Tamora in EVO car of the year
Discussion
The tamora is a good car - no doubt about that. I have driven one and looked over many.
But lookswise it is a second to the tuscan, and sound wise, well you can't beat a V8 for sound. By comparison the Tamora sounds like a porker.
Just kidding folks
, but a V8 it aint - before I bought a chimaera I drove everything and the great thing about the chimp is that you dont need to be doing 120mph or 6000rpm for it to sound good.
I think everyone recognises that TVR have produced a world-beater in the Tamora but I didnt buy a TVR because it was a world beater, the chimaera sounds good, is fast, and is very driveable.
But lookswise it is a second to the tuscan, and sound wise, well you can't beat a V8 for sound. By comparison the Tamora sounds like a porker.
Just kidding folks
, but a V8 it aint - before I bought a chimaera I drove everything and the great thing about the chimp is that you dont need to be doing 120mph or 6000rpm for it to sound good. I think everyone recognises that TVR have produced a world-beater in the Tamora but I didnt buy a TVR because it was a world beater, the chimaera sounds good, is fast, and is very driveable.
I'm getting rid of my Chimaera to get a Tamora - why? To get a better car, that's why. So I can go round corners in confidence, at speed, and not have to worry that a few bumps will make the back end skip. I don't want a point and squirt car, I don't want an engine born in the 50's, I don't want all the torque at 2500rpm spinning the wheels, I want to have it under my control, not the car to control me. I presume your criticism of the engine noise extends to the Tuscan and Cerbera, too? What the f**k is wrong with everyone - have you all lost the individuality that TVR lovers are supposed to have. Is it just fashionable to become a Tamora critic? Or is this jealousy that TVR have produced a car that is, by a considerable distance, better than the Griffith and Chimaera, where it counts, i.e. in the driving sense, or did everyone just expect TVR to continue production of those two old beauties, and become as irrelevant as Morgan. If you want to find a car to criticise, check out the Aero8 - then tell me the Tamora's ugly!! Do you like TVR's, or just love the car you've got?
Well put nubbin!!
Maybe its the engineer in me, but when it comes down to the essentials IMO handling and safety (a relevant term) come ahead of beauty. The aerodynamic appendages are there for a reason, and thats to save your ar$e going backwards through the hedge when you least expect it (although aero's down really work until you get to serious speeds, all the more reason to drive enthusiastically).
'I'm sorry officer, but I get more grip if I round this bend at 90 rather than 50'
Colin
Maybe its the engineer in me, but when it comes down to the essentials IMO handling and safety (a relevant term) come ahead of beauty. The aerodynamic appendages are there for a reason, and thats to save your ar$e going backwards through the hedge when you least expect it (although aero's down really work until you get to serious speeds, all the more reason to drive enthusiastically).
'I'm sorry officer, but I get more grip if I round this bend at 90 rather than 50'
Colin
Speed12,
You say the Chimaera is drivable... Well it is, compared to a Griff! Honestly the Tamora really is a LOT more drivable than the Chimaera ad Griff. (otherwise it would mean that TVR engineers have been sitting on their hands doing nothing the past 8 years. The Tamora is drivable and yet engaging. You don't have to rev it to 6000 rpm to hit the right sound track. I have driven it and it is eminently desirable... My only REAL problem, is that I can't really spend 40 grands on a car !!!
Roms
Antigua Blue Chimaera 450
MCC Smart Passion Grey with Bungee Red interior ;o)
You say the Chimaera is drivable... Well it is, compared to a Griff! Honestly the Tamora really is a LOT more drivable than the Chimaera ad Griff. (otherwise it would mean that TVR engineers have been sitting on their hands doing nothing the past 8 years. The Tamora is drivable and yet engaging. You don't have to rev it to 6000 rpm to hit the right sound track. I have driven it and it is eminently desirable... My only REAL problem, is that I can't really spend 40 grands on a car !!!
Roms
Antigua Blue Chimaera 450
MCC Smart Passion Grey with Bungee Red interior ;o)
well looks like Mr Nubbin is very upset, you forgot to read all of my post and picked up on just one fact - that I will not be swapping my Chimaera for a Tamora.
There are a lot of people here who are swooning and fawning at the Tamora and in the interests of a healthy debate I decided to add my opinion.
I don’t remember saying it was crap, or that it did not represent a huge way forward for TVR.
I would like to question a couple of your points - you say your Chimaera skips and jumps on corners - my personal experience has been that yes it does that but only when you are going too fast for the corner and I don't know that many places where it is safe to be going that fast. I don't want to get into the speed debate - I believe in speed - but only when and where appropriate. If it is on the track that it skips then I cannot comment as I have not driven either car on the track.
If you have a problem controlling your car then perhaps you should invest in some tuition - I suspect once you have had the Tamora for a while and you start to push it, it will be doing the same. Once any car with that amount of power and no electronics is on the edge then it will become tricky to handle - that’s plain old physics.
Again I actually said that the Tamora was second to the Tuscan - I did not say it was second to any other brand and I must agree that the Morgan is not pretty.
I think you will find that individualism as you put it is all about personal choice and not blindly accepting every option put forward by TVR. I can respect your decision to get one, just wish you could appreciate my decision. And just to be sure, I do think that the Tamora is a very good car.
I do love the car I have, but I will change it next year. I do love TVRs but the next car may not be one - I reserve my right to individuality.
Foggy - not being an engineer I was under the impression that the rear splitter only had a significant effect over 100mph - I don't know where you live but round here the opportunities to get up to that speed are very limited.
If you are looking for safety then perhaps a nice Accord would suit you sir.
For rthierry,
The reason I used the term driveable was because the car is engaging. I have driven lots of cars and yes the M3 rates as one of my favourites ever but it is not engaging as the Chimaera - the Chimaera requires and deserves respect.
I am always drawn back to an EVO magazine article where they lapped lots of cars (including M3) but the Tuscan was the fastest - i.e. it is a car that can be driven very fast but does require a lot of skill and attention. I suspect that I could have driven the M3 round the track close to their time but the suspect that I would have put the Tuscan into the tyres if trying to drive it that fast.
It is the potential and the possibility that draws me personally to TVR, the Tamora is the best yet, but with a V8 it would be better. On the subject of V8’s being old technology that is a rather unfair criticism, lots of other manufacturers use them and are even developing new ones. Just because something has been around for a while does not mean that a new item is better – just different.
The steering wheel has been around for even longer – maybe we should replace it. To risk using BMW as an example again (no I do not own one or plan to buy one in the near future) the new 7 has been knocked by everyone for being too different – what price progress eh?
There are a lot of people here who are swooning and fawning at the Tamora and in the interests of a healthy debate I decided to add my opinion.
I don’t remember saying it was crap, or that it did not represent a huge way forward for TVR.
I would like to question a couple of your points - you say your Chimaera skips and jumps on corners - my personal experience has been that yes it does that but only when you are going too fast for the corner and I don't know that many places where it is safe to be going that fast. I don't want to get into the speed debate - I believe in speed - but only when and where appropriate. If it is on the track that it skips then I cannot comment as I have not driven either car on the track.
If you have a problem controlling your car then perhaps you should invest in some tuition - I suspect once you have had the Tamora for a while and you start to push it, it will be doing the same. Once any car with that amount of power and no electronics is on the edge then it will become tricky to handle - that’s plain old physics.
Again I actually said that the Tamora was second to the Tuscan - I did not say it was second to any other brand and I must agree that the Morgan is not pretty.
I think you will find that individualism as you put it is all about personal choice and not blindly accepting every option put forward by TVR. I can respect your decision to get one, just wish you could appreciate my decision. And just to be sure, I do think that the Tamora is a very good car.
I do love the car I have, but I will change it next year. I do love TVRs but the next car may not be one - I reserve my right to individuality.
Foggy - not being an engineer I was under the impression that the rear splitter only had a significant effect over 100mph - I don't know where you live but round here the opportunities to get up to that speed are very limited.
If you are looking for safety then perhaps a nice Accord would suit you sir.
For rthierry,
The reason I used the term driveable was because the car is engaging. I have driven lots of cars and yes the M3 rates as one of my favourites ever but it is not engaging as the Chimaera - the Chimaera requires and deserves respect.
I am always drawn back to an EVO magazine article where they lapped lots of cars (including M3) but the Tuscan was the fastest - i.e. it is a car that can be driven very fast but does require a lot of skill and attention. I suspect that I could have driven the M3 round the track close to their time but the suspect that I would have put the Tuscan into the tyres if trying to drive it that fast.
It is the potential and the possibility that draws me personally to TVR, the Tamora is the best yet, but with a V8 it would be better. On the subject of V8’s being old technology that is a rather unfair criticism, lots of other manufacturers use them and are even developing new ones. Just because something has been around for a while does not mean that a new item is better – just different.
The steering wheel has been around for even longer – maybe we should replace it. To risk using BMW as an example again (no I do not own one or plan to buy one in the near future) the new 7 has been knocked by everyone for being too different – what price progress eh?
quote:
I would like to question a couple of your points - you say your Chimaera skips and jumps on corners - my personal experience has been that yes it does that but only when you are going too fast for the corner and I don't know that many places where it is safe to be going that fast. I don't want to get into the speed debate - I believe in speed - but only when and where appropriate. If it is on the track that it skips then I cannot comment as I have not driven either car on the track.
If you have a problem controlling your car then perhaps you should invest in some tuition - I suspect once you have had the Tamora for a while and you start to push it, it will be doing the same. Once any car with that amount of power and no electronics is on the edge then it will become tricky to handle - that’s plain old physics.
That's very patronising. You can drive a Chimaera at speed cross country and still invoke the skittishness without driving outside the safety margin.
Speed12, I understood your post perfectly, and your desire to change, or not, has no relevance to my post. The Chimaera ships on bumpy cprners, not because the speed is too great, but because the chassis and suspension set up is such that it cannot take the sort of speeds that, for example, a Boxster could carry through the same corner. That's why the Chimaera is less of a car than he Tmora, it's also why TVR haven't been able to break into the more mainstream market occupied by such cars as the Boxster. I am probably an average driver, well aware of how fast I feel my driving skills will feel safe for me as an individual - I know my limits, and sadly even my moderate accomplishments in the driver's seat are too much for the set up of my Chimaera. It makes the car feel unsafe, and I want a Tamora to correct this. I am not, therefore, fawning all over the Tamora, I am aware that it, too, is not a perfect car, but it addresses the major failings of the Chimaera, and in the process puts a lot of extremely good machinery to shame.
The Rover V8, for your information, was derived from a small block 3l Buick engine, bought in by Rover in the mid-50's. That makes it a 50 year old design, does it not. That may be why BMW didn't use the old Mini engine in the new mini, perhaps?
Speed12 you sem a lot more upset than me... my comments were not directed at you personally, but rather at the negative tone of many comments directed at the Tamora - I am re-dressing that balance by pointing out that the Griffith and Chimaera are lovely cars, but are getting old now and are not to be revered just for the sake of it. If the Tamora was a dog, I wouldn't buy it - it is simply a much better car, and does not deserve the carping criticism seen on these fora.
As for the safety issue, I would like to drive fast AND safely, and that will be more possible in the Tamora than the Chimaera, so perhaps the Accord would be about right for you, since you do not seem to have any concept of safe driving?
Enjoy your Chimaera, as I have enjoyed mine - I differ only in that I know that the Chimaera is not the best that TVR offer, and the Tamora appears to be a true driver's car, and that's what I want.
The Rover V8, for your information, was derived from a small block 3l Buick engine, bought in by Rover in the mid-50's. That makes it a 50 year old design, does it not. That may be why BMW didn't use the old Mini engine in the new mini, perhaps?
Speed12 you sem a lot more upset than me... my comments were not directed at you personally, but rather at the negative tone of many comments directed at the Tamora - I am re-dressing that balance by pointing out that the Griffith and Chimaera are lovely cars, but are getting old now and are not to be revered just for the sake of it. If the Tamora was a dog, I wouldn't buy it - it is simply a much better car, and does not deserve the carping criticism seen on these fora.
As for the safety issue, I would like to drive fast AND safely, and that will be more possible in the Tamora than the Chimaera, so perhaps the Accord would be about right for you, since you do not seem to have any concept of safe driving?
Enjoy your Chimaera, as I have enjoyed mine - I differ only in that I know that the Chimaera is not the best that TVR offer, and the Tamora appears to be a true driver's car, and that's what I want.
Can't go round corners fast in your Chimaeras? Spare a thought then for us Griff jockeys, dicing with death at every bend!
One of the beauties of my car is not "carrying speed through corners" - if I'd wanted this I'd have bought a Lotus. It's steering with the throttle, feeling the back squirm out and the nose tuck in. This may not be the quickest way of getting around the bend, but its more fun than going round on the proverbial rails!
I think it's great that TVR now offer the Tamora / Cerb / Tuscan choice, should appeal to a wider market and therefore be more successful, which benefits us all. After all, the 944 (a "lesser" model but better handling) saved Porsche's bacon (pun intended)which led to more and better 911s ("better" models with difficult handling).
One of the beauties of my car is not "carrying speed through corners" - if I'd wanted this I'd have bought a Lotus. It's steering with the throttle, feeling the back squirm out and the nose tuck in. This may not be the quickest way of getting around the bend, but its more fun than going round on the proverbial rails!
I think it's great that TVR now offer the Tamora / Cerb / Tuscan choice, should appeal to a wider market and therefore be more successful, which benefits us all. After all, the 944 (a "lesser" model but better handling) saved Porsche's bacon (pun intended)which led to more and better 911s ("better" models with difficult handling).
Gassing Station | Tamora, T350 & Sagaris | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff