TVR that inspires confidence at high speeds...

[davido140]

Hi all,

Its been a few weeks since I sold my tuscan, I think I'm just about coming to terms with it now!

House move / deposit saving is going well, so well in fact I'm already planning my next "silly car" purchase.

Its well ahead of time as it will be this time next year, but you cant help but dream..

Anyway, the short list includes...

Pork GT3 (cant afford an RS)
Exige S2 (240bhp if I can afford it)
Caterham CSR Superlight (utterly impractical but ultimate drivers car)

or the holy grail

Sagaris

My biggest gripe with my Tuscan was it couldnt have inspired less confidence at high speed if it tried. I had Nitrons, front splitter and rear spoiler fitted, and it went around corners very well indeed, it didnt however like doing straight line high speed in the slightest, I'd had it up to 130 on the straight at snetterton and I felt like I was holding on for dear life (not to mention the struggle it puts up when braking hard from those speeds, apparently due to the steering rack being quite high?). Anything over 110 (on the autobahn obviously) was frankly terrifying.

I can comfortably do over 140 (again autobahn) in my clunky old S8 and it feels safe and comfortable, the car doesnt want to leap into a ditch.

How is the Sagaris in this respect?

I cant for a moment imagine any of the other cars I've listed above struggling to stay stable at these speeds (ok maybe the caterham would be a bit hairy, but I'm basing that on having your head stuck out of the top of a bathtub not the dynamics of the car)

If I go with the pork, exige or Sagaris I'm giving serious thought to making it my daily drive. As I only do about 6-8000 miles a year for work in the daily snotter anyway and I'd keep that for family holidays, days out, shopping etc.

Cheers

Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 14th April 20:38

[The AJP Griff]

Slightly 'OT',but....I'd love to know what the answer is to the Tuscan 'shaking itself to bits' problem,it really need clarification and solving.Mine was just as you describe and i always remember the EVO mag test article saying the same.Such a great car which is so sadly let down by this trait.Does anyone out there know how to sort this issue?

[Don1]

I managed 140 in the Sag without even realising it.... (in Germany, naturally!).

You only live once - go for it.

[HRG]

Mine's going to Centre Gravity at the end of the month for a proper sorting out as long as my rack has returned. They're even supposed to be able to get a Tiv to handle apparently

I'll post results once she's been.

[dickieandjulie]

I know what you mean, thats why I went for a Tamora rather than a Tuscan, even better once I replaced the shocks with Intrax.

Having driven the Porsche I would say that would be the best as a daily driver. I have been in a Caterham R500 and that was awesome! As a toy, the ultimate.

An Exige, lovely as long as you dont do want to do long drives given the engine is sat just behind you. Given you considered a Caterham that would suggest not!

[Wildwood]

I know exactly what you mean too about the Tuscan, I felt the same too at speeds up to 150..... when I had my Maserati 3200GT , I comfortably got to 168 uphill, ok a long gentle hill, but still a hill and felt so confident, a few hundred yards behind me was the sagaris pulling over to fix his flappy bonnet. not taking the p1ss here, just stating facts

...ETA..my wedge felt great upto 150 but that was all I think it could do

Edited by Wildwood on Tuesday 14th April 21:41

[spartridge]

I have no such problems with the Tuscan 2 but I think one of enhancements received was a revised steering rack?

[davido140]

The AJP Griff said:

Slightly 'OT',but....I'd love to know what the answer is to the Tuscan 'shaking itself to bits' problem,it really need clarification and solving.Mine was just as you describe and i always remember the EVO mag test article saying the same.Such a great car which is so sadly let down by this trait.Does anyone out there know how to sort this issue?

I'm fairly certain its poor aerodynamics in conjunction with less than perfect suspension/geometry in general.

I found it was even worse with the roof off.

HRG said:

Mine's going to Centre Gravity at the end of the month for a proper sorting out as long as my rack has returned. They're even supposed to be able to get a Tiv to handle apparently

I'll post results once she's been.

I found mine transformed once the nitrons suspension was installed and setup properly, Cornering at less than 100mph became a doddle, I could carry far more speed into and out of the twistie bits than I ever could before. It was also more forgiving on bumpy/potholed road surfaces,

Its still wasnt lotus/noble good but certainly not as far removed as it was with the standard setup.

Have a think about getting the Steve Heath drop links installed whilst you're getting the rest done, its a 10 minute job per corner if they are already fiddling with suspension and the parts arent that expensive.

I never got mine done (I forgot to ask when I had the nitrons done) but they are supposed to be good.



Any views form Saggy owners?

Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 14th April 21:45

[davido140]

dickieandjulie said:

I know what you mean, thats why I went for a Tamora rather than a Tuscan, even better once I replaced the shocks with Intrax.

Having driven the Porsche I would say that would be the best as a daily driver. I have been in a Caterham R500 and that was awesome! As a toy, the ultimate.

An Exige, lovely as long as you dont do want to do long drives given the engine is sat just behind you. Given you considered a Caterham that would suggest not!

You make a couple of good points, I hadnt considered the Exige engine giving you the worlds sweatiest beack on a long run!

That Caterham would of course just be a toy for track days and weekend fun, After having only done 5000 miles in 2 yeras in the tuscan I jusut feel it would make more sense to drive the thing every day with the limited mileage I do any extra costs would be minimal, just fuel really.

[HarryW]

My old V8S was solid as a rock up to 155, Cerbera is solid up to 175 if a little and I mean little skittish under heavy braking from that speed. The V8S was on Nitrons and Cerbera on Intrax both fully geo/4 wheeled aligned. I understand the Tuscan has a very quick rack, that could make it nervous particularly if you grip the wheel tight with nerves, sort of possitive feedback .

[HRG]

davido140 said:

The AJP Griff said:

Slightly 'OT',but....I'd love to know what the answer is to the Tuscan 'shaking itself to bits' problem,it really need clarification and solving.Mine was just as you describe and i always remember the EVO mag test article saying the same.Such a great car which is so sadly let down by this trait.Does anyone out there know how to sort this issue?

I'm fairly certain its poor aerodynamics in conjunction with less than perfect suspension/geometry in general.

I found it was even worse with the roof off.

HRG said:

Mine's going to Centre Gravity at the end of the month for a proper sorting out as long as my rack has returned. They're even supposed to be able to get a Tiv to handle apparently

I'll post results once she's been.

I found mine transformed once the nitrons suspension was installed and setup properly, Cornering at less than 100mph became a doddle, I could carry far more speed into and out of the twistie bits than I ever could before. It was also more forgiving on bumpy/potholed road surfaces,

Its still wasnt lotus/noble good but certainly not as far removed as it was with the standard setup.

Have a think about getting the Steve Heath drop links installed whilst you're getting the rest done, its a 10 minute job per corner if they are already fiddling with suspension and the parts arent that expensive.

I never got mine done (I forgot to ask when I had the nitrons done) but they are supposed to be good.



Any views form Saggy owners?

Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 14th April 21:45

Everything underneath mine is new. Drop links, every bush, rack refurbed (twice), steering knuckles, shocks, ball joints...

Setting the ride height relative to the rack is important so I've heard.

[The Pits]

I had a saggy before the Tuscan. I never went over 140 in it but it's stable enough at speed. However the bonnet didn't inspire much confidence as it lifts and shakes above 100. I didn't want to go over 140 because of that. I have a Tuscan 2 now and that's fine up to 120ish but I haven't had a chance to try it much above that. At least the bonnet's rock solid! However the Tuscan does dive more on the brakes than the saggy which lightens the rear so it can move around a bit more. Saggys are generally more stable in that regard.

Exige however is supremely stable at speed and fine on long trips providing you have aircon. Seats from 2006 are better too (probax). I have an elise and that's good for long trips and has no aircon so heat from engine argument doesn't apply in my experience.

[Toobin]

SAG SAG get a SAG ........




I came close to a 911TT and I soooooooo glad I didn't

[davido140]

Toobin said:

SAG SAG get a SAG ........



I came close to a 911TT and I soooooooo glad I didn't

Hi Marcus, Hope you're well!

So you finally got a Sagaris then? You seem to like it!

I seem to recall you saying that the only thing you didnt like about the T350 was it wasnt quite as fast as the Tuscan,
I'm assuming the Saggy lives up to the hype!

[T5AMX]

I agree with the handling comments.... somedays i like it that way as it means you really have to drive the car but in general i would like it sorted!!!
What did the whole set up cost???
can anyone tell me???

[Noisy]

I think some Tuscan's handle better than others, mine was fine at high speeds. managed 178 (on a test track of course) before the Porsche in front started braking. Think it depends how well they are set up.

[davido140]

T5AMX said:

I agree with the handling comments.... somedays i like it that way as it means you really have to drive the car but in general i would like it sorted!!!
What did the whole set up cost???
can anyone tell me???

I never got the very high speed instability issue fixed, but for cornering/chuckability/traction issues I found after market shocks (Nitrons in my case), made a huge difference.

I think they cost around £1400 fitted, it did cost me a little more at a later date to get it all setup properly.

Suspension and handling setup is so mind bogglingly complicated, dozens of different factors can affect how the car drives, some can be "fixed" others cant. Every time you change one variable it almost always has a knock on effect to something else.

It always makes me chuckle when I see an ad for a car that has been "lowered for better handling" it's never that simple. Likewise when you see little cars with great big wide tyres on to give "better grip" whereas in reality if its a light car it'll have the opposite effect!

ETA this is one of the factors that is putting me off the pork, I cant help thinking the engine is simply in the wrong place, and no ammount of fancy setup and years of bodgery in the fatherland is going to change that. Its a bad design that's been "corrected" with lots and lots and lots of remedial work.

Whereas the lotus/caterham and sagaris have it right from the start, somewhere between the two axles not hanging out over the back, or in the case of my audi hanging out over the front!

Edited by davido140 on Wednesday 15th April 09:50

[Daston]

I have had quite silly speeds out of my Tuscan and the only down point I can think of is how light the front end feels. However I think a splitter might sort that problem out. Other than that no shaking just a slight screeching sound from the passanger seat.

[Ticker]

I had 173 on Bruntingthorpe , with passenger, on a TVR Ride Drive, very stable indeed, although it does have Nitrons and was propoerly set up by Paul at PPC. More stability between 100 - 140 than at lower speeds, took ages for my face muscles to relax after the constant grin from the days experience
Dave

[SAGTAFF]

[quote]Any views form Saggy owners?
[/quote]

The SAG is fine - doesn't want to shake to bits but there are 3 reasons for not being totally confident:
1) the service hatch 'blowing' around
2) the back seems to get very light when lifting off (so if you lift off and not got the wheel anything other than completely straight it can cause the heart to beat a little faster for a split second!)
3) not the sag's fault, but any slight road imperfection can seem to be exaggerated in the Sag.

All of the above mean I only go at high speed on a track and never if I'm in Germany

Antony