Top Speed???

[cobra289]

Looking at buying a 2003 "S". I live in Italy where on the right roads if your careful speed limits can be ignored. 2 Questions:

What's a reasonable cruising speed and what really is the top speed of an S??

Trust me, there's plenty of competition out here ready to have a go!!

Last question; how does it feel at 150+?

[J_S_G]

cobra289 said:

Looking at buying a 2003 "S". I live in Italy where on the right roads if your careful speed limits can be ignored. 2 Questions:

What's a reasonable cruising speed

Depends on the road surface and the suspension. With Nitrons on, the S spoilers, and a decent wheel alignment, I was happy "cruising" at 130-140. Without, it didn't feel fun at all at those speeds! (The Cerb with Nitrons was pretty effortless for cruising at 140+ in comparison, and the XK/Aston at 150+)

cobra289 said:

and what really is the top speed of an S??

180+ is readily achievable, if you have the balls.

cobra289 said:

Last question; how does it feel at 150+?

Scary. Very, very scary. I found it too twitchy and too prone to camber changes to really be comfortable at 150/160+. It was more a case of seeing how fast you dared go before slowing slowing down. I hit 173 in it, if I remember rightly. And I didn't want to try that twice! The Nitrons DEFINITELY helped, as did the front & rear spoiler - it definitely needs that extra downforce at those speeds. Very much depends on the setup of the individual car, though.

[cobra289]

I thought so. I had a 993tt with 500+bhp and you could 170/180 anytime with no effort. My wife used to regularly see 160/170.

Are Nitrons a must and how often does the car need setting up??

[TSS]

cobra289 said:

Are Nitrons a must and how often does the car need setting up??

I had the original shocks on my Tuscan until I sold it at 33,500 miles and never had any suspension problems. I think it depends on the car as to whether Nitrons are essential. Mine always handled pretty well as standard and I never felt the need to change the shocks.

I tended to find that stability got slightly worse up to about 150 and then improved a little as you went faster. It was quite happy to sit at 160. Coincidently with J_S_G above, the fastest I ever went was 173, and it was still accelerating. Mine was a standard Tuscan with no spoilers and it felt fine at that speed. I touched 170/171/172 plenty of times with no scariness.

Your best bet is to test drive a few at speed and see what they feel like. Each one I’ve driven felt different.

[woody-oTT]

I just had 140 this week very comfortably on an A road and I have only got a 2001 tuscan 4.0 (with no S)

[cobra289]

Thanks everybody. You've all been v. helpful.

I think it comes down to buying a good car, having it set up correctly and keeping it that way.

I remember my first car a new Ford Capri 1600xl in 1973 was pretty bloody scary at 95, so how bad can it be 30 yrs on?

[J_S_G]

cobra289 said:

I think it comes down to buying a good car, having it set up correctly and keeping it that way.

Very much depends on the individual car - I found each one to me noticeably different. Never found an early (first 6 months of 2000 or so) car that I truly had confidence in, even with suspension/aero tweaks, etc. Probably just a coincidence.

[TSS]

J_S_G said:

[quote=cobra289] Never found an early (first 6 months of 2000 or so) car that I truly had confidence in, even with suspension/aero tweaks, etc. Probably just a coincidence.

The early cars (pre approx July 2001) had different suspension mounting points at the front which made them more twitchy and may account for this.

[diggerjohno]

I had 140 out of my "standard" 2001 Tuscan last week felt very controlled and happy to do more. It's much more "twichy" at lower speeds round the country roads. I guess the condition of the roads is the major factor.

[whitey]

my Red Rose is also on it's factory suspension, albeit the front dampers were replaced at 2 years old, properly set up, with a correct 3D wheel alignment, a RR or S should be ok, certainly for my car, the nitrons are not worth the upgrade until I have a leaking damper again. It's the early standard cars, pre 2002 that benefit most from the nitrons. Also get your tyre pressures correct and get a proper wheel alignement from a TVR specialist if it's not been done within the last year etc

I may opt for Ohlins when the time comes.

BTW, I got 182 mph at Elvington in 2002, at 6700rpm, still pulling but had to brake for end of runway.

[cobra289]

I s'pose 182 is quick enough... Most are going to back off at 160.

Its quite unbelievable what a choice there is out there. What's best; a 3 yr old low mileage car or a 3yr old car with 25k that's been used all the time and is properly sorted at 6-8 grand less. I think the properly used car.

BTW whats the highest mileage anyon's seen before a rebuild?

[TSS]

cobra289 said:

I think the properly used car.

Definitely.

cobra289 said:

BTW whats the highest mileage anyon's seen before a rebuild?

I got 26,000 between rebuilds with my Tuscan.

[kippax]

TSS said:

cobra289 said:

I think the properly used car.

Definitely.

cobra289 said:

BTW whats the highest mileage anyon's seen before a rebuild?

I got 26,000 between rebuilds with my Tuscan.

I'm on 20,000 now & keeping fingers & legs crossed no re-build as yet! still runs & looks a dream

H

[cobra289]

Edited by cobra289 on Friday 28th July 15:16

[cobra289]

Does that mean that sooner or later (between 25-30,000 miles) you're going to HAVE to expect a rebuild??

[Mr Freefall]

whitey said:

my Red Rose is also on it's factory suspension, albeit the front dampers were replaced at 2 years old, properly set up, with a correct 3D wheel alignment, a RR or S should be ok, certainly for my car, the nitrons are not worth the upgrade until I have a leaking damper again. It's the early standard cars, pre 2002 that benefit most from the nitrons. Also get your tyre pressures correct and get a proper wheel alignement from a TVR specialist if it's not been done within the last year etc

I may opt for Ohlins when the time comes.

BTW, I got 182 mph at Elvington in 2002, at 6700rpm, still pulling but had to brake for end of runway.

183 for me at Bruntingthorp, no probs with the tramlining or anything. just a sweet car... 2000 Tuscan Red Rose, std red Rose suspension.

Mr F

[hosedoctor]

Are all these top end speeds by the clock or by a gps system???

[rejn]

I got 153 (on the speedo) out of my Tuscan 2 S a few weeks ago, and it was completely stable and stuck to the ground - very reassuring. Not sure my girlfriend was so happy about it, though!

[boarder72]

mine is a 2000 (W) Tuscan 4.0

currently has 42,250 miles and rebuild was done at 9k

and I too have had 170 out of it, although probably never again.. on normal shocks it was extremely twitchy over 150 and it was just "to see what it could do"

[hickling]

I had 180ish in my Red Rose recently. (not saying where). The car felt fine, just a little bit light at the front. I surpose it was trying to take off!! It's more of a challenge trying to stop the damn thing.