Tuscan S in this weeks AutoCar
Discussion
Anyone else see this? they had the 10 best cars on one blinder of a b road cars inc. Porker 911, Noble, Caterham, Focus RS, VX220, etc. the Tuscan fell at the first hurdle 
not able to push on as much as in the other cars, communication between your bum and the car not good enough etc. Bit of shame I though when i read the article..... any other comments?..
not able to push on as much as in the other cars, communication between your bum and the car not good enough etc. Bit of shame I though when i read the article..... any other comments?..When they start using decent suspension then maybe they can compete in these tests.
Actually -
1. Have they resprayed the press Tuscan?
2. If so then the car is knackered by now!
3. Suspension is crap compared to the others.
4. Should have used a T350R.
It would be much quicker point to point in my opinion!
Actually -
1. Have they resprayed the press Tuscan?
2. If so then the car is knackered by now!
3. Suspension is crap compared to the others.
4. Should have used a T350R.
It would be much quicker point to point in my opinion!
You can read tests till your blue in the face...nearly every one will tell you a different story....The test should probably ask...Which of the top ten would you like to be seen driving along a blinding B road...and when you stop at the pub for an "orange juice". Most of us are no racing drivers and these "little" quirks in many cars are not even an issue to most everyday drivers. I have tested driven a Tuscan for 2 days on B roads and loved every minute. That's enough for me.
I agree with philipleslie67, ask most drivers what they would want to be seen in out of that list and a TVR would come out tops 9 times out of 10 IMO.
Certainly wouldn't want to be seen in a poxy Focus RS or VX220....even these drivers would probably own up to wanting to own a TVR if they could afford it
Alan.
Certainly wouldn't want to be seen in a poxy Focus RS or VX220....even these drivers would probably own up to wanting to own a TVR if they could afford it
Alan.
MikeE said:
read it and think that sounds a fair enough observation
I wasn't disputing the content, I agree I thought that the article was fair, just that it was a shame the Tuscan wasn't rated higher given that it is a pure sports car.
Also agree with the comments offered here that 9 out of 10 people would rather been seen in a TVR than a Luton Wagon and that given that most of us are not racing drivers we tend to look for different things than these road testers...
I don't think anyone would really claim a Tuscan has truely outstanding handling. The aim of the article was to find the fastest A-B car - guess what, a 911 Turbo won.
The trade-off for me with the Tuscan is the more exciting drive each and every journey - not that it is necessarily the best of the best handling. It took me a long time (1 year) to get used to driving one quickly - something that took me about 6 minutes in a 996 - but the rewards are much greater in the Tuscan for having mastered it. As for the Tuscan not having better overall positioning - they did say at the beginning that they chose all these cars as being the best of the breed in their class and that was an achievment in it's own right.
Cheers,
Andy.
The trade-off for me with the Tuscan is the more exciting drive each and every journey - not that it is necessarily the best of the best handling. It took me a long time (1 year) to get used to driving one quickly - something that took me about 6 minutes in a 996 - but the rewards are much greater in the Tuscan for having mastered it. As for the Tuscan not having better overall positioning - they did say at the beginning that they chose all these cars as being the best of the breed in their class and that was an achievment in it's own right.
Cheers,
Andy.
anyone remember the Evo test with tuscan m3, skyline and 996? the tuscan essentially blitzed all the others on lap times, lateral g, acceleraion (obviously), slalom etc. i suspect with proper (expensive) dampers the tuscan would have performed much better and been easier to drive on a bumpy b road.
d_drinks said:
Also agree with the comments offered here that 9 out of 10 people would rather been seen in a TVR than a Luton Wagon and that given that most of us are not racing drivers we tend to look for different things than these road testers...
So are you guys saying you bought your Tuscans for the posing ability or the driving experience?
If you bought a Tuscan for the driving experience then Autocar are suggesting that actually it's not that great in the handling department (on B roads anyway).
If you bought it more for the posing value then, well, erm, fine
We all buy cars that suit our different compromises. If I wanted an out and out track car maybe I would trade in my Tuscan and get a Caterfield 
If I didn't need a big boot maybe I would get a T350 or a Noble ? If I wanted to say to my mates down the pub that I own the car that Autocar says is the best a-b car handling wise (it's all relative don't forget) then I'd buy a 911 Turbo X50. Cars are also bought on image - so some element of "poseur" comes into any purchase - dare I say especially the Porsche community.
If I didn't need a big boot maybe I would get a T350 or a Noble ? If I wanted to say to my mates down the pub that I own the car that Autocar says is the best a-b car handling wise (it's all relative don't forget) then I'd buy a 911 Turbo X50. Cars are also bought on image - so some element of "poseur" comes into any purchase - dare I say especially the Porsche community.I bought mine for a number of reasons, but out and out handling wasn't one of them. For this, I have a Westfield which I race, and not a lot this side of a single seater (including the Tuscan) comes close.
Saying that, it doesn't handle badly at all, goes like shit off a shiny shovel, is actually very practical, open top, looks and sounds amazing and is a proper hand-built British sports car.
All in all, I really don't care if there are some cars out there that will cover a particular road faster as they won't match up to the Tuscan in other areas which are more important to me.
I think though that the point about there not being enough feedback between the car and your bum is as much to do with the seats as the handling of the car (at least in my experience). The Westfield is easy to drive on the limit as I'm belted in tight to a solid, tight-fitting seat so I can feel everything the car is doing.
Conversely, in the Tuscan I find that I roll from one side of the seat to the other, and it certainly makes it harder to feel what the car is doing when you are moving around in the seat as well as the car moving around on the road.
In my case, I'm convinced that with a tight-fitting bucket seat, my car would be easier to drive, however as this isn't one of the main reasons I bought the car, I'm not too fussed about it at the moment.
Saying that, it doesn't handle badly at all, goes like shit off a shiny shovel, is actually very practical, open top, looks and sounds amazing and is a proper hand-built British sports car.
All in all, I really don't care if there are some cars out there that will cover a particular road faster as they won't match up to the Tuscan in other areas which are more important to me.
I think though that the point about there not being enough feedback between the car and your bum is as much to do with the seats as the handling of the car (at least in my experience). The Westfield is easy to drive on the limit as I'm belted in tight to a solid, tight-fitting seat so I can feel everything the car is doing.
Conversely, in the Tuscan I find that I roll from one side of the seat to the other, and it certainly makes it harder to feel what the car is doing when you are moving around in the seat as well as the car moving around on the road.
In my case, I'm convinced that with a tight-fitting bucket seat, my car would be easier to drive, however as this isn't one of the main reasons I bought the car, I'm not too fussed about it at the moment.
MikeE said:I bought my Tuscan for the driving experience and I agree that it's handling is disappointing on B roads. I'll get round to upgrading the springs and dampers soon.
If you bought a Tuscan for the driving experience then Autocar are suggesting that actually it's not that great in the handling department (on B roads anyway).
Bumpy roads are definitely not a Tuscan S forte. Its a fair point. Though I have allways found the car to be faster even in these conditions than is safe to drive on these type of road.
The biggest downside of the suspension I find is not control over bumps but weight transfer to the front under hard braking.
I have found it very difficult to find any info from anyone fitting the nitron kit to an S only std or early cars.
I have though ordered a nitron damper/spring set for my car and will see what it does, its such a reasonable deal that if it doesn't work for me I'll put the old stuff back on again.
Its seems a good setup though to have a stiffer front, better quality dampers and being able to adjust the damprers to suit quite easily that I doubt it can make anything worse and from popular opinion would appear to offer enormous benefits.
Graham
The biggest downside of the suspension I find is not control over bumps but weight transfer to the front under hard braking.
I have found it very difficult to find any info from anyone fitting the nitron kit to an S only std or early cars.
I have though ordered a nitron damper/spring set for my car and will see what it does, its such a reasonable deal that if it doesn't work for me I'll put the old stuff back on again.
Its seems a good setup though to have a stiffer front, better quality dampers and being able to adjust the damprers to suit quite easily that I doubt it can make anything worse and from popular opinion would appear to offer enormous benefits.
Graham
Where are these "B" roads, exactly? - round my way the limiting factor isn't the Tuscan, its the ability to see round corners for the horse/tractor/sheep on a bicycle.
That being said, when I had both the Griff and the Tuscan I did take the opportunity for some extended back-to-back hooning on the local B roads, and the Tuscan suspension definately doesn't like rutted and bumpy tarmac - the Griff was certainly an easier drive - but wasn't the RR setup aimed at track use anyway?. The harnesses in the Griff made a difference though.
That being said, when I had both the Griff and the Tuscan I did take the opportunity for some extended back-to-back hooning on the local B roads, and the Tuscan suspension definately doesn't like rutted and bumpy tarmac - the Griff was certainly an easier drive - but wasn't the RR setup aimed at track use anyway?. The harnesses in the Griff made a difference though.
MikeE said:
So are you guys saying you bought your Tuscans for the posing ability or the driving experience?
If you bought a Tuscan for the driving experience then Autocar are suggesting that actually it's not that great in the handling department (on B roads anyway).
If you bought it more for the posing value then, well, erm, fine
Several points not least of which is I don’t own a Tuscan so asking the question ‘are you guys saying you bought your Tuscans for the posing ability or the driving experience?’ is kind of a mute point
Road testers are looking for something specific in a car, for each tester is will be different. For most of us whatever car we buy it is unlikely that we will drive it at the speeds the journo’s do and equally unlikely we will be looking for the same thing. A large section of TVR drivers did not buy the car as it was the fastest a-b car in a magazine or because it will out handle a go-kart.
They bought them for others reasons inc. sound, looks, childhood dream etc. I would not insult anyone by saying that any of those reasons are wrong or that they are just ‘posers’ for not wanting the fastest best handling car on the planet.
If you want to be a total twat and offer that reason then you really don’t understand TVR’s do you
Gassing Station | Tuscan | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff