FFF query

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Discussion

joecat

Original Poster:

10 posts

127 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
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Hi all, first time post from Cerbera Speed 6 owner of 2 years. Car slowly approaching 50k miles and using bit more oil than I would consider normal but apparently they all do that sir. Runs fine otherwise. Reason for posting was to try and gain a bit more info on the longevity of the fff heads. I've read lots of good things on here about them but has anyone done many miles with one?

When I rang RG a few months ago and asked they didn't seem to know of any high mileage ones as I guess like mine most are all low use second cars.

Not expecting to hear of a 200k+ miles car like one of Doms rebuilds, but something other than a few thousand miles would help with decision making in the future.

Cheers

Don1

15,946 posts

208 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
quotequote all
I have done around 10,000 miles with mine - and it gets used hard! Always warmed up properly etc, but when it is it's unusual to not see the red shift light.... biggrin

It has just had a new head gasket (it decided it wanted to be air-cooled on the way back from Le Mans), and that is it. The rest of the engine was checked over and it's perfect internally.

There is a FFF Cerb out there, so I'd guess the same sort of mileage as you? Not sure how vocal he is on the forums though. Does that help?

duff-man

621 posts

206 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
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Was the VVT ever implemented on these engines/heads?

Don1

15,946 posts

208 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
quotequote all
No. Still waiting.

duff-man

621 posts

206 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
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That's a shame to hear, has development stopped or have there been issues as it was around 2012 it was being discussed?

T40ORA

5,177 posts

219 months

Thursday 17th September 2015
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They've hit the pause button on development apparently. It will be resurrected at some point in the future.

joecat

Original Poster:

10 posts

127 months

Friday 18th September 2015
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Thanks for the info Don1. Although, 10k miles is not to be sniffed at, it still seems a bit of a gamble into the unknown. Hopefully someone will post that has similar or preferably higher mileage than yours.

Cheers

Don1

15,946 posts

208 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
I'd suggest that the mileage and how it's driven would have thrown up any issues - but I totally understand your feelings! If you're anywhere near Herts, I'd happily give you a run out in it so you see what it's like.

joecat

Original Poster:

10 posts

127 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
That is a very generous offer that I would like to take you up on as I only live in the next county of South Beds. Having a 1 and 4 year old restrict my guilt free just go out for a drive time though, but I’m sure we can arrange a time/place to suit us both.

Cheers

m4tti

5,427 posts

155 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
I'm a fairly risk averse chap... I went for the fff. Have a look at the thread in my profile. Explains why I went that way. Has plenty of pics.

Edited by m4tti on Friday 18th September 15:24

Don1

15,946 posts

208 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
joecat said:
That is a very generous offer that I would like to take you up on as I only live in the next county of South Beds. Having a 1 and 4 year old restrict my guilt free just go out for a drive time though, but I’m sure we can arrange a time/place to suit us both.

Cheers
I'm at The Sharnbrook hotel this Sunday for the fundraiser...

joecat

Original Poster:

10 posts

127 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
Don1 said:
I'm at The Sharnbrook hotel this Sunday for the fundraiser...
M4tti – Read this already and very useful info. Thanks for taking the time to share this and top marks for doing this yourself. I’ve done a few engine transplants and top end rebuilds but only on my old Scirocco’s in the search for more power… old school more cc’s, porting, cams and twin carbs. Think I went OTT with the nitrous though. Not sure about tackling the Cerbera on my own.

Don1 – I will see if I can make it to Sharnbrook and try and track you down…

Cheers

macdeb

8,510 posts

255 months

Friday 18th September 2015
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joecat said:
10k miles is not to be sniffed at
confused

DWix

89 posts

165 months

Friday 18th September 2015
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Hello. I am the Cerb Man with a FFF head. As mentioned by don I am not here often but happy to share my experiences.

So, install was 3 years ago now. At the time it was my daily car and I did 10,000 miles in the first 12 months after the install. The smoothness was awesome (esp in winter) and I had no troubles. Then I decided to go to the north east for my stag do in the beast. On the way back south I blew the head gasket - which is what happened before I went down the FFF route, but in Germany after a SS rebuild (but by the previous owner). To be fair to Racing Green they did the right Thing and fixed for free, with some amendments to fit to reduce risk of a repeat. As far as I know future development at RG is on hold and I personally don't see the business case for it on their side.

That said I love the Cerb FFF still, but it lives a more sedate life these days although is getting a new exhaust on Monday. I live in NW London if you fancy a visit, look and chat. For me it is a performance car and therefore costs but I appreciate I have probably spent many multiples what others have on their Cerb, but that doesn't bother me because it is the only car I ever really wanted (& it was my first!).

TVRs make me smile

Edited by DWix on Saturday 19th September 05:42


Edited by DWix on Saturday 19th September 06:15

DWix

89 posts

165 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
As a completely and totally unrelated question is it unreasonable to expect a straight six tiv to continue at 4k rpm upwards non-stop for 2 hours (a full tank of fuel)? Or am I unreasonable in my expectations?

m4tti

5,427 posts

155 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
DWix said:
As a completely and totally unrelated question is it unreasonable to expect a straight six tiv to continue at 4k rpm upwards non-stop for 2 hours (a full tank of fuel)? Or am I unreasonable in my expectations?
Is this what blew the head gasket?

DWix

89 posts

165 months

Friday 18th September 2015
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Yep! Both of them

m4tti

5,427 posts

155 months

Friday 18th September 2015
quotequote all
DWix said:
Yep! Both of them
Did you see high temps? Did you ever find out the route cause?

DWix

89 posts

165 months

Friday 18th September 2015
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First time saw high temps briefly then coolant went in a spectacular way and then wouldn't run, second time was v different with no warning but a sudden loss of power and then very rough running. Both times stopped and recovered immediately to said garage of previous rebuild - even from Germany!

Willfin

295 posts

178 months

Saturday 19th September 2015
quotequote all
A speed 6 engine most definitely should be able to do this. On a motorway in 5th it's not working that hard really.

I had a good run back on the A1 to Cumbria when I got the 350, and having spent about an hour doing a solid 80mph duly come to a standstill because of traffic! It's did get hot sojust turned it off and created another jam for 20mins. Better that than a knackered engine! Turns out I had a few air locks as it's never done it sense in a similar situation.

A job over the winter is to fit an ally rad, high flow fans and a reduced temp thermostat.

I'm really intrigued by the FFF and its modern approach to the upgrade options.

Edited by Willfin on Saturday 19th September 08:22