Wannabe Cerbera Owner

[anonymous-user]

Hi Peepz,

I've been looking to get myself a Cerbera especially as considering the prices they are on offer on PH, they are absolute bargains out there (for what they are)...

Anyway i have a few questions.

- Can racelogic traction control be fitted to the Cerbera? Have any of you had it done?

- Are they reliable?

- Are they chuckable?

- Are brake and suspension upgrades easy to get hold of and at reasonable cost (compared to scooby stuff)?

Thanks in advance....

[anonymous-user]

shaidmahmood said:

Hi Peepz,

I've been looking to get myself a Cerbera especially as considering the prices they are on offer on PH, they are absolute bargains out there (for what they are)...

Anyway i have a few questions.

- Can racelogic traction control be fitted to the Cerbera? Have any of you had it done?

- Are they reliable?

- Are they chuckable?

- Are brake and suspension upgrades easy to get hold of and at reasonable cost (compared to scooby stuff)?

- Is it a money pit?

Thanks in advance....

[Gazzab]

Arrange in any order:
yes
no
yes
yes
no

[900T-R]

Steve Heath offers complete kits for fitting racelogic systems to TVRs IIRC. Anyway, it's nothing that hasn't been done before.

As for reliability, that varies greatly from example to example. Well fettled examples should be reliable albeit still costly to keep in that state, and the occasional electric glitch should be expected as door lock modules etc. are somewhat less than robust in in their engineering and wiring looms are hand made.

Although Cerberas can handle very well when properly set up, I don't think most people would call it chuckable - not in the MX5 sense of the world. It's a more agile car than say, a Vette or a big league German bruiser but it's not the sort of machine you throw about with abandon - not if you want to emerge on your desitnation in one piece.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Just remember they are the most expensive out of the TVR range to maintain. It helps if you know how to handle a set of spanners,and are willing to cut down on the time an indie spends on it.

Dont be tempted by the cheap ones in the classifieds. These could be absolute dogs. By one on condition and not age. I would only be tempted by a car that has been owned by an enthusiast. And someone that is probably known on here. Also its always best to buy a car that is in regular use. Not one that spends 6 months of the year sitting in the garage. These often prove to be the cars that give a life time of aggravation.Just one last thing. Take your time in finding the right car. if you dont you will regret the whole Cerbera experiance.

[900T-R]

^^^^^
Good advice that.

[SXS]

shaidmahmood said:

Hi Peepz,

I've been looking to get myself a Cerbera especially as considering the prices they are on offer on PH, they are absolute bargains out there (for what they are)...

Anyway i have a few questions.

- Can racelogic traction control be fitted to the Cerbera? Have any of you had it done?

- Are they reliable?

- Are they chuckable?

- Are brake and suspension upgrades easy to get hold of and at reasonable cost (compared to scooby stuff)?

Thanks in advance....

Racelogic traction can be fitted, speak to a number of indies, especially Paul at Austec Racing and Joo at Track Car Solutions.

They are not reliable in the sense of a japanese supercar/sportscar....

They are NOT 'chuckable' as you put it, a scooby will st all over a cerbera round a track and round road twisties...!

New brakes upgrades are VERY expensive but are available.

Suspension upgrades are plenty, from 500 to 1000 to 1500 in costs.

I personally love these cars, IMO they are the best TVR's, the long classic lines, the flat engine sound and overall performance after tweaking...

but...

ownership comes at a cost. Keep in mind these are effectively supercars built on a budget whence the new purchase price was less than a quarter of an eqivalent performance italian/german supercar.... then take into account that doing any kind of serious mods to get more power is rather expensive as there is virtually no major aftermarket support, tuners like Austec Racing and TCS offer upgrades and modifications, but anything seriously beefy is going to cost a hell of a lot of money...

Then there are many threads starting to appear recently showing that the chassis of these cars is falling apart... also high mileage engines are more likely to go pop on heated thrashing, the rare off chance some are solid, but dont think you will be lucky enough to get that 'rare' solid beast...

Now if you're coming from a japanese sports car background, which I am assuming based on your scoobie comment... I'd personally say look elsewhere if you are after high performance but easy on the wallet... unless you're handy with the spanner and dont mind throwing many evenings and weekends away doing the work yourself....

They are cheap, cheap for a reason... the company is dead, the cars are not in the same league as some real classics, and they literally are held together with glue and string... the price one pays for all out supercar performance for pennies.

If after reading all this, you really dont care, you just love it and want it... then your hearts doing the decision making for you, and that is how you approach the purchase of one of these raw beauties...

Goodluck mate whatever you may decide

[grahamn]

SXS said:

They are NOT 'chuckable' as you put it, a scooby will st all over a cerbera round a track and round road twisties...!

Ash said some good stuff......but a well set up Cerb will beat a scooby round a track, it might well struggle on the twisties though.

[SXS]

grahamn said:

SXS said:

They are NOT 'chuckable' as you put it, a scooby will st all over a cerbera round a track and round road twisties...!

Ash said some good stuff......but a well set up Cerb will beat a scooby round a track, it might well struggle on the twisties though.

Good point, I was keeping it simple, stock for stock, that kinda thing

[Byker28i]

Hum, don't think a stock scooby would beat a stock cerbera around a track.

Brake upgrades - why do you think you need brake upgrades. The standard brakes are pretty good and I've yet to try Brummies wonder pads.

[grahamn]

Byker28i said:

Hum, don't think a stock scooby would beat a stock cerbera around a track.

Brake upgrades - why do you think you need brake upgrades. The standard brakes are pretty good and I've yet to try Brummies wonder pads.

Belive me, they are the only brake upgrade you will need.

[WorAl]

grahamn said:

Byker28i said:

Hum, don't think a stock scooby would beat a stock cerbera around a track.

Brake upgrades - why do you think you need brake upgrades. The standard brakes are pretty good and I've yet to try Brummies wonder pads.

Belive me, they are the only brake upgrade you will need.

I want some.......but I cant just yet

[SXS]

Byker28i said:

Hum, don't think a stock scooby would beat a stock cerbera around a track.

Depends what scooby...
the RB320 and GB270 with pretty impressive technical features would most definitley put a stock Cerbera to shame in overall lap performance, of course in the straights the good old cerbie would make up some time but then these scoobs are not slouches either....

But my point was more about 'chuckable', if one was to try and chuck a stock cerbera round a track, you'll be sorely dissapointed... it took TVR quite a few models before 'stock' cars got to the level of say a T350/Saggy.... anyway, it was just an overal statement... one simply does not 'chuck' a cerbera like one does a 4WD jap sportscar...

[FUBAR]

SXS said:

one simply does not 'chuck' a cerbera like one does a 4WD jap sportscar...

OK, who's hacked Ash's account?

[a1rak]

what are these wonder pads of brummies are where can I get some

[Cooky]

never had an iota of trouble or felt any need of replacing my 1144's on road or track, when coupled with the goodridge hoses, it has given me all the stopping power i've ever need.

thgat said, i'd st5ill like to tyry pagid's sometime.

[greenm]

I agree brakes are impressive. but I have orderd a set of Brummies specials plus s/s braided hoses so can only be better, and at least you know if u need it its going to be better. Just hope its not so good that when I brake the chassis stops and the body carried on???

[Byker28i]

Cooky said:

never had an iota of trouble or felt any need of replacing my 1144's on road or track, when coupled with the goodridge hoses, it has given me all the stopping power i've ever need.

thgat said, i'd st5ill like to tyry pagid's sometime.

Well, I run 1144's and have been really happy with them, but one track ay at Keevil on Monday, followed by another at Castle Coombe on the friday and that was a set of pads gone.

I've bought a set of pads but they are waiting until I get new disks. I've a slight judder after the last couple of trackdays.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the replies guys...

So basically the Cerbera is an expensive car to run unless you are handy with a set of spanners, the handling isn't chuckable as its a different sort of car.

I think i'll hold off buying one at the moment mainly because i was looking at the cheaper end of the market so i thought its best to wait until i can afford something more midrange.

I will get one one day though....

Oh and the brake upgrade bit, i've got a thing about upgrading brakes on all my cars....

[900T-R]

shaidmahmood said:

Oh and the brake upgrade bit, i've got a thing about upgrading brakes on all my cars....

Even if they came with generously sized AP Racing four-pots ex-factory? What on earth would you upgrade them to?