Tamora Ownership

[Ikemi]

I have arranged to view a '02 Tamora at a local specialist this coming Tuesday - It will be the first Tamora I've seen and will be the first TVR I've ever driven! It's covered 52,000 miles, comes with a full TVR service history, and includes a 1 year warranty with the option to extend to 2 years.

I'm hoping the warranty will cover any issues with the engine, which will give some peace of mind However before I jump in with rose-tinted glasses, I have a few questions;

-Does the clutch need replacing every 20K miles?
-Do the tappets wear out quite quickly in comparison to other engines?
-Is a rebuilt Speed 6 more reliable than one that has not been rebuilt? Is a rebuild around £5K? Are the Speed 6 issues a bit of a 'myth'?
-Are there any other potentially expensive issues?

Also, I don't think it has a sports exhaust, so that will be the first upgrade on the list. How much is a JP Exhaust with decats? I'd ideally like something loud, with a deep burble, and lots of pops and bangs on overrun!

Any info is hugely appreciated!

Cheers!

Edited by Ikemi on Sunday 22 May 20:03

[antmez]

hopefully welcome to being a tam owner

clutch depends on how you drive but i would expect more than 20k even if you totally abuse it.
tappets just get them set up correct and all will be ok
rebuilt engine is gonna be better but, but as long as you follow warm up procedures etc you should be ok but always leave a bit of cash in the bank just in case
jp exhaust with decats , that will be very very loud indeed, r u sure??

and where abouts are you ? and where is the car?

Ant

[shep1001]

Does the clutch need replacing every 20K miles? –

Maybe depends on how much abuse its had. I have 22K on mine and its fine, know others with more miles too. About £800 to replace when needed.

Do the tappets wear out quite quickly in comparison to other engines –

I would say not, they should be checked/adjusted on every 12K/2yr service or more frequently if desired. Find out when it was last done and ask the servicing garage about it.

Is a rebuilt Speed 6 more reliable than one that has not been rebuilt? Is a rebuild around £5K? Are the Speed 6 issues a bit of a 'myth'? –

In theory yes but quality of rebuild and how its treated/serviced is as much to do with how long an engine will last before going pop. £5000 for a full rebuild is a little cheap, closer to £5500 for a std build by TVR Power there are many options depending on how deep your wallet is. The S6 can be expensive if its knackered or abused. Some early engines died at few miles. Get it inspected buy on condition!


Are there any other potentially expensive issues?

Plenty of things can go wrong (but don’t assume they will!) that cost quite a few quid, shocks, Rad, new hood, brakes. Get it inspected before you buy it so you know if anything is on its way out or nearing the end of its serviceable life. I put £1200 away a year to cover any bits that might need doing, been lucky so far and have spent much less, which has meant the money could be used for upgrades.

Also, I don't think it has a sports exhaust, so that will be the first upgrade on the list. How much is a JP Exhaust with decats? I'd ideally like something loud, with a deep burble, and lots of pops and bangs on overrun! –

JP & De-cats new cost about £8-900 fitted. I have Racing Green ‘super sport’ cans and kept my Cats in place. It sounds awesome and scares people on the overrun in town! It might be too loud with de-cats try it with just new cans first.

[Mr M]

Mine's on 28k. Same clutch. No problems as yet. Treat it well - fully depress the pedal when you change gear. Don't use the gear stick as an arm rest etc If it's the one at Tony Gs then I bought mine from him last year.

[Pursyluv]

^^^ This, plus I spoke to the previous owner about this car, and it sounded like it was well looked after,as for the exhaust i think you'll find the JP isn't loud enough, ACT decats plus TVR Power back box is the answer

[nightSpirit]

Welcome...possibly

My Tam is coming out of hiding tomorrow (I hope) and is off to get some ACT decats fitted for the summer fun!

[Ikemi]

Cheers for all the replies!

Antmez: I live in High Wycombe, but the car is in Warwickshire. I've been viewing as many videos on YouTube as possible, but there doesn't seem to be many that highlight different exhaust options. So I'm not too sure how loud the JP system is ... However JP exhausts seemed to be mentioned quite a bit on other forums, as well as Racing Green exhausts.

This is all a bit new to me - I feel out of my depth! I can recommend good exhaust systems for an Elise

shep1001: Thanks for the comprehensive write up Is it a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' as to the Speed 6 going pop? At the moment the potential £5K bill is the only thing making me a little nervous!

Mr M: Yep, it's the one at Tony Gilbert's ... with the Spider alloys

Edited by Ikemi on Monday 23 May 00:58

[Diablos-666]

I have a T350 with a big bore JP exhaust system.

Before I had this installed I had a standard system with decats. This was very raspy in the higher rev range and quite droney on the mway (gave me headaches)

Now I have a decatted JP system. The sound below 3k revs is quite a deep burble but still quite civilised, above 3k revs all hell brakes loose and sounds awesome. The noise is very addictive.

The sound is much better, it's quite when you want it to be but also noisy when you want it.

I'm told it's also track friendly?

Good luck with your new potential purchase.

As above, just make sure you warm her up, you wouldn't rag your misses from cold

[blueg33]

Ikemi said:

Cheers for all the replies!

Antmez: I live in High Wycombe, but the car is in Warwickshire. I've been viewing as many videos on YouTube as possible, but there doesn't seem to be many that highlight different exhaust options. So I'm not too sure how loud the JP system is ... However JP exhausts seemed to be mentioned quite a bit on other forums, as well as Racing Green exhausts.

This is all a bit new to me - I feel out of my depth! I can recommend good exhaust systems for an Elise

shep1001: Thanks for the comprehensive write up Is it a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' as to the Speed 6 going pop? At the moment the potential £5K bill is the only thing making me a little nervous!

Mr M: Yep, it's the one at Tony Gilbert's ... with the Spider alloys

Edited by Ikemi on Monday 23 May 00:58

If the car is in Warwickshire, get it over to TVRPower for Dom to have a look at. He can set your mind at ease about the S6

[shep1001]

The S6 engine is not doomed to fail, yes there are a lot that have gone pop but there are lots that are going strong with plenty of miles on then (use the search for the threads) IIRC the 3.6l engine is less stressed than the 4 litre varient. Like I said if its looked after and the engine was solid from the start then it should be fine.

Get Dom to have a look at it from Power and/or get the history from the servicing dealer(s) use this as the platform for negotiating your price. A couple of hundred quid to get it inspected might save your piggy bank a whole world of hurt.

Shep

Edited by shep1001 on Monday 23 May 08:57

[PipeNslippers]

shep1001 said:

The S6 engine is not doomed to fail, yes there are a lot that have gone pop but there are lots that are going strong with plenty of miles on then (use the search for the threads) IIRC the 3.6l engine is less stressed than the 4 litre varient. Like I said if its looked after and the engine was solid from the start then it should be fine.

Get Dom to have a look at it from Power and/or get the history from the servicing dealer(s) use this as the platform for negotiating your price. A couple of hundred quid to get it inspected might save your piggy bank a whole world of hurt.

Shep

Edited by shep1001 on Monday 23 May 08:57

As Shep said, the TVR specialists have a number of tests that they can perform on the engine to assess it's health. If you're really concerned (as I was) get the car from a specialist with a 12 warranty. The cars will not cost much more and TVR specialists (I bought mine from str8six) will only sell cars that have been well looked after with a known history and are not going to damage their reputation / incurr major costs to themselves.

BTW, these engines do not go 'Pop' and are actually very strong. After 40,000 miles my engine was still very fresh...all the weaknesses have been discussed at length in other threads, but a full rebuild is rarley required, just a top end (circa £3000) refresh...but for an extra £2000 peolple generally go for a full rebuild, which for what you get is very good value.. and enhances the cars value..

[Mr M]

If I remember correctly, I think Tony uses TVR Power to service the cars anyway.

[5tevo]

Ikemi said:

Antmez: I live in High Wycombe

Hi and potentially welcome to the club!! - I work in Beaconsfield just up the road and have a sports pipe if you want to have a listen/ride.

Stevo

[garreth64]

Mr M said:

If I remember correctly, I think Tony uses TVR Power to service the cars anyway.

I looked at a car at Tony's last year, he does seem to have a good reputation and I believe he does use Power to service cars.

Min was de-catted when I bought it but wasn't that keen on the sound. Have added a JP Exhaust and yes it's loud and pops and bangs but I only drive it occasionally so to me it's how a TVR should sound Price depends upon if you are prepared to fit yourself, or get someone to do it. From memory mine was £375 plus fitting but well worth it!

[Pursyluv]

I think i'm right in saying that the Racing Green and TVR Power back boxes are the same or are very similar systems - generally it's either of these 2 or the JP system with the former being marginally louder, i do of course stand to be corrected.

[shep1001]

Pursyluv said:

I think i'm right in saying that the Racing Green and TVR Power back boxes are the same or are very similar systems - generally it's either of these 2 or the JP system with the former being marginally louder, i do of course stand to be corrected.

Power and RG cans are Identical, not sure but I suspect made by the same people.

[Ikemi]

I took one for a test drive last night and can safely say it's completely different to the Lotus ... Blisteringly quick! The car I looked at, which is currently for sale at Tony Gilbert's, seems pretty well sorted too!

However there is one aspect that concerns me and wondered if there is a modification available, Halfords booster seat aside I'm not the shortest of chaps (5'9"), but I felt as if I was having to peer over the steering wheel to see the road ahead ... It's a really high dashboard! Is there anyway the seat could be fixed in place (if necessary), but 'lifted up' a couple of centimeters on the runners?

The problem is (and this goes for all test drives) 10 minutes behind the wheel just doesn't give enough time to fully appreciate the car and make an informed decision. The majority of the test drive was spent getting used to the pedals and the gear change. I'm undecided. I feel I need to drive another example or the same one again!

[Targarama]

I see you're in Wycombe - My T350 (same 'fit') is sitting here in our garage in Hazlemere. Happy for you to have a sit/fiddle with the seats. I actually have a thinner seat cushion to drop me down into the seat more (being 6ft 4). I have the original 'short rs' cushion too though.

[Mr M]

>The problem is (and this goes for all test drives) 10 minutes behind the wheel just doesn't give >enough time to fully appreciate the car and make an informed decision

If it's any help, the brief time I had to test drive mine didn't come too close to what it is like to own. Depending on how often it's used and air temperature you need more time than that to fully appreciate it. If you liked it quite a lot for a short test drive, I think you'll get to like it even more as you get aquainted with it. . I took a bit of a gamble and happy to say it was the right decision.

[garreth64]

Ikemi said:

I took one for a test drive last night and can safely say it's completely different to the Lotus ... Blisteringly quick! The car I looked at, which is currently for sale at Tony Gilbert's, seems pretty well sorted too!

However there is one aspect that concerns me and wondered if there is a modification available, Halfords booster seat aside I'm not the shortest of chaps (5'9"), but I felt as if I was having to peer over the steering wheel to see the road ahead ... It's a really high dashboard! Is there anyway the seat could be fixed in place (if necessary), but 'lifted up' a couple of centimeters on the runners?

The problem is (and this goes for all test drives) 10 minutes behind the wheel just doesn't give enough time to fully appreciate the car and make an informed decision. The majority of the test drive was spent getting used to the pedals and the gear change. I'm undecided. I feel I need to drive another example or the same one again!

When I went for a test drive at Tony Gilberts last year, he just gave us the keys and let us out which I thought was very decent of him. My car was obviously left there, but we had a good unaccompanied 1/2 hour drive so maybe you could get a longer drive if you ask.

I didn't buy that car in the end, but with reference to seat height, the car I did buy had cushions fitted underneath the seat bottoms by the previous owner to raise the seat heights up a bit. I'm 5' 11' but I have left them there as I feel quite comfortable with them. The seat bottoms are just velcro'd in so you can lift them out, get some cushions made up to the right size with velcro round the edges, and put the seats back on top.