Do I buy a Cerb?

[Jonty355]

Mr Cerbera said:

Excuse me: a 308 and 355 owner whose job is as a "Test Driver" asking about fuel consumption on a 4 litre sports car ??

You're 'avin me on !!

Sounds silly I know, but the Ferraris have only ever been run as the special occasion weekend car so mpg didn't matter - although the 308 was surprisingly good. I've sold that one now and my dad has the Mondial. Still got the 355 though as I've had that one for 7.5 years.

As for the test driver bit, I cant know everything! I only do that as an unpaid second job for a magazine reviewing cars anyway. Working in the steel works pays the bills!

[Jonty355]

Gray_101 said:

I have a 97 4.2 in Rotherham, your welcome to come and have a look one evening next week if you like.

That would be great - you're not the guy who lives in Wath are you? Although not sure if his name was Phil?

[Jonty355]

jamieduff1981 said:

Hi OP. Glad you came in here to speak with more owners

My own one is a 4.5 V8 so I can't comment on Speed Six fuel consumption but the V8 one at least is better than I had hoped. Mine will return 25mpg when cruising and nearer 15mpg when horsing about and making noise.

I've got a few cars like yourself so don't use the Cerbera every day, but I rarely get time to just go out for a drive so I do make a point of using the Cerbera if I need to go somewhere. I don't tend to reach for the keys if the weather is miserable but that's me rather than the car. When I drive the Cerb I do like to find excuses to accelerate and if the road is sopping wet there isn't the traction to do that. The car isn't trying to kill you constantly though - the sense of speed is very good and feedback also excellent so it's a hard car to accidently go too fast I find.

I overfilled a Costco trolley and spent £550 on groceries and managed get everything but a crate of beer in the boot.

It's quite gentle on tyres and brakes I find. Despite the power the weight just isn't there to rip the treads off. I fitted brake discs from a group buy run by a Cerb forum member who deals in Carbon Lorraine brakes along with his pads. The pedal feel is amazing but for road use it's actually hard to find a use for them!


As with most performance cars they do need looking after. I think others will agree though that the vast majority of things that 'go wrong' are just fodder to get sorted out at the next service and MOT at your nearest specialist. It's pretty seldom that my car can't actually be driven. On the contrary it's my Cerbera that has stood in for the sensible daily drivers on more than one occassion!

Good to know its big enough for the family. When I was considering a DB7 most folk said that you could only get kids in up to the age of about 4.

I'll be using it on a regular basis. Basically we'll have 1 practical car (Ford C-Max) then the lesser used practical-ish car (TVR Cerbera) and then the once in a blue moon for a very special occasion if I can afford to put fuel in it car (Ferrari F355 Spider).

Sounds like they're a better car for being used.

[Jonty355]

Do any of you know this car?
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Also any of you dealt with James Agger before? Spoke to him earlier on the phone and he sounds like a nice chap.

[SimonKD]

Best fuel consumption - I dunno
Worst fuel consumption - 14 laps of Bruntingthorpe to a full tank with just about enough left to get to the nearest fuel station.
Oh it's a V8, 4.5 with short induction.
MPG, as Paul says, "What does it really matter?" If it does concern you I really don't think a Cerbera, even a speed 6 engined one, is for you.

Regards
Simon

[Jhonno]

Mine seems to do about 250 miles to a tank.. £65-ish

[Jonty355]

Jhonno said:

Mine seems to do about 250 miles to a tank.. £65-ish

That's pretty good actually! Is your a 4.2 as well? 4.0 May even be better than that.

[Jhonno]

Mine is an early 4.2 yes..

Edited by Jhonno on Thursday 28th May 21:17

[Jonty355]

What are peoples experiences with chassis rot? If its not had a body off resto yet then will it need one soon?

[jamieduff1981]

Jonty355 said:

Jhonno said:

Mine seems to do about 250 miles to a tank.. £65-ish

That's pretty good actually! Is your a 4.2 as well? 4.0 May even be better than that.

Same as mine.

[jamieduff1981]

Jonty355 said:

What are peoples experiences with chassis rot? If its not had a body off resto yet then will it need one soon?

1998 and 1999 were the worst years for powdercoating.

Mine is a 1999 and could do with a body-off in a couple of years but it passes its MOTs and I touch up the underseal that gets damaged. Was going to do it this year but work in oil and gas... it'll last a bit longer.

TBH I think the chassis rust thing is overstated. Yes it happens, no the chassis don't completely dissolve and the reason the restorations cost so much is because most owners (and I'll be the same) go bananas and go to town on it while it's all apart.

If you were being objective you could do it for much less.

On the plus side, unlike most cars you can add value to a TVR.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Thursday 28th May 20:33

[Jonty355]

jamieduff1981 said:

1998 and 1999 were the worst years for powdercoating.

Mine is a 1999 and could do with a body-off in a couple of years but it passes its MOTs and I touch up the underseal that gets damaged. Was going to do it this year but work in oil and gas... it'll last a bit longer.

TBH I think the chassis rust thing is overstated. Yes it happens, no the chassis don't completely dissolve and the reason the restorations cost so much is because most owners (and I'll be the same) go bananas and go to town on it while it's all apart.

If you were being objective you could do it for much less.

On the plus side, unlike most cars you can add value to a TVR.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Thursday 28th May 20:33

Car that I'm going to look at is a 1999 car so doesn't bode well for the chassis, but then its apparently been waxoyled... Could this just be hiding rust though?

I don't mind having work done on a car, but as long as I pay the right money for it to begin with.

[robsco]

In relation to fuel economy, my 4 litre Tuscan would do 28mpg on a run! Although it averaged between 18 and 20 to the gallon. Not bad for a nigh on 400bhp straight six.

[Jonty355]

Anyone know this one or the people that are selling it?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

[Incognegro]

Byker28i said:

mpg - best I've had was 27 on a 80mph constant run down motorways/toll roads.

track day at Castle Coombe is 4-5 mpg
General everyday use, commute to work and back is around 20-22mpg.

This sounds pretty much bang on I filled up yesterday before drive up the M1 and it got to Nottingham and back to Milton Keynes on just over a quarter tank. TBH I logged data there and there was lets say spirited blips of the throttle however on the cruising it was so economical. If I wanted to really save say 65mph (slow lane) constant I could have gone there and back in just under a quarter tank easy!

[Byff]

Found my stuff - based on a 4.2 V8

Date litres price mileage cost mpg
19/11/2013 45.75 127.7 167.9 £58.42 16.68392071
27/11/2013 38.07 127.7 159.1 £48.62 18.99878475
07/12/2013 43.26 127.7 120.6 £55.24 12.67358005
20/12/2013 50.56 126.7 172.9 £64.06 15.54627864
30/12/2013 37.6 127.7 151.9 £48.02 18.3657407
08/01/2014 45.27 127.7 143.6 £57.81 14.42057126
09/02/2014 47.94 126.7 161.6 £60.74 15.32434237
20/02/2014 43.84 126.7 153.7 £55.55 15.93829429
18/03/2014 52.58 127.9 151.9 £67.25 13.13335585
14/04/2014 50.3 126.7 185.4 £63.73 16.75638245
21/04/2014 31.1 126.7 90.8 £39.40 13.27284366
30/04/2014 44.68 127.7 171.6 £57.06 17.45993564

Real world driving, start stop traffic jams, mixture of dual carriageways, motorways and A-Roads.

[gruffalo]

Marlow to Spa on a tank easily, that is about 320 miles on 66 litres give an average of 21mpg mostly cruising at about 90 with some sections much faster.

[PGNCerbera]

Jonty355 said:

Anyone know this one or the people that are selling it?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

James Agger is one of the good guys and will look after you. Spoke to him each time I was buying my TVR's and he was very good to talk to and helpful.

2 things that would worry me on that car would be chassis and the engine. Get them checked, budget for a rebuild and go for it.

Great cars. And the S6 is a fabulous engine.

[Jonty355]

PGNCerbera said:

James Agger is one of the good guys and will look after you. Spoke to him each time I was buying my TVR's and he was very good to talk to and helpful.

2 things that would worry me on that car would be chassis and the engine. Get them checked, budget for a rebuild and go for it.

Great cars. And the S6 is a fabulous engine.

So its unlikely to be a lemon then? I'm off to see the car in the morning so wish me luck.

I'd previously been looking at getting an Aston Martin DB7 but gave up when I realised how badly built they were and how poorly they'd all been maintained. They were all horrid cars, but from private and trade sellers.

I'd seen a few comments on here about James Agger after a google search so I may actually be making a 140 mile round trip that wont be yet another waste of time if his cars are as good as people say they are. I've wasted so much time and petrol over the past few months searching for a new car. Its about time I had a bit of luck and viewed something decent.

[Tanguero]

Jonty355 said:

I'd previously been looking at getting an Aston Martin DB7 but gave up when I realised how badly built they were and how poorly they'd all been maintained.

Are you sure a Cerb is for you?? Much as I love them the build quality is somewhat "agricultural". A DB7 is positively the height of sophisticated construction in comparison!