350i info please.......
Discussion
Are they very fast/loud ????
I know its a tvr but are they moderately reliable ???
Are they ok to drive in the wet or on icy roads ???
do they have power hoods or manual ones ???
thanks
tony
Yes
Yes
Yes (with care)
Manual but quite quick and there are a few rare fixed heads.
Have a look here
>> Edited by jmorgan on Tuesday 10th December 13:56
>> Edited by jmorgan on Tuesday 10th December 13:59
I recently gave up large bikes (Ducati 959) bought a sensible everyday car (Rover Sterling) and settled down. Reasonable at 46 with three kids...?
Then I thought 'bugger this' and bought a 350i. I think its excellent. Not as fast as the bike - by a long way - but terrific fun.
The TVR (Hot Lips) is an excellent A/B road car. Similar to the bike on motorways (loud) and fun to drive. I prefer the Rover (they are MUCH better than you think) on motorways due silent 90mph cruising at 3000rpm, cruise, heated leather memory seats, aircon, CD etc. The weekends are a different matter!!!!
Buy one - you might regret it but buy one anyway!
Then I thought 'bugger this' and bought a 350i. I think its excellent. Not as fast as the bike - by a long way - but terrific fun.
The TVR (Hot Lips) is an excellent A/B road car. Similar to the bike on motorways (loud) and fun to drive. I prefer the Rover (they are MUCH better than you think) on motorways due silent 90mph cruising at 3000rpm, cruise, heated leather memory seats, aircon, CD etc. The weekends are a different matter!!!!
Buy one - you might regret it but buy one anyway!
chrisw said: Sorry to jump in on someone else's thread - but I too am thinking of buying my first TVR soon. My question is - do I save some money and buy a 350 or stretch things to get a 400 ? Is there that much difference between them ?
Thanks for any comments,
Chris.
350 and 400 look slightly different, plus the 400 is quicker.
Edited to add: I started with a 350, if you have not driven powerful rwd sports cars before I recommend the 350 rather than the 400.
>> Edited by kevinday on Thursday 10th April 12:01
Hi,
Cantus - see your topic as hopefully can help. My wiring prob was the immobiliser -removed it.
350 or 400 there's a question. I thoroughly enjoy both. You should get a V.Good 350 for the price of an average 400. The advice earlier was spot on - buy best not cheapest. The bottom line is you'll spend money on them to keep them up to spec and often IMHO money you won't recover if you sell it. Shop around and look at several but as all have said GET ONE.
GB
Cantus - see your topic as hopefully can help. My wiring prob was the immobiliser -removed it.
350 or 400 there's a question. I thoroughly enjoy both. You should get a V.Good 350 for the price of an average 400. The advice earlier was spot on - buy best not cheapest. The bottom line is you'll spend money on them to keep them up to spec and often IMHO money you won't recover if you sell it. Shop around and look at several but as all have said GET ONE.
GB
Can't agree strongly enough about buying a top condition car. When I bought mine it had been subject to an £9k pound restoration. With the amount that the owner had spent on the car in the first place and this added amount it summed up to mid teen thousand pounds - I bought the car off the owner for less than he had bought it for in the first place without the restoration. I looked at many dodgy cars before I bought this one and some were being advertised for more than the virtually concourse one I bought. So shopping around is obviously very important. Fortunately wedges tend to attract people that are going to spend lots of money on them. The best way to take advantage of this is by letting someone else spend the money before you invest. 
cantus said: Hi all
I am looking for a 1983 350i electrical scheme !!
Due to battery is going flat every day while battery is new !!!
Can someone mail or send me a electrical scheme ?
Thank you
William Waardenburg
Are you handy with a multi meter? Its possible to sort without a diagram.
GO FOR ITI bought a 350i in February, my first sportscar, and (therefore) my first TVR.
Yes, it is very fast. Not as fast as bigger engined and/or (most) newer TVR's, but still very fast. 0-60 in about 5.6, top end just shy of 150.
But it's the mid speed acceleration that really shows up, like 30-50 in 4th (yes fourth) gear is 6.0. In second, it is WAY, WAY quicker than that. 0-30 in 2.4 leaves just about everything standing at the lights. These figures are from Motor magazine, August 1987.
Its loud, but not as loud as the bigger Wedges, and not as loud as the V8S (which has the 4 litre engine, like the 400SE).
Reliable? Yes, if you look after them - apperently. Having only had mine 2 months, I can't really claim to be an authority. But the only issue I had was with a rattly power steering pump bearing, that I could have lived with for a while longer, but decided to sort out anyway. One afternoon off the road.
Definately pay as much as you can, and go for a dear 350, rather a cheap 390/400 - but make sure you are getting what you are paying for. Just because a car has a seven grand price tag on it, it does not automatically make it better than a 4.5 grand car.
People like R.T. Racing (I think) will inspect a car for you, and say what jobs they feel need doing. If you find a car you are seriously considering, then it's well worth having it inspected. Even if you have to do this for a couple of cars before finding the right one, a few hundred quid spent up front can save thousands. A friend of mine just bought a TVR, and since buying it, he has discovered it needs quite a bit of work doing. Possibly as much as 2 thousand pounds.
I had my car inspected by Rob Ingleby (actually, I used his finding service) www.findasportscar.com. Like I said, touch wood, I've really needed nothing doing. The PAS pump was my choice.
Overall, I would say buy a 350. They really are incredible fun. From sitting in the car, I can get my roof up or down in under one minute, and be sat back in the car, so don't fret about a mechnical roof.
Remember, a TVR is a real sports car. Why add scores of pounds in weight for motors and levers. All it would do is slow the car down. The same goes for ABS, traction control, etc. You won't find any of those things, and IMHO, that's how it should be. This does make driving in snow...interesting. On ice, it would be dangerous. But then, any car is dangerous on ice. I've not found I have a problem in the wet, but then, I have a very unaggressive driving style. Just take it easy on the throttle (up, as well as down - engine braking in the wet is not a good idea).
In my two months, the back has stepped out (unintentionally) twice. Once within my first week, when I hit a piece of roadway ironwork (aka manhole cover) on the apex of a bend, and once when I hit a patch of gravel. Both times it came back in easily, and both times, it was me at fault, not the car.
They attract a lot of attention. I'm constantly having people approach me to talk about the car, from school kids asking me to 'rag it' from the lights ("sorry lads"), to pensioners saying 'Is that the Rover SD1 engine?'. You get wolf whistles, stares, whoops, and, sadly, a few "flash git"s. But that's just jealousy
Occaisionally, the vibration from the exhaust sets of a car alarm, though thankfully not any of my neighbours'.
They are a joy to drive, especially if you get one with power stearing. I find I still get a loads of feedback from the front wheels, and it makes driving round town way easier. Also, I find long journeys less tiring in my 350 than I did in my previous car, which was a Toyota Yaris! The Yaris was just so unengaging, that I used to have to pull in every hour and a half and grab a can of Red Bull, just to keep my attention levels up. With the 350, the drive is so engaging, there really is no time to drift off. I find it fun, and therefore, not mentally tiring.
So it's all seetness and light, then.
Well, no, not quite. They leak, and its a swine to track the leaks down, and a bigger swine to fix them. They steam up in the rain. A few drops, and you can't see through the windscreen. Put the fan on, and it quickly becomes unbearably hot. My fan has two settings: Hot and Cook. No, not Cool, Cook. Open the window to demist, and you get constant drips up your right arm.
Driving in heavy rain on the motorway is scary. Really. Not for the power control. If you can control the car proplerly, and make sure you don't twitch your feet, that's OK. But visibility can be attrocious.
They have a bad drinking habit. I've put a hundred quid in the tank over the last three days (includes a trip down to Millbrok from Manchester, but it's still a lot). I get no more than 20-22mpg, and usually less around town. They usually like dearer fuel, like Optimax, but you can have the timing advance set to cope with normal unleaded.
YOU MUST CHECK THE OIL AND COOLANT EVERY WEEK. Or 500 miles. YOU MUST. If you're the kind who forgets to lift the bonnet for a month, then your car will almost certainly overheat. And overheating an aluminium engine can be terminal. And you MUST use a high proportion of antifreeze (50% or above). Freezing an ali block is not good, either.
However, buy one. In fact, buy two. Or even three. One for daily use, one for weekend, and one for track days.
It's the most fun I've ever had that didn't involve...actually, no. It's the most fun I've ever had, period.
Yes, it is very fast. Not as fast as bigger engined and/or (most) newer TVR's, but still very fast. 0-60 in about 5.6, top end just shy of 150.
But it's the mid speed acceleration that really shows up, like 30-50 in 4th (yes fourth) gear is 6.0. In second, it is WAY, WAY quicker than that. 0-30 in 2.4 leaves just about everything standing at the lights. These figures are from Motor magazine, August 1987.
Its loud, but not as loud as the bigger Wedges, and not as loud as the V8S (which has the 4 litre engine, like the 400SE).
Reliable? Yes, if you look after them - apperently. Having only had mine 2 months, I can't really claim to be an authority. But the only issue I had was with a rattly power steering pump bearing, that I could have lived with for a while longer, but decided to sort out anyway. One afternoon off the road.
Definately pay as much as you can, and go for a dear 350, rather a cheap 390/400 - but make sure you are getting what you are paying for. Just because a car has a seven grand price tag on it, it does not automatically make it better than a 4.5 grand car.
People like R.T. Racing (I think) will inspect a car for you, and say what jobs they feel need doing. If you find a car you are seriously considering, then it's well worth having it inspected. Even if you have to do this for a couple of cars before finding the right one, a few hundred quid spent up front can save thousands. A friend of mine just bought a TVR, and since buying it, he has discovered it needs quite a bit of work doing. Possibly as much as 2 thousand pounds.
I had my car inspected by Rob Ingleby (actually, I used his finding service) www.findasportscar.com. Like I said, touch wood, I've really needed nothing doing. The PAS pump was my choice.
Overall, I would say buy a 350. They really are incredible fun. From sitting in the car, I can get my roof up or down in under one minute, and be sat back in the car, so don't fret about a mechnical roof.
Remember, a TVR is a real sports car. Why add scores of pounds in weight for motors and levers. All it would do is slow the car down. The same goes for ABS, traction control, etc. You won't find any of those things, and IMHO, that's how it should be. This does make driving in snow...interesting. On ice, it would be dangerous. But then, any car is dangerous on ice. I've not found I have a problem in the wet, but then, I have a very unaggressive driving style. Just take it easy on the throttle (up, as well as down - engine braking in the wet is not a good idea).
In my two months, the back has stepped out (unintentionally) twice. Once within my first week, when I hit a piece of roadway ironwork (aka manhole cover) on the apex of a bend, and once when I hit a patch of gravel. Both times it came back in easily, and both times, it was me at fault, not the car.
They attract a lot of attention. I'm constantly having people approach me to talk about the car, from school kids asking me to 'rag it' from the lights ("sorry lads"), to pensioners saying 'Is that the Rover SD1 engine?'. You get wolf whistles, stares, whoops, and, sadly, a few "flash git"s. But that's just jealousy
Occaisionally, the vibration from the exhaust sets of a car alarm, though thankfully not any of my neighbours'.
They are a joy to drive, especially if you get one with power stearing. I find I still get a loads of feedback from the front wheels, and it makes driving round town way easier. Also, I find long journeys less tiring in my 350 than I did in my previous car, which was a Toyota Yaris! The Yaris was just so unengaging, that I used to have to pull in every hour and a half and grab a can of Red Bull, just to keep my attention levels up. With the 350, the drive is so engaging, there really is no time to drift off. I find it fun, and therefore, not mentally tiring.
So it's all seetness and light, then.
Well, no, not quite. They leak, and its a swine to track the leaks down, and a bigger swine to fix them. They steam up in the rain. A few drops, and you can't see through the windscreen. Put the fan on, and it quickly becomes unbearably hot. My fan has two settings: Hot and Cook. No, not Cool, Cook. Open the window to demist, and you get constant drips up your right arm.
Driving in heavy rain on the motorway is scary. Really. Not for the power control. If you can control the car proplerly, and make sure you don't twitch your feet, that's OK. But visibility can be attrocious.
They have a bad drinking habit. I've put a hundred quid in the tank over the last three days (includes a trip down to Millbrok from Manchester, but it's still a lot). I get no more than 20-22mpg, and usually less around town. They usually like dearer fuel, like Optimax, but you can have the timing advance set to cope with normal unleaded.
YOU MUST CHECK THE OIL AND COOLANT EVERY WEEK. Or 500 miles. YOU MUST. If you're the kind who forgets to lift the bonnet for a month, then your car will almost certainly overheat. And overheating an aluminium engine can be terminal. And you MUST use a high proportion of antifreeze (50% or above). Freezing an ali block is not good, either.
However, buy one. In fact, buy two. Or even three. One for daily use, one for weekend, and one for track days.
It's the most fun I've ever had that didn't involve...actually, no. It's the most fun I've ever had, period.
Top rave, plewis! :-D
I went from a 280 to a 390, and had driven a 350 and a 400SE (with nitrous
) so I knew what I was letting myself in for.
It REALLY helps to be handy with the spanners, as otherwise some of the :ahem: specialists will have your arms and legs away. Even for the daft things. Just because you don't know 'where the bits came from' doesn't mean they are expensive even now. So be patient, ask around on here and you'll soon find out.
The technology of the 350 is basic. Even the V8 is not a thing to be feared if it goes wrong: and many fault symptoms are caused by ancillary items anyway.
Buy a late 350: the rear suspension was reworked and is regarded as better. Don't worry if you look at several cars and notice even fairly glaring differences: TVR changed bonnets, spoilers, bumpers, lights and so on a few times so as long as it's broadly 'correct' for the year, that's fine as long as you like the car. Aftermarket wheels are common, but some styles do not suit at all.
Err... I could go on, but I have a MIG welder to paint. And I finished work at 5:45 and have only just got back in from a 45-mile 'trip to the shop' in the TVR...
BUY ONE... you know it makes no sense at all...
Ian
I went from a 280 to a 390, and had driven a 350 and a 400SE (with nitrous
) so I knew what I was letting myself in for. It REALLY helps to be handy with the spanners, as otherwise some of the :ahem: specialists will have your arms and legs away. Even for the daft things. Just because you don't know 'where the bits came from' doesn't mean they are expensive even now. So be patient, ask around on here and you'll soon find out.
The technology of the 350 is basic. Even the V8 is not a thing to be feared if it goes wrong: and many fault symptoms are caused by ancillary items anyway.
Buy a late 350: the rear suspension was reworked and is regarded as better. Don't worry if you look at several cars and notice even fairly glaring differences: TVR changed bonnets, spoilers, bumpers, lights and so on a few times so as long as it's broadly 'correct' for the year, that's fine as long as you like the car. Aftermarket wheels are common, but some styles do not suit at all.
Err... I could go on, but I have a MIG welder to paint. And I finished work at 5:45 and have only just got back in from a 45-mile 'trip to the shop' in the TVR...
BUY ONE... you know it makes no sense at all...
Ian
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