Harry Metcalfe on the Griffith (video)
Discussion
Harry Metcalfe has done an interesting video on saying goodbye to his Griffith on the Evo website:
http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetevovideos/269473...
It actually provides a very good summary of the model as well as a personal take on his ownership experience. The bit I found really interesting was the McLaren comment, though.
Apparently the Griff/Chim had the worst chassis rigidity of any car the McLaren engineers had tested. Clearly they'd never tested an S - much as I loved mine, you could feel the deflection simply transfering to the chassis if you stiffened the dampers up! It's still not exactly a strong point on the Chim/Griff, but it's a lot better than the earlier cars.
http://www.evo.co.uk/videos/planetevovideos/269473...
It actually provides a very good summary of the model as well as a personal take on his ownership experience. The bit I found really interesting was the McLaren comment, though.
Apparently the Griff/Chim had the worst chassis rigidity of any car the McLaren engineers had tested. Clearly they'd never tested an S - much as I loved mine, you could feel the deflection simply transfering to the chassis if you stiffened the dampers up! It's still not exactly a strong point on the Chim/Griff, but it's a lot better than the earlier cars.
Great video and very interesting. I always wanted a Griff since the day it came out. It's exactly the things Harry describes in his EVO video that makes the magic to want one. The fact that Harry with all his top car options takes the time and makes this video fully supports my feeling: The Griff is the Next Gen E-type, which is much more rare and will be a future classic. So best to cherish it and enjoy it as much as you can 
and let's 
to that!
Peter
and let's to that!Peter
A nice vid..
Isn't there a chassis mod that some people are doing that stiffens the old Griff/Chimp chassis up to T car spec?
I have to say that the first thing I noticed going from the Griff to the T350 was massively increased handling predicatability.
Not much is going to beat a roll cage but not sure if this could be added without spoiling the looks?
Isn't there a chassis mod that some people are doing that stiffens the old Griff/Chimp chassis up to T car spec?
I have to say that the first thing I noticed going from the Griff to the T350 was massively increased handling predicatability.
Not much is going to beat a roll cage but not sure if this could be added without spoiling the looks?
900T-R said:
I think you mean torque - not sure ones b*tt dyno would register an extra 15-20 bhp (if that)...
The two feel very different but the actual end result isn't as disparate as the 0.7L would suggest. The 500 definitely feels faster but a 4.3BV wouldn't be being left behind.
Standard 500 you say? Absolutely standard? No frigging chance against a healthy 450BV I'm afraid. I've got a lovely engine build (forged pistons, big journal crank, bespoke cam and porting) in my Chim but it's still 4.3 litres and standard sized intake valves and even before any induction work and set up, it trounced all the std 500s at a TVRCC NL rolling road day...
The shape of the respective torque curves is way different though - mine is essentially flat between 2-4K rpm where the 5 litres have a trademark hump from the lower midrange up to about 4K which makes them a) feel a lot faster as long as you don't use all the revs and b) a bit more unpredictable on the road in give-or-take conditions.
When you start opening up the intake restrictions upstream of the intake manifold in a 500, however...
The shape of the respective torque curves is way different though - mine is essentially flat between 2-4K rpm where the 5 litres have a trademark hump from the lower midrange up to about 4K which makes them a) feel a lot faster as long as you don't use all the revs and b) a bit more unpredictable on the road in give-or-take conditions.
When you start opening up the intake restrictions upstream of the intake manifold in a 500, however...
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff