RE: Driven: T350C

Author
Discussion

Pesty

42,655 posts

255 months

Tuesday 31st December 2002
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Hmmm now i'm really confused!

Its seems just as someone says the engine is reliable someone else says it isn't.

Is there any where we can find out real statistics other than anicdotal evidense.

CraigAlsop

1,991 posts

267 months

Tuesday 31st December 2002
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Pesty said:
Is there any where we can find out real statistics other than anicdotal evidence.
Nope, not unless you can persuade Peter Wheeler to give you the info...
AJP8s (Cerbie 4.2 & 4.5) started off being a bit unreliable, but have recently been better (I believe)
The Speed six as fitted to Cerberas had a fairly rough start - probably worse than the AJP8 (anecdotally anyway), but after quite a few problems with early Tuscans, the Speed 6 engine as fitted to the Tamora (smaller, detuned version), and now T350C seems to be fairly reliable as far as we can tell from anecdotal evidence.


BCA

8,621 posts

256 months

Wednesday 1st January 2003
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Thom said:

BCA said:Whereas there have been 70k+ cerbera 4.2's for sale in the past.

Really?
Could you give some example please?



Sure - a 4.2 talked about on here not long ago with 80k. Someone who went to look at it said it was as good as a 20,000 mile car infact.

A yellow 4.2 with yellow wheels - forsale two years ago for 19k - my dad nearly bought it with 63,000 miles on it. Has recently been forsale in autotrader for 19k again! (doubt it got anywhere near that) but this time with 76,000 on it.

There have been others too, but I cant remember every car I see forsale!

Pesty

42,655 posts

255 months

Wednesday 1st January 2003
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Ok so it had 70k on the clock but was that with the same engine? with no work having to be done to it?

sixspeed

2,060 posts

271 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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Well my engine went knockity-knock, at 12k miles, and it was a March 2002 car. Admittedly a Tuscan S so not the same unit exactly as the Tamora/T350... but still...

-andy-

dicky

928 posts

283 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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well I had mine go pop at 4000k, and I think a few others here have had the same,

**999**

286 posts

257 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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My 4.2 Cerb,has only had scheduled work done on the engine, and although still low mileage, it's been perfectly reliable bar a £15.00 oil pressure switch.
Then again I treat the engine with respect when it's cold and then drive it like it's meant to be driven....

nubbin

6,809 posts

277 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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**999** said: Then again I treat the engine with respect when it's cold and then drive it like it's meant to be driven....



I think that re-inforces a key point about all TVR engines - cold thrashing leads to complete trashing. The engine top end doesn't oil up as well as it could, and results in premature wear and other problems - it seems always to be head problems. TVR do warn you in their manuals, not to be silly from cold, but there are a lot of engines out there, which are being treated without due care.

JonGwynne

270 posts

264 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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Pesty said: but i guess with any engine tuned to almost 100bhp/ltr it may need attention every now and again.

Some 1 said ^^^^^^
I'm sure you guys will correct me but havn't Honda V-tech engines been giving 100bhp/ltr for years? I'm prety sure that in all the thousands Honda have made there has never been a warenty claim on the Engine itself.
Also BMW M3 Engines Have 100Bhp/ltr I seem to remember a recal/mod to some bolts to do with the cam shaft but other than that arnt they bullet proof?
I love TVR's But 100bhp/ltr is no excuse for them to be unreliable.


I had to bring my Honda S2000 in for some warranty work to be done on the engine. It hadn't gone pop or anything, this was a preventative job but something about the oil delivery system was capable of causing premature wear (apparently there were a few who bought their S2ks for the track and had them go pop) under heavy use.

A guy I spoke to on this site in Arizona had the tranny on his go out within a year.

A woman I know in California had her Honda engine go and need a top end rebuild (a recently replaced timing belt had slipped or broken) at around 70k miles.

I'm just saying that while Japanese mass-produced cars may be well ahead of TVR in terms of build quality, reliability and being basically idiot-proof, they aren't perfect. No car is perfect.

Also, I think TVR's reputation for dodgy quality is probably a bit overblown. Sure there were the infamous "finger follower" problems with the Speed Six but does anyone have any actual stats on how many engines were affected? What about the Tuscan owners who have 20k and 30k on their cars with nary a problem? And from what I've read, TVR's build quality on cars like the Tuscan is as good as, say the Aston Martin DB7 and yet I see auto journalists going on about the DB being fragile or unreliable. They prefer to concentrate on important things like whinging about the Ford switchgear.

Finally, Japanese cars - when they start to let go - tend to basically fall to bits. How many Hondas and Toyotas do you see from the 60s and early 70s still on the road? On the other hand, cars of the same era from Jaguar, Mercedes, etc. are still going strong and will last for decades more.

dicky

928 posts

283 months

Thursday 2nd January 2003
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nubbin said:

**999** said: Then again I treat the engine with respect when it's cold and then drive it like it's meant to be driven....



I think that re-inforces a key point about all TVR engines - cold thrashing leads to complete trashing. The engine top end doesn't oil up as well as it could, and results in premature wear and other problems - it seems always to be head problems. TVR do warn you in their manuals, not to be silly from cold, but there are a lot of engines out there, which are being treated without due care.




I did follow the manual when cold, not owning a TVR before I didn't want any problems. I wait till she's at least to 50 degrees in the oil temp before going above 2500 rpm(very annoying when joining duel carriageways!!) So I don't think engine problems are just down to how the owners them.

**999**

286 posts

257 months

Monday 6th January 2003
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dicky said:

nubbin said:

**999** said: Then again I treat the engine with respect when it's cold and then drive it like it's meant to be driven....



I think that re-inforces a key point about all TVR engines - cold thrashing leads to complete trashing. The engine top end doesn't oil up as well as it could, and results in premature wear and other problems - it seems always to be head problems. TVR do warn you in their manuals, not to be silly from cold, but there are a lot of engines out there, which are being treated without due care.




I did follow the manual when cold, not owning a TVR before I didn't want any problems. I wait till she's at least to 50 degrees in the oil temp before going above 2500 rpm(very annoying when joining duel carriageways!!) So I don't think engine problems are just down to how the owners them.



Well, I think all engine manufacturers produce the odd dud engine, but under normal circumstances very few non-dud engines spontaneously self destruct...

dicky

928 posts

283 months

Monday 6th January 2003
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**999** said:

dicky said:

nubbin said:

**999** said: Then again I treat the engine with respect when it's cold and then drive it like it's meant to be driven....



I think that re-inforces a key point about all TVR engines - cold thrashing leads to complete trashing. The engine top end doesn't oil up as well as it could, and results in premature wear and other problems - it seems always to be head problems. TVR do warn you in their manuals, not to be silly from cold, but there are a lot of engines out there, which are being treated without due care.




I did follow the manual when cold, not owning a TVR before I didn't want any problems. I wait till she's at least to 50 degrees in the oil temp before going above 2500 rpm(very annoying when joining duel carriageways!!) So I don't think engine problems are just down to how the owners them.



Well, I think all engine manufacturers produce the odd dud engine, but under normal circumstances very few non-dud engines spontaneously self destruct...


very true, but mine has had a head gasket, cylinder gasket,low compression and duff alternator, all bar the last one resulted in new engines. can not see how my driving has resulted in all these problems. I must just be a jinx.......................

PetrolTed

34,424 posts

302 months

Monday 6th January 2003
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**999** said:Well, I think all engine manufacturers produce the odd dud engine, but under normal circumstances very few non-dud engines spontaneously self destruct...



Don't be too harsh on him 999. Many people have suffered Speed Six engine problems in the last couple of years.

Anyway, let's not turn this thread into a Speed Six bashing dicussion

S2elise

10 posts

261 months

Thursday 9th January 2003
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"Only things I dont like are the wheels"


???????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of the best wheels I have seen from ANY manufacturer IMHO!