Cerbera & T350

[sanquin]

Hello guys,

I bought a T350t a year ago and I really love the car. Don't think I will ever sell it.

But I have always thought a Cerb to be a very appealing car and I am thinking of getting 4.2 or a 4.5 in addition to my T350.

Are there people on here who have experience with both cars? How does the driving and how does the ownership compare?

Cheers

[cerb4.5lee]

sanquin said:

Hello guys,

I bought a T350t a year ago and I really love the car. Don't think I will ever sell it.

But I have always thought a Cerb to be a very appealing car and I am thinking of getting 4.2 or a 4.5 in addition to my T350.

Are there people on here who have experience with both cars? How does the driving and how does the ownership compare?

Cheers

You lucky man, what a great position to be in,i often think of swapping mine for a T350,sorry i cant give you any ownership experiences.

I have been told by people who have driven both that the T350 is leagues ahead in terms of handling & has a far better driving position,but i have never been disappointed in mine in either regard.

[anonymous-user]

Drop member BCA a pm or take a look on the T350 forum, I bought their 4.5 Cerb of 11 years, which they replaced with a T350.

[aubrey9160]

Ive had a 4.5 cerb and now a t350. For handling the t350 is head and shoulders above the cerb but is a bit more skittish with it. The interior of the cerb feels a bit dated in comparison aswell. The 4.5 knocks spots of the 3.6 engine though to the extent that when I was trying T350s i thought they were broke you really have to rev the T350 to get it going wereas the cerb just goes. For a road car I think the cerb is the better car but for the track the T350 is just a lot more modern. As for running costs my T350 has cost me a fortune to keep on the road and the cerb was just running costs, petrol is similar, cerb is heavier on tyres and pads.
My plan was to keep my cerb for the road and have the T350 as a track car but decided not to in the end that was a mistake and I will have another cerb as soon as funds allow

[spongy]

I looked at t350's as an option but wanted a cerb in the first place so went with it.....i know my cerb is a keeper,but if i win the lottery a t350 will be sat in my garage,and another cerb awwwww i can dream.I did drive 2 350's and if im honest felt a bit cramped in it,feel much comfier in the cerb....but still a bit hemmed in.foofin lovely looking car in my view

[ukkid35]

aubrey9160 said:

For handling the t350 is head and shoulders above the cerb but is a bit more skittish with it.

Can you elaborate a little? Thanks

[The_Edge]

spongy said:

I looked at t350's as an option but wanted a cerb in the first place so went with it.....i know my cerb is a keeper,but if i win the lottery a t350 will be sat in my garage,and another cerb awwwww i can dream.I did drive 2 350's and if im honest felt a bit cramped in it,feel much comfier in the cerb....but still a bit hemmed in.foofin lovely looking car in my view

You should try being 6'6"

[Boatbuoy]

aubrey9160 said:

Ive had a 4.5 cerb and now a t350. For handling the t350 is head and shoulders above the cerb but is a bit more skittish with it. The interior of the cerb feels a bit dated in comparison aswell. The 4.5 knocks spots of the 3.6 engine though to the extent that when I was trying T350s i thought they were broke you really have to rev the T350 to get it going wereas the cerb just goes. For a road car I think the cerb is the better car but for the track the T350 is just a lot more modern. As for running costs my T350 has cost me a fortune to keep on the road and the cerb was just running costs, petrol is similar, cerb is heavier on tyres and pads.
My plan was to keep my cerb for the road and have the T350 as a track car but decided not to in the end that was a mistake and I will have another cerb as soon as funds allow

Sounds like we need to drop an AJP8 into a T350 then.

[Moulder]

ukkid35 said:

aubrey9160 said:

For handling the t350 is head and shoulders above the cerb but is a bit more skittish with it.

Can you elaborate a little? Thanks

I have had a Cerbera and a Tamora and agree with the above so will give it a shot... To quantify the below the Cerbera was on the standard wheels (1998, 17 inch?) and the Tamora on 18 inch spiders, though the Tamora did have GAZ Golds fitted.

The cerbera felt fully planted and it took a very bad surface for the steering to become twitchy. Even at an indicated 175 the car felt planted and I would have felt (almost) comfortable taking my hands off the wheel.

In the Tamora you could feel a bad surface through the steering wheel, with constant slight corrections having to be made to keep the car straight at higher speeds. A few times cars that I should have had the beating of on a smooth surface, e.g. M3's, RS4's, were able to drive away from me as their set up handled the surface better.

There are a lot of variables in the above and between different cars, 16 inch versus 18 inch wheels, geometry setup, suspension choice, weight, purpose, etc, but this was my experience.

[grahamn]

aubrey9160 said:

For handling the t350 is head and shoulders above the cerb but is a bit more skittish with it.

Out of the box i would agrre with you, it seems TVR had discovered how to set cars up by the time the T350's came out, But if you spend a bit of time setting the Cerb up properly it is more than a match for any car, be that on the road or track.

[sanquin]

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I don't track my T350 and I won't be tracking a Cerbera either and I am not planning on pushing the Cerb to its limits around corners so I am not too concerned with a lesser handling than the T350. But I would defnitely enjoy the Cerb's mighty AJP8 acceleration.

How is the AJP8's warmup? I stricktly adhere to the recommended SP6 warmup for the T350 by keeping its revs very low until the oil warms uo. It boils down to a max speed of 65 in 5th gear for the first 8 miles or so. Is it similar for the AJP8?

[cerb4.5lee]

sanquin said:

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

I don't track my T350 and I won't be tracking a Cerbera either and I am not planning on pushing the Cerb to its limits around corners so I am not too concerned with a lesser handling than the T350. But I would defnitely enjoy the Cerb's mighty AJP8 acceleration.

How is the AJP8's warmup? I stricktly adhere to the recommended SP6 warmup for the T350 by keeping its revs very low until the oil warms uo. It boils down to a max speed of 65 in 5th gear for the first 8 miles or so. Is it similar for the AJP8?

I do similar to you in my cerb drive the first 5 to 10 miles up to 3000rpm & then extend it after that.

[spongy]

ohhhhhhhh yes sir get her nice and warm.....i dont take her above 3 on the old revvy thing untill she is all warm .come to think of it i dont go much above 3 at any time

[aubrey9160]

grahamn said:

Out of the box i would agrre with you, it seems TVR had discovered how to set cars up by the time the T350's came out, But if you spend a bit of time setting the Cerb up properly it is more than a match for any car, be that on the road or track.

I had three way nitrons on my cerb and set up well but for turn in and mid corner acceleration the T350 does have a distinct better feel about it on track, on the road the cerb in my mind feels the better car.

Perfect car would be T350 with 4.5 AJP v8.

[sanquin]

cerb4.5lee said:

I do similar to you in my cerb drive the first 5 to 10 miles up to 3000rpm & then extend it after that.

Yes that is similar. I stay below 2500 until 40 degrees in the T350.

Anyway, I really do fancy buying a Cerb so I'll keep an eye on the ads this year!

[spongy]

aubrey9160 said:

I had three way nitrons on my cerb and set up well but for turn in and mid corner acceleration the T350 does have a distinct better feel about it on track, on the road the cerb in my mind feels the better car.

Perfect car would be T350 with 4.5 AJP v8.

Ohlins toyo 888's......for the road

[grahamn]

aubrey9160 said:

I had three way nitrons on my cerb and set up well but for turn in and mid corner acceleration the T350 does have a distinct better feel about it on track, on the road the cerb in my mind feels the better car.

Perfect car would be T350 with 4.5 AJP v8.

You need to put 255's on the front transforms the turn in no end.

[aubrey9160]

I wish I had known that when I had it as that is what i struggled with the most especially at coombe

[BCA]

Briefly had both at the same time, strangely I sort of disagree with Aubrey;

T350 - Waaaay better road car. The six is ridiculously smooth, the build, the powerful aircon (colder than our BMW's!), the ride, the volume (its quiet!)- also everything feels tighter and more rounded for day to day use. It is also very impressive on track as standard, even more so with proper suspension, but its by no means a one trick pony, I find it better still on road. Hugely impressed, more so every time we drive it, TVR really were getting there in all areas...

However;

Cerbera - Instantly far more exciting. I cant explain fully why, but the engine is magnificent, the handling can be made to be pretty good, the brakes are ridiculously good, the whole car just feels much more violent. It wants to spit flames, it wants to lay down elevens everywhere, it is the car that you stab the throttle for just to get a quick fix of AJP goodness.

The T350 is more competent definitely - even as standard compared to a pretty nicely evolved Cerb 4.5 and surprisingly (it doesn't feel it) they're perfectly matched in terms of straight line performance from our data. The Cerb feels like it'll fire you into the horizon like a rocket, the T350 builds its speed more deceptively and needs huge revs to really perform - but they're the same, near as makes no difference, honestly! Probably helps that the T350 is 100kilos lighter (MIRA weighbridge.)

I will have another AJP Cerbera, they're unmatched, but we wont be selling/swapping the T350 for one. Get one, make sure its a good example/ well sorted and it'll be a great addition to your fleet, superb cars, both of them.

[sanquin]

Thanks BCA! I do want to go for a 4.5 just to have the little bit more straight line kick. Can't wait to actively go on the market for one, but it will be a few months financially I think.