TVR - Chimera / Tuscan

[Mad Professor]

Just going to throw this one into the ring, Jaguar XKR supercharged V8, friend of mine has one and you can use it manually too if that takes your fancy

Good call there ,I had a 4,0 XKR convertible and it was a beast with huge wave of useable torque although still not the sense of occasion and special feeling you get with a TVR . A lot more civilised and actually quite cheap to run and no hassle .

 

[LeeZ4MR]

Driven a Tuscan, in the cold and ice...

didn't notice any particular problems...

I used to drive mine occasionally in all weathers and it was heavy rain and wet conditions that used to catch me out the most and I nearly put it in a field a few times... I remember taking it out on Christmas day once in low temps but with the quick steering its pretty easy to correct if you are used to RWD but the LSD could be a little unpredictable at times but on my M3 the LSD was top drawer.

When I then got my Z4M I couldn't believe how intrusive the nanny aids were in the dry so they got switched off straight away! still left them on in the rain though as I am not very good at driving when its wet!

 

[LeeZ4MR]

Just going to throw this one into the ring, Jaguar XKR supercharged V8, friend of mine has one and you can use it manually too if that takes your fancy

Good call there ,I had a 4,0 XKR convertible and it was a beast with huge wave of useable torque although still not the sense of occasion and special feeling you get with a TVR . A lot more civilised and actually quite cheap to run and no hassle .

Agree and I am a big fan of the XKR but for me personally the auto spoils the package a little because I just prefer a sports car to have a manual gearbox, credit needs to be given to Jag now though for offering the new F-Type with a manual, just a shame its still not offered on the V8 model just the 6 cylinder model but I suppose you cant have everything.

 

[Paulwirral]

I started with a couple of s2s and saved up for a 500 Griffith , it was only a few years old and bought from a main dealer in Harrogate , unlike any other car the hand over it Included a warning not to trust the fuel gauge , leave it more than a couple of weeks and the battery will go flat and it will leak in if you don't have a garage
Great old things though and I forgave it all it's problems , get a rover based one if your good with the spanners and sort it yourself .
I always thought the most exciting part of any journey in it was the nervous apprehension at the start wondering if you would actually reach your destination
Good luck if you buy one , I would personally choose a higher mileage regularly used example rather than a garage ornament .

 

[LeeZ4MR]

I started with a couple of s2s and saved up for a 500 Griffith , it was only a few years old and bought from a main dealer in Harrogate , unlike any other car the hand over it Included a warning not to trust the fuel gauge , leave it more than a couple of weeks and the battery will go flat and it will leak in if you don't have a garage
Great old things though and I forgave it all it's problems , get a rover based one if your good with the spanners and sort it yourself .
I always thought the most exciting part of any journey in it was the nervous apprehension at the start wondering if you would actually reach your destination
Good luck if you buy one , I would personally choose a higher mileage regularly used example rather than a garage ornament .

Can relate to this in so many ways! my battery always went flat until I got a trickle charger for it and I foolishly thought because my Cerbera was a Coupe it wouldn't leak...needless to say if it was left out in the rain I had enough water in the drivers footwell for a goldfish to live in! :lol:

You spend almost all the time watching the temp gauge in case it overheats and are always looking at the oil pressure too...I still loved it though but I concur that the Rover V8 is the best engine to go for and I would avoid TVR`s own AJP that was in mine and the Speed6 engine isn't much better either, mine was mainly a garage ornament and I don't think it did it any favours.

 

[wantaz4m]

well I went to my first TVR meet, bit disappointed....the cars all looked a bit old and worn bar three, I suppose given the ages of the car, paintwork and interior isn't going to look the best, all expect three. (2 Sargaris and 1 Tuscan Mark2)

had a good chat with two TVR owners one with a tuscan and one with a chimera....

there were quite a few Chimeras and Griffths, two sagaris and one Tuscan mark 1 and one Tuscan Mark 2...

The Tuscan mark2 owner was very friendly and offered some good advice, the other not so much...

Even without test driving them, just from the appearance I know I don't want a Chimera, so a Tuscan or Sagaris it will be. Going to buy a Zed in the mean time, while I save my pennies for the other two TVRs and also get some test drives in!

 

[LeeZ4MR]

well I went to my first TVR meet, bit disappointed....the cars all looked a bit old and worn bar three, I suppose given the ages of the car, paintwork and interior isn't going to look the best, all expect three. (2 Sargaris and 1 Tuscan Mark2)

I used to go to the East Midlands/South Yorkshire/Hampshire meets over my ownership period and all three clubs were very welcoming and helpful and at the Hampshire meet I took a guy out in mine as he was looking to buy a Cerbera, you do see a mixed bag of cars in terms of condition though I agree.

Both the Sagaris and Tuscan2`s fetch pretty big money now but you can get in a Chim/Cerb for not too much cash, the sagaris is my favourite but you need around £50k to get into one.