Well the dreaded Tuscan service has been and gone and the good news is that no major work is required and she sailed through the MOT. The exhausts do have catalytic converters after all.
When purchasing a cheap Tuscan with the TVR Speed 6 engine their is always the fear of very expensive clutch or engine work, but the engine seems to be in good order and hopefully the clutch will last a while as well.
Matt at Sebring seemed to think it was an early but very well looked after car and that the previous owners had, had the servicing carried out by reputable TVR main dealers to good effect.
Another bonus was that Matt identified that the desirable Hydatrak LSD differential has been fitted, which is normally only fitted to the 'S' version. This really helps the handling on the track and probably helped it feel so well mannered round Snetterton circuit. With the Reflex Paint, upgraded brakes, Air Conditioning and 18" spider wheels, she certainly has all the right bits and pieces!
However after the track day a complete new set of brake pads were required, The drilled discs needed cleaning and a change of brake fluid to the DOT 5.1 spec. These Ferodo pads were very expensive so even though the standard service was a very reasonable £289, the total bill was £685. She is due a 12,000 mile service next year and that will be even more expensive, but this was a £50,000 super car when new with a sub 4 second 0-60 and 185mph top speed, so you have to expect this kind of expense.
Matt also checked the reason the heater blower fan was not working (the only real fault with the car) and found it was due to a fault in the Heater ECU, so I will have to get it repaired as they are difficult to find.
Matt also suggested the original shock absorbers were sagging and I have noticed it bottoming out at the rear on a couple of occasions, so a set of Racing Red shocks will be the next items to purchase at a cost of around £700 for a set.
Sunday 27 July 2008
Monday 21 July 2008
Snetterton Track Day
Just completed my first track day, with my middle son in the Tuscan and it was brilliant; expensive, but brilliant!
The Tuscan ran beautifully the whole day. We could just about keep up with the fast guys and never felt like we were lacking in power, even though there were a lot of race prepped and super charged TVR Griffiths, Chimaeras and T350s etc there. Quite a few cars didn't last the distance however and had to be trailered home.
The upgraded brakes were really good and never faded once, even though towards the end I was really, really leaning on them very hard. I was nervous of cooking them at first, but needn't have worried.
The handling was very neutral indeed and neither end felt that it was going to do anything nasty.
We had a lot of controlled power slides though and I could squeak the front tyres or slide the tail out at will. We Steepened the angle of attack of the top blade of the wing and that did seem to help the handling, there were a couple of other Tuscans there all 'S' versions that have 30 more Horsepower than mine, but we could corner faster than them and they did not seem to have any more power on the straights.
The Tuscan used nearly 50 litres of Super Unleaded during the day, which was a bit of a shock!
I was using the shift lights though, and revving to over 6000 through the gears. We could just about reach 130 down the Revett straight and 120 on the start line Senna straight, before we had to brake hard for the corners with the car standing on its nose.
My driving certainly improved throughout the day and fortunately the weather was glorious and the track very sticky. I was very impressed with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted to the Tuscan you could really depend on them.
The Tuscan throttle however has a vey long action and it hurt my leg after a while to push it all the way over and down. You also have to be gentle when changing down the box and wait for
everything to settle down and not force the stick through. Every lap we learnt a little more and got used to the car until we were flying round, choosing the braking points with care and sliding through most of the bends.
The Tuscan is truly an awesome car and very forgiving too. Not once did I feel things were getting out of control or beyond my abilities, which says a lot for the car! It is very tiring though and tonight we are both shattered. I feel I could have done better and there is much room for improvement, but probably 2 track days a year will be enough I think.
Snetterton is a great track and the facilities are very good and very clean. This Trackday was organised by Easy Track and the paper work and briefings and marshalls etc were all extremely well organised.
The Tuscan is being serviced and MOT'd tomorrow at Sebring in Wisbeech so we shall see what needs doing. I guess a new set of brake pads will be required at least! It is not the big 12,000 mile service, so I have everything crossed I won't get a horrendous bill.
The Tuscan ran beautifully the whole day. We could just about keep up with the fast guys and never felt like we were lacking in power, even though there were a lot of race prepped and super charged TVR Griffiths, Chimaeras and T350s etc there. Quite a few cars didn't last the distance however and had to be trailered home.
The upgraded brakes were really good and never faded once, even though towards the end I was really, really leaning on them very hard. I was nervous of cooking them at first, but needn't have worried.
The handling was very neutral indeed and neither end felt that it was going to do anything nasty.
We had a lot of controlled power slides though and I could squeak the front tyres or slide the tail out at will. We Steepened the angle of attack of the top blade of the wing and that did seem to help the handling, there were a couple of other Tuscans there all 'S' versions that have 30 more Horsepower than mine, but we could corner faster than them and they did not seem to have any more power on the straights.
The Tuscan used nearly 50 litres of Super Unleaded during the day, which was a bit of a shock!
I was using the shift lights though, and revving to over 6000 through the gears. We could just about reach 130 down the Revett straight and 120 on the start line Senna straight, before we had to brake hard for the corners with the car standing on its nose.
My driving certainly improved throughout the day and fortunately the weather was glorious and the track very sticky. I was very impressed with the Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted to the Tuscan you could really depend on them.
The Tuscan throttle however has a vey long action and it hurt my leg after a while to push it all the way over and down. You also have to be gentle when changing down the box and wait for
everything to settle down and not force the stick through. Every lap we learnt a little more and got used to the car until we were flying round, choosing the braking points with care and sliding through most of the bends.
The Tuscan is truly an awesome car and very forgiving too. Not once did I feel things were getting out of control or beyond my abilities, which says a lot for the car! It is very tiring though and tonight we are both shattered. I feel I could have done better and there is much room for improvement, but probably 2 track days a year will be enough I think.
Snetterton is a great track and the facilities are very good and very clean. This Trackday was organised by Easy Track and the paper work and briefings and marshalls etc were all extremely well organised.
The Tuscan is being serviced and MOT'd tomorrow at Sebring in Wisbeech so we shall see what needs doing. I guess a new set of brake pads will be required at least! It is not the big 12,000 mile service, so I have everything crossed I won't get a horrendous bill.
Friday 18 July 2008
Tuscan Spoiler
When I purchased the Tuscan it came with a spare set of 16" alloys with tyres and a spare boot with spoiler. It had taken me a while to get them picked up, but now I have them home I decided to put the boot spoiler on. It is a very nice metal one and the blades have been sprayed to match, but it took three of us to fit it!
The struts were for some reason fitted the wrong way round but I have put them on the right way and it looks a lot better. It certainly gets even more attention now and I think gives it more of a "super car" look.
I am off to Snetterton on Monday for a Track Day in the Tuscan. It will be my first and there will be some very powerful cars there, so I hope everything goes OK! I have got insurance and my bike helmet is gold ACU approved so will be OK. It is not cheap to do this sort of thing, £175 through the TVR club and £40 insurance with Hagerty (with £1500 excess!) but I am very excited about it and can't wait. It is not a race and there will be expert instruction provided.
I am hoping my biker roundabout skills will come to the fore!
Talking of which I was on the southern bypass the other Saturday morning in the Tuscan in the fast lane and saw what I thought was a police car a long way back coming from a slip road and braked hard. A point they noted when they stopped me a little while later! I got a verbal warning, the tyres checked and a breath test, which read zero. The old biker skills do come in handy; check the rear views every minute and always, always look up the slip roads !
The struts were for some reason fitted the wrong way round but I have put them on the right way and it looks a lot better. It certainly gets even more attention now and I think gives it more of a "super car" look.
I am off to Snetterton on Monday for a Track Day in the Tuscan. It will be my first and there will be some very powerful cars there, so I hope everything goes OK! I have got insurance and my bike helmet is gold ACU approved so will be OK. It is not cheap to do this sort of thing, £175 through the TVR club and £40 insurance with Hagerty (with £1500 excess!) but I am very excited about it and can't wait. It is not a race and there will be expert instruction provided.
I am hoping my biker roundabout skills will come to the fore!
Talking of which I was on the southern bypass the other Saturday morning in the Tuscan in the fast lane and saw what I thought was a police car a long way back coming from a slip road and braked hard. A point they noted when they stopped me a little while later! I got a verbal warning, the tyres checked and a breath test, which read zero. The old biker skills do come in handy; check the rear views every minute and always, always look up the slip roads !
Roar 08
A bit belated this post but we had a great time at ROAR 08 in the Peak district.
We had a very slow trip up and only averaged 40 mph on the A roads so 160 miles took 4 hours. The Chimp achieved only 21mpg but most of the time we were in 4th, it really was a tedious trip and a testament to the appalling congestion on our roads. Mind you we fared a lot better than some people who took the M6 that Friday!
We had a great time at the event and met some really nice people. I was surprised how well my Chimp looked against the pristine examples costing nearer £20K.
I put her on the dyno and got 230hp at 5700 revs and 240 ft/llb of torque at 4500 revs. These are excellent figures for the 4L and compare with a 4.6L which had 234hp and 243 ft/llbs of torque but at only 3000 revs. Having the torque higher up the rev range is much better as it helps you reach the horse power and makes the power seamless through the rev range. RPI had obviously advised me correctly!
They did mention my rev counter was reading 6,250 when actually the engine was doing 6,000 rpm. This is a bit of a relief as a couple of times I have seen almost 7,000 indicated!
I also went out with a Police advanced driving instructor round some very tight hilly roads and
he seemed to like my driving. He new I was a biker straight away and gave me 5 out of 5 for observation!
We came home on the A1 for as long as possible and then took the A47, which was much better. The Chimp never missed a beat and didn't puff any smoke from the zorsts on the dyno at all, unlike some others.
It must also be quite comfortable as the missus slept for quite a while on both trips.
We had a very slow trip up and only averaged 40 mph on the A roads so 160 miles took 4 hours. The Chimp achieved only 21mpg but most of the time we were in 4th, it really was a tedious trip and a testament to the appalling congestion on our roads. Mind you we fared a lot better than some people who took the M6 that Friday!
We had a great time at the event and met some really nice people. I was surprised how well my Chimp looked against the pristine examples costing nearer £20K.
I put her on the dyno and got 230hp at 5700 revs and 240 ft/llb of torque at 4500 revs. These are excellent figures for the 4L and compare with a 4.6L which had 234hp and 243 ft/llbs of torque but at only 3000 revs. Having the torque higher up the rev range is much better as it helps you reach the horse power and makes the power seamless through the rev range. RPI had obviously advised me correctly!
They did mention my rev counter was reading 6,250 when actually the engine was doing 6,000 rpm. This is a bit of a relief as a couple of times I have seen almost 7,000 indicated!
I also went out with a Police advanced driving instructor round some very tight hilly roads and
he seemed to like my driving. He new I was a biker straight away and gave me 5 out of 5 for observation!
We came home on the A1 for as long as possible and then took the A47, which was much better. The Chimp never missed a beat and didn't puff any smoke from the zorsts on the dyno at all, unlike some others.
It must also be quite comfortable as the missus slept for quite a while on both trips.
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