best of British! But which one??
Discussion
Iam looking to get either a t350 or noble m12, (have posted on noble but wanted both sides to the story!)
I know the sp6 has never been seen to be the most reliable of engines and will
Need a rebuild at sum point!
Now the t350 is alot cheaper witch will allow the extra cash to go in to a rebuild saving pot.. But is there alot of other things I should know about that will cost big ££ along the way??
Will be second car, for 6k a year, euro tours etc..(want to make it bk home) lol
The noble of course is never going to be like a bmw either but so I've heard is alot more reliable??
Thanx guys and gals..
I know the sp6 has never been seen to be the most reliable of engines and will
Need a rebuild at sum point!
Now the t350 is alot cheaper witch will allow the extra cash to go in to a rebuild saving pot.. But is there alot of other things I should know about that will cost big ££ along the way??
Will be second car, for 6k a year, euro tours etc..(want to make it bk home) lol
The noble of course is never going to be like a bmw either but so I've heard is alot more reliable??
Thanx guys and gals..
My take on it - having had the EXACT same choice to make when I ended up buying the T350...
They're both low volume, hand made cars. They both suffer from the exact same problems of a fair few glitches, not quite enough factory development, and the odd big bill along the way. The only real difference here is that the S6 engine in the TVRs was/is noticeably more likely to implode than on a Noble. Get one that's been rebuilt or even put money into a pot for that happening, and they're on a par in all those respects, then.
As for driving, owning, etc:
- The Noble's chassis and handling was a bit better
- The Noble felt a bit more planted at high speeds (130+)
+ The TVR is just beautiful. Couldn't help but think the exterior of the Noble was a bit kit-car esque.
+ Same goes for the interior. Beautiful on the Tiv, and a bit home-made on the Noble
+ With sports pipes on them, they both sound great. But the TVR just sounds like death incarnate and is on another level entirely
+ There was always more of a sense of occassion being in the Tiv - it's great fun to potter around town in it, which I never got when test driving/borrowing/etc. Nobles. I think it was just a teeny bit embarrassing in the Noble - just the slightest hint of chav about it. (I hate having to say that, because I do love them to drive) Also, the ground clearance at the front on the T350 is much better for speed bumps, etc.
+/- Running costs likely to be pretty much the same
Things that are likely to cost you along the way other than the engine:
- Tyres, brakes, etc. as much as any performance car, and depending on how you drive it
- 1x service every 6,000 miles. Alternating between big/little service. £400 / £700 (give or take a couple of hundred each time) respectively
- The clutch seals will give way every 20,000 miles. £900 or so each time. Get one that's just been done and you've got 20,000 miles not to worry about this. Lots of warranties will cover it, too. If you're handy with spanners, you could change it yourself for a lot less
- Radiator problems are a bit more common on S6 TVRs than most. I'd probably say they're a 15,000-20,000 mile "consumable" at £600 or so a time.
- Factory suspension is probably good for 20,000-25,000 miles (or 5 years) before the shocks are on their way out. You could replace all 4 corners with SIGNIFICANTLY better ones for less than £1k.
- Temperature/speed sensors need replacing every now and then. Cheap, quick job, and doesn't leave the car undriveable anyway - just a niggle.
- The solder on the dash-pods was pretty frugal from the factory, so you quite often get a display pod with a growing number of lines across it. These can be replaced by much better ones for a few hundred pounds. You may/may not suffer from this on any given car.
Those are probably the most common things - and there's no attempt at sugar coating there - but they're all things that once sorted on a car (when the customer's finished doing the factory testing
), it's likely to be largely trouble free fun for 20k miles or so... the engine being the big one, as you point out.
I came down on the side of TVR as it was just so much more "fun" and had such a road presence and sense of occassion. It was also far more usable in terms of luggage space, great community around servicing/modifications, better around town, etc. Definitely closer to a GT than the Noble. If I'd been more interested in track days, and it had been very much for those kind of more extreme driving days rather than something to enjoy all the time, I'd probably have gone with the Noble - if I could have got on with its looks a bit better.
Hope that helps.
They're both low volume, hand made cars. They both suffer from the exact same problems of a fair few glitches, not quite enough factory development, and the odd big bill along the way. The only real difference here is that the S6 engine in the TVRs was/is noticeably more likely to implode than on a Noble. Get one that's been rebuilt or even put money into a pot for that happening, and they're on a par in all those respects, then.
As for driving, owning, etc:
- The Noble's chassis and handling was a bit better
- The Noble felt a bit more planted at high speeds (130+)
+ The TVR is just beautiful. Couldn't help but think the exterior of the Noble was a bit kit-car esque.
+ Same goes for the interior. Beautiful on the Tiv, and a bit home-made on the Noble
+ With sports pipes on them, they both sound great. But the TVR just sounds like death incarnate and is on another level entirely
+ There was always more of a sense of occassion being in the Tiv - it's great fun to potter around town in it, which I never got when test driving/borrowing/etc. Nobles. I think it was just a teeny bit embarrassing in the Noble - just the slightest hint of chav about it. (I hate having to say that, because I do love them to drive) Also, the ground clearance at the front on the T350 is much better for speed bumps, etc.
+/- Running costs likely to be pretty much the same
Things that are likely to cost you along the way other than the engine:
- Tyres, brakes, etc. as much as any performance car, and depending on how you drive it
- 1x service every 6,000 miles. Alternating between big/little service. £400 / £700 (give or take a couple of hundred each time) respectively
- The clutch seals will give way every 20,000 miles. £900 or so each time. Get one that's just been done and you've got 20,000 miles not to worry about this. Lots of warranties will cover it, too. If you're handy with spanners, you could change it yourself for a lot less
- Radiator problems are a bit more common on S6 TVRs than most. I'd probably say they're a 15,000-20,000 mile "consumable" at £600 or so a time.
- Factory suspension is probably good for 20,000-25,000 miles (or 5 years) before the shocks are on their way out. You could replace all 4 corners with SIGNIFICANTLY better ones for less than £1k.
- Temperature/speed sensors need replacing every now and then. Cheap, quick job, and doesn't leave the car undriveable anyway - just a niggle.
- The solder on the dash-pods was pretty frugal from the factory, so you quite often get a display pod with a growing number of lines across it. These can be replaced by much better ones for a few hundred pounds. You may/may not suffer from this on any given car.
Those are probably the most common things - and there's no attempt at sugar coating there - but they're all things that once sorted on a car (when the customer's finished doing the factory testing
), it's likely to be largely trouble free fun for 20k miles or so... the engine being the big one, as you point out.I came down on the side of TVR as it was just so much more "fun" and had such a road presence and sense of occassion. It was also far more usable in terms of luggage space, great community around servicing/modifications, better around town, etc. Definitely closer to a GT than the Noble. If I'd been more interested in track days, and it had been very much for those kind of more extreme driving days rather than something to enjoy all the time, I'd probably have gone with the Noble - if I could have got on with its looks a bit better.
Hope that helps.
Edited by J_S_G on Thursday 1st January 16:28
what a gr8 review!! Thanx
I know exactly what u mean about the tvr being special!! I've always had people in the family with the v8 tvrs
Jst as I'm running a e46 m3 as a family car service prices are never small! Brakes etc..
I think I will be looking for one with all these mods inc rebuild before I buy one! And still keep that safe pot for piece of mind! I love the car, but I don't want to be to worried to take it past the end of my drive! Lol
I know exactly what u mean about the tvr being special!! I've always had people in the family with the v8 tvrs
Jst as I'm running a e46 m3 as a family car service prices are never small! Brakes etc..
I think I will be looking for one with all these mods inc rebuild before I buy one! And still keep that safe pot for piece of mind! I love the car, but I don't want to be to worried to take it past the end of my drive! Lol
Hollowpockets on here used to own a T350 and now has a Noble M400, sure he'll describe differences.
From my little experience of being a passenger the Noble feels far more planted, especially going over sharp crests on the road. TVR has better interior, sound and more friendly community of owners. I've been told the TVR is more fun for driving everyday as the Noble is more track based. Hope that helps a little although sure you probably know these things and it's just deciding what to go for!
From my little experience of being a passenger the Noble feels far more planted, especially going over sharp crests on the road. TVR has better interior, sound and more friendly community of owners. I've been told the TVR is more fun for driving everyday as the Noble is more track based. Hope that helps a little although sure you probably know these things and it's just deciding what to go for!
M3stann said:
what a gr8 review!! Thanx
I know exactly what u mean about the tvr being special!! I've always had people in the family with the v8 tvrs
Jst as I'm running a e46 m3 as a family car service prices are never small! Brakes etc..
I think I will be looking for one with all these mods inc rebuild before I buy one! And still keep that safe pot for piece of mind! I love the car, but I don't want to be to worried to take it past the end of my drive! Lol
Get one that's had a rebuild and has a warranty on the engine and you should be absolutely fine. I know exactly what u mean about the tvr being special!! I've always had people in the family with the v8 tvrs
Jst as I'm running a e46 m3 as a family car service prices are never small! Brakes etc..
I think I will be looking for one with all these mods inc rebuild before I buy one! And still keep that safe pot for piece of mind! I love the car, but I don't want to be to worried to take it past the end of my drive! Lol
Or just buy a warranty to go on it - plenty of them about... they'll all try to get out of paying and some are better than others, but I've had clutches, dash pods, etc. put through over the years on various Tivs without issue. Peace of mind with spare money in the bank is DEFINITELY a VERY sound way to make sure ownership doesn't get tainted if anything goes wrong. Sounds like you know what to expect... now just go find a good 'un... 
or...
I think "J_S_G" has summed it up well; the Noble will have a better chassis, and a more proven engine, the TVR will have the 'sense of occassion'. But, both are going to be a 'small British manufacturer car', and stupid little things are going to go wrong. I just didn't want a pic-nic table on the back of my car; I suspect people would point and laugh!
Whichever floats your boat, dude.
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