Some advice please.. .. ..

[slikk]

"Mrs-Slikk-to-be" fancies a Cerb as a school runabout to compiment the Chim, and as i dont know much about them, would any of you good people offer me advice about what to look for (Cerb specific info)? i.e. V8 or Six cylinder etc. Thanks in advance

Kim.

[david smith]

my Mrs took ours out today for the first time and drove it fine - 4.2V8 - clutch is heavy though and she was wondering on everday manouvering...

kids (big 7 and 5yr olds) fit in back ok and boot is good size

I was advised the 6 was a better town car - but never tried one !! I love the 4.2 and took it up to Aces Cafe meeting on friday and found it fine in traffic

Hope this helps a bit ... DAS

[slikk]

er.. .. ..please dont inundate me with replies, chaps

[shadowninja]

i think everyone has asked this v8 vs straight 6 question before

i'd answer but i don't know anything further that what has been mentioned above.

[trooper1212]

slikk said:

er.. .. ..please dont inundate me with replies, chaps

Well, it was quite a vague question and you'd do well to read the past few pages of the forum to get an idea of what your after.

[gbbird]

Slikk,

to be honest, and contrary to what a lot may say on this forum, i do not think the Cerb is a practical, runabout, school run, everyday car. They dont like traffic, stiff clutch, drinks optimax, needs some money aside for 'maintenance' - why have a 4.5 litre V8, circa 400bhp car as a town run about?

Dont get me wrong, it is a dream and i love it, but if your better half is just looking for the school runabout and nothing more, then perhaps get a normal car. However, if she really wants it for those weekends and nice empty country roads, well.......... thats another story.

[BigBazza]

Sorry Slikk, only just read your post...it was followed by the sound of silence!!
Fine space wise for up to 8 yr olds I suppose, but manouverability and uppy downy kerbability aren't good for dropping off outside school.
My Mrs LOVES driving mine but heavy round town.
4.5 by the way

[dazbod]

I have to agree with gbbird. I have owned several TVRs over the past 10 years and currently own a 4.5 Cerbera. I have been fortunate in that having a company car my TVR's have generally been for pleasure use only. Although I think of all the TVRs I have driven the Cerbera is the most "civilised", I would be reluctant to use it as my daily hack. This would especially be the case if the journeys were small, city based & required utmost reliability. Furthermore, they are not what you would call economical but that may not be an issue. I know a number of people do use their TVR's as thier main car and fair play to them but as a school runabout I feel it is not ideal.

I must say however, I wish my wife shared the same TVR enthusiasm as Mrs-Slikk-to-be. My Wife treats all things TVR as a Pariah. This could of course be due to my crap driving skills or the fact that every time she's been in one it's broken down, it's been the wrong time of the month and her mobile battery has been flat!

[Julian64]

Cerb 4.5. I am a GP and use the car everyday for work/home visits. Thats a lot of stop start short journeys. The clutch is light and I do a lot of parking on Kerbs, and the car seems very civilised.

Although maybe I'm just very tolerent?

[Tatlow]

I use my 4.5 every day for both school runs aswell as other round-town short runs and its fine 99% of the time. When I bought it I said to myself "just use it for long journeys and only now and again" but the problem I have is that when I go out of the house and look at the 4.5 and the VR6 I can't help but get in the Cerb. Its an addiction thing I think...

My car has recently developed cooling problems which has deterred me from the regular fix - there are few things more stressful than being stuck in traffic and seeing your temp guage twitching up around the 102 mark with the odd whiff of steam emanating from the bonnet! Its going in to Topcats next week to be sorted out and sure enough I'll be back on the school run once its back home.

If you're sensible and like to get good petrol consumption then its probably not a good runabout.

[yellow peril]

Slikk....I find our 4.5 Cerb very heavy work round town..........

It's a driving car IMO........get in and go go go.

It would be a nightmare in supermarket car parks because of the idiots who don't take care opening doors and I know I would get fed up pretty quick of finding a 'stand alone' space for it when I have a trolley load of shopping to push.

Ray asked if I wanted to keep the Cerb when we get another TVR and as much as I really love the Peril....I wouldn't be happy about using it around the town all the time.

Now.....a Griff...............well...different story and I'm still working on that one!!!! ...

However....that's no help to you needing a 4 seater.

...//P//

[slikk]

Thanks for the info, people !! I dont think that i am going to be able to deter m'lady from having one, so i guess she will just have to be a bit tolerant! In all honesty, i guess the drawbacks are the same as the Chim when it comes to total practicality, but if we all wanted that, we wouldnt be here, would we ? Once again, many thanks

[jet fixer]

My wife has just read this thread and had the same enthusiasm for the cerb before she drove it.

After pushing the clutch down several times in traffic changed her mind on driving it everyday but still likes the occasional Sainsbury run.

Her advice to your wife is try one for a few hours round town first if you can find a dealer willing to let you.

[gazzab]

dont forget that a cerb is often a more stressful car in traffic - not as easy going as the lazy rover v8.
Also it is more expensive to run. Typically twice as expensive as a chim. So if you can afford it and if your wife is chilled re a cars driveability then go for it!