so whats the 350 like then

[m3jappa]

what are they like to drive? in terms of acceleration and handling.i currently have a trackday prepped e36 m3 which to give an idea will do a standing quarter in 12.9 secs and handles very well(nothing vaguely like a standard me) coilovered,polybushed,1280kgs and stops great with ap,s all round.
would i be dissapointed with a 350? mine is quite brutal and i like that.
i must admit though it wouldnt really be for track,just a nice car to use now and then

i know its probably been asked 1000 times but whats the longevity of the engine,box,diff etc

service costs?

anyone want to do a deal for a sorted e36 trackday car?
and are they a bad buy considering tvr is no more,i.e will it be worthless in a couple of years?

[bren.wright]

You cannot really compare a track prepared car to a TVR, they are totally different beasts. Although I am sure the T350 would make a good track day car, they are more of a GT car.

There are tonnes of posts about the engine reliability if you have a search.

[m3jappa]

how do they drive though in standard form? is there much body roll,squatting.Is the steering direct or vague.
looking at the spec of 304bhp per tonne and only weighing 1100 odd kgs thats pretty good for start.
as nice a drive as the m3 is.its getting old now,i just cant get the chance to do many trackdays so i,m maybe considering something like this to keep the blood flowing.

[bren.wright]

I have never tracked mine so cannot comment on track.

But on road the standard setup is quite harsh with little body roll, there are plenty of options to upgrade the suspension.

Best best advice is go and test drive one, that is the only way you will tell if it's the car for you.

With a TVR you get a sense of occasion just driving it down the street, if you plan on using it a lot on track I personally would look elsewhere unless you have deep pockets.

[kmpowell]

m3jappa said:

how do they drive though in standard form? is there much body roll,squatting.

This was me at Castle Combe (back in 2006) going through 'Quarry' at full chat. Shortly after the pic was taken it felt like the rear was starting to break free, so I'm pretty sure that I was close to the limit. With that in mind It should give you some idea of what the bodyroll and squatting is like.

[tail slide]

I've driven an M3 a few times and think it's excellent for a saloon, but on track as long as similar boots on it has a significant lead even over a CSL on cornering, braking (crap std CSL brakes) and acceleration. Just needs £1k of firmer dampers and Sagaris-spec springs for the track to even up soft rear (goes into roll-oversteer as standard, but only on highest-speed corners) and stop nose-dive.

You'd love it.

Edited by tail slide on Thursday 21st February 09:22

[TGJR]

kmpowell said:

m3jappa said:

how do they drive though in standard form? is there much body roll,squatting.

This was me at Castle Combe (back in 2006) going through 'Quarry' at full chat. Shortly after the pic was taken it felt like the rear was starting to break free, so I'm pretty sure that I was close to the limit. With that in mind It should give you some idea of what the bodyroll and squatting is like.

I hope you had just ducked inside that TT braking for the corner

[Targarama]

I think you'll find the T350 quite raw and animal-like and to your satisfaction if you're into that kind of thing. There are plenty of threads discussing the engine on the Speed Six section of this forum.

One thing I have found made a big difference to how the car feels on the road is changing the final drive (diff ratio). It has made my car much more 'rabid' to drive. Its now 'up for it' all of the time. Before it felt a bit overgeared and you needed to knock it down a gear to get into the power band.

There are plenty of small tweaks you can make to improve handling even further, but the standard car is pretty good - and you're used to a non-traction controlled RWD car which helps

The ride quality in the T350 is pretty good, especially compared to my Panda 100HP which loves roundabouts, but does its best to jiggle out my fillings. I've done 500+ miles in a day and got out without any aches.