Driven: TVR Sagaris

Early impressions of the new TVR are hugely positive

By PH Staff / Friday, 18 March 2005 / Loading comments

In the spirit of enquiry without which PistonHeads would not be the place it is, your intrepid reporter, PH editor Manek Dubash, took a test drive of the new TVR Sagaris, courtesy of E Sussex TVR dealer Dream Machines, with the aim of bringing you first impressions. We drove the vivid green machine back to back against a Tamora, just to compare the old style TVR with the new.

While the Tamora/T350 setup is exciting to drive, the example we drove was not one that took to a moment's inattention kindly. Although much fun, full attention was required at all times.

The Sagaris on the other hand has all the excitement, and more, of the earlier car but with a much more mature attitude. Although we had only 20 minutes or so in the car, what was clear was that a hugely positive difference was made by the suspension, the power-assisted steering setup -- and by the noise.

Without losing any feel or the aggressive, go-kart-like turn-in, the 195mph Sagaris feels planted on the road. Where the Tamora would go snuffling in the gutters at the slightest excuse, the solidly screwed-together Sagaris would have none of it, and was happy to drive in a straight line unless provoked by the driver.

It felt more compliant too, though without loss of feel, making for a more comfortable ride. And that's despite the spring rates being three times stiffer than the Tamora's. The brakes too are worthy of the car, with plenty of modulation possible and as much retardation as you need.

You could imagine crossing continents in the Sagaris, where you might think twice -- three times -- before undertaking the same exercise in the Tamora/T350.

And then there's the noise. TVR has tuned the exhaust perfectly, with plenty of pops and bangs on the overrun, and a lightweight flywheel contributing to its ability to issue peremptory barks of throttle blip when changing down. On the move it sounds smooth but with a classic TVR rumble; this car is the one to convert the V8 die-hards. The performance is of course, everything we've come to expect of TVR's 400bhp Straight Six, highly suited as it is to the Sagaris' long-travel go pedal, with 0-60mph coming up in under four seconds.

As for the styling, that's down to personal preference. For this reporter, the car could do with losing some of the overly-busy styling, especially the now-redundant front wheel-arch corrugations, and return to the something closer to flowing lines of the 1990s cars. But that's only one person's opinion...

TVR has got it right with the Sagaris. Let's hope this is the start of a permanent upsurge in the sometimes patchy history of the Blackpool tiger.

www.dreammachines.org.uk/