TVR Tuscan, take 2!
Discussion
TR4man said:
Great update - enjoyed reading that!
That last photo looks like the Cafe on the Great Orme.
Funnily enough I prefer my Tuscan with the roof panel on, rear window out and side windows down on very hot days like those we are having at the moment.
Good spot - spectacular road, even at 30mph. That last photo looks like the Cafe on the Great Orme.
Funnily enough I prefer my Tuscan with the roof panel on, rear window out and side windows down on very hot days like those we are having at the moment.
Agree on your last tip - it feels better but somehow feels wrong not having the roof totally off on these brilliant days. I took an old Boxster to Monaco and drove most of that with the roof up and windows down as was too hot - and no aircon in that one!
Nice update! 
I’ve got a few updates to add my thread now it’s in for its service!
I’m unsure if mine is full loud mode like yours but I can empathise with what you’re saying about the noise. Amazing and cataclysmic but a couple of times I’ve wished it was a tiny bit more civilised. Then the road opens up a bit and I hit the loud pedal and forget all about it!
Looking forward to more road trips thought he kids slow down the amount of time I have with just me and the wife!
I’ve got a few updates to add my thread now it’s in for its service!
I’m unsure if mine is full loud mode like yours but I can empathise with what you’re saying about the noise. Amazing and cataclysmic but a couple of times I’ve wished it was a tiny bit more civilised. Then the road opens up a bit and I hit the loud pedal and forget all about it!
Looking forward to more road trips thought he kids slow down the amount of time I have with just me and the wife!
Big update to this some 9 months on.
A work move to Cornwall meant leaving the Tuscan behind in temporary storage. However, lockdown rules, and the arrival of our baby, meant that short term storage turned into 9 months!
A few days ago we returned to the barn, took the car off trickle charge and she started first time and with no warning lights! After a quick check to make sure everything was working properly, it was a drive across to Powers for the MOT and a service. This was great timing as it gave me peace of mind that the car was ok following its time not moving. Pleased to say the car passed without advisories and was left running beautifully after the service.
The journey home was frustrating. There was torrential rain which meant I took it very slowly. Then, just as we approached Bristol, another driver let me know that the brake lights were stuck on. We made it to our overnight stop with my wife following closely behind to make sure no one confused the sticking lights. A quick check on the Tuscan Facebook group suggested a sticking microswitch, which should be simple to rectify. However, Sod’s law dictates this wasn’t simple. I had no tools with me and it being Saturday didn’t think there would be any garages to take it to. A quick call to Mark at Amore Autos, who was nearby, saw me heading over to his dealership and he quickly got about trying to get to the microswitch. Again, Sod’s law meant this was not easy at all. One of the bolts had been totally stripped in the past so it looked for a time that this wasn’t coming out. With some brute force, about 10 mins later the bolt was out and the switch lubricated (as it looked to be in good order). After a quick test we were back on our way. Huge thanks to Mark here - I hadn’t even bought this car from him, but he was more than happy to help! That’s why I really like the TVR community.
Then it was back on the road for the last 3 hours to Cornwall. The weather even cleared up, which meant I could remove the roof, and I had an amazing drive back home. I had forgotten how exciting these cars are to drive (once you get off the motorway) and how loud this one is! Embarrassingly, despite owning this car for a while now, it was the first time I’d seen one of the shift lights come on!
The plan now is to try to enjoy the car as much as possible down here and hope for a great summer. With our new baby, I don’t know how often I will get to use the car, but will hopefully find enough excuses to take it for a drive.
A work move to Cornwall meant leaving the Tuscan behind in temporary storage. However, lockdown rules, and the arrival of our baby, meant that short term storage turned into 9 months!
A few days ago we returned to the barn, took the car off trickle charge and she started first time and with no warning lights! After a quick check to make sure everything was working properly, it was a drive across to Powers for the MOT and a service. This was great timing as it gave me peace of mind that the car was ok following its time not moving. Pleased to say the car passed without advisories and was left running beautifully after the service.
The journey home was frustrating. There was torrential rain which meant I took it very slowly. Then, just as we approached Bristol, another driver let me know that the brake lights were stuck on. We made it to our overnight stop with my wife following closely behind to make sure no one confused the sticking lights. A quick check on the Tuscan Facebook group suggested a sticking microswitch, which should be simple to rectify. However, Sod’s law dictates this wasn’t simple. I had no tools with me and it being Saturday didn’t think there would be any garages to take it to. A quick call to Mark at Amore Autos, who was nearby, saw me heading over to his dealership and he quickly got about trying to get to the microswitch. Again, Sod’s law meant this was not easy at all. One of the bolts had been totally stripped in the past so it looked for a time that this wasn’t coming out. With some brute force, about 10 mins later the bolt was out and the switch lubricated (as it looked to be in good order). After a quick test we were back on our way. Huge thanks to Mark here - I hadn’t even bought this car from him, but he was more than happy to help! That’s why I really like the TVR community.
Then it was back on the road for the last 3 hours to Cornwall. The weather even cleared up, which meant I could remove the roof, and I had an amazing drive back home. I had forgotten how exciting these cars are to drive (once you get off the motorway) and how loud this one is! Embarrassingly, despite owning this car for a while now, it was the first time I’d seen one of the shift lights come on!
The plan now is to try to enjoy the car as much as possible down here and hope for a great summer. With our new baby, I don’t know how often I will get to use the car, but will hopefully find enough excuses to take it for a drive.
Fantastic car. You will always find excuses to drive it.
I had a tamora for about 18 months as my only car, but eventually those small foibles pushed me over the edge and it went.
That said, if I was living somewhere like Cornwall I would probably have kept it!
Enjoy the car and don't feel bad about getting to know the car before stretching it's legs. These cars don't take prisoners!
I had a tamora for about 18 months as my only car, but eventually those small foibles pushed me over the edge and it went.
That said, if I was living somewhere like Cornwall I would probably have kept it!
Enjoy the car and don't feel bad about getting to know the car before stretching it's legs. These cars don't take prisoners!
Bit of an update to this car:
I still have it and it has been brilliant. I am trying to use it, but now with a baby I don’t get as many chances (and I can’t even use it to commute to work as it is less than 1km away! But I do make an effort to take it out for car events or just a local run out of weather and child care allows!
I treated the car to a 2 stage correction and wheel refurb which has really brought the paint to life.
Mechanically, this car is running fantastically (hope that hasn’t jinxed things by saying that). The only fault has been a split windscreen washer hose and occasionally the speedo needle stops working, but the digital display still gives a speed read out.
It attracts plenty of attention down here in Cornwall, but unlike previous Boxsters it has all been positive!
I still have it and it has been brilliant. I am trying to use it, but now with a baby I don’t get as many chances (and I can’t even use it to commute to work as it is less than 1km away! But I do make an effort to take it out for car events or just a local run out of weather and child care allows!
I treated the car to a 2 stage correction and wheel refurb which has really brought the paint to life.
Mechanically, this car is running fantastically (hope that hasn’t jinxed things by saying that). The only fault has been a split windscreen washer hose and occasionally the speedo needle stops working, but the digital display still gives a speed read out.
It attracts plenty of attention down here in Cornwall, but unlike previous Boxsters it has all been positive!
Not much of an update, besides enjoying the car on the few remaining dry days we have of this year!
Cerbera adverts have started to get more and more appealing. Having a baby means chances to use the car are less and less, so wondering if I’d use a Cerbera more, or would I not want to put a child in there??
Cerbera adverts have started to get more and more appealing. Having a baby means chances to use the car are less and less, so wondering if I’d use a Cerbera more, or would I not want to put a child in there??
Time to close this thread, as nearly two years to the day that I bought the car, it is now sold!
This car was everything I wanted a TVR Tuscan to be - particularly after the problem Tuscan that I had (briefly) before this one. That first Tuscan could have been enough to put me off TVRs all together, but I am so glad I decided to consider that car a blip and find a Tuscan again.
Things I loved about the car:
- The looks - I still think this is one of the best looking cars ever designed, and I loved it in the Formula Red colour. The attention the car creates is all positive.
- The sound - with the decat and Powertech rear cans it sounded just how I wanted a TVR to sound.
- The performance - being the 3.6 I thought it would feel slower than my previous 4.0, but actually found the opposite to be true. The 3.6 loves to rev, which I think suits the manic nature of the car, whereas my old 4.0 never felt quite like this one. This could be more down to it being a particularly healthy 3.6 (thanks to Powers), more than any difference in displacement.
Things I didn't like as much:
- The window switches - I get that TVR liked to design unique interiors, but I could never understand how the window switches were a good idea! I never got the hang of them, which caused an embarrassing moment at a PCR test when I accidentally wound the passenger window all the way up, trapping a whole box of face masks in the window.
- The instrument binnacle - I would much prefer the Mk3 design, or the Tamora/T350, which had a more conventional rev counter. I found the one in the Mk1 Tuscan took a bit of getting used to.
- Time to warm up - unless you are doing a proper drive out, sometimes, particularly on a very cold day, the engine would take so long to get up to temperature that you wouldn't use all of the rev range. I suppose this doesn't matter if you don't stick to the warm up procedure on the engine, but I always did.
- Might have been a bit too loud - I know that is not something you should say about a TVR, but on longer road trips, with the roof off and screen out, it is a loud place to be!
- Running costs - as I've detailed previously, they can be expensive to look after properly. I went into this with my eyes open, and was happy to spend on the upkeep as think this prevents any surprise bills in the future. I think you can be luckier and as long as the car has been serviced and well maintained, you might not have to spend as much as I did.
So why did I decide to sell? A baby meant chances to go out and enjoy the car became few and far between. That wouldn't have been such an issue if I'd still taken the car to work on nice days, but a work relocation meant I went from having a wonderful 30 minute commute through the countryside, on some brilliant roads, to now being so close to work I cycle in. All too often the TVR was in my garage, or, just taken out for a lap of my normal road route and then put away again. I could have looked into a baby-seat for the car, which might have seen me use it a bit more, but honestly I didn't fancy the idea of taking a a baby out in a very loud TVR. I bought an R8 a couple of months ago, and once I have a child-seat, think this car will be used a lot more.
The actual sales process was probably the best I've ever had, and meant the car was never advertised publicly. I enquired towards the end of last year on a Chimaera that was for sale. It turned out that the owner of that car had seen posts about this Tuscan and had been out on a passenger ride in my old Tuscan as part of the Sporting Bears Dream Rides. After a few emails, I mentioned my car might be for sale next year, and it all went from there. I hope he enjoys the car as much as I did and it is everything he wanted a Tuscan to be.
This car was everything I wanted a TVR Tuscan to be - particularly after the problem Tuscan that I had (briefly) before this one. That first Tuscan could have been enough to put me off TVRs all together, but I am so glad I decided to consider that car a blip and find a Tuscan again.
Things I loved about the car:
- The looks - I still think this is one of the best looking cars ever designed, and I loved it in the Formula Red colour. The attention the car creates is all positive.
- The sound - with the decat and Powertech rear cans it sounded just how I wanted a TVR to sound.
- The performance - being the 3.6 I thought it would feel slower than my previous 4.0, but actually found the opposite to be true. The 3.6 loves to rev, which I think suits the manic nature of the car, whereas my old 4.0 never felt quite like this one. This could be more down to it being a particularly healthy 3.6 (thanks to Powers), more than any difference in displacement.
Things I didn't like as much:
- The window switches - I get that TVR liked to design unique interiors, but I could never understand how the window switches were a good idea! I never got the hang of them, which caused an embarrassing moment at a PCR test when I accidentally wound the passenger window all the way up, trapping a whole box of face masks in the window.
- The instrument binnacle - I would much prefer the Mk3 design, or the Tamora/T350, which had a more conventional rev counter. I found the one in the Mk1 Tuscan took a bit of getting used to.
- Time to warm up - unless you are doing a proper drive out, sometimes, particularly on a very cold day, the engine would take so long to get up to temperature that you wouldn't use all of the rev range. I suppose this doesn't matter if you don't stick to the warm up procedure on the engine, but I always did.
- Might have been a bit too loud - I know that is not something you should say about a TVR, but on longer road trips, with the roof off and screen out, it is a loud place to be!
- Running costs - as I've detailed previously, they can be expensive to look after properly. I went into this with my eyes open, and was happy to spend on the upkeep as think this prevents any surprise bills in the future. I think you can be luckier and as long as the car has been serviced and well maintained, you might not have to spend as much as I did.
So why did I decide to sell? A baby meant chances to go out and enjoy the car became few and far between. That wouldn't have been such an issue if I'd still taken the car to work on nice days, but a work relocation meant I went from having a wonderful 30 minute commute through the countryside, on some brilliant roads, to now being so close to work I cycle in. All too often the TVR was in my garage, or, just taken out for a lap of my normal road route and then put away again. I could have looked into a baby-seat for the car, which might have seen me use it a bit more, but honestly I didn't fancy the idea of taking a a baby out in a very loud TVR. I bought an R8 a couple of months ago, and once I have a child-seat, think this car will be used a lot more.
The actual sales process was probably the best I've ever had, and meant the car was never advertised publicly. I enquired towards the end of last year on a Chimaera that was for sale. It turned out that the owner of that car had seen posts about this Tuscan and had been out on a passenger ride in my old Tuscan as part of the Sporting Bears Dream Rides. After a few emails, I mentioned my car might be for sale next year, and it all went from there. I hope he enjoys the car as much as I did and it is everything he wanted a Tuscan to be.
Mr Tidy said:
Great ownership story of a great car. 
Sad as it seems for you to have sold, it doesn't make much sense to keep it if it is hardly getting used.
Hope you enjoy the R8 just as much, although it will be very different - and quieter!
If I could justify keeping it for the odd perfect day then I would have, but I drive so little down here I don’t really need a car at all… the R8 makes more sense as I will have more chances to use it. Luckily it has an after-market exhaust, but yes, still not Tuscan levels of noise!Sad as it seems for you to have sold, it doesn't make much sense to keep it if it is hardly getting used.
Hope you enjoy the R8 just as much, although it will be very different - and quieter!
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