RV8 reliability 4.0 v 4.5 v 5.0

[notax]

I sold my fifth TVR a year ago and swapped it for a high spec Boxster S. My TVRs have been 4 Chimaeras - all 4.0 and one Tamora. The Boxster is a great car, but there is no theatre, long gearing and it doesn’t like to drift... so I’m considering my sixth TVR! I’m lucky enough to own some very quick cars and this time fancy a faster Chimaera or Griffith. My 4.0 engined Chimaera engines have been extremely reliable. Are the 4.5 and 5.0 similarly reliable, or is it just down to luck and previous maintenance? Is the 4.5 a reasonable jump in real world performance over the 4.0? Thanks. Here’s a photo of my last Chimaera thanks to Andrew Whyte for the photo...

Edited by notax on Monday 5th October 23:58

[notax]

Thanks, I’d heard various concerns about the 5.0, but wasn’t sure if they were representative. I think the Chimaera is fantastic - and like the fact that you can fit a mountain bike or even two spare rear tyres and a trolley jack in the boot. They’re brilliant fun at slaloms too, so although some people think it’s mad, I’m likely to do this again...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyeChgOvhrs

I do, however like the idea of a Griffith this time and as far as I know the only engine options are 5.0 or 4.3. Are there many differences, other than engine size, between the earlier 4.3 and 5.0s?

[notax]

rockits said:

I did the same thing but went the other way as had the 987 Boxster 3.2 S and found it a great car but always a little too much of a daily compromise 2-in-1 kind of car. Perfect if you wanted that but I wanted a more raw 4th+ car for a special uncompromising experience.

I had 2 x Chimaera 400's which were perfectly fine but wanted something a little more and bought a restored 500 that had a tone of work done by a previous owner a couple of years ago. Allegedly about £19k spent! So full full rebuild and replacement of pretty much everything.

However I think I have gone a smidge too far and finding it a little too raw for me. Not sure if I am getting old but looking for something in-between now I think. So the 500 will be going. It might be right up your street if you want something raw as this is all of that. Tons of power and torque as the dyno chart proves. I've just sent you a PM.

I might roll 2 cars into one and get something a little newer maybe a later T car. Just not sure about getting into a Speed Six engined car as always loved the characterful noise and feel of the RV8.

Depending on what the Boxster is I might even be interested in some kind of swap deal

Thanks for coming back to me, your Griffith looks great, but sadly the colour scheme isn’t for me. This is my 981 Boxster S, 29k miles and very big spec...

[notax]

It’s strange that both TVR and another British manufacture, McLaren, are tarred with the poor reliability brush. Other makes, in particular Porsche, have suffered from very well documented issues such as IMS failure, Ferrari 458s initially caught fire, but they somehow avoid the bad publicity? At least TVRs didn’t depreciate at the rate McLarens do....