350z (SC'd) vs TVR Cerbera

[Sam Mcgoo]

Last year when selling the Supra TT and getting the Zed, the other car on the short-list was a TVR Cerbera 4.5. The Zed won partly due to me loving jap reliability, the history of the Zed and more modern feel but mainly because the missus hates TVRs as they are too loud, too dated and only old men drive them.

 

Anyway, a mate of mine has a 4.5 Cerb and yesterday we finally managed to get together for a blast.

 

So we met in a nice countryside location and had a nose at each others cars and a catch up......

 

 

We then proceeded to a private track for a bit of a blast........

To be honest I was expecting to get wasted by him considering the specs of the 4.5 Cerb - ~420HP and ~1100 kg to my ~400hp and ~1450kg but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

We probably done 4 or 5 pulls from approx 10 leptons to 130 - 140ish and each time there was less than a car length in it. It seemed he would pull out about a car length from 40 to 80 then I'd claw it back after that. And through the twisties I was far more confident.

 

 

We left the track and went to a near by beer garden to discuss our findings over a refreshing drink. Surprisingly to me he said he was pretty happy, as with the TVR's being hand built they can vary greatly on performance and never having his dyno'd he didn't know what it was running. As I have 400hp dyno sheets he was happy to be in the same ball park.

 

 

We then swapped keys and and went for another drive. The noise was breath taking and the pops and bangs on overrun were

 

It's been a dream of mine for 10+ years to own a Cerb but I can honestly say I would not swap my supercharged Zed for one. I knew they would feel very raw and basic, as lets face it, Nissan probably spent more money developing the 350's Air-Con than TVR did on the whole car, but I just didn't feel I was communicating with the road. It was more like I was on a passenger ride. The steering was too light and it just didn't feel planted. When accelerating it felt like it would loose traction far to easy and when exiting a corner I found myself feeling 'happy ' I'd made it round. Even he said he was surprised how planted mine felt in comparison.

 

 

Don't get me wrong, these cars are awesome and will always have a place in my heart, but I think that's where it will have to stay. Reliability aside I just don't think I could own one.

[Wasso]

I'm of the same opinion, I was going to get one instead of the Zed but felt the reselling of the TVR would be a lot harder to shift.

 

I love all the TVR's their styling is awesome for a British car, I will own one eventually, even if it's to shove in my garage and admire. A very big shame of the issues with TVR. But then maybe that gives the car a character!

 

Cars look great in the pics

[Will370z]

Great little write up and picks. Always fancied one of those tvrs so it was an interesting read.

 

Sounds like you had a lot of fun

[ThomasSoerensen]

Nice write up and very nice pictures.

A Cerb has also been in my dreams for along time.

It is nice with a direct comparison like this, even if it reduces the Cerb dream quite a bit.

[Steady Zeddy]

Excellent write-up.

I had a similar experience against a Cerb in a 1/4 mile last year - the Cerb sounded awesome but my SC Zed was quicker down the 1/4 mile which was a surprise to me.

 

A 400bhp+ Zed with uprated suspension, brakes etc would probably work out as a better track car as well.

 

A properly sorted SC Zed really is an absolutely fantastic car to drive. Any NA Zed drivers that have drove/been in my Zed have been very surprised by the difference between Zeds.

[Number86]

Nice run in. Though if I was the TVR dude, I'd be anything but happy. 400kgs is an absolute monstrous difference in weight. It's almost lotus elise light. With a supposed 20 BHP advantage over you, it should of absolutely demolished you. 255 bhp/tonne vs 380 bhp/tonne in the tvr.

 

I think the guy was kidding himself

[Dblock]

Nice run in. Though if I was the TVR dude, I'd be anything but happy. 400kgs is an absolute monstrous difference in weight. It's almost lotus elise light. With a supposed 20 BHP advantage over you, it should of absolutely demolished you. 255 bhp/tonne vs 380 bhp/tonne in the tvr.

 

I think the guy was kidding himself

 

boosted cars usually make alot more torque then n/a. Also it might not have just been a 20bhp difference it could have been more throughout the rev range as superchargers usually make pretty flat power curves.

 

Could be that his engine isnt running anywhere near that power?

[Peter10]

I do love the look of TVR's. Are they really as prone for braking down as people say?

 

Also, I didn't realise how low the TVR was, but putting it next to the TVR, it's like a go-cart .

[GT4 Zed]

Nice way to spend a lovely afternoon Sam

I have been lucky to own two TVRs; the Mk1 tuscan s and the Lightweight AJP8 4.5 cerbera and i can concur that though they felt hairy-chested i would go for my zed with its current setup anytime and would get closer to the limit than with the TVRs on a track or fast road hooning.

 

However with that said the quoted figures are far usually off the mark and my cerbaera made 333WHP in SRR which came as a shock to me because it felt like 400WHP but it all about the rawness and noise So the close performance is about right. The best Cerbera made 370WHP and it had an emerald ecu reflash and a few intake and exhaust bits.

 

The one thing that always amazed me and everyone is i drove my cerbaera for 1.5yrs as a DD(~12k miles) and it never failed except for the batery running down always but the newer tuscan was a b%&tch!! and gave up after 6 months ownership for a lotus elise 111R . My only regret was to never track both TVRs as i was worried about their inherent frailty but if money no object now i would have either again as a second car with an LS engine conversion because these cars will always be special.