Tuscan 2 - what a car!
Discussion
If the truth be known I'm a massive Lotus fan. So much so I bought an Elise even though I have one of the best Tuscans around. Many here would rightly question the point but the Elise is a sensational car and I don't regret buying it for an instant. However, I hadn't driven the Tuscan in a while, as far as I'm concerned it's a national treasure being a late '06 car bought new in reflex charcoal, yellow bilsteins, TVR sports cats and remap, so I want to keep the miles low as the car is irreplaceable. I'm much happier to put them on the Elise.
So if more truth be known I was expecting the Tuscan to feel quicker, naturally, but in other areas frankly inferior and a bit rough around the edges compared to the stunningly polished gem the Elise is. What a shock I had! The tuscan didn't just feel quick it felt proper, mental, scary fast. The engine is just monumental. I've listened to all the anti speed six stuff on here and after a while you start to think some of it might be true. One trip past 7000k in second gear just blows those preconceptions right into the weeds. The car was pulling so hard past 7k I didn't know what day of the week it was. When running like mine is currently, this is one of the best engines on the planet. I stupidly bought a 355 ferrari once and honestly, the engine isn't a patch on this demented 4 litre powerhouse. And yes, part of the credit goes to Dom and whatever he did to it in Coventry but the basic engine when running well is one of the great automotive experiences. OK, the start up isn't quite as fantastic as a RV8 but from there on it's all Speed Six for me. But I really don't want to start up that old debate. This is about the whole car and in every department I can tell you one thing it's a class above a ferrari 355 - having owned both. The grip, handling, gearchange, steering it all works so beautifully it really is a masterpiece. I changed to a tuscan because I basically wanted a convertible Sagaris. TVR never publicised it but I think that's exactly what the later tuscans were. Simply brilliant.
So if more truth be known I was expecting the Tuscan to feel quicker, naturally, but in other areas frankly inferior and a bit rough around the edges compared to the stunningly polished gem the Elise is. What a shock I had! The tuscan didn't just feel quick it felt proper, mental, scary fast. The engine is just monumental. I've listened to all the anti speed six stuff on here and after a while you start to think some of it might be true. One trip past 7000k in second gear just blows those preconceptions right into the weeds. The car was pulling so hard past 7k I didn't know what day of the week it was. When running like mine is currently, this is one of the best engines on the planet. I stupidly bought a 355 ferrari once and honestly, the engine isn't a patch on this demented 4 litre powerhouse. And yes, part of the credit goes to Dom and whatever he did to it in Coventry but the basic engine when running well is one of the great automotive experiences. OK, the start up isn't quite as fantastic as a RV8 but from there on it's all Speed Six for me. But I really don't want to start up that old debate. This is about the whole car and in every department I can tell you one thing it's a class above a ferrari 355 - having owned both. The grip, handling, gearchange, steering it all works so beautifully it really is a masterpiece. I changed to a tuscan because I basically wanted a convertible Sagaris. TVR never publicised it but I think that's exactly what the later tuscans were. Simply brilliant.
Ditto those comments, I am also fortunate to have one of the last Tuscan 2 S's to come out of Blackpool and they are an amazing car, thought my MK1 was good, but the MK2 feels so much better all round.Just had 12K mile service and a set of NTEL de-cats fitted the sound is just awesome all through the rev range.Only the carbon airbox to fit and a re-map left on the 'to do' list.
Some would argue that you could improve a mk1 beyond what the factory did to the mk 2 with a set of ohlins or nitron dampers, providing it's set up by someone who knows what they're doing. Suspension set up is something of a 'dark art' but a good set up can have amazing results - providing you're clear about what you want. If you ask for a track biased set up it might not be so good on the road and vice versa. It's this compromise between the two that Lotus are so brilliant at and it's something TVR were really getting on top of towards the end.
I'm fortunate in that I've got a later mk 2 tuscan with yellow (ie german) bilstein set up. The reason the later cars handle so well is that they've basically inherited much of the excellent development work carried out by bilstein on behalf of TVR for the Sagaris. In fact apart from the Sagaris's wider track and lower ride height the later tuscans have the same set up. They used high quality dampers from bilstein from 2006 onwards and 255 tyres allround (just like the Sagaris).
All mk 2 tuscans are less aggressively set up than the mk 1, which was set up very like a race car and how peter wheeler liked it. This meant super fast steering and a propensity to follow cambers. Some say 'exciting', others say 'nervous'. However - and this never got publicised at the time due to all the doom and gloom - but the mk 2 tuscan had another revamp following the Sagaris (which came out in 2005) and owners like me are only now appreciating how much of a revamp and an improvement that was. I only remember one article, by Steve Sutcliffe after driving a Tuscan convertible on his favourite road. Otherwise tests and reports were few and far between. He said it was quicker and better able to deal with his favourite test road in sussex than a 997 porsche. His closing comments were along the lines of 'the car is better than ever, the rest (ie TVRs fate) is up to you.'
I'm fortunate in that I've got a later mk 2 tuscan with yellow (ie german) bilstein set up. The reason the later cars handle so well is that they've basically inherited much of the excellent development work carried out by bilstein on behalf of TVR for the Sagaris. In fact apart from the Sagaris's wider track and lower ride height the later tuscans have the same set up. They used high quality dampers from bilstein from 2006 onwards and 255 tyres allround (just like the Sagaris).
All mk 2 tuscans are less aggressively set up than the mk 1, which was set up very like a race car and how peter wheeler liked it. This meant super fast steering and a propensity to follow cambers. Some say 'exciting', others say 'nervous'. However - and this never got publicised at the time due to all the doom and gloom - but the mk 2 tuscan had another revamp following the Sagaris (which came out in 2005) and owners like me are only now appreciating how much of a revamp and an improvement that was. I only remember one article, by Steve Sutcliffe after driving a Tuscan convertible on his favourite road. Otherwise tests and reports were few and far between. He said it was quicker and better able to deal with his favourite test road in sussex than a 997 porsche. His closing comments were along the lines of 'the car is better than ever, the rest (ie TVRs fate) is up to you.'
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