Griff 500 v WRX

[John from AUS]

I'm close to buying a 98 Griffith 500 that's for sale here in Sydney Australia. I want an interesting car to drive to work every day that will replace my old WRX. Reading the comments that have been posted in responce to others asking about using a Griff as a daily drive, has raised my concerns about the following;
How will the air condition work on 94-degree F days compared to a standard car?
How much more petrol would the Griffith use compared to my WRX, if driven in the same manner?
Will the Griffith generally cost more to maintain compared to a car like my WRX?
Difficult questions to answer, but a ballpark % type answer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. John.

[Ballistic Banana]

John from AUS said:

How will the air condition work on 94-degree F days compared to a standard car?

Havent got it myself but have heard very indifferent opinions on it, some saying its good some not. So i think you'll have to try the car in question out.

[quote]
How much more petrol would the Griffith use compared to my WRX, if driven in the same manner?
[/quote]
I generally get 240 miles to a tank so about 24mpg but this will be alot lower if in alot traffic or absolutely tanking it.

[quote]
Will the Griffith generally cost more to maintain compared to a car like my WRX?
[quote]
Dont know about the WRX but i would say if u budget around £1-1.5k per annum inc services should be about right.Try looking in the profiles of some griffith?chimaera owners.
[/quote]
[quote]
Difficult questions to answer, but a ballpark % type answer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. John.[/quote]

Hope some of this is of some help

BB

[jigs]

G'day mate! The following statistics (%) should answer your three queries:-

Griffith vs. WRX
Air Con. 92.75% vs. 100%
Petrol. 109.26% vs. 100%
Maintenance. 91.55% vs. 100%

Hope this helps.

Jigs

PS Did you know that 98.4% of statistics are lies!

PPS Sheila appeal Griffith 10000000000000% vs. WRX 10%.

>> Edited by jigs on Saturday 21st June 23:20

[CraigAlsop]

Well I've got a Chimaera 450 & a P1 (effectively a WRX STi) & have had a normal Impreza turbo ( = WRX for non UK markets for the pre-2000 year shape)

I reckon that the Chimaera uses less petrol on average, but there's not much in it (neither car is exactly frugal, however )
Parts are cheaper for the TVR (at least over here in UK), however many things that need servicing are a lot more labour intensive.
As BB says, budget about 1-1.5K pounds per year & you won't go far wrong.
Aircon - standard TVR aircon ain't gonna be anywhere near as good, due to heatsoak from the engine bay - maybe an aftermarket one may help. Also under-bonnet temperatures can be improved by insulating the manifolds.
You may want to try & contact the TVR folk in Malasia that build(built?) Chimaeras, as I bet they have far better air-con than we have in UK.

[onny]

John,

I've just emailed you.

[simpo one]

Hi John. You can't really analyse TVRs like that because too much practicality will see you in a diesel BMW! TVRs are about fun and delightful impracticality. I think you should test-drive a few, and if you like what you see and think you can live with it on a daily basis, get one. If not, don't.

Simple!

[egomeister]

Why do you need aircon? With weather like you have in oz it should be top down all the way!

[CraigAlsop]

egomeister said:

Why do you need aircon? With weather like you have in oz it should be top down all the way!

So you can have top down and aircon on - v pleasant