Whats the best 'everyday' TVR?

[Rochester BMW]

What TVR is the best 'everyday' car...?

For around £30,000

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

Best TVR, best engine.. recommended options?

Any opinions welcome.

Thanks.

[Daftlad]

Unless you specificaly desire a convertible, its probably a T350c. A Sagaris is getting very close to 30K.

[Rochester BMW]

Thanks, are they both as reliable as each other?

I would like a convertible but the T350 has removable panels in the roof doesn't it?

How do these cars compare in terms of build quality and reliability to say a boxster or similar?

Does anyone on here use their TVR everyday to commute to work in?

Thanks

Edited by Rochester BMW on Monday 5th March 14:00

[hugepiece]

Cerbera 4.5 V8 is the biggest, baddest and loudest in my opinion. No TVR is exactly easy to live with but you will be smiling everytime you get in it! You will be able to get an 02/03 plate maybe even newer for that kind of money. Sagaris is just out of that price range £35k+ Best thing is to pop by one of the specialist dealers and drive a Cerbera, Tuscan, T350 and maybe Sagaris back to back and see how you get on. It's all down to personal task obviously and everyone you speak to will give you a different answer ;-)

[Daftlad]

Rochester BMW said:

Thanks, are they both as reliable as each other?

I would like a convertible but the T350 has removable panels in the roof doesn't it?

Arguement (not always best informed IMHO) suggests that the smaller engined T350 has a more robust engine package. If you want a convertible, then the Tamora is an excellent package styling is not to everyones liking.

Tuscans are almost a full convertible, but not quite in the same league out of the box on the track as those mentioned above..again IMHO, but based on some experience.

Cerb is a money pit and best avoided as a first TVR.

Edited by Daftlad on Monday 5th March 14:05

[Rochester BMW]

thanks for the advice, although I know ill enjoy driving any TVR to be honest, ive dreamed of having one since I was a kid! (who hasn't) point is im not at a stage where i can afford for it to just sit in the garage and be used only on sunny days...

My only option is to have a TVR as my everyday car.... so over the course of 3 years and 60k which model/engine is going to give me the least amount of headaches?

As it will be my car to get to work reliability is everything here....
and i dont want to get something boring. so it has to be a TVR.

thanks

[arebrec]

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

[Rochester BMW]

Daftlad said:

Rochester BMW said:

Thanks, are they both as reliable as each other?

I would like a convertible but the T350 has removable panels in the roof doesn't it?

Arguement (not always best informed IMHO) suggests that the smaller engined T350 has a more robust engine package. If you want a convertible, then the Tamora is an excellent package styling is not to everyones liking.

Tuscans are almost a full convertible, but not quite in the same league out of the box on the track as those mentioned above..again IMHO, but based on some experience.

Cerb is a money pit and best avoided as a first TVR.

Edited by Daftlad on Monday 5th March 14:05

Thanks, im unsure of the Tamoras styling aswell... It seems to be the T350C that would be the best everyday TVR...

Am i right in saying that the Straight 6 engine is the most reliable until TVR make?

If so, is that engine the same in every model it appears in?

Thanks

[Rochester BMW]

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Ok, how does the Cerbera compare to other cars you've had before using it in that way? Running costs, reliability etc...?

Thanks

[btom]

What Daftlad said.

I use a Tuscan everyday but to be honest if I were to buy again with that in mind I would definately consider a late model T350. I had one as a courtesy car for a month last year and it was unbelievably usable (realtive speaking for a TVR of course) if a lot slower. I took a friend out in it who drives a late 996 and whilst he found the control sticks to be cheap (they're not the bespoke ones as in a Tuscan, just crappy black plastic ones from the parts bin) he waxed lyrical about how well made it felt. Should have been pleased for TVR but he was comparing it to my Tuscan.....

For the price I would try and find a T350T (the one with the targa roof).

For the ability to scare the shit out of your passenger buy a Cerb.

[hugepiece]

I think the stats shows that the AJP V8 is by far the most reliable out there, there are plenty with 70-100k on the clock without rebuilds, where the Speed6 often lasts about 30-40k max before work is needed. I may get shot down in flamee here as some may not agree of course, do a search on the Cerbera and Speed6 Engine forums - it's a real eye opener in both cases.

[Rochester BMW]

btom said:

What Daftlad said.

I use a Tuscan everyday but to be honest if I were to buy again with that in mind I would definately consider a late model T350. I had one as a courtesy car for a month last year and it was unbelievably usable (realtive speaking for a TVR of course) if a lot slower. I took a friend out in it who drives a late 996 and whilst he found the control sticks to be cheap (they're not the bespoke ones as in a Tuscan, just crappy black plastic ones from the parts bin) he waxed lyrical about how well made it felt. Should have been pleased for TVR but he was comparing it to my Tuscan.....

For the price I would try and find a T350T (the one with the targa roof).

For the ability to scare the shit out of your passenger buy a Cerb.

I take it that there isn't much difference in running costs between any TVR's is there? As much as they all cost a fair bit to run...?

Also (sorry im new to whats going on at TVR) how is TVR's recent ownership issues likely to effect used prices?

What are the service intervals on TVR's? are they all the same (model to model)

sorry for all the questions

Many thanks

[Rochester BMW]

hugepiece said:

without rebuilds

without what?!

[BLUETHUNDER]

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Do you really use yours every day?

[arebrec]

BLUETHUNDER said:

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Do you really use yours every day?

mark drives it to work and back mon - fri

and at the weekend I get use it, so it doesn't have much of a break at all, seems to like it though, its been pretty reliable in the 2 years we've had it.

Edited by arebrec on Monday 5th March 14:26

[Rochester BMW]

arebrec said:

BLUETHUNDER said:

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Do you really use yours every day?

mark drives it to work and back mon - fri

and at the weekend I get use it, so it doesn't have much of a break at all, seems to like it though, its been pretty reliable in the 2 years we've had it.

Edited by arebrec on Monday 5th March 14:26

In all weather???

Ive heard that they are actually not as bad as people make out in the rain as they have a very long throttle? Is that right?

Ok, now for the stupidist question.... has anyone put a baby seat in the back of a cerbera? Does is have ISOFix?

Edited by Rochester BMW on Monday 5th March 14:33

[BLUETHUNDER]

arebrec said:

BLUETHUNDER said:

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Do you really use yours every day?

mark drives it to work and back mon - fri

and at the weekend I get use it, so it doesn't have much of a break at all, seems to like it though, its been pretty reliable in the 2 years we've had it.

Edited by arebrec on Monday 5th March 14:26

If your using it that much,surely your running costs must be sky high.Servicing etc.And i thought i used mine quite a lot.

[arebrec]

Rochester BMW said:

arebrec said:

Rochester BMW said:

Its would be used to get to work and back everyday in all weather and all seasons (about 50 mile round trip) also the odd track day and Sunday afternoon blast.

This is exactly how our car gets used, and thats a Cerbera 4.5

and for that budget you can get a decent one with loads left over for any problems.

Ok, how does the Cerbera compare to other cars you've had before using it in that way? Running costs, reliability etc...?

Thanks

sorry can't give you a total of running cost, dont really keep record of them, but the biggest bill would be the petrol, thankfully Mark is pretty handy in the garage so any niggly bits he sorts out himself so no big garage fees or waiting times, had a couple of clutches (but they were second hand ones so expected them to not last) and starter motor, leaking radiator, but no engine problems.

I'm not saying that it is a the right everyday TVR for you, just thats how ours gets used and its always started and never let us down. apart from the other day when it rained so much our garden turned into a swamp and couldnt get the cerb out, kept spinning in the mud but I blame Mark for that not the cerb.

HTH

[arebrec]

Rochester BMW said:

In all weather???

Ive heard that they are actually not as bad as people make out in the rain as they have a very long throttle? Is that right?

Ok, now for the stupidist question.... has anyone put a baby seat in the back of a cerbera? Does is have ISOFix?

in all weather, even in the snow not that long ago.

I drive it in the rain and have had no probs as yet but am extra cautious.

plenty of people use babyseats in the back, a search should bring up some relevant threads.
we have a 6 and 4 yrold and the 4 yrold just sits on a booster seat now.

[hugepiece]

I drove mine from london to mainstone and back last night in the pouring rain, didnt miss a beat and was perfectly well behaved at motorway speeds all the time! As long as you don't go mad with the throttle it's all good - Even if you do it's great fun.

By rebuilds I mean a pre 2005 Speed6 (tuscan 4.0 at least) will realistically need a top-end rebuild (cam/valves/followers etc etc) around 30k miles. I've heard the newer engines since 2005 and the 3.6 variant is a bit stronger but i'm no expert. You would do well to call one of the specialists up like Austec and Power, they offer rebuild services and will fill you in.