“Ere, you're a man of the world”
Discussion
Hi,
Multiple Griffith owner. Fancy a straight 6. Here’s the question. I love the V8 noise and torque. But, Griffith not a tourer, bit wearing on longer journeys, quite noisy overall, plus handling 'okay' not outstanding steering accuracy. Also engine runs out of puff at 5500rpm.
Tuscan, any better at distances? Quieter at 70mph? Good to realworld drive?
Is it worth mortgaging my house for a Sagaris? Or Tuscan mk1 acceptable?
There is a nice one (I think?). See image. Got to be brash colour.
Thanks
Nic
Multiple Griffith owner. Fancy a straight 6. Here’s the question. I love the V8 noise and torque. But, Griffith not a tourer, bit wearing on longer journeys, quite noisy overall, plus handling 'okay' not outstanding steering accuracy. Also engine runs out of puff at 5500rpm.
Tuscan, any better at distances? Quieter at 70mph? Good to realworld drive?
Is it worth mortgaging my house for a Sagaris? Or Tuscan mk1 acceptable?
There is a nice one (I think?). See image. Got to be brash colour.
Thanks
Nic
)Have you thought about a Tamora?
Debated to be the best handling car TVR ever made bar the Sag. Its got a good sized boot, even with the roof and plenty of space behind the seats. My dream car is the Sagaris but I simply cant justify triple the price for effectively the same underpinnings.
I test drove the Tuscan before buying a Tamora. it was amazing but felt I had to be constantly 100% "on it" and I could imagine it would get wearing after a longer drive. My Tamora on the other hand feels much smoother to drive and I'm much more confident in my abilities especially when not quite on absolute peak form.
It could have been the set up on the individual cars I test drove but that was my experience... also you've owned Griffiths so you know what to expect better than I did as a first time buyer!
Debated to be the best handling car TVR ever made bar the Sag. Its got a good sized boot, even with the roof and plenty of space behind the seats. My dream car is the Sagaris but I simply cant justify triple the price for effectively the same underpinnings.
I test drove the Tuscan before buying a Tamora. it was amazing but felt I had to be constantly 100% "on it" and I could imagine it would get wearing after a longer drive. My Tamora on the other hand feels much smoother to drive and I'm much more confident in my abilities especially when not quite on absolute peak form.
It could have been the set up on the individual cars I test drove but that was my experience... also you've owned Griffiths so you know what to expect better than I did as a first time buyer!
Unless you can find out who the previous owner was, and get confidence in their competence, I would be a bit wary of the nearly 10 years of self servicing of that particular car.
Seems to be middle of the range prices wise for a Tuscan. There’s a very nice looking MK1 Tuscan S on eBay at the moment with bidding at £25k and a buy it now price of £32k.
If you’re looking for comfort cruising, then check if the car you’re buying has been de-catted or not. My one had the cats removed before my ownership and at 70mph it’s very droney (if that’s a word). It has shark cans on it too which look lovely, but it’s too loud to be honest for any kind of relaxed driving experience…however giving it the beans and nearing the redline the S6 sounds glorious.
Obviously everyone’s tolerance to noise is different, so worth test driving a few cars to see where you stand.
Seems to be middle of the range prices wise for a Tuscan. There’s a very nice looking MK1 Tuscan S on eBay at the moment with bidding at £25k and a buy it now price of £32k.
If you’re looking for comfort cruising, then check if the car you’re buying has been de-catted or not. My one had the cats removed before my ownership and at 70mph it’s very droney (if that’s a word). It has shark cans on it too which look lovely, but it’s too loud to be honest for any kind of relaxed driving experience…however giving it the beans and nearing the redline the S6 sounds glorious.
Obviously everyone’s tolerance to noise is different, so worth test driving a few cars to see where you stand.
Edited by porterpainter on Thursday 13th April 22:32
Griff's not a tourer? In what way?
Big lazy engine, lots of low down torque. Option of roof up or roof down, reasonable boot size, can be set up with soft comfy suspension. Run out of puff at 5500 revs isn't a problem with a tourer?
Tuscans are OK, look great, but you lose a bit of boot space packing the rear window and roof in. I believe if you take the roof off it's best to take the rear window out to stop it popping out. Again depends on how they are set up. I've regularly been on long continental tours with both Griffs and Tuscans.
Big lazy engine, lots of low down torque. Option of roof up or roof down, reasonable boot size, can be set up with soft comfy suspension. Run out of puff at 5500 revs isn't a problem with a tourer?
Tuscans are OK, look great, but you lose a bit of boot space packing the rear window and roof in. I believe if you take the roof off it's best to take the rear window out to stop it popping out. Again depends on how they are set up. I've regularly been on long continental tours with both Griffs and Tuscans.
Hi, my Griff is year 2000, all standard. Exhaust and CAT as it left the factory. On a run, there is general noise from the engine and road, plus wind noise. Sounds nice but not relaxing for long distance. Maybe I am getting too old! Tuscan has hard roof, maybe insulated better from other car noise (A roads and motorways) plus wind noise?
Maybe I need to get a Mercedes AMG GT?
Nic
Maybe I need to get a Mercedes AMG GT?
Nic
The obvious tourer is the Cerbera. Bit more space, bit more wheelbase. Enough boot for a weekend away.
but more importantly, more stable at motorway speeds due to the longer wheelbase, and therefore more restful, and dare I say it in 4.5 guise probably faster in a straight line than any of the cars mentioned.
For trackdays though the Cerb is a bit of a handful in the corners
but more importantly, more stable at motorway speeds due to the longer wheelbase, and therefore more restful, and dare I say it in 4.5 guise probably faster in a straight line than any of the cars mentioned.
For trackdays though the Cerb is a bit of a handful in the corners
Griff is exactly the same as a Chimaera.
Both are good enough for real world touring. You can’t go fast because of speed cameras, plod etc so all very fast cars are out the window as it doesn’t matter.
Any car set up properly will stick to the road at sensible speeds. See paragraph above for not being able to drive like a lunatic.
If you want ultimate speed and handling, buy a car suitable for the track and go and enjoy yourself where you never can on a road.
I would go for the soft top option as touring with roof off is brilliant. I would also go for a V8 as the low rev V8 sound is acceptable, desirable and makes you smile. A screaming six is neither relaxing, nor nice on the ears. The speed six cars unless having been rebuilt to a higher specification have much less torque and therefore not as lazy a tourer or as nice to drive at slow speed.
All these cars are getting long in the tooth so just buy the best, well sorted and upgraded car that you can afford and whose looks floats your boat!
I had a great week touring to the ring and back in my chim which was comfortable and ran faultless during a thoroughly enjoyable journey.
All that is behind me now for various reasons and I run a a Boxster S which is far superior in all departments.
Both are good enough for real world touring. You can’t go fast because of speed cameras, plod etc so all very fast cars are out the window as it doesn’t matter.
Any car set up properly will stick to the road at sensible speeds. See paragraph above for not being able to drive like a lunatic.
If you want ultimate speed and handling, buy a car suitable for the track and go and enjoy yourself where you never can on a road.
I would go for the soft top option as touring with roof off is brilliant. I would also go for a V8 as the low rev V8 sound is acceptable, desirable and makes you smile. A screaming six is neither relaxing, nor nice on the ears. The speed six cars unless having been rebuilt to a higher specification have much less torque and therefore not as lazy a tourer or as nice to drive at slow speed.
All these cars are getting long in the tooth so just buy the best, well sorted and upgraded car that you can afford and whose looks floats your boat!
I had a great week touring to the ring and back in my chim which was comfortable and ran faultless during a thoroughly enjoyable journey.
All that is behind me now for various reasons and I run a a Boxster S which is far superior in all departments.
Hi Nic, previous owner of your Griff here. The T cars are no better as a tourer, in actual fact they are even more of a sports car - higher revving, more truculent, and not a great deal more refined. If you want a car you can brainlessly cover long touring distances in, no TVR is ever going to fit that bill.
robsco said:
Hi Nic, previous owner of your Griff here. The T cars are no better as a tourer, in actual fact they are even more of a sports car - higher revving, more truculent, and not a great deal more refined. If you want a car you can brainlessly cover long touring distances in, no TVR is ever going to fit that bill.
My Chimaeras did. Loved the effortless mile munching. Drove to Rome and Mallorca (the latter aided by sea craft) amongst hundreds of other places.
Lazy low revving engine, comfy seats, flies in your teeth.
30,000 miles a year for a decade no sweat.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
robsco said:
Hi Nic, previous owner of your Griff here. The T cars are no better as a tourer, in actual fact they are even more of a sports car - higher revving, more truculent, and not a great deal more refined. If you want a car you can brainlessly cover long touring distances in, no TVR is ever going to fit that bill.
My Chimaeras did. Loved the effortless mile munching. Drove to Rome and Mallorca (the latter aided by sea craft) amongst hundreds of other places.
Lazy low revving engine, comfy seats, flies in your teeth.
30,000 miles a year for a decade no sweat.
I couldn’t, and never would use mine for those purposes, I think I’d start to resent them very quickly - not to mention I couldn’t afford those fuel bills!
julian64 said:
The obvious tourer is the Cerbera. Bit more space, bit more wheelbase. Enough boot for a weekend away.
but more importantly, more stable at motorway speeds due to the longer wheelbase, and therefore more restful, and dare I say it in 4.5 guise probably faster in a straight line than any of the cars mentioned.
For trackdays though the Cerb is a bit of a handful in the corners
Cerbera is a brilliant Grand Tourer but you need the one with the early seats. They are really comfy, I don't have problems doing long distances, and my wife doesn't complain either.but more importantly, more stable at motorway speeds due to the longer wheelbase, and therefore more restful, and dare I say it in 4.5 guise probably faster in a straight line than any of the cars mentioned.
For trackdays though the Cerb is a bit of a handful in the corners
Cerbera can also be set up to be a good track day car, but the two setups are completely different if you want a track focussed Cerb. It'll be terrible then as a GT car, but then I've always done track days to discover what the car, the way I have it set up, can do...
robsco said:
Hi Nic, previous owner of your Griff here. The T cars are no better as a tourer, in actual fact they are even more of a sports car - higher revving, more truculent, and not a great deal more refined. If you want a car you can brainlessly cover long touring distances in, no TVR is ever going to fit that bill.
Cerbera - honestly its a really good GT car, only problem is you get about 250 miles then have to fill up 
and the aircon is crap in hot weather, but windows down and moving is fine. Suspension set up soft, have a decent high road clearance and the engine mapped and sorted up in Chesterfield... Quiet exhaust system, decat it to take away the heat generated into the cabin/gearbox...But the Griff could be exactly the same.
However, if you're hankering for the Tuscan, which lets face it still looks like a current sports car....
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