Tuscan s convert to a sag
Discussion
Hi all, as the topic says, i have fallen in love with a new saggy in specteflair silver with black and carbon interior. I have only had my tuscan s convert 10 months and coverd 7500 trouble free miles. plus 4 track days. What would i miss in the saggy (apart from the roof coming off) that i have in the tuscan, should i change again (5 tvrs in 6 years now) or stick with what i have got, which is a fantastic car. Has anybody done this change if so, please let me know the pros and cons. Gordon....
I went from an early Tuscan to my Sag so i can only speak when compared to the early Tuscan as i have to admit i have not driven a Tuscan 2.
The handling, power delivery, attention from third parties and ease of use around town in the Sag is far superior to the Tuscan that i had. However i hate to admit it but i think i enjoyed driving the Tuscan more than the Sag when driving hard. If you look at the performance figures and particlarly the handling the Sag on paper is far superior and i am sure lap times would back this up.
However the Tuscan was far more unpredictable when driving hard which i actually enjoyed and for some reason it felt faster than the Sag. I think this was due to the fiery nature of the Tuscan and not that it was actually any faster.
Also the build quality of the Sag is infinitly better than my old Tuscan but i am sure that the newer Tuscans are also built and finished as well as the Sag.
The handling, power delivery, attention from third parties and ease of use around town in the Sag is far superior to the Tuscan that i had. However i hate to admit it but i think i enjoyed driving the Tuscan more than the Sag when driving hard. If you look at the performance figures and particlarly the handling the Sag on paper is far superior and i am sure lap times would back this up.
However the Tuscan was far more unpredictable when driving hard which i actually enjoyed and for some reason it felt faster than the Sag. I think this was due to the fiery nature of the Tuscan and not that it was actually any faster.
Also the build quality of the Sag is infinitly better than my old Tuscan but i am sure that the newer Tuscans are also built and finished as well as the Sag.
Recently drove a (Rio Prestige) Tuscan Convert '06 for a fortnight while having clutch done on the 'Gris. Lovely car, (Chameleon Green), very easy driving, comfortable, excellent with top down.
Treated the car carefully, only 2k or os on the clock, so no "hard" driving. But enough to understand the capabilities.
Back in the 'Gris, and delighted to be in it again. There is a lot of difference in the cars, and the 'Gris does far more for me than the Tuscan. So that's it until the Typh 007 comes out.
Treated the car carefully, only 2k or os on the clock, so no "hard" driving. But enough to understand the capabilities.
Back in the 'Gris, and delighted to be in it again. There is a lot of difference in the cars, and the 'Gris does far more for me than the Tuscan. So that's it until the Typh 007 comes out.
I am going from a tuscan2 s to a new sagaris 2mrw. had the tusc for 7 months and loved it but when i drove the sagaris it was so much more sure footed and i felt like i could play with it more, the tusc was a hold on and go sort of experiance when pressing hard, in my mind, where as the sagaris seemed to do what i was telling it. I actually think the sagaris looks meaner and felt very well mad. just my thoughts.
you probably read over on the tuscan forum my reasons for doing the reverse, ie went from a Sagaris to a Tuscan 2.
Bearing in mind my preference is for the Tuscan here are my pros and cons of the Saggy vs tuscan after more than a year and a half.
pros
1. styling and road presence to match cars many times it's price. even though I owned one I never got over seeing someone else's one the road on the very rare occasions this happened. simply awesome looking and very gt racer. it gets massive amount of attention but most of it is positive, otherwise this would be a con. you will want to spend lots of time looking at it and photographing it.
2. handling is the obvious dynamic advantage. the key words are 'confidence inspiring'. Tuscans are more darty whereas the Sagaris can be thrown into bends, the tuscs have to be guided. If you want to do track days the Sag is the car to have.
3. cooling and airflow round the engine is better. I never had any overheating issues despite many enormous traffic jams in italy and france during the summer heatwave.
4. rarity and exclusivity guaranteed. you will see no more than a couple of other saggies a year.
5. fixed roof somehow makes it feel more exciting to drive, more racerish. stupid but true.
6. the hatch is uniquely brilliant for this sort of car and more useful than I ever thought possible. It makes the car far more practical than it looks.
cons
1. biggest one for me is bonnet design - simply not up to a car with 170+mph capability. you will need to mod yours yourself if you want to go really fast with any confidence. I never went more than 145mph in mine because of this. I'm sure it can be fixed but the dealers aren't usually too willing to help or admit there's a problem.
2. ground clearance. It's nowhere near as bad as you'd think to look at the car but it is worse than the tuscan and down a bumpy b road it will ground out (at least the rear venturi will, which is fibre glass, so not a serious problem - it just sounds bad). Ride generally is less absorbent of bumps than the tuscan so overall I think the tuscan is quicker down the sort of bumpy lanes that perhaps you shouldn't be using 380bhp down anyway.
3. you can't take the roof off, which ultimately for me is a big drawback as roof off is the only way I can enjoy going slowly in a car (which is a lot of the time ultimately).
4. TVR didn't finish the car. This is only in my opinion but when I ordered mine the car had the bonnet 'vents' open and was as a result the coolest car I had ever seen. My car arrived with them filled in. It's much more practical this way but for me far less cool. I had difficulty ignoring this and was on the verge of shelling out money to have them cut open when I decided the money would be better spent getting something convertible with a great bonnet design (sorry DJC!).
5. Sound. Controversial one this but I prefer the sound of the tuscan. It is less growly and gurgly but I think they made the sag sound like this in an attempt to appeal to the trad TVR buyer who misses the sound of the V8. The tuscan sound for me is less contrived and a bit purer and more like the Tam and T350, which sound more like an old ferrari V12 to me - glorious. That said above 6k they all sound similarly ferocious and roar up and over 7k with a very similar note.
Bearing in mind my preference is for the Tuscan here are my pros and cons of the Saggy vs tuscan after more than a year and a half.
pros
1. styling and road presence to match cars many times it's price. even though I owned one I never got over seeing someone else's one the road on the very rare occasions this happened. simply awesome looking and very gt racer. it gets massive amount of attention but most of it is positive, otherwise this would be a con. you will want to spend lots of time looking at it and photographing it.
2. handling is the obvious dynamic advantage. the key words are 'confidence inspiring'. Tuscans are more darty whereas the Sagaris can be thrown into bends, the tuscs have to be guided. If you want to do track days the Sag is the car to have.
3. cooling and airflow round the engine is better. I never had any overheating issues despite many enormous traffic jams in italy and france during the summer heatwave.
4. rarity and exclusivity guaranteed. you will see no more than a couple of other saggies a year.
5. fixed roof somehow makes it feel more exciting to drive, more racerish. stupid but true.
6. the hatch is uniquely brilliant for this sort of car and more useful than I ever thought possible. It makes the car far more practical than it looks.
cons
1. biggest one for me is bonnet design - simply not up to a car with 170+mph capability. you will need to mod yours yourself if you want to go really fast with any confidence. I never went more than 145mph in mine because of this. I'm sure it can be fixed but the dealers aren't usually too willing to help or admit there's a problem.
2. ground clearance. It's nowhere near as bad as you'd think to look at the car but it is worse than the tuscan and down a bumpy b road it will ground out (at least the rear venturi will, which is fibre glass, so not a serious problem - it just sounds bad). Ride generally is less absorbent of bumps than the tuscan so overall I think the tuscan is quicker down the sort of bumpy lanes that perhaps you shouldn't be using 380bhp down anyway.
3. you can't take the roof off, which ultimately for me is a big drawback as roof off is the only way I can enjoy going slowly in a car (which is a lot of the time ultimately).
4. TVR didn't finish the car. This is only in my opinion but when I ordered mine the car had the bonnet 'vents' open and was as a result the coolest car I had ever seen. My car arrived with them filled in. It's much more practical this way but for me far less cool. I had difficulty ignoring this and was on the verge of shelling out money to have them cut open when I decided the money would be better spent getting something convertible with a great bonnet design (sorry DJC!).
5. Sound. Controversial one this but I prefer the sound of the tuscan. It is less growly and gurgly but I think they made the sag sound like this in an attempt to appeal to the trad TVR buyer who misses the sound of the V8. The tuscan sound for me is less contrived and a bit purer and more like the Tam and T350, which sound more like an old ferrari V12 to me - glorious. That said above 6k they all sound similarly ferocious and roar up and over 7k with a very similar note.
Many Thanks for the advice, it is such a difficult choice, i have spoken to barnet and they said take it out for a good test drive then make up your mind, the saggy is such a good price at the moment at barnet (buyers market) that i will do this on monday. I will keep you all posted. What a dilemma............
Having thought more about it, I should add a couple more pros for the Saggy.
1. Full roll cage and therefore greater rigidity and peace of mind.
2. less wind noise. The tusc targa defo has more.
Which Sagaris are you trying out? If it's the iced titanium one that's my previous car! If so, enjoy and use first gear (it's got the CR box).
1. Full roll cage and therefore greater rigidity and peace of mind.
2. less wind noise. The tusc targa defo has more.
Which Sagaris are you trying out? If it's the iced titanium one that's my previous car! If so, enjoy and use first gear (it's got the CR box).
pps! the digital instruments are much better on the Saggy, I can't think why they'd do so many variants but the new Tuscan one is quite different - no digital revs for starters which is a shame. General instrument visibility is also better.
That said I'm still very happy with the Tuscan and come the summer, with the roof in the boot I'll be happier still!
That said I'm still very happy with the Tuscan and come the summer, with the roof in the boot I'll be happier still!
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