RE: Time For Tea? TVR Tuscan V8

[Tom8]

I've had V6, V* and straight 6 TVRs. All sounded great. But none sound half as god as my V10 in the Audi. Best noise I've heard from a road car.

[B17NNS]

WolfyJones said:

http://youtu.be/3OGCXqEEl6k

mmmmm that's dirty

[fatbutt]

WolfyJones said:

jamieduff1981 said:

fatbutt said:

Sound, yes ok the S6 sounds better at full chat but people are missing some important points here. The LS can rev from cold, is totally unstressed, can be tuned/ mod'd easily up to 600 HP without too much hassle and is emissions compliant. My S6 cars sounded like a bag of spanners from cold until warm so most of my driving was done below 3000 RPM and not that much fun. I swapped my Tuscan S2 for a griff as I just couldn't put up with the compromised practicality of the S6.

I can see why someone who isn't too fussed about the clear difference in noise but wants a more practical (and cheaper in the long run) TVR would go for the conversion.

Looks and sounds great in the video. Congrats to the owner.

I have to warm my AJP8 up before thrashing it too. It's not a hardship. I'd love to see the payback period for a V8 conversion to become cheaper than maintaining a Speed Six!

Same here, I warm all my cars up before giving them the beans, including my Griff.

The basic LS3 in my Rolls is a 6.3 and gives 420 HP out of the box. A lot of these comments has people comparing LS engines with modified s6's, which is where I was going with the cheap bit. LS3's require very little maintenance so bills will be smaller when compared to a S6 of similar performance. Wasn't trying to be argumentative, just trying to be balanced. The choice to go LS isn't just about noise.

And warming up is a pain when you live somewhere like Aberdeen where everything is 10 minutes drive from everywhere else

[humblesabot]

i'm going to add my voice to the chorus of "i prefer the Speed Six soundtrack"
mostly on the grounds of "i literally don't care if i never hear another small block chevy in my life".
I simply can no longer get excited by them anymore. They're everywhere and sound more like snoring than snarling, so what's the point?

I live in Canada so it was pretty special when visiting Edinburgh i saw/heard someone driving over Princes street bridge and up the hill in a Halcyon Atlantis Chimera.

[spartridge]

Just as a footnote to this thread, and to address the other one on modifying, I didn't undertake this on the basis of how it would sound , or reliability/servicing cost (my speed 6 was completely fine after 32k miles and I'm fortunate enough to not have to run the car on a shoestring). The primary objective was a step up in performance and the fun of doing the project. I looked into:

- A n/a upgrade to the speed 6...but it wasn't going to give a significant enough performance uplift so couldn't really be considered as an alternative to the approach I have taken.
- Supercharging...but I consider I had a lucky escape here after what I've subsequently seen/heard.
- Buying a different car...but in reality I wasn't going to be able to part with the Tuscan so it would have been an addition, and I really couldn't find anything else I wanted TBH. Plus, I could have ended up spending a lot of money and not obtain comparative performance. To a lesser extent, I was mindful of suffering more depreciation in 12 months than the cost of all the upgrades I ended up doing on the Tuscan, and having that nagging worry about putting miles on a car with sensitive resale values.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKS3h39SmXc


I respect the purists among us, but I'm not one as far as TVRs are concerned because I personally think this sort of thing is what they are all about, and where they differ from Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos etc.

[Evo]

spartridge said:

Just as a footnote to this thread, and to address the other one on modifying, I didn't undertake this on the basis of how it would sound , or reliability/servicing cost (my speed 6 was completely fine after 32k miles and I'm fortunate enough to not have to run the car on a shoestring). The primary objective was a step up in performance and the fun of doing the project. I looked into:

- A n/a upgrade to the speed 6...but it wasn't going to give a significant enough performance uplift so couldn't really be considered as an alternative to the approach I have taken.
- Supercharging...but I consider I had a lucky escape here after what I've subsequently seen/heard.
- Buying a different car...but in reality I wasn't going to be able to part with the Tuscan so it would have been an addition, and I really couldn't find anything else I wanted TBH. Plus, I could have ended up spending a lot of money and not obtain comparative performance. To a lesser extent, I was mindful of suffering more depreciation in 12 months than the cost of all the upgrades I ended up doing on the Tuscan, and having that nagging worry about putting miles on a car with sensitive resale values.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKS3h39SmXc


I respect the purists among us, but I'm not one as far as TVRs are concerned because I personally think this sort of thing is what they are all about, and where they differ from Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos etc.

Your spot on, its your car built for your reasons and your enjoyment only.

[sjc]

spartridge said:

Just as a footnote to this thread, and to address the other one on modifying, I didn't undertake this on the basis of how it would sound , or reliability/servicing cost (my speed 6 was completely fine after 32k miles and I'm fortunate enough to not have to run the car on a shoestring). The primary objective was a step up in performance and the fun of doing the project. I looked into:

- A n/a upgrade to the speed 6...but it wasn't going to give a significant enough performance uplift so couldn't really be considered as an alternative to the approach I have taken.
- Supercharging...but I consider I had a lucky escape here after what I've subsequently seen/heard.
- Buying a different car...but in reality I wasn't going to be able to part with the Tuscan so it would have been an addition, and I really couldn't find anything else I wanted TBH. Plus, I could have ended up spending a lot of money and not obtain comparative performance. To a lesser extent, I was mindful of suffering more depreciation in 12 months than the cost of all the upgrades I ended up doing on the Tuscan, and having that nagging worry about putting miles on a car with sensitive resale values.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKS3h39SmXc


I respect the purists among us, but I'm not one as far as TVRs are concerned because I personally think this sort of thing is what they are all about, and where they differ from Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos etc.

Having had 4 new TVR's (including a Tuscan that I went and saw being built at the factory in 2000)and having also seen your car close up, I can safely say it's far superior to anything that rolled off the Tuscan production line, most of which were being built by ex painters,plumbers and the like.

[RichB]

spartridge said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKS3h39SmXc

So what did it make on the dyno? I couldn't see in the vid.

[fatbutt]

RichB said:

o what did it make on the dyno? I couldn't see in the vid.

500 ish?

[spartridge]

564 that time, 538 at Surrey rolling road before tyres overheated. I'd estimate 550.

It weighs something like 1180kg with half a tank of fuel.

[RichB]

Thanks, very impressive.

[fatbutt]

spartridge said:

564 that time, 538 at Surrey rolling road before tyres overheated. I'd estimate 550.

It weighs something like 1180kg with half a tank of fuel.

That's scary good

Ain't no substitute for cubes

[Clivey]

I can't decide whether I'd rather have a TVR Power 5.0 Speed Six or an LS7...now that'd be a nice dilemma to have!

[RoverP6B]

While I'd have kept and worked on the glorious straight six, as 'wrong' engines go, they don't come much more 'right' than an LS7. Wonderful engines and that thuggish sound... I think I'd just have bought a Corvette Z06 and kept the TVR standard, though, given the cash so to do!

[Andy390]

Well I like it, original or not!
Sounds remarkably similar to the old Rover(buick) V8! superb work!
I have to agree on the exhausts tho' straight slash cut Griffith style would please me better, but hey. That's the whole point of building something for your own tastes..F*ck everyone else!!

[dog man]

I once saw a Cerb or Tuscan at South Bucks BMW (now gone afaik) with an S50 mounted in it (E36 M3 lump) wasnt finished but from what I remember wasn't far off....that was well over 5 years ago now though.

[Polarbert]

Zippee said:

soad said:

jamieduff1981 said:

It's nice, but I'd rather have a 4.3 Speed Six personally. I think straight 6s sound better than V8s. It's a more "British" sportscar soundtrack if you get my meaning.

Can only agree.

A de-catted, sports boxed 4.3 S6 sounds the nuts - all 128.9db of it

Holy fk that sounds impressive!

[duke911]

Im sorry but it sounds like another yank tank to me, the money you have spent could have replemished your speed six two times over or more,keep it as it should be. Your have only got to look at what the boy races done to the siera cosworth you cant find an unmulested one anywhere !!!

[wongthecorrupter]

I do like the sound of a speed six more

[caduceus]

I love a TVR V8 (4 so far) but I have to say I'm not that won over by that sound. Prefer a Rover V8 thanks. Maybe it's due to those ridiculous cans stuck out the back like a spotty 17 yr olds Nova SR.

No, keep the straight 6, but spend the money on an upgrade 4.3. Seems the way forward to me.