns one but the Z3M might be the safer bet even though I'm not as keen on the styling. Any suggestions?
Markedman2020 said:
I currently drive a turbo MX5, it is great, handles really well and has loads of power but I'm finding it a bit hard with the uprated suspension and just a little basic inside. I,ve narrowed my choice down to a Z3M roadster or a TVR chimera, the chimeras seem to be a little cheaper and my brother currently owns one but the Z3M might be the safer bet even though I'm not as keen on the styling. Any suggestions?
A Griffith 
I've not driven a Griffith. I drove my brother's Chimera I think it broke down on every trip.
Took a Z3M for a test drive last year, glorious engine but the rest of the car felt fairly ordinary. The interior is cheap beyond belief (not nearly as good as my MG TF for example). Unlike the Chimera which felt wonderful in comparison when it worked.
I didn't buy the Z3 as it felt like the clutch was on the way out and it smelt fusty, which could have been the air conditioning. Also I wasn't sure what the economy was about to do.
But what an engine.
Try both, see what you like.
Took a Z3M for a test drive last year, glorious engine but the rest of the car felt fairly ordinary. The interior is cheap beyond belief (not nearly as good as my MG TF for example). Unlike the Chimera which felt wonderful in comparison when it worked.
I didn't buy the Z3 as it felt like the clutch was on the way out and it smelt fusty, which could have been the air conditioning. Also I wasn't sure what the economy was about to do.
But what an engine.
Try both, see what you like.
Z3M - great little car that doesn't feel at all fast but really really is. 320 BHP not to be sniffed at. Soft front end and got very very light between 120-130 leptons (fine after that though??) but handling wise was pretty damn fine (was one of Tiff Needell's fave handling cars of all time) you really could steer it with the seat of your pants.
Convertible can be very cheap now. Need to screw its testicles off to get the best out of it would heartily recommend one I really loved mine and should never have traded "up" to a Boxster S. Be careful of the VANOS system - has led to a number of engine woes and circa 2K to fix - check the Z3 owners club site. O/H didn't like it as it felt too "thin and tacky" but has more to it than an MX5 (had one of them once too)
Convertible can be very cheap now. Need to screw its testicles off to get the best out of it would heartily recommend one I really loved mine and should never have traded "up" to a Boxster S. Be careful of the VANOS system - has led to a number of engine woes and circa 2K to fix - check the Z3 owners club site. O/H didn't like it as it felt too "thin and tacky" but has more to it than an MX5 (had one of them once too)
Edited by Chewitt on Monday 13th April 09:02
CDP said:
I've not driven a Griffith. I drove my brother's Chimera I think it broke down on every trip.
With this in mind, the bottom/cheap end of the market may be very throught with problems. TVR's do require proper servicing. Skimping on this over the years will lead to unreliability. Inherently the chim/griff's are not unreliable. Look out for one with a good service history.Absolutely right. There are many examples on here where people have bought a TVR at the cheaper end of the scale only to spend far more than they would have on a better example just to get it back to a reliable level. If you want trouble free TVR'ing get a really good unmolested one with full history to start with - it'll be cheaper in the long run.
Chimjunkie said:
Turbo MX5? What is the spec of that? Car Weight and engine power at fly?
The Mx5 (actually a Eunos roadster) is currently running 220bhp but if the Electronic boost control is connected I am told it will put out about 300bhp and that is in a car that weighs under a ton! I kept up no trouble with my brother in his Chim 400.I think that the Z3 Coupe looks wonderful and the Z3 Roadster.... sorry but in that case go for the looks of the TVR.
But the reliability of the BMW is just fantastic. Got one (the Coupe) for 2 years and just pent like E300 at a BMW dealer for service...
The BMW is a car that you surely can drive the whole year snow, rain what ever...
But yes... that sound, looks, power of that TVR... well... buy both of them!!
But the reliability of the BMW is just fantastic. Got one (the Coupe) for 2 years and just pent like E300 at a BMW dealer for service...
The BMW is a car that you surely can drive the whole year snow, rain what ever...
But yes... that sound, looks, power of that TVR... well... buy both of them!!
Chimjunkie said:
CDP said:
I've not driven a Griffith. I drove my brother's Chimera I think it broke down on every trip.
With this in mind, the bottom/cheap end of the market may be very throught with problems. TVR's do require proper servicing. Skimping on this over the years will lead to unreliability. Inherently the chim/griff's are not unreliable. Look out for one with a good service history.Then at about 25mph it put a rod through the block, we think it might have been a faulty bolt. Nothing to do with servicing and very unlucky - we had a VW do exactly the same. Chimeras aren't known for these sort of problems, normally just little electrical faults which a good auto electrician (rather than a dealer) can fix quite easily - they're pretty simple cars.
The car was sold as a non runner to somebody who had a spare 5 litre to put in.
Markedman2020 said:
I must admit I am looking around £10,000 and that does put me in the lower end of the market for a Chimera, Should I get the Z3 and come back to a TVR when I have more money? I might also add that this will be my daily runner and not a weekend car, is it up to it?
Spend 9K (they start at 1k) and keep at least 1K in reserve. Apart from that engine the faults are mostly electrical with cheap British parts who the right people can easily fix, just don't assume a traditional garage is the best place to go.Watch out for chassis corrosion though. They are galvanised but unpainted so do get chips and scratches and the car may well be fifteen years old.
Either car's fantastic and I can't imagine them dropping too much further as they're both future (current?) classics.
Friend of mine is selling a facelift 98 in a great colour for sub £9k. It'll be about as safe as buy as you'll get for this money and you'd still have over £1k in the bank anyway for contingency.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/992833.htm
I see you mention PAS on your list, this isn't but that can be a good thing (he actively looked for a car without it) so don't rule it out on that alone. It's his 3rd Chim and he's moving onto a Tuscan.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/992833.htm
I see you mention PAS on your list, this isn't but that can be a good thing (he actively looked for a car without it) so don't rule it out on that alone. It's his 3rd Chim and he's moving onto a Tuscan.
If you're running 200+ bhp in an MX5 don't expect a huge performance increase from a standard Chim. What I would say (having owned an MX5 before the TVR) is that the extra character more than makes up for it as a road car, and providing it's a decent example the extra expense will be less than you expect and the reliability will also be a pleasant surprise.
Do consider an S too - very chuckable in a not-un-MX5-like way and even more for your money. My V6 seems to keep pace with low pressure FI'd '5s on track days and the V8 will probably dispatch any of them in a straight line.
Just be aware that they do vary hugely. You get dogs at all prices, but needless to say a suspiciously cheap example will almost certainly cost you more in the long run.
One thing to bear in mind though - if you plan on doing a lot of track work the TVR might not be the best choice. The small increase in running costs that you hardly notice on the road starts to build up and noise limits become a real issue. For this precise reason I'm looking at reverting back to an MX5, so drop me a PM if you decide to part exchange yours for an S.
Do consider an S too - very chuckable in a not-un-MX5-like way and even more for your money. My V6 seems to keep pace with low pressure FI'd '5s on track days and the V8 will probably dispatch any of them in a straight line.
Just be aware that they do vary hugely. You get dogs at all prices, but needless to say a suspiciously cheap example will almost certainly cost you more in the long run.
One thing to bear in mind though - if you plan on doing a lot of track work the TVR might not be the best choice. The small increase in running costs that you hardly notice on the road starts to build up and noise limits become a real issue. For this precise reason I'm looking at reverting back to an MX5, so drop me a PM if you decide to part exchange yours for an S.
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff