Test Drive - what to be aware of?
Discussion
Hello all. Am shortly to test drive a Tuscan after 3 mths + of research on PH, and wondered if anyone can give any hints/tips on what I should be aware of in terms of the drive itself - general feel, etc.
Am aware this topic is somewhat specific to the individual/car, but any help is appreciated as to what constitutes a "good" / "bad" car in terms of driveability.
Craig
P.S I already have the excellent buying guide from TSS, and several of you have assisted me with detailed run downs of specs/what to avoid, so am reasonably comfortable in this respect.
Am aware this topic is somewhat specific to the individual/car, but any help is appreciated as to what constitutes a "good" / "bad" car in terms of driveability.
Craig
P.S I already have the excellent buying guide from TSS, and several of you have assisted me with detailed run downs of specs/what to avoid, so am reasonably comfortable in this respect.
Hey Craig,
Things to looks out for when test driving:
* Small clouds of smoke (oil) coming out of the exhaust when pulling away from traffic lights, etc. Rebuild imminent
* Try driving at constant velocity (i.e. constant revs for a few hundred yards) at a reasonable pace... 3k RPM in 4th, for example. If it feels at all uneven in terms of the engine pushing/pulling (almost like a small misfire) then the throttle bodies are shot
* If the car doesn't feel absolutely planted - i.e. if it tramlines on roads, feels like a horse that wants to throw you off (the road), etc. then the geometry's plain not right. Not only will this need sorting, it could well be wearing the inside edges of the (front) tyres seriously, to the point where a set will only last a couple of thousand miles (literally). Check the inside edges carefully
* Following on from the above, if, on a decent stretch of road, you don't feel comfortable (or the owner doesn't feel comfortable) taking their hands off the wheel and just letting it follow the road (at a decent speed for a reasonable distance), then the handling's not quite right. (My record's 1.8 miles without touching the wheel at 3 figure speeds). It should not be scary in any way at normal speeds unless your foot's planted to the floor.
* Clutch should be reasonably (given the nature of the car) light, and progressive.
* Reverse gear shouldn't be too hard to engage if you use another gear (I alternate between everything apart from 5th) first
* Try changing up through the gears at high RPM to ensure the synchromesh is still fine on all the gears (you'll probably be too scared to do this, as pushing hard from 4th -> 5th will mean SERIOUS 3 speed figures). Checking a high RPM change from 1st -> 2nd is a good idea, though, as 2nd is usually one of the first gears to show signs of wear, take it up slowly to 6k RPM in 1st if you don't want to risk wrapping the car round a tree.
* The washer "jets" are quite prone to packing up through kinked cables, etc... always given them a try
* The engine RPM should rise and fall almost instantly - the S6 is an incredibly responsive engine... ensure this is the case (could be a sticking throttle, etc. otherwise)
* All the recently rebuilt engines I've heard emit a quiet, almost Honda-like "whine" underneath the clattering, burbling, etc. Quite a reassuring sound to watch out for!
* Make sure the dash pod's working properly... lines through the display is normally a pod out & sent back to Blackpool for a week or two job! (Seriously)
* You can do the usual put-it-in-high-gear and put-your-foot-down with the brake on trick to test that the clutch isn't slipping.
* Get the owner to drive it a bit, and observe the driving style. If it's a ham-fisted approach with the clutch getting dropped heavily, etc. I'd be a little more wary and "probing" to make sure undue strain's not been put on anything.
And, conversely:
* Don't be too alarmed by the odd flickering of a change up light/one of the window LEDs/etc.
* Don't expect the radio to get anything approximating decent reception
From a driving style perspective, do everything as a fluid movement... the accelerator isn't a binary on/off switch like most cars, it's very progressive, with plenty of usable travel - measure the input to it. Similarly, you almost want to be doing Tai Chi movements with the steering; no need to tug at it/anything, just treat it as an extension of the hand, steering with the fingertips. It should be a really precise drive. Expect "interesting" power delivery... under 2800 RPM or so, it's like a pussycat - it still pulls regardless of gear, but there's no unexpected tearing up of the tarmac. From 2800-3800 or so the power will really start to come in. And at 4000+ it should be downright fearsome.
Hope that helps.
And you know you're welcome to test all of the above with my car
Things to looks out for when test driving:
* Small clouds of smoke (oil) coming out of the exhaust when pulling away from traffic lights, etc. Rebuild imminent
* Try driving at constant velocity (i.e. constant revs for a few hundred yards) at a reasonable pace... 3k RPM in 4th, for example. If it feels at all uneven in terms of the engine pushing/pulling (almost like a small misfire) then the throttle bodies are shot
* If the car doesn't feel absolutely planted - i.e. if it tramlines on roads, feels like a horse that wants to throw you off (the road), etc. then the geometry's plain not right. Not only will this need sorting, it could well be wearing the inside edges of the (front) tyres seriously, to the point where a set will only last a couple of thousand miles (literally). Check the inside edges carefully
* Following on from the above, if, on a decent stretch of road, you don't feel comfortable (or the owner doesn't feel comfortable) taking their hands off the wheel and just letting it follow the road (at a decent speed for a reasonable distance), then the handling's not quite right. (My record's 1.8 miles without touching the wheel at 3 figure speeds). It should not be scary in any way at normal speeds unless your foot's planted to the floor.
* Clutch should be reasonably (given the nature of the car) light, and progressive.
* Reverse gear shouldn't be too hard to engage if you use another gear (I alternate between everything apart from 5th) first
* Try changing up through the gears at high RPM to ensure the synchromesh is still fine on all the gears (you'll probably be too scared to do this, as pushing hard from 4th -> 5th will mean SERIOUS 3 speed figures). Checking a high RPM change from 1st -> 2nd is a good idea, though, as 2nd is usually one of the first gears to show signs of wear, take it up slowly to 6k RPM in 1st if you don't want to risk wrapping the car round a tree.
* The washer "jets" are quite prone to packing up through kinked cables, etc... always given them a try
* The engine RPM should rise and fall almost instantly - the S6 is an incredibly responsive engine... ensure this is the case (could be a sticking throttle, etc. otherwise)
* All the recently rebuilt engines I've heard emit a quiet, almost Honda-like "whine" underneath the clattering, burbling, etc. Quite a reassuring sound to watch out for!
* Make sure the dash pod's working properly... lines through the display is normally a pod out & sent back to Blackpool for a week or two job! (Seriously)
* You can do the usual put-it-in-high-gear and put-your-foot-down with the brake on trick to test that the clutch isn't slipping.
* Get the owner to drive it a bit, and observe the driving style. If it's a ham-fisted approach with the clutch getting dropped heavily, etc. I'd be a little more wary and "probing" to make sure undue strain's not been put on anything.
And, conversely:
* Don't be too alarmed by the odd flickering of a change up light/one of the window LEDs/etc.
* Don't expect the radio to get anything approximating decent reception
From a driving style perspective, do everything as a fluid movement... the accelerator isn't a binary on/off switch like most cars, it's very progressive, with plenty of usable travel - measure the input to it. Similarly, you almost want to be doing Tai Chi movements with the steering; no need to tug at it/anything, just treat it as an extension of the hand, steering with the fingertips. It should be a really precise drive. Expect "interesting" power delivery... under 2800 RPM or so, it's like a pussycat - it still pulls regardless of gear, but there's no unexpected tearing up of the tarmac. From 2800-3800 or so the power will really start to come in. And at 4000+ it should be downright fearsome.
Hope that helps.
And you know you're welcome to test all of the above with my car
just to follow up on James... I had a passenger seat drive in quite a few before I got mine (no one would let me drive em --all private sales-- which is fair enough)
Even from there the thing that was most obvious is how different each car was.
all the cars I travelled in were 4 litre 2000 cars with 18s.
But 2 out of 4 handled like pigs. tramlined like crazy... basically owner took it up to XXX speed along dual carraigway.. and you'd be going along then...weee suddenly it's thrown you a foot to the right or left.
really violent tramlining. And that was from a car that had apparently been up to a tvr specialist and been laser aligned/geometry/etc several times.
So.. I assume from that..it ain't easy to fix.. if it drives like that, walk away. There are plenty good uns about.
When I finally had a seat in a good one (Mark's over at TVRCC Suffolk) it was such a difference ! It was a real wow! this is what they are supposed to be like.
When I finally tried the one I got I compared it against Marks (and it was the same).
Might be worth considering an inspection too ? I got Rob Ingleby to give it the once over. Some things he/anyone isn't gonna find out, but it gave me some piece of mind. Search through the forum for info about him and the services he offers.
Also, call the factory (confirms spec, etc... JSG could tell you how that could have helped him...).
Oh yeh, and find and empty carpark and try to do as many donuts in it as you can in a minute. Keep trying this until you achieve double figures.
stu
Even from there the thing that was most obvious is how different each car was.
all the cars I travelled in were 4 litre 2000 cars with 18s.
But 2 out of 4 handled like pigs. tramlined like crazy... basically owner took it up to XXX speed along dual carraigway.. and you'd be going along then...weee suddenly it's thrown you a foot to the right or left.
really violent tramlining. And that was from a car that had apparently been up to a tvr specialist and been laser aligned/geometry/etc several times.
So.. I assume from that..it ain't easy to fix.. if it drives like that, walk away. There are plenty good uns about.
When I finally had a seat in a good one (Mark's over at TVRCC Suffolk) it was such a difference ! It was a real wow! this is what they are supposed to be like.
When I finally tried the one I got I compared it against Marks (and it was the same).
Might be worth considering an inspection too ? I got Rob Ingleby to give it the once over. Some things he/anyone isn't gonna find out, but it gave me some piece of mind. Search through the forum for info about him and the services he offers.
Also, call the factory (confirms spec, etc... JSG could tell you how that could have helped him...).
Oh yeh, and find and empty carpark and try to do as many donuts in it as you can in a minute. Keep trying this until you achieve double figures.
stu
powerlord said:
So.. I assume from that..it ain't easy to fix.. if it drives like that, walk away. There are plenty good uns about.
It's not TOO hard if the place knows what they're doing, I think. Admittedly, it took me three alignments, 3 sets of tyres, 3 sets of Nitron dampers, and 3 sets of springs to get it spot on but, hey, I'm a bit fussy when it comes to my cars.
Seriously, somewhere that really knows the cars - TVR Power, etc. should be able to set it up without too much trouble. Then you just need to make sure the tyres are up to the job. I.e. not S03s on the front of the car! But, if the owner didn't care enough to sort that out, I'd probably walk away.
powerlord said:
Also, call the factory (confirms spec, etc... JSG could tell you how that could have helped him...).
Yeah, that would have been nice... phoned them half a dozen times and they promised to call back each time. Never got the call.
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