TVR 400SX

[alexmac]

Thanks to Jasper for his initial posting regarding the car. Yes it is for sale I have owned vehicle since new and it is very sound. It is at Central TVR where Adrian and Andy are getting it MOT'D and ready for the end of May ish.

There have been a couple of interested parties so far so feel free to ask any questions. The car is very rare and has been featured in Penthouse and been on vacation to Australia where it was never used. Anyway its back here now and looking for a new pilot!!

[Jasper Gilder]

As the longest standing SX owner in the world (!!!!) I have to say that this will be a fantastic car. The press never ever roadtested one - but the 350 was faster on in-gear acceleration than a SEAC so I'd expect the 400 to be very special - if only I had A) the money, B) the garage space and C) a wife who wouldn't kill me if I bought another car....

Seriously - if anyone is considering it and wants the ins and outs of SX ownership PM me or get my number off www.driveespana.com and I'll share 81,000 miles of experience!

[pwd95]

Any pictures Alex? If I get a buyer for the Griff I'll be back on the blower to you.

[carob]

Be carefull how you discuss this guys, i stuck some pictures of mine up so people could get an idea what the 400 looked like and the moderators deleted the post, as it had reference to a sale.

Rob

[adam quantrill]

I can certainly recommend the 400SX as a model of wedge - it's very quick. Make sure it's got fresh rubber on it though, as the original tyres can be very scary especially if you're not used to driving wedges and their habits!

In fact the best thing I did was to get the set of cerbie wheels on as they have 245's on the back, giving much more grip, and a much more balanced drive. If you want to be more original you might want to get 16" OZ's for the rear with a wider tyre.

As for day-day running I usually use standard unleaded plus Castrol octane boost, which saves trekking around for super unleaded.

I haven't had many worries apart from the clutch wearing out (actually the springs went), the rev limiter causing some unreliability, and snapping a couple of supercharger belts (after disconnecting the rev limiter!) in 18000 miles of running.

[Jasper Gilder]

carob said:

Be carefull how you discuss this guys, i stuck some pictures of mine up so people could get an idea what the 400 looked like and the moderators deleted the post, as it had reference to a sale.

Rob

I was compiling a reply and when I came to post it it the thread had been deleted so that was a waste of my time...

[carob]

Seemed a bit critical to me Jasper.

I could go through the index on here and find atleast two dozen references to sales without even trying.

I think the subject was taken out of context or maybe not read properly, easily done i suppose.

I was just trying to give a heads up.

Rob

[rev-erend]

Jasper Gilder said:

The press never ever roadtested one

Are you sure .. I seem to remember Fast Car (I think) road testing one (350sx) and concluded that it would have done better without worn tyres as it was spinning away any advantages over the 390SE that was the competetion from TVR of the day.

[Wedg1e]

rev-erend said:

Jasper Gilder said:

The press never ever roadtested one

Are you sure .. I seem to remember Fast Car (I think) road testing one (350sx) and concluded that it would have done better without worn tyres as it was spinning away any advantages over the 390SE that was the competetion from TVR of the day.

Some years back I met John Beveridge, a previous owner of my car, who'd used it for 5 years in the mid-90s as his company hack (hence the high miles and £21,000 worth of receipts that came with it). For servicing etc. he used Haughins who lent him a 350SX (for the weekend as I recall) with a view to him chopping the 390SE in.
He told me that he didn't think there was much difference between them 90% of the time but what put him off was the supercharger whine so he stuck with the SE.
John's pic of 'our' car won 3rd place at the Back Home photo competition in 1999 and was featured on the centrefold of 'Sprint'

[Jasper Gilder]

Wedg1e said:

rev-erend said:

Jasper Gilder said:

The press never ever roadtested one

Are you sure .. I seem to remember Fast Car (I think) road testing one (350sx) and concluded that it would have done better without worn tyres as it was spinning away any advantages over the 390SE that was the competetion from TVR of the day.

Correct - the 350 SX had a lot of roadtests and I've got copies of most of them - but I don't think the 400SX ever got into a journo's hands

[Waynester]

Jasper Gilder said:

but the 350 was faster on in-gear acceleration than a SEAC so I'd expect the 400 to be very special

Was this the 420 or 450? Out of interest do you have the figures?

[adam quantrill]

I think there's a copy of an article reprinted in the "Gold Portfolio" or whatever it's called. 50-70mph was very impressive.

[pwd95]

adam quantrill said:

50-70mph was very impressive.

[pwd95]

Here's one of them....

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/ERoadtests/Perform...

[c pryor]

As mentioned already, 1986-1994 TVR Performance Portfolio by Brooklands Books contains some interesting reading regards road test figures

[Texas V8]

SX350 - E319 EEO in the road tests was mine for a while. I bought it from David Haughin in 1988 and kept it for a year before swaping it for a new 400SE. It was an excellent car the supercharger whine was awsome at speed and the shell garage at Altens in Aberdeen always knew when I was on my way. Twice in one day with 80 mls on a tank full around town. Appart from the lights leaving me in the dark on the M6 one night it was fairly fault free and ran like a train although the rear wheels rubbed on the arches over bumps.
Never got over the joy of the supercharger ommph and now drive an SL55 AMG w/performance pack having sold the 400SE after 15 yrs and only 27,000 mls.

[Google [bot]]

I remember that SX 350 test in Motor (I think) many many years back. I don't recall it being particularly quick, but then I suppose recollections can change after 23 or so years .

[GV]

I remember rushing out to buy that review all those years ago....scary how time flies!!

[grahamw48]

Google [bot] said:

I remember that SX 350 test in Motor (I think) many many years back. I don't recall it being particularly quick, but then I suppose recollections can change after 23 or so years .

23 years ago there were very few production cars in the world quicker than a big Wedge.

That's why a lot of us dreamed of owning one.