I'm working in the Austrian alps at the moment and one of the guys has trailered his TVR Chimera over, so when he offered me a drive I jumped at it, what a disappointment, the handling is very heavy and it's not as fast as I thought it would be, admittedly it's a 12 year old example and it's the smallest rover V8 engine but it still surprised me, also I didn

 

The Chim's were not that quick either. It's the next generation of their cars that improved a lot. The Cerberas I've seen, seemed a lot better fit and finish.

 

I've only driven a Tuscan S and it was amazing - I absolutely loved it. The interior was "interesting" but not tupperware...

 

I'd always had thing for Griffiths and had passenger ride round Bruntingthorpe in one a few years back.

I was very disappointed too, sounded great etc. but I'd just been out in a Tiger super 6 and it seemed so dull after that.

It wasn't that it was bad, it was just different.

 

I had a Griffith for a couple of years and was never disappointed

It was a 5.0L though and the performance was certainly enough It was even better when I spent money getting a bit more from it

Boot and bonnet were extremely solid - my Canon SLR certainly lost a contest with the boot ! It took a chunk out of it.

This all said, when I sold it the guy who bought it had tried a few and was seriously disappointed with the build quality - he said mine was the best by far ..... but that was TVR for you .....

 

bit harsh... the chim was a mid 90s car, faster than most of the stuff porsche had to offer for twice the money

TVR Chimaera 4.5 12.56 @ 111.29
Porsche 911 (993) RS 12.97 @ 108.63

the 04 GT3 was only marginally quicker and i didnt even pick the 5.0

Porsche 911 (996) GT3 RS 04 12.33 @ 115.80

 

Owned a 4.2 Cerb for a year and encountered less issues than with my S

Though very fast in a straight line, i found it hard work to hussle about in. Not always 100% sure what the rear end was going to do.Sometimes it would grip and other times i would be full lock or going backwards. Maybe needed a better driver
Was worth owning just for the noise alone, AJPV8 with de-cat and sports exhaust

 

Wasn't talking Porsche.

A mate had one for a few years and it was quick, but not overly so compared to me and other mates mid 90's JDM stuff.

Was probably only the 4.0 (and 240bhp), can't really remember. He's an S2k owner now too.

But it wasn't about the speed, it was about the noise.

Was a good car until an uninsured driver parked their Fiesta in the boot.

 

a lot of older cars will disappoint if you've grown accustomed/only been used to moderns

 

Aside from the glue & resin odours, the interior is brilliantly bonkers.

Apart from some fast-corner chassis flex, they'd really sorted the handling on the last cars.

Being intelligently British, they also put the pedals in the correct place.

The 'felt slow' comment is bizarre. A vintage Ferrari is slower than a Ford Depreso VD, but feels a damned sight faster.

Gad is also correct; but conversely and as with the vintage Ferrari, those who drive older cars and then try a modern are often disappointed.

It's precisely why I prefer to drive the S2000 rather than one of those many 'better cars'.