V8 or six in a cerb?

[dom_911]

My Dad is thinking of getting another car and he was impressed when he went to one of the TVR specialists. He is looking at the straight six version of the Cerbera as it is slightly softer riding, but offers very similar performance.

I have heard that the six cylinder engine has been problematic for many people and was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether the V8 car was worth pursuing over the six? Any comments welcome as I don't want him to go off sports cars due to a £5k engine rebuild after six months.

Thanks.

Dom

[whatever]

Leaving aside the relative engine reliability (which, apart from component problems is as much down to an individual's mechanical sympathy and proper warming & running-in) anyway, as I was saying, I've never really found the 4.5 too "hard", as far as ride quality is concerned.

To me, I like being able to "feel" the road under the tyres. After driving my other car it really is a different world driving the cerb.

AFAIK, the S6 version has different suspension settings as well as higher profile tyres (and smaller wheels). Many people swap these wheels for the larger 18s thus negating some of this extra "comfort".

There's also the noise to compare, too.

EDIT: I've just re-read that and I think it's very close to making almost no sense whatsoever. I think an executive summary might be:

"After driving the 4.5, I've never really wanted anything a bit 'softer'"

btw, the steering's a bit lower geared on the 6, too. The higher geared sterring on the 8's does take some getting used to, but it's not impossible, by any means.

>> Edited by whatever on Tuesday 3rd December 17:24

[kevinday]

V8 every time for me.

[phib]

Cost's of ownership for my two cerbies (EXCLUDING PURCHASE AND DEPRECIATION) as follows :

Speed 6 year 1 £24,236 ( 3 engine rebuilds,2 gear box's etc etc all under warranty)

Speed 6 year 2 £0 got given 4.5 instead


4.5 year 1 £2,100

4.5 year 2 £1,865

Bit of a no brainer really !!!!!!
Only in my opinion

[cammy]

I've owned an S6 from new for 14 months and not had a single propblem with the engine (with 18" spiders). I use it every day to commute to work through heavy traffic and has behaved impeccably. Yes, earlier engines had a problem, but these have been solved but some people don't or choose not to believe that the problems are sorted NOW. This really fcuks me off.

This is more than I can say for the V8 Chim I had for six months. Problems....

As for exhaust sound, its horses for courses. The V8 does sound great, but the S6 has a pretty unique sound of its own. My friends are well impressed anyway.

By all means take note of comments on here, but drive both so that you have an unbiased opinion of both cars.

[p7ulg]

In my opinion it has got to be a V8.While the performance is very similar I think just the noise and the bottom end torque win the day.I have owned both a 4.2 cerbera and a sp6 Tuscan and I am afraid the SP6 didn't even come close.

PS If you are buying a TVR you will have to budget for the unforeseen.As with all performance cars the purchase price is just your down payment! Fortunately I have kept to cars in warranty so haven't had any real expenses apart from a £1200 service on the cerbera.

>> Edited by p7ulg on Wednesday 4th December 10:15

[phib]

Cammy glad your is going well, mine was a nightmare and mt chim's have been fine and your was a nightmare by the sound on it so I guess you pays your money and takes your chances !!!

as for :

""Yes, earlier engines had a problem, but these have been solved but some people don't or choose not to believe that the problems are sorted NOW. This really fcuks me off. """

Try explaining that to the people on here who have had blow ups in both Tamora's and Tuscans in the last couple of months there have been quite a few !!!!!!££££££ (just do a quick search if you don't believe me)

edited to say Cammer how on earth did you spend £47,500 on a chimaera in your profile ????

>> Edited by phib on Wednesday 4th December 10:18

[dom_911]

Hmmm. Thanks for that. It seems that with TVR you can get cars that are made the way you would hope(i.e. well), but that some are a bit dubious necessitating engine rebuilds etc. - although it sounds as though they may have remedied the problem of late. He would be looking at getting a second hand one and not a new one anyway, so the speed six engine reliability may still be an issue. Personally, I'd go for a 4.5 anyway and not worry about the softer settings of the 6 (he's not that old and decrepit), but he will be using it as an everyday car so I think that is playing on his mind.

What should he be looking for to see if the car is about to die or have problems? Having lived with a 911 you start to become aware of the weak spots of particular cars and what to look for in the next purchase. I hear that window seals can be a bit hit and miss? An old thread mentioned something to do with throttle bodies on the V8s?

What are the sort of figures that you should be paying for a 'good' early-ish/late 90's 4.2 or 4.5 Cerbera and is there much difference between these cars performance, reliability and cost-wise? The running costs of Phib's 4.5 looks rather good really, not much more than my old 911.

[cammy]

Phib

A dealer told me (yeah I know) that most of the problems he dealt with relating to the 6 engine was to do with the way people ran them i.e. run in process, blasting from cold (months after I had purchased the car).

Before anybody gets on their high horse, this is I agree a generalisation but then again who is going to admit not treating their car with the utmost respect? As in everything in life, there is the other argument/side and that is "I thrash my engine and everything's OK".

Sometimes engines will go - i bet every manufacturer has the same problems (how many F1 engines blew this year and they spend millions!!) it's just a bitch when its you.

>> Edited by cammy on Wednesday 4th December 13:46

[phib]

Cammy, yeah you are probably right in every respect, I guess some TVR's are more unlucky than others and the message is if you find a good one that you like and it doesen't blow up KEEP IT !!!!!
The only problem is that whilst even a very small number of sp6's blow up it is still going to give the impression that TVR's are unreliabile and fuel the general motor trade gosip !!!!

I really really wanted a Tuscan when I bought the latest 500 they were both about the same price but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Heart kept saying go for it go for it.

Head said save your self the yearly engine rebuild money, have two holidays and buy a Honda Xr enduro bike instead and have some fun.

The head won in the end and the words once bitten kept ringing round my head !!!!!

[dannylt]

Cammy - how does the dealer know the true reason? Valves stretching and finger followers breaking does not happen by thrashing from cold, it happens because of a manufacturing defect. Excess bore or bearing wear might well be caused by cold thrashing, but haven't heard of many rebuilds for this reason.

[cammy]

dannylt i can only assume he was talking from experience post dodgy supplier components, he's got the workshop and taking the engine to bits.

phib, I understand what you say about head and heart. After my bad experiences with the Chim, both the Cerb and me were on probabtion from the wife. Thankfully, our 'three and a half(baby) relationship' is lasting.

But, you only live once and could bite the bullet tomorrow. I bet you still wonder what it would be like to own a Tuscan. Yes, a bad image is portrayed of TVR with these stories. However, you will mostly hear stories of woe on these sites by the very nature of this 'help' area. I still bought another TVR after my woes. Does that me daft or an enthusiast for an exciting and unique marque?

There are many, many more happy stories out there otherwise nobody would buy TVRs and they would go bust. Over the last 18 months there has been a tremendous bout of media coverage of TVRs, all positive from what I have read/seen, from website to the Sunday Times. We should try to continue in this vein, afterall we own these cars!