Greetings and a quick question about the S
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I've been lurking reading threads on the S Series forum for a couple of months now and finally got around to signing up and beginning to post. I've been saving up in preparation for buying myself an S2 or possibly an S3 over the winter to use as a second car come summer, and now I'm getting closer to my goal (only 3 more paycheques away! ^_^) I thought it would be a good time to ask a question that been worrying me.
It's regarding the exhaust. I've read a couple of posts and topics around the net commenting on how the exhaust has a habit of grounding out. Now my garage is at the bottom of a short slope (ground drops about a foot and a half in a car length I would estimate) but that does mean there is a lip at the top of the slop. Is this likely to cause me problems with grounding the exhaust?
I also wanted to ask about any experiences you all might have with speed bumps, as where I work has a few throughtout the carpark. Is a speedbump a no-go for an S?
Anyway thanks in advance for any advice and nice tofinally be posting on here. ^_^
I've been lurking reading threads on the S Series forum for a couple of months now and finally got around to signing up and beginning to post. I've been saving up in preparation for buying myself an S2 or possibly an S3 over the winter to use as a second car come summer, and now I'm getting closer to my goal (only 3 more paycheques away! ^_^) I thought it would be a good time to ask a question that been worrying me.
It's regarding the exhaust. I've read a couple of posts and topics around the net commenting on how the exhaust has a habit of grounding out. Now my garage is at the bottom of a short slope (ground drops about a foot and a half in a car length I would estimate) but that does mean there is a lip at the top of the slop. Is this likely to cause me problems with grounding the exhaust?
I also wanted to ask about any experiences you all might have with speed bumps, as where I work has a few throughtout the carpark. Is a speedbump a no-go for an S?
Anyway thanks in advance for any advice and nice tofinally be posting on here. ^_^
Hi Gareth and welcome
The S is a fantastic car but like other TVRs is quite low slung. I have a similar problem with my drive to your drive but have found that if I approach the lip of the drive at a 45 degre angle its fine. Car parks again can be a problem but a slow approach and at an angle should be OK, not been stuck yet.
Only real problem I have had is being caught out by a speed bump in the road which isnt clearly marked and hitting it at speed is a possibility.
Will post a pic later if I get the chance.
Whereabouts in Wlitshire are you? There are a number of S's around someone might be able to test your drive for you
Good luck - Norman
The S is a fantastic car but like other TVRs is quite low slung. I have a similar problem with my drive to your drive but have found that if I approach the lip of the drive at a 45 degre angle its fine. Car parks again can be a problem but a slow approach and at an angle should be OK, not been stuck yet.
Only real problem I have had is being caught out by a speed bump in the road which isnt clearly marked and hitting it at speed is a possibility.
Will post a pic later if I get the chance.
Whereabouts in Wlitshire are you? There are a number of S's around someone might be able to test your drive for you
Good luck - Norman
I've had quite a few problems with the exhaust grounding, but it's not really entry/exit angles that are the worry, it's bumps in the road and compression when you reach the bottom of a dip.
That said, the exhaust isn't properly mounted on my car, so the tail pipes are considerably lower than they should be, this no doubt won't help! However, the other S I've driven grounded out at one stage or another too.
On the upside, the centre section of the exhaust is housed in square section tube, so it's pretty tough.
I had a lip on my old garage which sounds similar - wouldn't imagine you'd have problems.
Whereabouts are you? Maybe there's someone local who'd be willing to try it out? I'm in Enfield and happy to head over some time if you're nearby.
Good luck with the hunt. Be prepared to spend a while looking and consider spending more than those three extra pay cheques if that's what's needed to get a good one. It'll be worth it in the end!
That said, the exhaust isn't properly mounted on my car, so the tail pipes are considerably lower than they should be, this no doubt won't help! However, the other S I've driven grounded out at one stage or another too.
On the upside, the centre section of the exhaust is housed in square section tube, so it's pretty tough.
I had a lip on my old garage which sounds similar - wouldn't imagine you'd have problems.
Whereabouts are you? Maybe there's someone local who'd be willing to try it out? I'm in Enfield and happy to head over some time if you're nearby.
Good luck with the hunt. Be prepared to spend a while looking and consider spending more than those three extra pay cheques if that's what's needed to get a good one. It'll be worth it in the end!
GreenV8S said:
If you can stretch to a V8S they have much better ground clearance. You know it makes sense!
Might be cheaper to get a new custom made exhaust like the one on my V6 - it was fitted to the car before I got it and gives an extra 3cm clearance compared to an original one. Now gents, as we know, 3cm isn't much but it can make all the difference 
Never had any problems hitting the ground while driving, unlike my previous S's but still need car over speed bumps 
Good that you're planning ahead!! I didn't, i got the S3 home, tried to get it down to where my garage is, and it made a really savage scrape noise!
So, i was fooked. I now have made up some ramps out of 18mm ply, does the job if i go slow over them, but it's a pain in the arse if you're in a hurry!
Plus, i know all my neighbours are thinking 'what a dick, that'll teach him to buy a flashy sports car!' GGrrrr
But now i see it as just good owd.. TVR onwnership!;)
So, i was fooked. I now have made up some ramps out of 18mm ply, does the job if i go slow over them, but it's a pain in the arse if you're in a hurry!
Plus, i know all my neighbours are thinking 'what a dick, that'll teach him to buy a flashy sports car!' GGrrrr
But now i see it as just good owd.. TVR onwnership!;)
Thanks for all the nice greeetings and advice everyone. ^_^
I'm actually based in Swindon, off Junction 16 of the M4 (right near the Designer Outlet Village for anyone that knows the area). If there is a local S owner willing to drop round and 'test' my driveway that would be an absolute boon! I'd be more than happy to compensate for the trip over with a few quid for fuel and a cup of tea and some biscuits (be worth it just to get to see and hear another S ).
Oh and thank you Gerald-TVR especially for posting those pictures up. Looking at them I'm pretty sure I should be all ok as the lip on my drive doesn't seem quiet as steep as that one in the pictures.
Reading back my earlier post makes it sound like I'm scraping the barrel for funds but in reality I could afford a higher milage car now. Just hoping to save up a little more and then shop around to try and get a good one. I should have between 4500 to 6000 to spend come January/February time. Not sure what prices/availibility will be like then, have to wait and see.
Thanks again everyone.
I'm actually based in Swindon, off Junction 16 of the M4 (right near the Designer Outlet Village for anyone that knows the area). If there is a local S owner willing to drop round and 'test' my driveway that would be an absolute boon! I'd be more than happy to compensate for the trip over with a few quid for fuel and a cup of tea and some biscuits (be worth it just to get to see and hear another S
).Oh and thank you Gerald-TVR especially for posting those pictures up. Looking at them I'm pretty sure I should be all ok as the lip on my drive doesn't seem quiet as steep as that one in the pictures.
Reading back my earlier post makes it sound like I'm scraping the barrel for funds but in reality I could afford a higher milage car now. Just hoping to save up a little more and then shop around to try and get a good one. I should have between 4500 to 6000 to spend come January/February time. Not sure what prices/availibility will be like then, have to wait and see.
Thanks again everyone.
Haven't paid much attention to prices since I bought mine (I suspect they go up with supply), but there were definitely fewer for sale mid-winter than there have been recently.
Certainly when I was looking in the winter £6k would buy you a very nice S3. Be warned price rarely correlates to condition - I saw a couple of cars at very optimistic prices which needed fairly major attention and some which were at the cheaper end of the spectrum, but basically very sound.
I also wouldn't rule out an S1 or 2. Certainly at 'someone else's car' pace on the test drives I couldn't really tell any difference in the handling to the S3; the prices however seem to be significantly lower. I'd certainly say that a pristine, well setup S1 is a better bet than a later car in average condition.
Certainly when I was looking in the winter £6k would buy you a very nice S3. Be warned price rarely correlates to condition - I saw a couple of cars at very optimistic prices which needed fairly major attention and some which were at the cheaper end of the spectrum, but basically very sound.
I also wouldn't rule out an S1 or 2. Certainly at 'someone else's car' pace on the test drives I couldn't really tell any difference in the handling to the S3; the prices however seem to be significantly lower. I'd certainly say that a pristine, well setup S1 is a better bet than a later car in average condition.
Hi,
Good luck with the S purchase. I've got an S2, live in Swindon and I'm temporary RO for the wilts section of the tvr car club. Having spent the last winter under my car cleaning the chassis & doing my own servicing I would be happy to help out with any local inspection. I also suggest that you pop down to the next TVRcc meeting, Wilts is the best place for S spotting because we have several S' in the region and four of them regularly attend meetings...we also have new prospective owner, like yourself.
Generally all meetings degenerate into car talk, tyre kicking and talk of club events. So plenty for the to keep a prospective S owner happy!
Our next meeting is here:
http://www.tvrcc-wiltshire.co.uk/events.asp
The tipsy toad nr devizes on the 24th of September starting about 8 (i.e. 20:00) (map on the events page). Recently we hosted the wilts TVR tunnel tour which was very successful with some loud TVRs travelling many miles to join the fun!
PM me re: the sloping drive thing. I work nr Junct 16 so should not be a problem to test.
Ralph.
Good luck with the S purchase. I've got an S2, live in Swindon and I'm temporary RO for the wilts section of the tvr car club. Having spent the last winter under my car cleaning the chassis & doing my own servicing I would be happy to help out with any local inspection. I also suggest that you pop down to the next TVRcc meeting, Wilts is the best place for S spotting because we have several S' in the region and four of them regularly attend meetings...we also have new prospective owner, like yourself.
Generally all meetings degenerate into car talk, tyre kicking and talk of club events. So plenty for the to keep a prospective S owner happy!
Our next meeting is here:
http://www.tvrcc-wiltshire.co.uk/events.asp
The tipsy toad nr devizes on the 24th of September starting about 8 (i.e. 20:00) (map on the events page). Recently we hosted the wilts TVR tunnel tour which was very successful with some loud TVRs travelling many miles to join the fun!
PM me re: the sloping drive thing. I work nr Junct 16 so should not be a problem to test.
Ralph.
Edited by Spathodus77 on Saturday 6th September 13:21
Hi - Ive got an S3 and I live 5 miles out of Swindon, so Id be happy to test your drive. I didnt realise that there was meeting locally to me - so this is good news & hope to see you there.
Regards Sean
PS I did a body off restoration over winter and pretty well know where the chassis weak areas are, which Id be happy to talk you through prior to buying one.
Regards Sean
PS I did a body off restoration over winter and pretty well know where the chassis weak areas are, which Id be happy to talk you through prior to buying one.
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