Use it or lose it....??
Discussion
I keep reading on the forum that these cars need to be used as they don't like sitting about, they dont like it. What evidence is there that these cars need to be doing lots of millage or will fall apart in the garage!! Is this exclusive to TVRs lots of sports cars far more expensive than TVRs sit idol for most of the year and seem to survive. I haven't seen other marques saying you have to use them or they turn to dust, surley if kept in a nice dry garage little harm will come to them if used say 1k-3k miles and in the dry summer months. I would have thought driving it through the winter with rain and salt attacking it would be far more harmfull than locked up in a nice dry garage. I only managed 3k in mine last year due to work and familly commitments but It ran superbly each time I used it and as far as I know has not turned to dust while garaged since mid November!!
I don't think I'll manage many more miles this year, but I knew that when I bought it, and hopefully I will have it to enjoy for many more years to come.
Anyone else do less than 3k a year and find there car still works, just curious.
I don't think I'll manage many more miles this year, but I knew that when I bought it, and hopefully I will have it to enjoy for many more years to come.
Anyone else do less than 3k a year and find there car still works, just curious.
In my own experience, relays and solenoids get sticky, suspension bushes tighten up and something in the induction or ignition systems get lazy, as well as the engine feeling a bit uncomfortable. After a few weeks of being laid up I notice things are a bit sluggish until it gets a few miles under it and everything loosens up.
After a 4 month cosmetic refurb I drove it for the first time last week and it was not happy at all!
I have no experience of any other cars being laid up though, so it may indeed happen with most marques, but certainly with my Chim, it does take a while to wake up after as little as 10-14 days inactivity.
After a 4 month cosmetic refurb I drove it for the first time last week and it was not happy at all!
I have no experience of any other cars being laid up though, so it may indeed happen with most marques, but certainly with my Chim, it does take a while to wake up after as little as 10-14 days inactivity.
I don't think anyone's saying you have to do significant mileage; it's more a case of "little and often".
No, it's not specific to TVR. It isn't even specific to cars. No engine likes to sit around unused - the very best thing you can do for any engine is to use it from time to time, getting the oil properly up to temperature so that you drive off the water that has condensed in the oil. You also replenish the film of oil that clings to the cam lobes and the walls of the cylinders, which helps to prevent corrosion.
You're right that salt is terrible for the chassis, and if you can avoid driving on salty roads while they're wet then so much the better. But even this winter it was only a couple of months when the roads were salty - and you can often pick a dry day when the car won't get too salty and then rinse it underneath afterwards.
No, it's not specific to TVR. It isn't even specific to cars. No engine likes to sit around unused - the very best thing you can do for any engine is to use it from time to time, getting the oil properly up to temperature so that you drive off the water that has condensed in the oil. You also replenish the film of oil that clings to the cam lobes and the walls of the cylinders, which helps to prevent corrosion.
You're right that salt is terrible for the chassis, and if you can avoid driving on salty roads while they're wet then so much the better. But even this winter it was only a couple of months when the roads were salty - and you can often pick a dry day when the car won't get too salty and then rinse it underneath afterwards.
Agree with the above. I drive mine every weekend whenever if possible. Once I left it for 2 weeks or more, I found the car very sluggish and almost felt the friction of the engine when I started it up. In contrast, took the car out for a trip and use it every day and the engine is so smooth and every thing ease up a lot. Don't forget we have a dry sump in the Speed 6.
Even though it is a dry garage, if the temperature is cold enough, you will still get some condensation within the car.
Even though it is a dry garage, if the temperature is cold enough, you will still get some condensation within the car.
From personal experience my Chim 500 didn't like being left in the garage for weeks at a time without being driven. You could literally feel it loosen up the more it was driven. My T350 is very different - you can still feel it loosen up a bit after not being driven for a while but it's nowhere near as lethargic when being driven for the first time after a lay up.
I put my TVR in storage 8 months of the year, never had a problem in the 5 years I have done this, or any other car for that matter. It's an urban myth told again and again by dealers/private owners trying to flog high milage cars.
This is the best one "it will have had all it's niggles sorted out by now" That always makes me laugh
Lots of short journeys (stop/start) will be more harmful than in storage.
This is the best one "it will have had all it's niggles sorted out by now" That always makes me laugh
Lots of short journeys (stop/start) will be more harmful than in storage.
Edited by OatSy on Thursday 24th February 06:46
I layed my Tuscan up every winter between November and March, (occasional journey if weather was nice), and I would treat it with kid gloves the first time I drove it afterward. It just felt rough but cleared up after a little use. Eventually got it serviced after winter so it ran fan when I got it back.
I would say if you have it in a warm garage it would be better, (mine was outside under a cover), but a bit of regular use isn't going to harm it.
I would say if you have it in a warm garage it would be better, (mine was outside under a cover), but a bit of regular use isn't going to harm it.
I took my Tuscan out last weekend for the first time in about 3 months ran very rough but after getting warmed up all was normal again, the car is kept in the garage and is not out in all weathers i should not have left it that long but from now on i will be out and about most of the year until the crap weather returns, i just try and avoid the worst of the weather salt on the roads ect, i will be getting new spiders and a 1200 mile service in april-may ready for the summer.
My Tuscan gets used a fair bit as its our only car for the moment so if we have to pick up something from the post office it goes out. If I take my other half out for a bite to eat then it goes out. It takes it in its stride and starts and runs much better than when its left for a few weeks. Down side is I have put a little more miles on her than I would have liked....gotta make the most of the engine rebuild though
Don't all Speed six engines and for that matter AJP8s sound and feel rough when started up, I know mine does,Could it be that not using it for a few months due to it being garaged for the winter makes you think it sounded worse but in reality it's not really any noisier or rough than if you had been if you were using it every day. Also as the temperature is lower during the winter the vicosity of the oil is not as thin as the summer months so again would increase engine noise on start up.
Noise isn't just noise though, it's normally one bit of metal hitting another at some speed with little to no lubrication in between.
On a sort of related note- if the greatest damage done to an engine is on start up does that mean that with modern start stop technology on many new cars the small fuel cost saving is outwieghed by the damage caused by restarting the engine rather than allowing the fluids to continue circulating whilst the car is stationary?
On a sort of related note- if the greatest damage done to an engine is on start up does that mean that with modern start stop technology on many new cars the small fuel cost saving is outwieghed by the damage caused by restarting the engine rather than allowing the fluids to continue circulating whilst the car is stationary?
OatSy said:
I put my TVR in storage 8 months of the year, never had a problem in the 5 years I have done this, or any other car for that matter. It's an urban myth told again and again by dealers/private owners trying to flog high milage cars.
This is the best one "it will have had all it's niggles sorted out by now" That always makes me laugh
Lots of short journeys (stop/start) will be more harmful than in storage.
This is the best one "it will have had all it's niggles sorted out by now" That always makes me laugh
Lots of short journeys (stop/start) will be more harmful than in storage.
Edited by OatSy on Thursday 24th February 06:46
My car hibernates for 4 months of the year and cant say I have had any problems either in over 4 years 
I turn the engine over by hand every few weeks but that's all(unload the valve springs)old habits die hard 
depends how you store em
+ I don't have to worry about washing off the road salt every drive as it as not seen none in my ownership 
OatSy said:
shorts! said:
Why have such a brilliant car and only use it for a couple of thousand miles a year? (I try to limit myself to a couple of thousand a month).
Because I like to have a choice, 1 car doesn't do everything unfortunately. If I could I would use the TVR more.
mines a summer toy only 
don't drink or smoke its my only vice 
which unfortunately makes it all the harder to justify in how current economic climate 
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