AJPV8 reliability?
Discussion
Was the AJP8 really any more reliable than the S6?
I'd love to have driven a Cerb with one but as yet have never had the chance. I'm sure it's a barnstorming unit and I think was raced in the tuscan challenge series too. But given TVRs budget I just wonder whether it really was any more reliable than the S6?
Engine problems are common with new engines. It's been mentioned many times before that BMW have had problems with the M3, and I know that a friend's Toureg V10 diesel has been lots of trouble (he's on his third engine in two years). I also owned a Lotus V8 which I assume had a higher development budget than both the AJP8 and S6. It was plenty of trouble and suffered from a common design fault that involved coolant getting in through the cylinder liners. This is why I believe TVR should stick with the S6 and make it work, if it hasn't fixed it already. And TVR fans should stick with the S6. Unless of course for some reason the AJP8 really was bulletproof, in which case - bring it back!
ajp8 is MASSIVELY more reliable than sp6.
I've only had to have one ajp8 engine rebuilt in over a decade and i inherited that persistently overheating car from a dealer who couldn't sort it, a cylinder liner had moved.
There are other engines I know about that have had to be rebuilt, one dropped a valve at 180mph at elvington and the other had thrown a rod out of the side of the block. It was about to be reposessed by a finance company and i think the owner went out for one last banzai session...
I've heard about engines being rebuilt a lot, but my personal experience is that if you look after them, they last forever! (almost) I've never quite worked out why you hear of ajp8 rebuilds when I've seen only as few and personally asked for only one rebuild to be done.
I've only had to have one ajp8 engine rebuilt in over a decade and i inherited that persistently overheating car from a dealer who couldn't sort it, a cylinder liner had moved.
There are other engines I know about that have had to be rebuilt, one dropped a valve at 180mph at elvington and the other had thrown a rod out of the side of the block. It was about to be reposessed by a finance company and i think the owner went out for one last banzai session...
I've heard about engines being rebuilt a lot, but my personal experience is that if you look after them, they last forever! (almost) I've never quite worked out why you hear of ajp8 rebuilds when I've seen only as few and personally asked for only one rebuild to be done.
When you buy a tvr you are part of the R & D programe, it is a shame that now the V8 is sorted it has been withdrawn .I am sure the work to get it through emmisions cannot be that hard !The very latest speed six engine have a redesigned follower and harder cam so that problem " may " be sorted ,Dave
the pits said:
...This is why I believe TVR should stick with the S6 and make it work, if it hasn't fixed it already. And TVR fans should stick with the S6. Unless of course for some reason the AJP8 really was bulletproof, in which case - bring it back!
There really isn't any other logical step for TVR than have the two variants of the Speed 6 as current; and hopefully in the future a couple of supercharged versions. It has big cc per cylinder (AJP8 4.5 was 562.5cc per cyl, SP6 4.0 is 666cc per cyl) so greater capacity and / or revs = even larger internal forces.
Problem with the AJP8 is the 2v heads and emissions, it is such a shame in my view that it never was or got updated to 32v, as if this was the case, good as now the SP6 is, the V8 would be the top unit.
The AJPV8 is a solid engine, for a flat-v8 its light years ahead of say a Lotus flat-V8.
The only problems in its early history were poor block castings, cam problems, dodgy cast crankshafts...
since then.... the engines just got better... the red-rose engines running close to 12:1 compression are bloody impressive, and the numbers doing the rounds at 40k+ without a rebuild are a testament of their endurance rate. But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
The only problems in its early history were poor block castings, cam problems, dodgy cast crankshafts...
since then.... the engines just got better... the red-rose engines running close to 12:1 compression are bloody impressive, and the numbers doing the rounds at 40k+ without a rebuild are a testament of their endurance rate. But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
SXS said:
........... But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
I have often wondered if that has been the case with the S6 too! The less scrupulous do love to prey and make money out of our fears!
chris watton said:
........... But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
I have often wondered if that has been the case with the S6 too! The less scrupulous do love to prey and make money out of our fears!
Chris you're on the right track mate, but we'll never know. I mean a ticking sound is usually the first thing that drives a speed 6 owner to his dealer/indie... what happens after that is in the trust of the professionals...
This is why, owners must execute their right for SECOND OPINION!
SXS said:
But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
Wow!
That is incredible!
You have proof that TVR dealers have deliberately made AJP engines go pop so that they can rip off the customers! That is unbelievable. I hope that somebody from Blackpool is watching this thread so that they can get in touch with you and get the information because this needs to be stamped on.
In fact SXS - you are duty bound to hand over your evidence to Blackpool so that they can take the appropriate action for the good of all of us and the brand.
I'll email them the thread just in case they haven't seen it. Well done SXS.
Unrep, theres one thing having the info, theres another proving it... also 2 of the so-called dealers are no longer dealers... so Nicolai had done his homework... 
The indie is STILL today playing this game, I know, because no OTHER garage has had problems in this area before... only this indies customers seem to have this particular problem which requires engine removal, rebuild and refit....
The indie is STILL today playing this game, I know, because no OTHER garage has had problems in this area before... only this indies customers seem to have this particular problem which requires engine removal, rebuild and refit....
unrepentant said:
But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
Wow!
That is incredible!
You have proof that TVR dealers have deliberately made AJP engines go pop so that they can rip off the customers! That is unbelievable. I hope that somebody from Blackpool is watching this thread so that they can get in touch with you and get the information because this needs to be stamped on.
In fact SXS - you are duty bound to hand over your evidence to Blackpool so that they can take the appropriate action for the good of all of us and the brand.
I'll email them the thread just in case they haven't seen it. Well done SXS.
Beat you to it, Unrep. I thought it necessary that Blackpool were notified immediately.
oxbow said:
SXS said:
But, there have been dealers and indies out there which have taken many owners for rides by purposefully instigating engine failures for the glory of 'making money'.... no names mentioned, but I have a good list of who they are.
Wow!
That is incredible!
You have proof that TVR dealers have deliberately made AJP engines go pop so that they can rip off the customers! That is unbelievable. I hope that somebody from Blackpool is watching this thread so that they can get in touch with you and get the information because this needs to be stamped on.
In fact SXS - you are duty bound to hand over your evidence to Blackpool so that they can take the appropriate action for the good of all of us and the brand.
I'll email them the thread just in case they haven't seen it. Well done SXS.
Beat you to it, Unrep. I thought it necessary that Blackpool were notified immediately.
I've also emailed em. Shame that SXS can't back it up, particularly as it's probably libellous. unrepentant said:
SXS said:
Unrep, theres one thing having the info, theres another proving it...
Oh I see. You can't prove it. What a surprise.
No point being sarcastic, its pure analysis, I know that Nicolai did run an investigation into which dealers were costing them more than its worth and also which dealers were not playing fair... I think you know this one too.
In order to PROVE it, we need to fit hidden cameras at these particular sites and do a watchdog style investigation... otherwise its our word against theirs...
Something similar took place in the BMW dealers world a few years ago, there was a big story on it, and many lost their dealerships because of foulplay, but it was firstly impossible to prove, until some employees stuck thier heads out and put their statements down.
So thats why it would be near impossible to prove it, but whenever I'm asked, I always suggest 'stay away from' x y z.... its the best I can do... and I'm sure many others who have seen through bullshit at some dealers have also expressed their concerns to fellow enthusiasts...
We cant name or shame on here, but if we could, then the dealer and indie network would think twice before they choose to charge for for work which doesnt need doing and leaving things alone or worsening things to make sure of repeat custom before next service...
These kinds of problems take place in many make networks... but the TVR one is a hot-cake for this! To suck off others fears is bloody sad.
>> Edited by SXS on Tuesday 18th October 13:18
SXS said:
SXS said:
Unrep, theres one thing having the info, theres another proving it...
Oh I see. You can't prove it. What a surprise.
We cant name or shame on here, but if we could, then the dealer and indie network would think twice before they choose to charge for for work which doesnt need doing and leaving things alone or worsening things to make sure of repeat custom before next service...
You don't need to name or shame. Just pass on your evidence to TVR. If you're going to make allegations of that sort, which are sure to cause distress to some owners, you should put up or shut up. If you can't back up what you say you shouldn't say it. (IMO).
Ooo, a prime example...
A few yeas back, went to a dealer for a service, said I needed the car back ASAP, they said ok, but you will have to bring her back because your suspension bushes need redoing and was quoted a grands worth of work.... anyway, I thought, that cant be true, I know the cerbera inside out and what goes wrong with these cars since I've been in this game for a while and also owned before, so I took the car to Joospeed.
Joolz checked and said, "nothing is wrong with your bushes whatsoever" and on that note I said "well in that case just fit me nitrons"... and that was the end of that... now I didnt call the dealer up again, because I couldnt be arsed, but to think the number of people that they have ripped off with claims of work needing doing which wasnt needed is a scary thought.
Oh, and this dealer is also no longer a TVR dealer... how surprising, and they left TVR because it wasnt economically viable for them to be a TVR dealer any longer... yeah and I shit gold coins... probably ran out of customers to rob....
A few yeas back, went to a dealer for a service, said I needed the car back ASAP, they said ok, but you will have to bring her back because your suspension bushes need redoing and was quoted a grands worth of work.... anyway, I thought, that cant be true, I know the cerbera inside out and what goes wrong with these cars since I've been in this game for a while and also owned before, so I took the car to Joospeed.
Joolz checked and said, "nothing is wrong with your bushes whatsoever" and on that note I said "well in that case just fit me nitrons"... and that was the end of that... now I didnt call the dealer up again, because I couldnt be arsed, but to think the number of people that they have ripped off with claims of work needing doing which wasnt needed is a scary thought.
Oh, and this dealer is also no longer a TVR dealer... how surprising, and they left TVR because it wasnt economically viable for them to be a TVR dealer any longer... yeah and I shit gold coins... probably ran out of customers to rob....
unrepentant said:
You don't need to name or shame. Just pass on your evidence to TVR. If you're going to make allegations of that sort, which are sure to cause distress to some owners, you should put up or shut up. If you can't back up what you say you shouldn't say it. (IMO).
Hmm... lets see now... shall I shutup?
Nope, I wont, I have been emailed a number of times for my views, and I have always expressed them offline when it involves 'names'.
The beauty of this forum is there are people who will 'voice' their findings and opinions, and there are others who dont give a crap and hate to see opinions voiced.
I dont give a toss.
SXS said:
The beauty of this forum is there are people who will 'voice' their findings and opinions, and there are others who dont give a crap and hate to see opinions voiced.
I'm not exactly known for not voicing my opinions on here................
If you have evidence of malpractice by TVR dealers I want the world to know, I want those dealers shamed, I want TVR to take action. I want you to speak up.
What I don't like is people who make inflamatory, distressing and unsubstantiated allegations and are then unable to back them up.
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