Engine in general
Discussion
First of all, I must confess that I've allways thought of a straight six engine as being a more refined type of engine that something like a V8.
For me, V8s were a very American thing which every so often some mad genius shoe horned into a little English sports car.
Deep down, for me, the 6 is an English engine and the V8 is US.
I had the Griff for 12/13 years and loved every second of it. I am still sad to see it go.
But, I've been driving the replacement T350 for a week or so now and I just have to say that the engine is wonderfull. It really is everything that I want in a lightweight English sportscar.
I would love to see how a 3.0 BMW 6 compares in the same vehicle as a comparison, but even so, this is a cracking engine which seems completely at home in the hard top T.
Because of the legacy of Chimps and Griffs, I still think (this isn't a view, just a feeling) that the Tuscan ought to be V8, while the hard top looks of the T and Sag are reminiscent of English cars of old, DBs, Taimars, Triumphs and many more and a straight six is just the right engine.
The smoothness and tractability is very impressive and with the sports exhaust the note is sweet beyond words.
It's the engine on this car that is helping my grief over selling the Griff.
For me, V8s were a very American thing which every so often some mad genius shoe horned into a little English sports car.
Deep down, for me, the 6 is an English engine and the V8 is US.
I had the Griff for 12/13 years and loved every second of it. I am still sad to see it go.
But, I've been driving the replacement T350 for a week or so now and I just have to say that the engine is wonderfull. It really is everything that I want in a lightweight English sportscar.
I would love to see how a 3.0 BMW 6 compares in the same vehicle as a comparison, but even so, this is a cracking engine which seems completely at home in the hard top T.
Because of the legacy of Chimps and Griffs, I still think (this isn't a view, just a feeling) that the Tuscan ought to be V8, while the hard top looks of the T and Sag are reminiscent of English cars of old, DBs, Taimars, Triumphs and many more and a straight six is just the right engine.
The smoothness and tractability is very impressive and with the sports exhaust the note is sweet beyond words.
It's the engine on this car that is helping my grief over selling the Griff.
Horse_Apple said:
The smoothness and tractability is very impressive and with the sports exhaust the note is sweet beyond words.
It's the engine on this car that is helping my grief over selling the Griff.
Glad you're enjoying it. When nice and hot the last 2,000 turbine-like revs always feel special to me. jimbob350ifhc said:
Id like to buy a 350c and fit the bmw engine to it for peice of mind so i could drive it every day! so if anyones got one with a blown enigne and does not want to pay 6-7k to fix it I'm your man...... And would happly sell the kit to do it too!
You may be waiting a while - T350's came along later than Tuscans & early Tamoras; no reported engine blows, just odd electrics/gasket/clutch problems from a few. 
jimbob350ifhc said:
Id like to buy a 350c and fit the bmw engine to it for peice of mind so i could drive it every day! so if anyones got one with a blown enigne and does not want to pay 6-7k to fix it I'm your man...... And would happly sell the kit to do it too!
How seriously have you looked in to this? In order to get the same power it will have to be the M3 engine - does it physically fit (superficially it looks bigger than the S6 but I haven't looked closely), and how does the weight compare given the M3 has an iron block??
Hopefully my S6 will just keep on going but if it did fail for any reason then I would consider this option, esp. given the uncertainty over keeping TVR produced items going in years to come.
Also don't forget that expected lifetime of the M3 engine is around 50K miles so not much better than the S6 really!!
Cheers,
Jerry
tail slide said:
jimbob350ifhc said:
Id like to buy a 350c and fit the bmw engine to it for peice of mind so i could drive it every day! so if anyones got one with a blown enigne and does not want to pay 6-7k to fix it I'm your man...... And would happly sell the kit to do it too!
You may be waiting a while - T350's came along later than Tuscans & early Tamoras; no reported engine blows, just odd electrics/gasket/clutch problems from a few. Sorry bloke but, Oh yes they are, regular.
Err, to mention just a couple. Club members, one low miles T350, FOURTH rebuild and latest only lasted the running in of 1k miles. Another club member, late Tuscan 3.6, 8k miles and full rebuild. Don't get me wrong I LOVE T350's. I had one when 04 cars were supposed to be fixed, they weren't. Just saying how it is.
Edited by macdeb on Sunday 24th December 18:22
Edited by macdeb on Sunday 24th December 18:23
jerrytlr said:
Also don't forget that expected lifetime of the M3 engine is around 50K miles so not much better than the S6 really!!
Cheers,
Jerry
Cheers,
Jerry
Sorry Jerry, you’re talking out of your backside on this point. I did 56K in 18 months in my first E46 M3 and that car now has 150K on the clock. I did 44K in my second in 22 months, and that is now well over 70K. There are thousands of M3's well over 50K and other than the odd issue on early cars (which I can but wont outline) they are likely to last MUCH longer than 50k. You really need to get your facts right because stating that the expected lifetime of an M3 engine is 50K is simply preposterous!
housemaster said:
jerrytlr said:
Also don't forget that expected lifetime of the M3 engine is around 50K miles so not much better than the S6 really!!
Cheers,
Jerry
Cheers,
Jerry
Sorry Jerry, you’re talking out of your backside on this point. I did 56K in 18 months in my first E46 M3 and that car now has 150K on the clock. I did 44K in my second in 22 months, and that is now well over 70K. There are thousands of M3's well over 50K and other than the odd issue on early cars (which I can but wont outline) they are likely to last MUCH longer than 50k. You really need to get your facts right because stating that the expected lifetime of an M3 engine is 50K is simply preposterous!
Jerrytlr, out of which part of your intestines do you source your facts?
I have two M3 racers, one with 128K miles on the clock and the other with 107K miles. They have been rebuilt due to upgrades to the heads, but up until then they were going strong on the original lumps. No smoke, no drama and still making great power.
50,000 miles expected lifetime? Silly person.
50,000 miles expected lifetime? Silly person.
Edited by phatgixer on Sunday 31st December 00:47
Well, what do you expect? The M3 S54 engine is probably the best powerplant in automotive history, and if only the engineers in Blackpool had copied it then the recent history of TVR may have been a bit happier.
The 3.2 na engine will pull a 1.5 tonne car for 200,000 miles between rebuilds, give over 115 bhp/litre, pull cleanly from 2,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm. Imagine how good it would be in a fibreglass sportscar...
The 3.2 na engine will pull a 1.5 tonne car for 200,000 miles between rebuilds, give over 115 bhp/litre, pull cleanly from 2,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm. Imagine how good it would be in a fibreglass sportscar...
eldudereno said:
There must be someone with the inside line on the development of the S6 engine??? What sort of testing did TVR actually do? It's quite unbelievable that it took them 4/5 years to rectify the problems, that's indeed if they ever did.
Perhaps Peter Wheeler's dog had to approve the big end shells.
phatgixer said:
Well, what do you expect? The M3 S54 engine is probably the best powerplant in automotive history, and if only the engineers in Blackpool had copied it then the recent history of TVR may have been a bit happier.
The 3.2 na engine will pull a 1.5 tonne car for 200,000 miles between rebuilds, give over 115 bhp/litre, pull cleanly from 2,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm. Imagine how good it would be in a fibreglass sportscar...
The 3.2 na engine will pull a 1.5 tonne car for 200,000 miles between rebuilds, give over 115 bhp/litre, pull cleanly from 2,000 rpm to 8,000 rpm. Imagine how good it would be in a fibreglass sportscar...
I imagine that if they had copied it the only happy chappies would have been a group of German lawyers
It is one of the great engines and I suspect that a few people wonder what it would be like in a plastic fantastic.
A road trip in an M3 is akin to a walk to the shops on a sunny day, you know you going to arrive and you are going to casually enjoy getting there, with a TVR, it is more akin to seeking out the source of the Nile, you don't know whether you are going to arrive, you don't know what awaits you around each corner and if you do finally get there you really feel that you have achieved something
Having one of each in the garage would pretty much meet any petrolheads' requirements.
Horse Apple said:
A road trip in an M3 is akin to a walk to the shops on a sunny day, you know you going to arrive and you are going to casually enjoy getting there, with a TVR, it is more akin to seeking out the source of the Nile, you don't know whether you are going to arrive, you don't know what awaits you around each corner and if you do finally get there you really feel that you have achieved something.
Could put up with the piranhas having a nibble now and again but it's the fear of the large crocodile wanting to bite me in half that's putting me off.
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