Scoobs are faster than Cerbs?
Discussion
...common place round this neck of the woods...Having owned a 98 Impreza with a few Prodrive Mods (and a handful of TVRs but not a Cerb) I would say that in the hands of an average driver the Scooby is quicker in real world conditions (including track-days, I went to a few TVRCC days with the Scooby and was never passed by a Cerbera, passed a few though!). The exception thopugh is in a straight line where the Cerb will slaughter the Scooby.
But... in the hands of a really good driver the Cerbera will be faster in dry conditions (and in the wet if you name is Bobby Verdon-Roe, David Hendry TVR/Subaru Trackday at Castle Combe!)
The Impreza is really easy to drive fast and corners like its on rails, but its very dull to dtive in comparison with a TVR!
My 2p (with a bit of experience)
davidy
But... in the hands of a really good driver the Cerbera will be faster in dry conditions (and in the wet if you name is Bobby Verdon-Roe, David Hendry TVR/Subaru Trackday at Castle Combe!)
The Impreza is really easy to drive fast and corners like its on rails, but its very dull to dtive in comparison with a TVR!
My 2p (with a bit of experience)
davidy
i was on the road the other day early morning in the dry 18 miles in cerbera with scooby following good but left him every time . i let him go by and got the thumbs up and a big smile .then on duel carriageway went past him at 120 not somthing you should do when roads are busy .well not something you should do anyway but the moment got the better of me
davidy said:
Having owned a 98 Impreza with a few Prodrive Mods (and a handful of TVRs but not a Cerb) I would say that in the hands of an average driver the Scooby is quicker in real world conditions (including track-days, I went to a few TVRCC days with the Scooby and was never passed by a Cerbera, passed a few though!). The exception thopugh is in a straight line where the Cerb will slaughter the Scooby.
But... in the hands of a really good driver the Cerbera will be faster in dry conditions (and in the wet if you name is Bobby Verdon-Roe, David Hendry TVR/Subaru Trackday at Castle Combe!)
The Impreza is really easy to drive fast and corners like its on rails, but its very dull to dtive in comparison with a TVR!
My 2p (with a bit of experience)
davidy
But... in the hands of a really good driver the Cerbera will be faster in dry conditions (and in the wet if you name is Bobby Verdon-Roe, David Hendry TVR/Subaru Trackday at Castle Combe!)
The Impreza is really easy to drive fast and corners like its on rails, but its very dull to dtive in comparison with a TVR!
My 2p (with a bit of experience)
davidy
Exactamundo...
No experience, but presume SUBARUS let anyone drive F****** quick, whereas the CERB is a much more tricky proposition and a lot more rewarding to drive. Plus everyone looks (lovingly) at a CERB...
MB
Went to the ring for the first time last year and drove an evo 8. Realy good fun to learn the track, forgiving and enjoyable. Felt very quick through the technical sections.
Went this year in my lightly modded speed 6 cerbera. Completley different experience. First 2 days useless becuase of appaling weather, I was pissed off and would have killed to be in the Evo.
As soon as the weather dried and I had a few laps to build up confidence, the Cerbera was superlative!
I enjoyed myself more than I thought I could in a car.
A large part of it was driving away still in one piece, knowing it was me and some some box of electronic jiggerypokery that enabled me do do some f##ing quick laps and keep away from the barriers.
The Evo was great fun, but when your skill levels go up you need a car that needs to be driven well to get the best out of it.
Coming out of a corner you can't just stomp on the loud pedal and let the car do the rest, you have to drive it.
For that reason alone a TVR, wether quicker or slower than an evobushi, is for driving.
God love them all.
Went this year in my lightly modded speed 6 cerbera. Completley different experience. First 2 days useless becuase of appaling weather, I was pissed off and would have killed to be in the Evo.
As soon as the weather dried and I had a few laps to build up confidence, the Cerbera was superlative!
I enjoyed myself more than I thought I could in a car.
A large part of it was driving away still in one piece, knowing it was me and some some box of electronic jiggerypokery that enabled me do do some f##ing quick laps and keep away from the barriers.
The Evo was great fun, but when your skill levels go up you need a car that needs to be driven well to get the best out of it.
Coming out of a corner you can't just stomp on the loud pedal and let the car do the rest, you have to drive it.
For that reason alone a TVR, wether quicker or slower than an evobushi, is for driving.
God love them all.
were's that can of wormsI've come across a few scoobys of different ages when in my saab. They might be good on the twisty bits but seem pretty slow on the straights, they seem to run out of puff. Never seen one boot it off the lights but guess thay would be good at that. I'm assuming the one's I've seen are bone stock.
Boosted.
Boosted.
After watching the Santa Pods video, most cars would be quicker off the mark and braver on the twisties. But put a seasoned tvr machine behind the wheel of one and then you'll be readily amazed. I'd say the likes of NitroCerb/Cyclone/NickCCC to name a few would definitely give the FI boys an arse kicking. But off the line in a scooby isnt all that, remember they're AWD - clunk/split/puff - something like that, but once rolling slightly - traction is phenomenal. But so is the same about 3000GT's and EVO's etc etc..... what was the question?
I did the Rob Gravett UCC day with a chap in a scooby, he'd spent a fair amount on suspension upgrades, brakes and engine tweaks. He said no matter what he did, he couldn't catch the Cerb out of a slow corner. While he waited for the boost to build, the Cerb would just clear off.
Steve.
Steve.
davidy's post sounds about right to me. I have a 2000 standard Impreza turbo and a 97 4.2 Cerb, both of which I've owned from new. I enjoy both, but they're very different. Each has its strengths - the Impreza has excellent traction off the line and is easy to drive quick in all conditions and (with a change of wheels and tyres - my only mod) communicates well on the limit and instills confidence in the driver. I don't even find it boring - I love the way the boost builds on a whiff of throttle; makes it feel effortless. The Cerb's party trick its amazing acceleration, and the sound it makes when fitted with a sports exhaust. On the right roads, i.e. smooth sweepers or carriageways, it will toast the scooby every time. But more important in my mind than comparisons on point to point speed, is that the Cerbera feels special in a way that the Impreza can never hope to imitate. If I really had to sell one of them, it would be the Impreza which would have to go. I couldn't bear to part with the Cerbera - each
TVR is a unique hand-built machine, no two are the same. An impreza is an impreza is an impreza, no matter how much you dress it up (but I still like mine!).
OK mine is not a Cerb but similar speed to the top ones. I was in a class at Abingdon Sprint a few weeks back (cast out by the TVR mob - long story!) - so in class with triecked up Escort tarmac rally cars and tricked Scoobies. Even with crappy clutch problems sloing me at least a second maybe two, on the longer track, stuffed them all. (Short track does not count as I had one half hearted run and then the clutch stopped me getting third - so aborted only other run). A Cerb or real high power other TVR should show them a clean pair of heals on most road, unless real switch back type or damp / wet.
JedSteel, excellent post!! I run a rev3 MR2 turbo as an everyday car as well as my 4.2 Cerb (currently being rebuilt), and I love them both for the same reasons as you mention. The TVR is just special, end of story. It sounds special, looks special, is pretty damn fast - it causes a scene everywhere it goes. The MR2 (and nearly all the other top Jap imports) are fantastic technological showpieces - totally reliable and very quick, and if modified can be faster than any supercar. I've surprised plenty of M3s and 911s in the MR2, but equally I've been unable to lose an EVO FQ340 on the A1 in the Cerb, so it all swings in roundabouts. When I got the Cerb I was expecting it to be something out of this world, but in reality moving up from a 300hp MR2 it was only a very subtle step. I always give the Jap cars respect, as you simply never know whether its stock or a 400hp+ monster....
longbow said:
JedSteel, excellent post!! I run a rev3 MR2 turbo as an everyday car as well as my 4.2 Cerb (currently being rebuilt), and I love them both for the same reasons as you mention. The TVR is just special, end of story. It sounds special, looks special, is pretty damn fast - it causes a scene everywhere it goes. The MR2 (and nearly all the other top Jap imports) are fantastic technological showpieces - totally reliable and very quick, and if modified can be faster than any supercar. I've surprised plenty of M3s and 911s in the MR2, but equally I've been unable to lose an EVO FQ340 on the A1 in the Cerb, so it all swings in roundabouts. When I got the Cerb I was expecting it to be something out of this world, but in reality moving up from a 300hp MR2 it was only a very subtle step. I always give the Jap cars respect, as you simply never know whether its stock or a 400hp+ monster....
Thats the bottom line really, you cant lose any of them off your tail unless you're capable of blasting 180mph - which on public roads would be playing russian roulette. Off the line, most the FI ricers have it and even the NA NSX, the fact you just wack the foot to the floor and dont care about anything until you're well into the redline and then just shift and do it all over again, nice and simple, whence why most the FI ricers will trounce our cerbies in the 60-foot, but the thing which lacks in jap FI cars is throttle response when off-spool, and you know it when you're being trounced, its when the shag-mobile in the other lane (tivver) suddenly picks up and moves on whilst you're waiting for them fans to spin up and then you're back on their tail, but the gap has increased leaving you with the ricer behind. I noticed this a lot when Nick and me went playing, its on the straights, the PTWR is what makes the tivver a beast not to be messed with, regardless of what you got under the hood, BHP is just a product - the weight the engine is shifting is where the work is involved, and in tivvers its effortless (which is why so many end up wrapped around lampposts) - but, unless you're talking Noble with their high-lift-cam FI (unheard of in the jap scene!) so you get the boost, the handling + acceleration and virtually minimal lag.
It'll be a sorely bitchy day when good ol' tvr stay stuck in the 380-400hp zone whilst the ricer FI scene in stock form moves 400+.... its starting already.... NS better get his finger out his arse and start sorting new 'already promised' models with oodles of power and maybe some proper traction too! (well, theres no point throwing a 600hp lump into a car any geez on weetabix can lift up from the rear!)
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