TVR Chimera - what the hell are they made from?

[biggerbigneil 0]

Thought it might be fun to get one of these for a few weeks in the summer - car shows, drive to France etc

 

Looking on a few forums to find out what sort of stuff goes wrong so I can try and buy and sell without any expenditure: -

 

fuel pipe goes over engine and exhaust manifold, can catch on fire

electrics go so you can't open the doors...

brakes are from a sierra - seize

header tank is from a mk2 golf - fails alot

 

I think the 4.0l is the best bet and seem to be the most reliable

 

Anyone know of any other good pointers?

[PhatVR6 0]

shocking build quality, the paintwork and finish levels are a joke for a so called "prestige" car.

 

if I ever bought one I'd have to strip it down and rebuilt it properly

 

my mates just sold his TVR Cerbera. the replacement? he's gone back to his Corrado G60......

[Kick Up The Rs 0]

Well I've had a Cerbera, 2 Chimaeras and an S2 and the build quailty varies considerably. Generally the later they are the better the build.

 

The only things that caused me problems were BRITISH parts usually made by LUCAS!

 

Radiators are also a weak point, they have to flex a lot.

 

Go for a post 94 Chim - they have the later Serpentine engine (PAS, better cooling etc.) and Borg Warner box and BTR diff - much stronger.

 

Quite frankly the paint on all of mine was top notch.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I've read reports of the rear Bilstein Dampers failing prematurely also...and they're like £250 each or something daft. Not sure if that is true or not, can never be sure on forums.

 

Sierra Brakes? I thought they had AP racing or Brembo or something?

[CoxyLaad 0]

mk2 golf header tank - what fails on that?

 

and so what if it does, theres millions of them in scrappies.

 

the engine catching fire is a bit of a biggie though lol

[biggerbigneil 0]

kevHaywire,

 

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/to ... 42&f=8&h=0

 

Here's the link, can't be 100% sure it's correct but sounds convincing enough

 

Quite random really

 

Kick Up The R's

Thanks for the post 94 tip, very helpful, was just looking at a 93 one

[Kick Up The Rs 0]

The Rover based cars (Griff, Chim) had the RS Cosworth Brakes which in a 1050 kg were excellent.

 

The AJP V8 / Speed 6 TVR engines had / have AP racing brakes.

 

Yes bits of trim will fall off occasionally but all can be fixed with a bit of contact adhesive.

[kerrinmay 0]

Take a look at this news article - you might not want one after reading this!

 

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/ViewArticle ... ID=1565942

[biggerbigneil 0]

what else has a V8 in for around £10k then lol

 

"Yes bits of trim will fall off occasionally but all can be fixed with a bit of contact adhesive. "

 

Genious! I'll use that when selling it back on again

 

Buyer - I'm sorry your door just fell off

Me - Oh don't worry, you just need to keep some glue with you in the car for when that sort of thing happens

[PhatVR6 0]

a land rover

[biggerbigneil 0]

I still want one though

[biggerbigben 0]

Well I love them! So much so I put half a cerbera inside my corrado .. :lol:

 

The old mans Chimera 4.0HC caught fire from having the 'rubber' fuel lines crack !! he caught it before it was too late, now sits a pair of SS braided hoses as replacments!!

 

All I am going to say... noise, looks, 1000kg with plenty of opffff for the money!!

 

Next car for me.. can you guess?? A 4.5L Cerbera... 200mph anyone??

 

B

[biggerbigneil 0]

Oh fook you Radford, I'm going to get one, you pushed the decision - not that you had to

 

What year is your Dad's TVR and do you know what he's had to replace on it other than the fuel line?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Apparently they've yet to see a road going TVR hit 200mph!

 

Evo tried it in a Tuscan R (I think that was the one, may have been a cerb) and when it got to 175mph, the bonnet starting lifting disconcertingly and it went extremely light in the nose.....pulled through to 185ish and the engine had no more to give. All done on the Autobahn of course....was in the "200 mph club" issue from a couple of years ago.....made interesting reading seeing how all the alleged 200mph cars handled at those speeds. Unsurprisingly, the only car that got close to it's claimed max mph and was solidly stable with it was the 996 turbo.

[Jim 1]

The Porsche's just seem to be able to handle that sort of speed. Seen countless clips of Ruf Turbo's that hit 200MPH and sound no noiser in the cabin than a Corrado does at 80MPH ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Maybe the TVR's light weight works against it at those kinds of speeds? Or just not very effective aerodynamic design :-)

 

In TVR's defense, they have a number of cars, most of which are recent models and haven't matured enough yet. Porsche have had 50 years to get their flagship to where it is now ;-)

[biggerbigben 0]

Oh fook you Radford, I'm going to get one, you pushed the decision - not that you had to

 

What year is your Dad's TVR and do you know what he's had to replace on it other than the fuel line?

 

Everything that has gone wrong on his car (not that much) was component parts... i.e. bought in parts, nothing to do with TVR.. apart from the fuel line

 

One of the dials broke, aircon pump and I think thats it.. Its a 97 P and he has had it from new...

[biggerbigben 0]

Kev.. you are quite right! They said the 4.5 Cerbera would make it to 200mph but no one has been stupid enough to do it!

 

Lets focus on the other figures that HAVE been proven!

 

0-60 = 3.9 secs

0-100 = 8.1 secs

 

heheh ;-)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Oh yeah, there's no denying the brutal acceleration those things have! Besides, top speed is for road captains anyway, acceleration is where the fun is :-)

 

Is the 4.5 the Rover V8 based one? I prefer that engine. Their inhouse 6 just doesn't sound as meaty or tuneful imo.....

[mk2_20vt 0]

fuel pipe goes over engine and exhaust manifold, can catch on fire

yes, fuel pipes do run fairly near to the exhaust manifold and get go brittle with age and crack, but no chance of them actually catching fire

electrics go so you can't open the doors...

if the battery runs flat you cant use the push button door entry, but there is a "secret" way in

brakes are from a sierra - seize

as with all cars you have to maintain them, the sierra calipers (cosworth) work fine

header tank is from a mk2 golf - fails alot

header tank is not from a mk2, its a custom ali one, it just uses a mk2 cap.

I think the 4.0l is the best bet and seem to be the most reliable

if you get a 4.0 you will wish you got the 5.0!

Anyone know of any other good pointers?

main thing to look out for is chassis rust, the finish from the factory was poor and rust can quickly take hold which is a major job to repair.

[Storm Warning 0]

If I could I would chop in my Storm for a Cerb 4.5 Light Weight 2+2 Red Rose (about 388bhp/ton). Ages ago I saw a site with some evidence of a 200.2 MPH TVR(road going) but the majority say its never happened.

[bcstudent 0]

Crew manager Stu Vince from Cosham fire station said: 'The fibre-glass chassis had melted and I would say the car was a write-off.'

Fibre-glass chassis?! Surely TVR use something a bit more substantial for a chassis than fibre-glass...like tubular steel?

[mk2_20vt 0]

Crew manager Stu Vince from Cosham fire station said: 'The fibre-glass chassis had melted and I would say the car was a write-off.'

Fibre-glass chassis?! Surely TVR use something a bit more substantial for a chassis than fibre-glass...like tubular steel?

 

The chassis' are made from tubular and box section steel, only the body is fibreglass.

[biggerbigben 0]

fuel pipe goes over engine and exhaust manifold, can catch on fire

yes, fuel pipes do run fairly near to the exhaust manifold and get go brittle with age and crack, but no chance of them actually catching fire

 

Urhhh it happened to my old man !!!!

[ReekieVR 0]

Ha - you beat me to it bcstudent ! (I wouldnt base my car purchasing decision on a 3 para story in Portmouth Today anyway)

 

'97 5L Chim owner for 9 months checking in.

 

biggerbigneil if you are seriously about to purchase one, then spend a few quid getting a professional to check it over. Loads of threads on Pistonheads about that ( and general buying advice. Its the main TVR forum ). The standard advice seems to be - dont buy the 1st one you see / drive and get it checked over.

You need to do your homework though. If you buy a lemon, you are going to burn money and hate it. Even with a goodun, you are going to have to budget £1k - £2k a year on maintenance. If its less, then great, but you really cant run one on the cheap.

 

PhatVR6 - i'd call it a sports car, not a 'prestige' car. If you want quality trim, fab paint, 200mph whilst listening to Classic FM, and an easy sale when you get bored, then buy a porker.

 

If you want nuts performance, a frankly terrifying soundtrack, and a car that is as unique as a Corrado ( there are slightly more Chims than Corrados now ), the a TVR of some sort is one of the few options.

 

Oh and you are going to have to learn how to drive. I mean properly. Things you do every day in the C will put your Tiv in a hedge at the first sign of rain!

 

Kick Up The R's is spot on 'bout the serp engines. Seems the concensus is they seem to be a lot better. And you ARE going to need glue at some point .

 

Sayin all that - they are easy to drive slowly / in traffic / around town, and you need to be ok with people looking at you. You will also develop a rather silly looking grin. You cant stop it. It just appears. Bit like this one:

 

 

Note how the grin remains unaffected by the crappy bit of trim on the a pillar..