Griffith to Cerbera - anyone done it?

[Craig]

Clue is in the question really.

I am on my second Griffith now which I've had since end of last year.

With hindsight I probably should have bought a Cerb as have always liked them.

I am familiar with issues/running costs etc but wanted to know from people's experiences how they compare to the Griff and people who have changed - were you glad you did it?

thanks

Craig

[dc53]

Had a Chim' with penty of engine bits and bobs done to it, then a cerb. All i can say is, alot quicker, you'll st yourself, and they bite HARD! Dad found that out the hard way!

If the running costs were lower, we'd be in one now!

[caduceus]

I went from a Griffith 4.3 to a Cerb, and they are as different beasts entirely.
The Griff felt punchier with all that low end torque, and sounded nicer. So after a moth or so I decided to decat the Cerb, and all hell broke loose. It instantly felt more responsive and sounded glorious
Later discovered that on closer inspection, the O/S cat was collapsed inside.

Anyway. I kept my Griffith, and the 350i, and all the other performance machines only for one year before getting contemptuous of the power on offer.

Then I bought a Cerbera in April 06, and still got her now. I honestly cannot think of a replacement road rocket for even 3 times what I paid for the Cerb.

Edited by caduceus on Thursday 19th June 21:46

[SGirl]

Yep, we did this. I had a Griff 500 which we sold, and Tam Lin and I then bought a 4.2 l Cerb between us.

The Cerb was a bit better behaved on the roads, feels safer (roll cage!), goes faster.

Loved both cars though.

[pjac67]

Yes - had 3 Griff 500's (+ Chim 4.OHC) over 10 years and changed to Cerb 4.5 in Feb this year. Chalk and cheese.
Griff sounds better at tickover and below 3k and 'feels' fast when you are moving due to noise and open top. I needed a 'family' car so Cerb fits the kids in who much prefer the 'more luxurious, higher tech, better fitted? interior. Cerb doesn't give the sensation of speed as much until you glance in the rearview and wonder where everybody went!!

Slightly OT but over the 10 years I have seen prices of Cerbs fall through parity with the Griff ie now a 97-99 Cerb will be similar or less money than a Griff of similar age/mileage, I think in part due to the higher running costs and narrower market of DIYers at this end of the scale...

[Craig]

thanks for all your responses to date

I have always loved the look of the Cerb and actually prefer closed cars (with aircon at least!).

I think I need to drive one and find out

thanks again

Craig

[FUBAR]

I went from a pre-cat Griff to a Cerb. In an ideal world Id have a 4.3BV and the Cerb in the garage, but if I had to chose, then the Cerb would be/is the keeper

[cirvy]

I went from a pre-cat Griff to a Cerb, great move & in many ways a wonderful contrast of cars.

Cerb is more of a sensual overload, despite being a coupe!

The Griffs feel old now when compared to a Cerb, it's amazing what you get used to!

[Aowhs102]

Slightly OT but to follow on from this, I am (after a fair bit of indecision) now thinking that a Cerb is the way forward when time comes to get rid of the Tamora and get something with a touch more grunt. So far my Cerb question list amounts to...

Are the lightweights worth the extra?
When did the Tuscan seats start getting installed?
What is with all the light variations, which ones are factory and which ones are later additions?


Oh and does a Red Rose car mean as big a difference as in the sp6?

Sorry for muppet questions...

[kojak]

SGirl said:

Yep, we did this. I had a Griff 500 which we sold, and Tam Lin and I then bought a 4.2 l Cerb between us.

The Cerb was a bit better behaved on the roads, feels safer (roll cage!), goes faster.

Loved both cars though.

Bloody Hell...Long time no see. Hope you are both well.

[Roy Batty]

Aowhs102 said:

Slightly OT but to follow on from this, I am (after a fair bit of indecision) now thinking that a Cerb is the way forward when time comes to get rid of the Tamora and get something with a touch more grunt. So far my Cerb question list amounts to...

Are the lightweights worth the extra?
When did the Tuscan seats start getting installed?
What is with all the light variations, which ones are factory and which ones are later additions?


Oh and does a Red Rose car mean as big a difference as in the sp6?

Sorry for muppet questions...

From my recent research for my own car search I cam up with the following.

There is debate whether LW even means lightweight as no TV litrature states that is what it stands for, from PHs' weighing their cars non LW cars are lighter. THe LWs have a larger front screen and it has been sugested (maybe in jest) that it means Larger Window, there is also a change to the rollbar above the front screen.

The LW appeared in 2000 and had the pod lights which were not blended in (2 lights and indicator in each pod), there seems to be other aftermarket ones which hace the Speed 12 4 lights per pod and another with just two lights.

The LW also came with the Tuscan seats which had issues with the free floating side bolster shich tends to bend and sometimes snap off, also they don't have a recess in the back to allow more legroom for the rear seats.

There is also a difference in chassis powder coating with the earlier silver coating appearing to be more robust than the latter weight coating.

I think there are one or two other differences but these were the ones that stood out to me, personnely I think the LW does not warrant a higher premium (again my very own opinion) and as I want blended later lights this seems to be more common on the earlier non LW cars as the owner has elected to get them blended when they were retrofitted rather than them being a standard feature.

The Red Rose cars get 430bhp (thats TVR bhps so maybe a bit less) They have a different map and some headwork and other engine tweeks I belive but I may be wrong on that as I wasn't that intrested in going for one so have not read up to much on them.

I am sure someone will come along and correct me if I am talking poop (after all what do I know I don't own one)

[FUBAR]

Aowhs102 said:

Are the lightweights worth the extra?
When did the Tuscan seats start getting installed?
What is with all the light variations, which ones are factory and which ones are later additions?


Oh and does a Red Rose car mean as big a difference as in the sp6?

Following on from Roy's comprehensive post (enough now Roy, no one like a clever clogs)....

IMO no, not worth the extra. I mean, 3 weeks on the F Plan diet will do the same thing (and as Roy pointed out, Someone (Russ?) weighed his car and found the 4.2, iirc, to weigh less than a LW )

Tuscan seats/windscreen/light pods etc changed on the 'Mark 2' circa 2000/1.

Roy has the lights pretty much covered. My car is staying with the original lights so TBH I havent taken much notice of it all.

Again, smart arse Roy is on the money again regarding the RR. A RR also has a button on the dash for switchable ecu maps, so you can run on 95 or 98/99 RON. However, I believe a couple of the indies also offer this dual mapping?

[SGirl]

kojak said:

SGirl said:

Yep, we did this. I had a Griff 500 which we sold, and Tam Lin and I then bought a 4.2 l Cerb between us.

The Cerb was a bit better behaved on the roads, feels safer (roll cage!), goes faster.

Loved both cars though.

Bloody Hell...Long time no see. Hope you are both well.

Hiya Mick!

Yep, we're fine thanks. No plans to buy any more TVRs though. How's life with you, all well?

[Mr Freefall]

Roy Batty said:

There is also a difference in chassis powder coating with the earlier silver coating appearing to be more robust than the latter weight coating.

Not if you speak to the inspection specialists, its the other way round. Rob I. stated that he has not seen a Tuscan Chassis rotten yet (they were made from 1999 onwards) agaist some old dog of a car Chims.

1999 car onwards have the white power coating I think

Mr F

[Aowhs102]

Roy Batty said:

Covered it all quite nicely.

Thanks for that very helpful! You too Fubar!

Edited by Aowhs102 on Friday 20th June 15:56

[BCA]

Mr Freefall said:

Roy Batty said:

There is also a difference in chassis powder coating with the earlier silver coating appearing to be more robust than the latter weight coating.

Not if you speak to the inspection specialists, its the other way round. Rob I. stated that he has not seen a Tuscan Chassis rotten yet (they were made from 1999 onwards) agaist some old dog of a car Chims.

1999 car onwards have the white power coating I think

Mr F

Actually you're both right-ish... early cars such as the 96'ers seemed to have a coat thats pretty strong and 99onwards cars also seem to have faired reasonably - they're all still crap generally, but less crap. The early 97-late 98 cars are properly crap from what I've seen though.

Cheers, BCA + a 97 increasingly lightweight 4.5...

[FUBAR]

My car is a late 98 and no problems at all with the chassis (famous last words) and has the white stuff on it :shrug:

[Gazzab]

The early LWs were pod lights and the later ones had the blended lights (except the S6 "LWs").

[kojak]

SGirl said:

kojak said:

SGirl said:

Yep, we did this. I had a Griff 500 which we sold, and Tam Lin and I then bought a 4.2 l Cerb between us.

The Cerb was a bit better behaved on the roads, feels safer (roll cage!), goes faster.

Loved both cars though.

Bloody Hell...Long time no see. Hope you are both well.

Hiya Mick!

Yep, we're fine thanks. No plans to buy any more TVRs though. How's life with you, all well?

Yes we are well thanks. Still lovin the cerbera. Cant see me ever getting rid, even though sometime I could kick it. Must be love. Good to see youre still around both of. Take care. xx

..................sorry for hijacking the thread Craig.

Edited by kojak on Friday 20th June 17:36