Just how fast are Chimaeras?

[pbrettle]

Now, call me a little daft here, but just been out for a spin in the TVR. Have owned the car for around 2 1/2 months now, but never really had the chance to "open her up" on roads that I know very well. It has always been wet, dark, slimey or a combination of all three....

Well, previous passing places that were 60 - 70 MPH max. are suddenly 100 MPH without realising!!! I mean, these things are seriously fast. Mine is a 4.0HC which is supposed to be 275BHP - but everyone knows that TVR tend to over state their power figures. Either way, it is lightning - proven by the fact that I overtook a friend in a 325i who just didnt have a chance....

So, this leads me to the questions - if mines got 275 and a 5.0 has 320 - 340, how much faster are they? I mean, that should make a big difference. From "bloody hell" to "what the fsck"...

Also, has anyone run a Chimaera against the clock to check on times? I have Steve Heaths book and he lists a mixture of magazine reports with wildly varying performance figures - from 6 seconds to 60 right down to 4.9.... Would be interesting to know if anyone has done this.

Finally, does anyone know of a good technique to get rid of this permanent grin on my face? Seems to be stuck and regardless of how much Bravo TV, I just cant get rid of it....

Cheers,

Paul