Discussion
Well - Now I'm a year into Tuscan ownership I thought I'd share my experiences. I'd had a 1997 Chimaera 4.0 for two years with no problems at all but despite reading the Tuscan thread and talking to owners I couldn't resist one last throw of the dice. In my view the Tuscan styling is extreme so it had to be an extreme colour - Reflex Purple turned out to be the one. “Buy the newest that you can afford” so mine was 2003 with 17,000 on the clock. No engine rebuild but a new clutch at 14,000 miles and a full history.
I did all the wrong things, no inspection, service required and private purchase, but at £16,500 I had some leeway. Service showed springmounts cracking on shocks and new rear bushes required. Full service, Racing Reds and bushes came in at just under £2000.
Switched from Mannings to Hagerty’s on price but now back to Mannings for obvious reasons.
Car has behaved faultlessly (not quite), uses no oil and despite being twitchier and scarier than the Chim I love it.
I don’t use it every day and I wanted to stop the “dry” startup problem we all worry about. Went through the threads and googled pre-oiler. Found Autoenginelube with a recommendation from Graham Hill (Tuscan owner). Ordered and fitted the unit with no problems and this pressurizes the system a little before start-up. The startup was immediately quieter than before, no slight clatter from the top end.
The car looked fantastic when I bought it but 9 months later it was apparent that there had been some sort of side impact on the NSF wing. Stress cracks and filler marks were beginning to show. I then drove over a kerb grinding the nearside. Took it to Power’s paint shop where Craig has done a fantastic job, repairing both sets of damage and blending in the new paint. He had to do practically the whole side but, given the price of the paint, £1650 didn’t seem too bad.
At 19000 miles I started to get the rather common difficulty in gear selection. Spoke to the TVR dealer who had replaced the unit less than 5000 miles ago and was told that he thought that was normal and might just be “sticking on the shaft”. Not impressed.
Continued driving as it wasn’t too bad but when the service was due I decided to follow recommendations and try Green Star Racing and get it fixed. Battery failed the day before collection but it was winched onto the low loader with no trouble.
When they took the clutch out, it was clear from the wear patterns that the flywheel should have been changed the first time. The high spotted flywheel then went on to damage the new clutch hence the short life. No broken fingers though.
Very impressed by Green Star’s service, price and attention detail second to none.
Collection, service, clutch, seals etc, flywheel and MOT came in at £1630.
The forum has been very helpful, without it I would never have found the compartment above the fuel tank when the tyreweld knocked the sender wire off, adjusted the pedals, removed the quarterlight to reglue some trim, adjusted the rear roof catch and so on.
My only regret is that I cannot attend the local meetings as I always sail on a Sunday.
I did all the wrong things, no inspection, service required and private purchase, but at £16,500 I had some leeway. Service showed springmounts cracking on shocks and new rear bushes required. Full service, Racing Reds and bushes came in at just under £2000.
Switched from Mannings to Hagerty’s on price but now back to Mannings for obvious reasons.
Car has behaved faultlessly (not quite), uses no oil and despite being twitchier and scarier than the Chim I love it.
I don’t use it every day and I wanted to stop the “dry” startup problem we all worry about. Went through the threads and googled pre-oiler. Found Autoenginelube with a recommendation from Graham Hill (Tuscan owner). Ordered and fitted the unit with no problems and this pressurizes the system a little before start-up. The startup was immediately quieter than before, no slight clatter from the top end.
The car looked fantastic when I bought it but 9 months later it was apparent that there had been some sort of side impact on the NSF wing. Stress cracks and filler marks were beginning to show. I then drove over a kerb grinding the nearside. Took it to Power’s paint shop where Craig has done a fantastic job, repairing both sets of damage and blending in the new paint. He had to do practically the whole side but, given the price of the paint, £1650 didn’t seem too bad.
At 19000 miles I started to get the rather common difficulty in gear selection. Spoke to the TVR dealer who had replaced the unit less than 5000 miles ago and was told that he thought that was normal and might just be “sticking on the shaft”. Not impressed.
Continued driving as it wasn’t too bad but when the service was due I decided to follow recommendations and try Green Star Racing and get it fixed. Battery failed the day before collection but it was winched onto the low loader with no trouble.
When they took the clutch out, it was clear from the wear patterns that the flywheel should have been changed the first time. The high spotted flywheel then went on to damage the new clutch hence the short life. No broken fingers though.
Very impressed by Green Star’s service, price and attention detail second to none.
Collection, service, clutch, seals etc, flywheel and MOT came in at £1630.
The forum has been very helpful, without it I would never have found the compartment above the fuel tank when the tyreweld knocked the sender wire off, adjusted the pedals, removed the quarterlight to reglue some trim, adjusted the rear roof catch and so on.
My only regret is that I cannot attend the local meetings as I always sail on a Sunday.
Always interesting to hear a running report.
One point that stands out is that you say the car still feels twitchy after the Racing Reds were put on, it seems you weren't impressed with the garage that inspected the clutch and if they are one and the same it would definitely be worth getting the geometry checked by your new garage as even small discrepancies can make a big difference to the way the car feels.
One point that stands out is that you say the car still feels twitchy after the Racing Reds were put on, it seems you weren't impressed with the garage that inspected the clutch and if they are one and the same it would definitely be worth getting the geometry checked by your new garage as even small discrepancies can make a big difference to the way the car feels.
Racing Reds put on by a different garage and geometry set up as per thread advice. I chose them on a price/performance criteria. Twitchy may be the wrong word - sensitive may be better. Slowly learning to be very gentle with the steering. Tried different tyre pressures but back to factory recommendations.
Good to see your bills havent been too bad! Mine have been (significantly!) more than yours in my first year!! Oh well, at least i think its just about sorted now!
Interested in the "Autoenginelube" just googled it and it looks to be only £220 odd, much, much cheaper than the raceproved solution! Has it worked well, and been reliable?
Interested in the "Autoenginelube" just googled it and it looks to be only £220 odd, much, much cheaper than the raceproved solution! Has it worked well, and been reliable?
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