Tuscan S: 1 Ferrari 360: 0
Discussion
A clear dual Carriageway; in the distance a red 360 Modena at the traffic lights with an empty lane beside it, sitting side by side I thought “what the hell” seems as he was obviously up for it; the lights changed to green, we were even for about 5 feet, 1st to 2nd wheel spin, 2nd to 3rd wheel spin, my appreciation for the Tuscan S doubled 
It wasn’t even funny 
it just pulled and pulled 
Methanol
It wasn’t even funny it just pulled and pulled Methanol
Have you been practising with Tony again?most fun is taking them on in the little Elise 
...keep up with them mostly up to about 100mph...but as soon as you are on a B road they are sooo wide the owners just dare not commit into tight bends etc....well either that or they dont like going around corners
...nice motors, though I do doubt that there are many roads you can actually appreciate them on...at least the Tuscan is pretty small in comparison for hustling down B roads
...keep up with them mostly up to about 100mph...but as soon as you are on a B road they are sooo wide the owners just dare not commit into tight bends etc....well either that or they dont like going around corners ...nice motors, though I do doubt that there are many roads you can actually appreciate them on...at least the Tuscan is pretty small in comparison for hustling down B roads
Let's face it, not much is going to beat a Tuscan in a straight line 
nor the Griff for that matter, so it was no surprise that when i went for a test ride in my new steed on sunday, although quick, the acceleration was nothing compared to the TVR's ... then we came to some big roundabouts... JAYSUS do those Italians corner!
He spent a whole lap of quite a big roundabout waggling the steering wheel to try and get the back end out and, quite dissapointingly really, it wouldn't budge.
10 days to go till I collect it... I'm going mental
nor the Griff for that matter, so it was no surprise that when i went for a test ride in my new steed on sunday, although quick, the acceleration was nothing compared to the TVR's ... then we came to some big roundabouts... JAYSUS do those Italians corner! He spent a whole lap of quite a big roundabout waggling the steering wheel to try and get the back end out and, quite dissapointingly really, it wouldn't budge.
10 days to go till I collect it... I'm going mental
shadowninja said:
Try taking the 360 on the twisties and see how you fair.
assuming both drivers are equally skilled
Sorry, but in anything other than a straight line, the 360 would make mincemeat out of the S.
As much as I love the Tuscan, if you've ever driven a 360, you can immediately tell that the extra money pays for the chassis.
Still would liked to have seen it though!
Tuan
Yeah but the 360 is an eye-sore. It's abominably ugly in my opinion. And this from the one time maker of the world's most beautiful cars. The Tuscan could be exhibited in the tate modern. In fact it should be, it'd be the best thing there.
The 360 flatters inexperienced drivers because it's chassis smothers road imperfections and takes away some of the feedback. The tuscan is alive with feedback and some drivers find this intimidating just because they aren't used to it. Most 360 drivers probably come from BMW's and are used to not having much feedback. Come from a caterham seven and you'll think the tuscan is a smooth, luxurious GT car! Trust me the tuscan can corner just as quickly as a 360. It's much lighter for one thing and that's the number one thing for corner speed.
The 360 flatters inexperienced drivers because it's chassis smothers road imperfections and takes away some of the feedback. The tuscan is alive with feedback and some drivers find this intimidating just because they aren't used to it. Most 360 drivers probably come from BMW's and are used to not having much feedback. Come from a caterham seven and you'll think the tuscan is a smooth, luxurious GT car! Trust me the tuscan can corner just as quickly as a 360. It's much lighter for one thing and that's the number one thing for corner speed.
"Come from a caterham seven and you'll think the tuscan is a smooth, luxurious GT car"
yep ...its like a limo compared to an Elise too
Feedback is good compared to normal road cars but nothing like an Elise let alone a Cat 7 ...still as far as cornering speed goes, on the road when you cant commit 100% theres nothing in it
yep ...its like a limo compared to an Elise too Feedback is good compared to normal road cars but nothing like an Elise let alone a Cat 7 ...still as far as cornering speed goes, on the road when you cant commit 100% theres nothing in it
GI Jnr said:
As much as I love the Tuscan, if you've ever driven a 360, you can immediately tell that the extra money pays for the chassis.
Tuan
I disagree, only some of it does. Much of the extra money you pay for a Ferrari 360 goes to pay for Ferrari's F1 program and the 'kudos' of having the prancing horse on your bonnet. A large amount is for cross-market type approval (emissions, crash testing, etc.) that TVR does not have to pay since they don't sell in, for example, the USA. You also have to think about advertising/marketing costs, the big launch events Ferrari throws, etc.
I do agree that a 360 would be quicker on most tracks and that it ultimately has a superior chassis. However, on the road I'm not sure how many people could drive one close enough to the limit that they'd make mincemeat of a Tuscan S (bearing in mind the S's advantage on any kind of straight and the fact that the braking is just as good).
roadsweeper said:
As much as I love the Tuscan, if you've ever driven a 360, you can immediately tell that the extra money pays for the chassis.
Tuan
I disagree, only some of it does. Much of the extra money you pay for a Ferrari 360 goes to pay for Ferrari's F1 program and the 'kudos' of having the prancing horse on your bonnet. A large amount is for cross-market type approval (emissions, crash testing, etc.) that TVR does not have to pay since they don't sell in, for example, the USA. You also have to think about advertising/marketing costs, the big launch events Ferrari throws, etc.
I do agree that a 360 would be quicker on most tracks and that it ultimately has a superior chassis. However, on the road I'm not sure how many people could drive one close enough to the limit that they'd make mincemeat of a Tuscan S (bearing in mind the S's advantage on any kind of straight and the fact that the braking is just as good).
All valid, and my comment was a bit of a generalisation. Having driven both extensively, I still stand by my comments about the handling.
The Tuscan (or any standard modern TVR, even the mighty T350C) is very nervous on the road and follows cambers and imperfections to the point where it does impeed your concentration on actually driving the car, you're having to fight to keep it on the road.
The 360, and even the 355, does indeed filter out the imperfections, but this then allows you to make swifter progress.
All in my own opinion of course (so this is not a personal attack on anyone/or their car)
Tuan
"The Tuscan (or any standard modern TVR, even the mighty T350C) is very nervous on the road and follows cambers and imperfections to the point where it does impeed your concentration on actually driving the car, you're having to fight to keep it on the road."
Im confident that this is down to:
35 profile rubber most people seem to fit on 18's - Im sure 45 profile would ride much better
Poor geometry set up from new, and never checked/put right
Poor suspension/set-up
For £1300 get some Nitron adjustables on there, some sticky 45 profile rubber and a good geo and I'll reckon it will sort it out nicely
will let you know when Ive got mine sorted !
Im confident that this is down to:
35 profile rubber most people seem to fit on 18's - Im sure 45 profile would ride much better
Poor geometry set up from new, and never checked/put right
Poor suspension/set-up
For £1300 get some Nitron adjustables on there, some sticky 45 profile rubber and a good geo and I'll reckon it will sort it out nicely
will let you know when Ive got mine sorted !
RUSSIAN ROCKET said:
Stig power lap times (bbc top gear)
Ferrari 360 CS 1 22.3
TVR 350c 1 27.2
Vx 220 Turbo 1 31.3
how does tuscan s compare to 350, my dealer recons 350 better handling but S more powerful
assuming 220 simialar to elise
ferrari>tuscan S > elise ??
as to be expected I suppose
The time for the 360 is for the Challenge Stradale version, a massively more expensive tuned, lightened and race-prepped version of the standard 360. The T350C is 50bhp down on the Tuscan S and has a very different torque curve. The Tuscan S recorded a 0-100mph time of 8.08s in Autocar's 0-100-0mph competition last year compared to just under 10s for the T350C and is hence much quicker than a T350C in a straight line. I agree with your comments about the T350C's superior handling.
NB: PHer barefoot has a 405bhp T350C I think, which is more than the normal 'Red Rose' T350C upgrade. I would imagine that car is more comparable to a Tuscan S.
As a general point I would compare the Ferrari 360 CS to a Sagaris to a 911 GT3 RS as all are biased for track work. Of course, you could compare The Ferrari or Porsche to the 600bhp Typhon on price noting that the TVR would still massively undercut the CS.....
RUSSIAN ROCKET said:
Stig power lap times (bbc top gear)
Ferrari 360 CS 1 22.3
TVR 350c 1 27.2
Vx 220 Turbo 1 31.3
...
assuming 220 simialar to elise
220 Turbo should be massively faster than 99% of Elises out there. Standard Elise (up until a few months ago) = 120BHP. VX 220 Turbo = 200BHP.
New Elise with shiny new Toyota engine = 190 BHP (I think), so that's going to be a lot fairer comparison.
bogie said:
For £1300 get some Nitron adjustables on there, some sticky 45 profile rubber and a good geo and I'll reckon it will sort it out nicely
will let you know when Ive got mine sorted !
Got the Nitrons. Got the RR engine & brakes. Got new rubber all round. Getting the full laser alignment works done on Wednesday. Wondering if I should've gone for 40 profile tyres. The ex's father didn't have that much of an advantage in the 360 over the Cerb (also with Nitrons) through the twisty bits, noticeable, but not dominating. But that may not be a fair comparison - I'm sure he was more worried about the wrath of his wife than I was the wrath of his daughter should we have a "racing incident".
bogie said:
You dropping to 16/17" wheels as well, then? On the Cerb I had 35mm profile fronts and 40mm profile rears (both on 18" spiders)... that made a big difference comfort-wise over 35mm rears. Only problem was the circumference... the 40s put the speedo out by 3% - by the time you've got 45s on you're talking 7% out or so... a 5mph mis-reading at 70mph.
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