New T350C Owner
Discussion
Just bought a 2003 T350C has 05 spec motor internals and all other updates, had it for a week now and have been interested in one for a year. It is a brilliant driving experience and has great road presence, a stunning looking car for the money. I have a few questions if any of you guys(or girls just in case)! would help me out. Tyre pressures are located in two sections in the hand book, and give two different pressures, I was told 27psi all round, is this about right.I live in the Isle of man which has the bumpyist roads in Europe the car will sway from left to right on uneven surfaces due to the wide section tyres, so my quess that tyre pressures and wheel alignment is important.I went for a blast around the TT course last night warmed the car up untill oil temp reached 30/40% l keep under 3.500rpm at this temperature and step up the revs as temperature in turn rises, but with the cool evening temperature the oil temp was hovering around 70/75 degress after 40 mins of driving is it ok to give it beans at this temperature or wait untill over 80 degress on oil temperature. Believe it or not, I now have the only 350 on the Island and there are no Sagaris either!!
Congratualtions on your excellent choice, you're gonna love it. Try running 24 psi all round for road use and 26-28 for track. I personally never take it over 3000 rpm until oil hits 60, but I do find it runs a bit cool in the winter, obviously climatic (or the usual dicky censors). Enjoy and be careful in the wet and damp conditions on the IOM.
Tyres down to 24psi all round, esp. with bumpy roads being the car's main turf.
Brakes are less servoed than some cars and need a shove but should pull you up well. I got better pedal feel (and great track performance) from Ferodo DS2500. Do a search on this forum for info as you won't get them from any old supplier. Std TVR brake pads are a more normal Ferodo compound BTW.
Brakes are less servoed than some cars and need a shove but should pull you up well. I got better pedal feel (and great track performance) from Ferodo DS2500. Do a search on this forum for info as you won't get them from any old supplier. Std TVR brake pads are a more normal Ferodo compound BTW.
Brake pads have lots of life in them,as car is new to me l have not yet checked to see what they are.The brakes feel almost as if discs/pads are glazed and lacking feel because of this, I just notticed the brakes were not to good on a fast run over the mountain (tt course) last night, came into the Greg Ny Bar pub after a fast straight and thought i may be making a unexpected visit through the pub wall!! Realy did worry me. On this run also the oil temperature stayed around 70/75 just to clear this up, is it ok to give full revs at this temperature, or is full revs only suitable up and over 80 degress.
Edited by deders on Saturday 2nd September 12:48
Braking should be comparable to the Elise. Difficult to do though! Maybe pads are glazed from previous owner overheating them? DS2500's offer very noticeable improvement anyway as Targa says.
Oil temp - cause of frequent concern, and much research by many of us/checking with factory etc. The ENGINE definitely does need to be at 70C+ before using full revs. However, the oil temp sensor reads the temp from the oil tank, in front of the engine, which is obviously cooler. In frosty conditions it may not get above 35C at all, although the engine obviously IS hot after 25 mins or so at cruising speed (if the water is at 85 or so for 10 mins before that).
Good choice BTW, Lotus-like handling with TVR power!
Oil temp - cause of frequent concern, and much research by many of us/checking with factory etc. The ENGINE definitely does need to be at 70C+ before using full revs. However, the oil temp sensor reads the temp from the oil tank, in front of the engine, which is obviously cooler. In frosty conditions it may not get above 35C at all, although the engine obviously IS hot after 25 mins or so at cruising speed (if the water is at 85 or so for 10 mins before that).
Good choice BTW, Lotus-like handling with TVR power!
Thanks l will try Ferodos as a mater of course and see if there is an improvment. I will also try tyre pressures at 24 psi to see if it reduces body roll due to all the uneven roads on the Island, but will this only offer more grip or aid handling!I seem to be correcting the steering due to the amount of movement from the chassis, the TVR compared to the Elise is not as confident inspiring to drive. But don"t get me wrong l love the 350 to bits,I keep checking up on it in the garage, and polish it then place polish on the polish!
Lower tyre pressures will not stop body roll. They will make the car feel more planted and less likely to jump into the nearest ditch though. It will also help under braking if the steering feels a bit wayward (I've been experimenting the past few days at 25/26/27 PSI and the car is definitely more nervous with the higher pressures on anything other than a smooth motorway/race track.
Lower and even tyre pressures do help. Checked all pressures this evening, first time since collecting car at weekend, and took it for a little run, it felt better. Front left 26 psi, rest 23! My guess that did not help on my run last night.The car also has Toyo tyres(perished splits in tread cuts, best to replace!) at front and Goodyears at rear. Is this a normal combination or will this affect stability. Also fitted is a Racing Green exhaust, very noisey!! but very nice at speed and lots of pops a crackels on the over run just adds to the experience, only problem is l will need to put car through Manx test ( like a strict MOT ran by the goverment) may be to noisey for this. So l may either have to quiten it down some how,maybe exhaust wadding, or replace with STD system for test, but do not have one! Any body know of one l can use and return at a cost or buy. Grateful for your help.
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