Rollover Protection

Rollover Protection

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Discussion

Graham B

Original Poster:

1,359 posts

284 months

Tuesday 18th December 2001
quotequote all
Just a quick question...

Remember reading an interview with PW where he said he designed the Tuscan as a coupe with a removable roof panel because it allowed them to build in rollover protection front and rear.

Obviously the Tamora is a full convertible, therefore do they now strengthen the windscreen surround (unlike the Griff and Chim)?

I presume this strengthening would add taughtness (and weight) to the chassis? Are they any heavier than a Griff?

Graham
PS. I've seen a rolled Griff (think the pictures were on this website a year or so back). It wasn't pretty!

>>> Edited by Graham B on Tuesday 18th December 16:58

nubbin

6,809 posts

279 months

Tuesday 18th December 2001
quotequote all
Check out the photos on the TMS website. One shows the large steel roll-protection bar built into the windscreen surround.

flasher

9,238 posts

285 months

Tuesday 18th December 2001
quotequote all
quote:

Check out the photos on the TMS website. One shows the large steel roll-protection bar built into the windscreen surround.



yeah, they do have a huge roll-over bar built into the screen. there is also extra bars in the front of the chassis and impact bars in the doors. I'm not slagging the Griff here, but TVR have made the Tamora,and the Tuscan a lot safer than the old cars. That's progress.

Edited by flasher on Tuesday 18th December 18:31

Graham

16,368 posts

285 months

Tuesday 18th December 2001
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quote:

impact bars in the doors.



they've had them since the atleast the tasmin...

flasher

9,238 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
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No they haven't. None on the Griff or Chimeara.As far as the factory told me, the first car to have proper side impact bars was the Cerbera followed by the Tuscan. And I rebuilt a Tasmin four years ago and there weren't any on the one I re-built.
Who told you that???

Edited by flasher on Wednesday 19th December 00:02

Edited by flasher on Wednesday 19th December 00:06

Graham

16,368 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Well every single tasmin racer that i've looked at including mine has double sliding impact bars in the doors, constructed so the bars can bend without bursting the door open.

They needed these so they could be sold in the USA, id just assumed griffs and chims had the same...

flasher

9,238 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Yeah Graham, you're right. Side impact bars were mandatory in USA but not here. As Griffs and Chims weren't sold there they didn't have them. There have been a few nasty sideways bangs in them here with fatal results. I think that must have influenced them with the Tuscan. The Cerb had a full roll cage anyway. Looking back, when I re-hung the Tasmin doors they were bloody heavy!!!

hoganscrogan

725 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Rember a few years ago a story in the national papers about a guy in his Griff 500 - spun it on a country road and a car coming the other way hit it side on killing the Griff passenger - from the picture they ran it would seem the door offered little protection for the deceased.

flasher

9,238 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
quote:

Rember a few years ago a story in the national papers about a guy in his Griff 500 - spun it on a country road and a car coming the other way hit it side on killing the Griff passenger - from the picture they ran it would seem the door offered little protection for the deceased.


That's true. In every other aspect the Griff is safer than most cars, but if you roll it or have someone hit you side on you're in big trouble.

redone

81 posts

284 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Has anyone seen the side impact protection on a Tuscan.? It might protect you if a cat ran into the side of you. But hit a tree or another car and it could be a different story.

Saying that I had a 'spin' in my 1st Griff managing to take out a road sign, a couple of fences and a small tree, the GRP looked a right mess but protected me very well.

andyvdg

1,536 posts

284 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
The Tuscan side protection is similiar to the Cerbera, with the door posts being attached to the roll hoop - it looks very strong. See picture of crashed Cerbera :

here.www.pistonheads.com/features/safety.htm

Graham B

Original Poster:

1,359 posts

284 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Aha... that's where i'd seen the mashed Griffith. The guy was very lucky.

Graham

jaydee

1,107 posts

270 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
Or very unlucky, depending on how you look at it.
TVR's new models have to pass safety requirements, just as any other manufacturers do, as of October 1998 these include front and side-impact tests. Prior to this front impact at 30mph was the only test that had to be passed with the only criteria being steering wheel displacement. Any car of the Griffith's construction should sail through a frontal test, the lack of side impact protection's pretty scary though as this is a classic "it's not you it's all them other silly buggers" (in my grandmother's words) point of impact (dozy Volvo drivers pulling out without looking etc.)
Australia and the US both have much more rigorous testing than the UK. This is one of the reasons why TVRs cannot be sold in either country. Particularly in the US there is little possibility of the current Tivs passing the tests owing to the hard points (knobs etc.) in the cockpit and the lack of active safety features.
Incidently one of the (many) "impromptue" crash tests that the Tuscan has undergone was at the hands of the Cockney one off Drivel. On an airstrip. In the dry.
Sadly there hasn't been a EuroNcap test of sportscars yet.

richb

51,649 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
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quote:

(dozy Volvo drivers pulling out without looking etc.)



Or not so dozy these days, after all many are v-quick Q-cars and suitable for visits to the tip etc. Rich...

richb

51,649 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
On a more serious note, I assume that once the customer cars hit the roads and can be measured-up, there will be some chunky roll-bars available. R...

Graham

16,368 posts

285 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
quotequote all
SO waht your saying is that now im about to become a father i SHould swap the CHimaera for a Cerby on the grounds of saftey?

Yee Haar

jaydee

1,107 posts

270 months

Wednesday 19th December 2001
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quote:

Or not so dozy these days, after all many are v-quick Q-cars and suitable for visits to the tip etc.


Sorry, for my money they'd still be one-way trips to the tip for most s

richb

51,649 posts

285 months

Thursday 20th December 2001
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quote:
Sorry, for my money they'd still be one-way trips to the tip for most



What, you stuck in a time warp JD or just got the old tunnel vision syndrome? I bet you wouldn't turn your nose up at a S60 T5 - you might even realise why most people rate as good a Germany's best

jaydee

1,107 posts

270 months

Thursday 20th December 2001
quotequote all
quote:

What, you stuck in a time warp JD or just got the old tunnel vision syndrome?

A phenomenon utterly unknown on this site !!!

quote:

I bet you wouldn't turn your nose up at a S60 T5 - you might even realise why most people rate as good a Germany's best


Absolutely not, it's the drivers I have a problem with really rather than the cars. (still a little sore about losing hundreds of hours of work to some twonk in a T5. One Locost v. squashed. One friend v. lucky escape)
On a more serious note-does anyone know if the more recent Chims have got side impact protection? I wonder if it could be fitted retrospectively-a number of classic cars have impact bars available for the doors.

Edited by jaydee on Thursday 20th December 11:26

andyvdg

1,536 posts

284 months

Thursday 20th December 2001
quotequote all
" On a more serious note-does anyone know if the more recent Chims have got side impact protection? "

I think I read somewhere the later Chims do have side impact bars (but not the Griffith). Maybe you should post the question in the Chimaera forum ?

Cheers,

Andy.