TVR Tuscan Speed 6 - First Impressions

Keith Miller formulates a plan to kidnap Ned the factory hound...

Having bought and religiously serviced my Chimaera 400 at Brandon (Scotland's TVR Dealer), I thought it only fair that Rodger Laing should let me have a quick blatt in their Tuscan Speed Six demonstrator. Rodger duly obliged and had their Purple/Blue/Bronze "flip/flop" car warmed and waiting.

I must have been nervous as hell because I managed to lock my keys in the boot of the Chimaera as I was putting the hood back on (first time ever). Doh!

The classic quotation from the Eighties Cinematic Masterpiece "Predator" sprang to mind when I first saw the beast in the flesh. In my best Arnie accent I uttered the words; "you is an ugly muvver******"......" - the Tuscan is like nothing else on the planet - except perhaps Hannibal Lecter's ski mask - scary.

Wacky interior. Looks like the cockpit of a 1950's science fiction film flying saucer. Cool. All brass vents & controls laid in chrome. Not one single bit of plastic anywhere. To be honest, I don't like the motorbike/War of the Worlds style instrument binnacle, but if you are a fan of polished brass Victorian Steamship pressure gauges then you'll love it.

Seats are very comfy, getting in and out was a doddle compared to either a Chimaera or a Cerbera. Far more legroom for both driver and passenger. The floor mounted pedals (aka Porsche 911) are weird at first but the clutch is a lot lighter than the Chim.

I was initially taken out in the car by Rodger. He's obviously got used to
the car and has run it in, because he floored it all the way to the 2nd green rpm indicator. Sounds awesome, like someone put a GPMG on full auto in your underpants.......(apologies to Jeremy Clarkson)

Then it was my turn. Oooohhhh smooth baby! 360bhp in something that weighs
950kg. To compare, my Chimaera has 240bhp and weighs 1068kg. Using the rpm warning lights, and probably 3/4 throttle I went from 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th and thought "better look at the speedo" oops - 110mph on an A road and it felt like 60mph. More "chuckable" than the Chim, but not as relaxing at high speed on the dual carriageway. Awesome, but still not as raw as a Cerbera V8.

I'm disappointed there is still no discernible "shove in the back" in the way a Turbocharged car would behave. Like I said - smooth.

The best bit of all was the reaction of everyone around. Cars in front pulled over. Passengers and drivers alike just gawped in amazement. One People Carrier, almost keeled over when the rather large passengers on the nearside started fighting with the offside passengers to get the best view out of the offside windows. Ever seen a Ford Galaxy driving along with a 30° lean? I hate to say it, but the Tuscan caused at least 1 injury - when the rearmost Galaxy passenger was throttled when his seatbelt jammed across his neck as he twisted in his seat.....

So, can anyone lend me Ł39k - and kidnap Peter Wheeler's dog so I can blackmail my way up the 2 year waiting list?

James Hall (Cerbera and Griffith owner) reports

I'd heard on the grapevine that Fernhurst were picking up their Tuscan this week. I rang Bryan on Monday evening to find out if they'd got it. He said that they were up in Blackpool and were going to pick it up on Tuesday and drive it back to Fernhurst.

Needless to say, this morning (Wednesday) I gave him a ring to see what he thought of the car. He said he was impressed (in fact, he also said that he quite fancied buying one for himself). I asked when it would be ready for public viewing, as they had to PDI it and I knew that they wanted to run it in properly before letting customers out in it. He said that it would be fine for me to pop over any time to have a look and, as long as I didn't mind keeping the revs down, have a go. As luck would have it, I had to leave work early to run a couple of errands, and I'd find myself not too far from Fernhurst later on in the afternoon.

Ready and Waiting

I popped in, to see a slightly grubby Rolex Blue Tuscan with a grey interior fresh from its 350 mile trip from Blackpool. Bryan gave me a guided tour of all the knobs and gizmos. It was pretty much the same as the motor show car, except that the changeup lights are now visible above the steering wheel, and the radio is in a slightly better position on top of the dash.

Giving it the Once Over

We played at putting the roof on and off - pretty easy to do, but you need to be careful to get the roof panel properly in the boot before shutting the lid). The window winders are still those strange twist knobs combined with the door openers, but I'm sure we'll all get used to them soon enough.

The instrument cluster is very large and clear. The 2 analogue gauges are rather strange (difficult to describe really, I suggest you have a look for yourself). Then there is the temperature control. If you push it, a little blue "your aircon is now functioning" light illuminates. This happens whether you have aircon or not. Apparently TVR have only made one design of circuit board, so you can impress you friends into thinking that you've paid for the option, but it just doesn't work.

Speedo

Then there's the speedo. It's brass and has illuminated graduations and numbers, just like the motor show car did. The centre of the speedo is taken up by a large LCD multi function display. On this you can see oil pressure or oil and water temperature or engine revs in 100's of RPM, so it ticks over at 8 and goes up to 70. You switch through functions by using one of the knobs grouped around the steering wheel.There is also a setup facility, which allows you to set the clock and adjust the beeper volume for the indicators amongst other things.

Revs

There are 3 changeup lights sitting above the steering wheel on a peculiar stalk. This is going to be changed for the customer cars and is a legacy from the location on the show cars where they were obscured from view by the steering wheel rim. The first light comes on at 6,000rpm suggesting quite politely that you're out of the useful power band, and you may as well change up. The second one comes on at 6,500rpm to let you know in no uncertain terms that Eddie Irvine would now be in the next gear up and pulling gently away from you, and you're now well outside the useful rev range. When you hit 7,000rpm, a very bright light comes on to tell you the world is about to end and your engine will expire if you don't change up NOW!

Aluminium Stalks

The indicator and wiper stalks are now aluminium, but they still have the same layout as the Griff and Chimaera. I would have liked to see the same arrangement as the Cerbera has, with wipers, full beam/dip and horn controls on the steering wheel in easy thumb reach. It makes a huge difference if you're driving fast and another car appears in the distance, as you don't need to reduce your grip on the wheel to dip your lights.

Zero Hour

Then came the magic moment. Graham tossed me the keys and asked if I fancied giving it a spin. As it's still running in, I had to keep the revs down below 3,000rpm (I know some people are quite happy to thrash demo cars, but my attitude is that it will be somebody else's car soon).

The throttle response is very crisp, the pedal very light and the engine will rev freely with very little pressure. Sadly we couldn't have much of a play with the performance, but I figured that I'd get a fairly good idea of how it handled and what it felt like to drive.

Suspension

My initial impression was of how much like a Cerbera it felt. The car didn't have the Red Rose pack, so it was running the 16 inch tyres and softer dampers than I would have liked (but then I like a firm ride in my car, that's why I've got adjustable Ohlins on the Cerbera). I imagine with the larger wheels and the lower profile tyres that the ride would be something almost as good as a Cerbera's. Maybe not as firm as a 4.5, but not as soft as the Cerbera Speed 6.

The steering is nicely weighted, again very similar in feel to the Cerbera (although those high profile tyres do take away a bit of the crispness that I'm used to). Around the corners it felt well planted, without any of the skittishness that you can get with a Chimaera or a Griff.

Teased

It's a shame that I couldn't try out the flexibility of the engine, but I agree with their policy of making sure that the car is run in before letting their customers try it out in anger. My test drive gave me a good flavour of what it feels like on the road, but nothing of what it is really like to drive it. Expect it to be ready to go by this time next week. In the mean time, you can see it sitting looking nice and shiny in their showroom.

Colours

I'd also like to mention Fernhurst's choice of colour scheme. I know a lot of people are going for the wacky colours, probably encouraged by the colours of the '98 motor show cars of Cascade Blue (upstairs) and Desert Moondust (downstairs). Apparently the factory is full of customer cars in build in these two colours. Not very original use of originality. This is the first Tuscan that I've seen in a 'normal' colour, and it looks fantastic. It has all the curves, so it doesn't need fancy paints to look good. It just looks good.

Order Confirmed

In conclusion: Have I cancelled my order? No. Am I considering asking for an earlier delivery? Possibly. Am I looking forward to a proper test drive? Most definitely, Yes.

Link: Fernhurst TVR