0-100-0 mph shoot out in Autocar

[MikeE]

Anyone seen the T350T times? 0-100 in 9.9 seconds, jeez that's fast

I thought these T350s were supposed to be fast? Sub-8 seconds seems to be the performance car target these days, still it was a rather fetching shade of yellow, which was nice

[alt]

Susprising. Didn't Autocar test a Tamora 0-100 in 9.2 secs? I thought the aerodynamics of the T350 would have given it a quicker time?

[nubbin]

Aerodynamics probably wouldn't help 0-100, but they did comment about the excessively tall first gear, and a bit of a struggle to put the power down on take off.

We certainly couldn't reach 60 in first in our Tanmoras, could we Andy? That's probably what slowed the time down.

The other interesting thing was the awsome braking time - 3.99 for 100-0!! Only the Caterham and M3 CSL bettered it. That's astonishing!

[neil.b]

Did they change the gearing from the Tamora then? And were both tests with the standard gearbox or with the close ratio option? Has anyone got that on their car BTW? Much different? Just curious....

[washy]

All IMHO but - it seems this car was fitted with the CR 'box option. I have this 'box in my RR Cerb. An RR Cerb with this 'box hit 100 in 9 secs dead in the Top Gear magazine test a couple of years back. I personally do not believe that a standard 3.6 litre Speed Six has the grunt to pull well with this 'box at lower road speeds. And lets face it, up to a ton is low speed for a car like this. I would've thought slightly more sensible ratios would work better. But then, you'd have to make an extra shift up to third.

Washy

[bjwoods]

Bit of a backward step for TVR...

Last Autocar 0-100-0 test they used a Tuscan S....

0-60 3.68 s

0-100 8.08 s

0-100 - 0 12.62 s


A quick car!!!!

B

[captain honesty]

bjwoods said:

Bit of a backward step for TVR... Last Autocar 0-100-0 test they used a Tuscan S.... 0-60 3.68 s 0-100 8.08 s 0-100 - 0 12.62 s A quick car!!!! B

i think it was fairly obvious that tvr cheated last year and IMO put the t440 engine in as the 0-100 predicted time is 7.9 for the t440.
wouldn't mind seeing the typhon there next year! i think it could be low 7's poss just under.

[dcw@pr]

captain honesty said:

i think it was fairly obvious that tvr cheated last year and IMO put the t440 engine in as the 0-100 predicted time is 7.9 for the t440. wouldn't mind seeing the typhon there next year! i think it could be low 7's poss just under.

Could be that the Tuscan S has reached its traction limit, and adding more power (ala T440) doesn't drop the initial acceleration times that much.

[Supersonic]

captain honesty said:

I think it was fairly obvious that tvr cheated last year and IMO put the t440 engine in as the 0-100 predicted time is 7.9 for the t440.

Nah, probably had something to do with its semi-slick tyres.

[captain honesty]

so a typhon with semi-slicks next year would probably crush the zonda?

or on one of those aircraft carrier slingshots?mind you it would probably be hard to brake in the air!

[Nick Beef]

TVR's figures claim 0-100mph in 9.8 seconds.. so not far off the mark then.. the braking was amazing considering there's no ABS either just like the Zonda which had the best braking time of the Supercars... obviously down to the low kerb weight.. The Tuscan S last year blitzed nearly everything and can mix it with the big boys and quicker than the Ruf R Turbo as well... but the T350's are more than straight line performance they have brilliant handling capabilities which at the moment excel any other Production TVR.. (now when's that Sagaris going to hit the road!!)

[Nick Beef]

Captain the Typhon should demolish everything bar the Enzo in a test like this.. can't wait to see the outcome but can tell you this now.. The Typhon will be awesome and value for money and performance will be unrivalled!

[captain honesty]

especially as the gear lever can double up as a curry hook! hows that for practicality?ingenious design!

i really can't wait for the typhon to be put through its paces in a full road test.which cars would you consider to be its natural rivals?
would a person in the position to buy a zonda/lambo/ fezza consider a typhon as a viable option as it could be the quickest one?
or will it be stealing customers from porsche etc

>> Edited by captain honesty on Wednesday 28th April 22:05

[MOD500]

The 350 did really well in the test.

If you look at the tech spec of the 350 and the other sports cars in the test shown in columns, you'll see that the side on profile of the 350 is in fact that of a Tuscan S!

Yours

Martyn

[bjwoods]

T350 = 350 bhp

Tuscan S = 400 bhp, about the same weight, (trick tyres as well perhaps)

B

[roadsweeper]

bjwoods said:

T350 = 350 bhp Tuscan S = 400 bhp, about the same weight, (trick tyres as well perhaps) B

Indeed, though arguably even more importantly the Tuscan S and T350 engines are tuned differently for torque.

Am I right in thinking that the latest Tuscans have 6 speed gearboxes (and probably different ratios regardless) as well as 400bhp? Add in greater torque and stickier tyres and that goes some way to explaining the time.

[Ballistic Banana]

Good to see it perform so well and with all the talk about Anti-lock brakes etc recently etc its stopping time was the third quickest of all the 45 cars, only beaten by the BMW M3 CSL and the R500.

Stick that in your Safety pipe and smoke it Mr English.

BB

[bjwoods]

But isn't that just because it was lighter.....

Look what the enzo did under braking a much heavier car than the T350.....

I reckon a 'GOOD' ABS system fitted to a t350 and set up correctly for a sports car, (a la enzo, etc), would have had an even BETTER 100 - 0 time.

B

>> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 30th April 11:15

[Plotloss]

What stunned me was the R500 hitting 100 in 6.7 seconds.

Makes all TVR's look positively sedate.

[roadsweeper]

bjwoods said:

But isn't that just because it was lighter..... Look what the enzo did under braking a much heavier car than the T350..... I reckon a 'GOOD' ABS system fitted to a t350 and set up correctly for a sports car, (a la enzo, etc), would have had an even BETTER 100 - 0 time. B >> Edited by bjwoods on Friday 30th April 11:15

No, it's not just because it was lighter. Look at the braking times for the other lighter cars in the test (Elise, VX, etc.). Be in no doubt, the T350's braking time is world-class and shouldn't be understated by saying it's merely down to light weight (though of course achieving such a light weight is impressive in itself and has many other benefits).

Secondly, ABS doesn *not* reduce braking times, it merely allows an increased level of steering control during braking and (usually) prevents lock-ups, depending on the surface.

On a good, dry surface with an expert drive, a non-ABS equipped car will stop quicker than one with ABS. The safety element of ABS is all in the improved steering and lock-up reduction as mentioned, not in reducing braking times.

I hope this clears things up!

Edited to say: Comparisons with the several hundred thousand pound Enzo really aren't valid! Though of course the T350 did still beat it under braking despite the Enzo's ceramic braking system which on its own probably costs almost as much as the T350, so perhaps we should make them anyway! Alternatively, perhaps Ferrari should have produced a lighter car rather than relying on a trick gearbox to match the McLaren F1's acceleration times, and still failing despite having minimal luggage space, only two seats, ten years of technological development to call on and minimal interior!

>> Edited by roadsweeper on Friday 30th April 11:26