Tuscan Mk 1 chassis vs. Mk 2 Chassis

Tuscan Mk 1 chassis vs. Mk 2 Chassis

Author
Discussion

honcho

Original Poster:

2,215 posts

255 months

Thursday 5th June 2003
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Anyone know what date the MK2 chassis was introduced?

I understand that TVR have no more MK1 chassis' available so if you prang your Mk1 car it will probably end up as a write off.

tuscan_s

3,163 posts

274 months

Thursday 5th June 2003
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I beleive it was when they introduced the Tuscan S in June/July 2001

Graham66

850 posts

285 months

Thursday 5th June 2003
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The suprising thing is that TVR make up the chassis themselves out of lengths of tube, so why can't they make up another Mk1 chassis? Have they lost the plans or something?

jamer

1,329 posts

292 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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I think to be on the safe side when the car has drilled front discs it is the later model, handles better at the back too.

That's what I always work on

andyvdg

1,536 posts

284 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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Mk2 chassis introduced in 2001 from 1296 onwards - although they don't seem to build / number them in sequential order as far as I can tell!

Cheers,

Andy.

TUS 373

4,516 posts

282 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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jamer said: I think to be on the safe side when the car has drilled front discs it is the later model, handles better at the back too.

That's what I always work on


Not quite true I'm afraid. Drilled brakes came in around autumn 2000 - so most X plate cars were the first to receive these - and on the Mk 1 chassis. Mk II chassis, as pointed out above, came in around mid summer of 2001 - June/July.

IMHO the difference in the pick up points (15 degrees) if I am correct between a Mk 1 and a Mk II chassis - should not prevent a Mk II chassis being fitted to an earlier car. However, it is not a small job in labour terms effectively meaning a completing a full body off rebuild, so on some occassions it could lead to a write off anyway for a 2000-2001 registered vehicle. This may be beyond economic repair and explain why they get written off. Not seen the chassis in question so cannot comment.

As per handling of the cars between the Mk I and Mk II chassis, I am confident that given improved dampers, springs, 40 profile tyres and proper geometry set up, a Mk 1 chassis can be as good as Mk II in the driving stakes. That is what I intend to find out when Joospeed have upgraded my car with their adjustable Nitron set up and I get rid of TVR's very poor Bilstein replicas!

jamer

1,329 posts

292 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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TUS 373 said:

jamer said: I think to be on the safe side when the car has drilled front discs it is the later model, handles better at the back too.

That's what I always work on


Not quite true I'm afraid. Drilled brakes came in around autumn 2000 - so most X plate cars were the first to receive these - and on the Mk 1 chassis. Mk II chassis, as pointed out above, came in around mid summer of 2001 - June/July.

IMHO the difference in the pick up points (15 degrees) if I am correct between a Mk 1 and a Mk II chassis - should not prevent a Mk II chassis being fitted to an earlier car. However, it is not a small job in labour terms effectively meaning a completing a full body off rebuild, so on some occassions it could lead to a write off anyway for a 2000-2001 registered vehicle. This may be beyond economic repair and explain why they get written off. Not seen the chassis in question so cannot comment.

As per handling of the cars between the Mk I and Mk II chassis, I am confident that given improved dampers, springs, 40 profile tyres and proper geometry set up, a Mk 1 chassis can be as good as Mk II in the driving stakes. That is what I intend to find out when Joospeed have upgraded my car with their adjustable Nitron set up and I get rid of TVR's very poor Bilstein replicas!



Bryan


Your dead right and that's the last time I put some info on just before 1am, sorry for any confusion just checked my notes.

Anyway Mk2 Chassis is far better than the first set ups which were really designed to run on 16 inch alloys too - as Mr Wheeler had the set up "perfect for the road between Blackpool and his home" unfortunatly this road didn't run all across the UK!

Good thing about TVR is that they do learn and things do get better in most cases, to drive a later Tuscan compared to an early one is a simuliar experience to driving a 96 N Cerbera and a 1998 one.


>> Edited by jamer on Friday 6th June 10:40

beano500

20,854 posts

276 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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jamer said:
Anyway Mk2 Chassis is far better than the first set ups which were really designed to run on 16 inch alloys too - as Mr Wheeler had the set up "perfect for the road between Blackpool and his home" unfortunatly this road didn't run all across the UK!



OK, so looking at this from the opposite perspective, if you want to run on 16" is the Mk1 chassis preferrable to the Mk2?

I am happy to be swayed on this one, but 16" seems much more practical if you're going to run one as a shopping trolley..........

ffelan

637 posts

254 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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our tuscan has been written off due to the none availability of a mk1 chassis - the factory (or so claim tesco) said it would require all new suspension and other bits to rebuild on a mk 2... mind you this is the same insurance company that hasnt paid out but has already sold the car on to a salvage place ! and says it wont pay out as i havent proved the factory fit alarm was fitted- was anyone else aware the facotry alarm might fall off or that it prevents cars spinning up kerbs if it is there?

Nick Elliott

2,387 posts

282 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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"Good thing about TVR is that they do learn and things do get better in most cases, to drive a later Tuscan compared to an early one is a simuliar experience to driving a 96 N Cerbera and a 1998 one."

James unless they have been modified as per what Bryan is having done to his ie Nitrons, Toyos & geometry which is the route I went down then they are even better as you can adjust the ride height & damping to suit your driving style.

Nick

neilmac

567 posts

263 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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Graham66 said: The suprising thing is that TVR make up the chassis themselves out of lengths of tube, so why can't they make up another Mk1 chassis? Have they lost the plans or something?


Surely this has to be right, why can't they just make up new sections as required?

Paul V

4,489 posts

278 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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I think the chassis are made on a jig to ensure they are straight etc, maybe they don’t keep the old ones or maybe they are modified for the new chassis.

andyvdg

1,536 posts

284 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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ffelan said: our tuscan has been written off due to the none availability of a mk1 chassis - the factory (or so claim tesco) said it would require all new suspension and other bits to rebuild on a mk 2... mind you this is the same insurance company that hasnt paid out but has already sold the car on to a salvage place ! and says it wont pay out as i havent proved the factory fit alarm was fitted- was anyone else aware the facotry alarm might fall off or that it prevents cars spinning up kerbs if it is there?




This is the second person to make a comment on this company. I have noted this information for my shortlist when my renewal comes up.

whitey

2,508 posts

285 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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I know of at least one Tuscan that has had suspension damage/mild bodywork damage, and it went back to the factory for a new MKII chassis to replace the MKI and was all covered under insurance.

GaryF

970 posts

254 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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Sounds like Tesco is a bit of a slippery customer if they are raising such barriers to block/delay paying out. They refused to insure me in NI anyway. At least they will sell me a reasonably good bottle of plonk.

Nick, you mentioned about being able to raise and lower the ride height with your Nitrons. I assume you'd have to choose your ideal ride height first and then have the geometry reset for the perfect setup at that ride height? Adjustments in ride height thereafter would put you off the optimal geometry setup?

When I put Konis (top adjustable for stiffness, but no ride height adjustment)on a previous chariot, it dropped the ride height and necessitated the geometry being reset.

Nick Elliott

2,387 posts

282 months

Friday 6th June 2003
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I had the geometry checked twice once before the Nitrons were fitted & again when they were fitted and nothing had changed however I chose to have the same ride height as there are just too many speed bumps around to go any lower.If the ride height was dropped then the geometry would have to be re-checked, which is why I just had the ride height checked again now the Nitrons have been on for 3K miles.

Nick

SC077Y

17 posts

251 months

Saturday 7th June 2003
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After the small incident with the tree. I got a rebuild on a mk2 chassis. You get new front suspension, new steering rack and bigger cross drilled discs. It was an extra £2300 on top of the £16000 quote. Oh and it took five months to repair !!!

T88CAN

3,474 posts

258 months

Saturday 7th June 2003
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ffelan said: our tuscan has been written off due to the none availability of a mk1 chassis - the factory (or so claim tesco) said it would require all new suspension and other bits to rebuild on a mk 2... mind you this is the same insurance company that hasnt paid out but has already sold the car on to a salvage place ! and says it wont pay out as i havent proved the factory fit alarm was fitted- was anyone else aware the facotry alarm might fall off or that it prevents cars spinning up kerbs if it is there?


Paul sorry to here about your accident and then hassle
with your "supermarket" i trust your wife was ok it came as no surprise to find out about your problem with Tesco(they should stick to selling brussell sprouts) any way my Tuscan came with a letter from the factory which states the spec of the factory system for insurance purposes if you need a copy e-mail via my profile and and i will sort out Tony