Tuscan -> Red Rose upgrade & beyond
Tuscan -> Red Rose upgrade & beyond
Author
Discussion

j_s_g

Original Poster:

6,177 posts

265 months

Monday 8th March 2004
quotequote all
I'm no expert on the S6 engine, but I heard mutterings that the only real difference between the 350BHP engine & the 390 RR one is the ECU, which wouldn't cost more than a few hundred quid to buy & switch over. Anyone know if this is the case? (I know the full RR kit includes other bits of the car upgrading, etc. but I'm just talking engine BHP/torque here). Also, does anyone know of any (easy) way of getting more power out of the S6 lump beyond 390BHP? Just trying to plan what to do after I run out of options/money on the Cerb...

Cheers!

Mr Freefall

2,323 posts

273 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
The RR conversion on the engines was bigger injectors, re-ported head for more gas flow and a reworked mapping on the ecu to gain more gas flow for the extra fuel input.

The engines were meant to have stronger bottom-ends but who knows if that was the case???

The rest was bigger brake's etc 18 " wheels with shocks and springs set up correctly for the 18" wheels to stop tramlining.

There were rumours of different valve springs with the reworked head, but I could be wrong.

With the 3.6 RR conversions this is what they do now to gain the extra 25bhp, but the torque curve is much better and you have a more smooth power delivery and oodles of bottom end torque

Mr F (owner of a Tuscan RR)

basil brush

5,352 posts

278 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
I remember Mr Joospeed saying he had tested a std 4.0 engine which had given about 390 bhp IIRC so maybe not that much difference after all.

chim450

1,452 posts

276 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
basil brush said:
I remember Mr Joospeed saying he had tested a std 4.0 engine which had given about 390 bhp IIRC so maybe not that much difference after all.


I think it was about 370 bhp. However Austec are doing a ecu replacement for AJP V8 cerbs to increase bhp and torque significantly and in theory a similar thing could be done to Speed 6 engines.

j_s_g

Original Poster:

6,177 posts

265 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
basil brush said:
I remember Mr Joospeed saying he had tested a std 4.0 engine which had given about 390 bhp IIRC so maybe not that much difference after all.

That's what I was thinking of... It was Joolz's comments on measuring bits on a standard 4.0 and then on a RR, and not seeing any difference that got me interested.

isley

58 posts

261 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
Following a factory re-build Jools tested mine on a rolling road and I've got a read out of 373BHP

Waveboy14

276 posts

259 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
There are two speed sixes in size:
3605cc: standard 350 to 360(very few)hp
3996cc: standard 380(early RR)to 400hp(2004 Tuscan S model)

I however don't have a clue on what max power you can get out of these, without screwing the engine.

TUS 373

4,944 posts

296 months

Tuesday 9th March 2004
quotequote all
isley said:
Following a factory re-build Jools tested mine on a rolling road and I've got a read out of 373BHP



Make my an offer I can't refuse for my private plate!!

Good news to hear the performance matched TVRs quoted figures.

>> Edited by TUS 373 on Tuesday 9th March 21:59

jurdy

281 posts

299 months

Wednesday 10th March 2004
quotequote all
Anyone know whether the Red Rose MY 00/01 has the Hydratrak as standard?

whitey

2,508 posts

299 months

Wednesday 10th March 2004
quotequote all
jurdy said:
Anyone know whether the Red Rose MY 00/01 has the Hydratrak as standard?


No it did not.

Waveboy14

276 posts

259 months

Wednesday 10th March 2004
quotequote all
Don't think so either

jurdy

281 posts

299 months

Wednesday 10th March 2004
quotequote all
Thanks, can remember grovelling around underneath the Cerbie and reading on the spec sheet that it had one but on a tuscan are there any tell tale signs that a car has one fitted? what should I look for on the diff if the only view I can get is lying on my back in someones driveway?

andyvdg

1,537 posts

298 months

Saturday 13th March 2004
quotequote all
Waveboy14 said:
There are two speed sixes in size:
3605cc: standard 350 to 360(very few)hp
3996cc: standard 380(early RR)to 400hp(2004 Tuscan S model)

I however don't have a clue on what max power you can get out of these, without screwing the engine.


Well to be accurate :

350bhp 4.0 Cerbera
360bhp 4.0 Tuscan
380bhp 4.0 Tuscan RR
390bhp 4.0 Tuscan S
400bhp 4.0 Tuscan S
350bhp 3.6 Tuscan

These days a 4.0 engine gives out 400bhp, the ECU is tweeked in the standard model to give 30bhp less.

j_s_g

Original Poster:

6,177 posts

265 months

Saturday 13th March 2004
quotequote all
andyvdg said:
These days a 4.0 engine gives out 400bhp, the ECU is tweeked in the standard model to give 30bhp less.

Excellent. Anybody got the TVR part number for a Tuscan RR ECU? Given everything else that's going on, I think I'm going to be a Tuscan owner a lot sooner than planned.

Whilst on the subject, does anybody know the differences between a Tuscan RR & a Tuscan S? Other than the rear spoiler, that is.

Graham66

850 posts

299 months

Monday 15th March 2004
quotequote all
j_s_g said:

...does anybody know the differences between a Tuscan RR & a Tuscan S? Other than the rear spoiler, that is.


As already mentioned there is a difference of 10 or 20 bhp (depending on the year of the S in question), the spoilers were also accompanied by moving the rear indicators from the rear screen to the rear body just above the other lights, this means another 'flower pot' inside the boot to cover up the light bulb holder and wiring. The S also came with colour coded boot carpet, colour coded steering wheel, air con, DAB radio and some other optional bits as standard - so depending on what options were added to a RR Tuscan, the differences could be minimal or quite a lot!

Best to go and see a few and keep track of which options you like and want to have on your car

Graham

andyvdg

1,537 posts

298 months

Monday 15th March 2004
quotequote all
j_s_g said:

andyvdg said:
These days a 4.0 engine gives out 400bhp, the ECU is tweeked in the standard model to give 30bhp less.


Excellent. Anybody got the TVR part number for a Tuscan RR ECU? Given everything else that's going on, I think I'm going to be a Tuscan owner a lot sooner than planned.

Whilst on the subject, does anybody know the differences between a Tuscan RR & a Tuscan S? Other than the rear spoiler, that is.


Re ECUs I think you should know
a) Nobody has done this yet (officially)
b) What price do you think TVR will charge you anyway ?

If it was my money I would spend it on a heap of tuition and then put adjustable suspension on the car. 30 bhp is neither here nor there when you've already got 360.

Cheers,

Andy.

T88CAN

3,474 posts

272 months

Monday 15th March 2004
quotequote all
andyvdg said:

j_s_g said:


andyvdg said:
These days a 4.0 engine gives out 400bhp, the ECU is tweeked in the standard model to give 30bhp less.



Excellent. Anybody got the TVR part number for a Tuscan RR ECU? Given everything else that's going on, I think I'm going to be a Tuscan owner a lot sooner than planned.

Whilst on the subject, does anybody know the differences between a Tuscan RR & a Tuscan S? Other than the rear spoiler, that is.



Re ECUs I think you should know
a) Nobody has done this yet (officially)
b) What price do you think TVR will charge you anyway ?

If it was my money I would spend it on a heap of tuition and then put adjustable suspension on the car. 30 bhp is neither here nor there when you've already got 360.


cheers,

Andy.



I`m with Andy on this one, when i`ve been in convoy with RR Tuscan`s the performance difference is negatable at best IMHO, getting the car set up properly first is the first step to more usable Tuscan performance.

delamars

152 posts

261 months

Tuesday 16th March 2004
quotequote all
I'm with andyvdg and T88CAN on this. I borrowed a mates Red Rose for last summer and the main difference between it and my own standard car is that the suspension is set up so much better on the red rose.

It feels a lot more steady on the roads and so you can use the power more. The additional 30 bhp is not really noticeable.

I'm saving for a set of Nitrons to sort mine out properly. :-D

j_s_g

Original Poster:

6,177 posts

265 months

Tuesday 16th March 2004
quotequote all
Cheers for the feedback guys. I'm kind of having to sell the Cerb 'cos of circumstances at the moment, but if/when I get a Tuscan in a couple of months it's no faster than the last car, I won't be happy! Given that I regularly have 160+ out of it, I'm hoping that the extra 30BHP of the RR will be noticeable at >100mph where there aren't the traction issues, etc.

Re. suspension mods, etc. I'll most likely be bringing the Nitrons across from my Cerb - fully appreciate that's where the Tuscan's going to need the most attention.

I was chatting to a guy at Peninsula yesterday morning, and it sounds like the Red Rose engines have different cams too. Ah well, it was a nice thought!

Mr Freefall

2,323 posts

273 months

Tuesday 16th March 2004
quotequote all
j_s_g said:
Cheers for the feedback guys. I'm kind of having to sell the Cerb 'cos of circumstances at the moment, but if/when I get a Tuscan in a couple of months it's no faster than the last car, I won't be happy! Given that I regularly have 160+ out of it, I'm hoping that the extra 30BHP of the RR will be noticeable at >100mph where there aren't the traction issues, etc.

Re. suspension mods, etc. I'll most likely be bringing the Nitrons across from my Cerb - fully appreciate that's where the Tuscan's going to need the most attention.

I was chatting to a guy at Peninsula yesterday morning, and it sounds like the Red Rose engines have different cams too. Ah well, it was a nice thought!


I had 182 out of my RR at brintingthorpe and I can vouch for the 165+ mark after a couple of blinks of the eyes past 100mph. I will miss my Red Rose, the Tamora did feel slower but I suppose that's 3.6 against 4.0RR