Great video, honest review, lovely roads for test drive, I’m the owner of a 2001 Chimaera 4.5 V8 engine, these cars just put a smile on your face as soon as you turn the key, keep up the good work, looking forward to more reviews. 👍
I had one of these for 2 1/2 years. 'Silverstone Sivler' with dove gray leather. Fab Fortunately, despite going at 130 mph on judiciously chosen roads - M6 over Tebay gorge/A30 from Okehampton junction to Exeter - I never got a speeding ticket. I commuted in it in winter in London. It was more or less fogged up all round - dreadful heating/ventilation, pathetic wipers - but perfectly drivable in London traffic. When I bought it the first thing I had to do after tax/ins was get a residents' parking permit. I went to Canden Council Town Hall, parked up, went round the back and held my phone to the tail pipes while on a call to my mate who was a demon restoring H.Daves m/cycles His response to the noise was "Bloody Hell! 4 Harleys!" The g/f loved it "Nobody else gets to sit in my seat". The dog hated it - too noisy. It was indeed too noisy on a cross country run. My trips from Plymouth to Glastonbury to visit my mum left me with worse tinnitus than I already have. I'd a bin better off with a Chimmy By the way, I got the V8S after a couple of years scoping the other S's because a woman writing in the TVRCC mag 'Sprint' wrote "Anything less than V8 is for wimps". Nuff' said!
A good friend in the Air Force bought a V8 S as opposed to a Volkswagen golf GTI that he bought back from Germany. I think after shooting it around for a few weeks, we all decided that it was one of the best things he done
Glad you clarified the Chimera being a good choice again as just bought your book prior to buying one for a Europe trip myself and my son were originally going to do in a 944. I have lots of Rover V8 powered vehicles and felt .ore comfortable owning something with a Powerplant I understand. I also live 5 miles from site of the old TVR factory and know a lot of the ex staff so felt like the right choice. Time will tell when I find one...
Chimaeras are great cars. I can't say that about the S-Series, though as I've hopefully conveyed, it doesn't matter. The V8S is more fun than a Chimaera, but a Chimaera is a better all-round car if you actually want to use it. Cheers for the book purchase, hope it helps!
Gran Turismo 2 had some really interesting TVRs that haven't been in any other game I can think of. It had the original Tuscan race car, and the Speed 12 was the original version. There's footage of it doing testing back in the day at Snetterton on TH-cam. 1998 seems like so long ago now.
As a serial Griffith owner (I’ve had 3) I once drove a mates V8S on a track day at Oulton. I have to say I enjoyed the V8S more than any of my Griffs..👍
I could listen to that all day… not you Richard 😉 that engine! Only joking but what an engine. Anyone that pauses mid sentence and says “oh look a Peugeot 306 estate” is worth watching 👍
I’ve had a few Chimaeras, love them but I’m giving a V8S a go. I agree that the Chimaera is better in almost every way but there’s definitely something about the V8S that gets you.
I don't think it's substantially heavier, but I wouldn't be surprised if it weighed more. The V8S does have a more crisp response from the front end than the V6 cars, but then it has a wider track and longer wishbones, so that might account for it.
Because the transmission tunnel on the Chims & Griffs is so much taller, that adds a lot of chassis stiffness. V8S' probably feel quicker than a 4.0 Chim as the axle ratio is shorter. That one in particular sounds lovely!
It isn't taller. I haven't measured, but if I was guessing I reckon the S' might be slightly taller. The Chim/Griff has more bracing than the S, and the suspension is more compliant, which puts less torsional strain on the chassis. Axle rations will differ slightly, and the S has smaller wheels, too.
And it has the Citroën CX mk II mirrors. They were a bit noisy but very efficient aerodymically.. and was always cleaner than I've been used to with other cars. Probably to do with the vents/holes in the ribbed aft part of the casing.
15:17 That's a ZIL 131 - old Soviet army truck! Extremely cool and honestly one of my dream vehicles! Wonder what it was doing in your neck of the woods? Coincidentally also a V8 petrol engine (displacing 7 litres) and borrowed from an American design...
@@UPnDOWN There are a few in the UK - they come up for sale occasionally. Ex-Soviet countries are littered with them. Usually around the £10k mark so probably cheaper than a V8S!
I've got a Vixen S2 with a subtly reworked 4.6 RV8 & decent suspension + brakes. It does drive nicely for what ir is, it does feel quite flexible but in a nice way. I have an LS turbo engined 3000M which is a bit more modded which feels very different.
My ideal Vixen would be a fruity X-flow or something around 100bhp that likes to rev. I think that's what I love about them - the rawness and the ability to enjoy it on the road.
Do you get many Speed Six cars through your garage? I don’t think I’ve seen one in the background yet. It would be good to hear your opinion on them and also the V8 Cerbera.
Occasionally. I don't get involved with the engines on those as you really need to have years of experience with them to confidently start pratting around. I'm not hugely fond of them, but I do like the AJP8 very much.
I had a Chimaera 400HC for a while, unfortunately had to sell it due to life, but I completely agree it always had more to give, and easily if you were a good driver. Currently got an NB MX-5, and that's got far more front end grip than the Chim ever had, there's corners near me that i'll take at 60 in the MX-5 that i'd struggle at 50 in the Chim, but it's not got that savage torque of the RV8. You can't use most cars to anywhere approaching their limit on the roads, I'd much rather have fun at low speeds and still feel like you're having to work the car and yourself.
I've only ever driven one RV8, but I remember it feeling like a very old car. Very narrow, felt like you were sat up high on it. The V8S, by comparsion - much lower feeling, more raw, more visceral, feels broader. A less refined car for sure, and not as well built, but definitely feels more capable (as you'd expect, really, as it's a lot newer).
@@UPnDOWN I had the experience of a passenger ride in a Marcos Mantula back in 1991 as a teenager and the overall feeling is highly comparable. I wonder if it is really the case.
There's not much that could make the transformation of petrol and air into such a glorious noise as that car. Maybe the fruity fart of a Morris Minor exhaust on the overrun could give it a run for the money but, hey, I'm old and drive a minor. Damn I can't find the flat cap emoji 🙄
Well that sound is pure filth! And so much more opportunity to enjoy it than you do in, say, a German or Italian supercar accelerating to 60 just outside Burford. I've never been a fan of the styling, but it seems to be a whole lotta entertainment! Cheers to the owner!
You actually owned the lovely earlier V6 Capri engined proper Old School sports car looking ones (I think you said S1/S2?) Even those are utterly cool and still surely with a different but also very tasty V6 soundtrack! Nice!
I've had an S1 and an S2. S1 had the Capri/Sierra XR4i 2.8 engine, which to be fair didn't feel like it could pull a fart out of a bedsheet. The 2.9 in the S2 was definitely gruntier, but the EEC injection system on it was pretty crap. Both of them made a good noise, both quite fun to drive at middling speeds in the countryside. V8S definitely more fun all round though, but then they're more expensive.
Yes people have fitted the 24v BOA and BOB engines. It's not as simple as you'd think, but it's been done. Never driven one but assume it'd give the V8 a run for its money, if a good conversion.
So they basically used the Tuscan racer chassis for Griffith etc? Considering it was a race car chassis it was not good at all. Gordon Murray put a 5.0ltr Griffith up on his chassis test rig after being puzzled by the cars poor handling characteristics. He wondered what was possible to improve things? The answer was literally NOTHING, the chassis was SO weak and poorly designed that you could fit top quality springs, shocks, roll bars etc and little would improve. Basically you needed a completely redesigned chassis if you wanted those cars to actually corner! I still utterly LOVE TVRs though! My all time fave being the Cerbera followed by all the later cars but also the Griffith, Chimera, even the 80s wedge cars, the earlier Capri engine cars and now also this the V8S (I thought a V8S WAS an earlier wedge car?) TVRs are the greatest British cars EVER made!
It's not the Tuscan racer chassis exactly, it's based on it, but the chassis in the Griffith & Chimaera is fine. I'm sure if you faff about putting it on a high-tech rig it'd laugh at you, but in the real world for the use that real people use them for, they're fine. They do corner well, in fact they drive really nicely until you go sticking stiff shocks and low profile tyres on. They aren't made for that, they're made to be road cars., and roads in the UK are rubbish. A bit of flex is welcome IMO!
FFS, man! I have to work! And you drop these videos and I have to watch them! :D
What a beautiful exhaust sound a TVR V8S makes.
Great video, honest review, lovely roads for test drive, I’m the owner of a 2001 Chimaera 4.5 V8 engine, these cars just put a smile on your face as soon as you turn the key, keep up the good work, looking forward to more reviews. 👍
Thanks! 👍
What a soundtrack no radio needed
I could listen to the sound of that V8 all day, it is truly awesome.
I had one of these for 2 1/2 years. 'Silverstone Sivler' with dove gray leather. Fab
Fortunately, despite going at 130 mph on judiciously chosen roads - M6 over Tebay gorge/A30 from Okehampton junction to Exeter - I never got a speeding ticket.
I commuted in it in winter in London. It was more or less fogged up all round - dreadful heating/ventilation, pathetic wipers - but perfectly drivable in London traffic.
When I bought it the first thing I had to do after tax/ins was get a residents' parking permit. I went to Canden Council Town Hall, parked up, went round the back and held my phone to the tail pipes while on a call to my mate who was a demon restoring H.Daves m/cycles His response to the noise was "Bloody Hell! 4 Harleys!"
The g/f loved it "Nobody else gets to sit in my seat". The dog hated it - too noisy. It was indeed too noisy on a cross country run. My trips from Plymouth to Glastonbury to visit my mum left me with worse tinnitus than I already have.
I'd a bin better off with a Chimmy
By the way, I
got the V8S after a couple of years scoping the other S's because a woman writing in the TVRCC mag 'Sprint' wrote "Anything less than V8 is for wimps". Nuff' said!
The V8S is a special machine. As a package, it's just so much fun to drive.
Good job putting that great sounding beast together. My favourite is the early TVR Griffith from around 1993. Nice clean lines.
I love the Griffith too. One of my favourite car designs.
Really love the video from a true lover of TVR
Another good video and nice car 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beautiful, thank you Rich.
My music teacher used to blush when he was trying to tell the class that we had an aural test coming up.
Great little POV Drive Rich, what a glorious soundtrack the V8s makes. Just playing catch up with the videos.
Brought back memories of my V8S which (regretfully) I sold over 20 years ago. I re registered it J11VBS & I have seen on line it's still on the road.
Love the summing up of this TVR
"If you want your tvr as badly built and wired as people always say, get the v8s,you won't be disappointed. 👍
Thanks for the ride along. It was great. Beautiful car!
A good friend in the Air Force bought a V8 S as opposed to a Volkswagen golf GTI that he bought back from Germany.
I think after shooting it around for a few weeks, we all decided that it was one of the best things he done
Glad you clarified the Chimera being a good choice again as just bought your book prior to buying one for a Europe trip myself and my son were originally going to do in a 944. I have lots of Rover V8 powered vehicles and felt .ore comfortable owning something with a Powerplant I understand. I also live 5 miles from site of the old TVR factory and know a lot of the ex staff so felt like the right choice. Time will tell when I find one...
Chimaeras are great cars. I can't say that about the S-Series, though as I've hopefully conveyed, it doesn't matter. The V8S is more fun than a Chimaera, but a Chimaera is a better all-round car if you actually want to use it. Cheers for the book purchase, hope it helps!
Nice car very rare now love my chimaera 4litre gas flowed from the factory
Gran Turismo 2 had some really interesting TVRs that haven't been in any other game I can think of. It had the original Tuscan race car, and the Speed 12 was the original version. There's footage of it doing testing back in the day at Snetterton on TH-cam. 1998 seems like so long ago now.
It was only 24 years ago...
As a serial Griffith owner (I’ve had 3) I once drove a mates V8S on a track day at Oulton. I have to say I enjoyed the V8S more than any of my Griffs..👍
I love the Griffith, but for a seat-of-the-pants hoon, the V8S is hard to beat.
I could listen to that all day… not you Richard 😉 that engine! Only joking but what an engine. Anyone that pauses mid sentence and says “oh look a Peugeot 306 estate” is worth watching 👍
Good video! Withever being in a TVR before, I bought one of these this year! :-)
My first Classic was a Vixen S3 and there is currently a V8S in my small collection. Seems we share more than just a first name Rich!😊
I’ve had a few Chimaeras, love them but I’m giving a V8S a go.
I agree that the Chimaera is better in almost every way but there’s definitely something about the V8S that gets you.
Exactly.
Another great road test! I seem to remember that the cologne v6 was substantially heavier that the rover v8.
I don't think it's substantially heavier, but I wouldn't be surprised if it weighed more. The V8S does have a more crisp response from the front end than the V6 cars, but then it has a wider track and longer wishbones, so that might account for it.
Gran Turismo 4 had the V8S, Griffith 500, Speed 12, Tuscan and Cerbera Speed 6 and Forza Horizon 4 has the Rover SD1 Vitesse xD
Not satisfied with making me want a BX, you're now making me want a TVR! And I don't even like sports cars at all!
Maybe you do!
@@UPnDOWN Maybe we could just squeeze a TVR engine into Foxanne?😂
Because the transmission tunnel on the Chims & Griffs is so much taller, that adds a lot of chassis stiffness. V8S' probably feel quicker than a 4.0 Chim as the axle ratio is shorter. That one in particular sounds lovely!
It isn't taller. I haven't measured, but if I was guessing I reckon the S' might be slightly taller. The Chim/Griff has more bracing than the S, and the suspension is more compliant, which puts less torsional strain on the chassis. Axle rations will differ slightly, and the S has smaller wheels, too.
And it has the Citroën CX mk II mirrors. They were a bit noisy but very efficient aerodymically.. and was always cleaner than I've been used to with other cars. Probably to do with the vents/holes in the ribbed aft part of the casing.
Sounds like I need to drive some more TVR's. Want to drive my Griff, its a quick one 😉
If it's electric, then yes!
Love the sound of a v8
I'm not the one to rate exhaust note but that is truly epic
15:17 That's a ZIL 131 - old Soviet army truck! Extremely cool and honestly one of my dream vehicles! Wonder what it was doing in your neck of the woods?
Coincidentally also a V8 petrol engine (displacing 7 litres) and borrowed from an American design...
Oh wow, really? Are we being invaded, do you think? Or just someone owns one privately...?
@@UPnDOWN There are a few in the UK - they come up for sale occasionally. Ex-Soviet countries are littered with them. Usually around the £10k mark so probably cheaper than a V8S!
I've got a Vixen S2 with a subtly reworked 4.6 RV8 & decent suspension + brakes. It does drive nicely for what ir is, it does feel quite flexible but in a nice way. I have an LS turbo engined 3000M which is a bit more modded which feels very different.
My ideal Vixen would be a fruity X-flow or something around 100bhp that likes to rev. I think that's what I love about them - the rawness and the ability to enjoy it on the road.
What a sound! Do you know if anyone has developed a kit to improve the rear suspensions on these?
No, nobody's ever bothered. It's not *that* bad, it's just noticeably worse than a car with double-wishbones on the rear.
Do you get many Speed Six cars through your garage? I don’t think I’ve seen one in the background yet.
It would be good to hear your opinion on them and also the V8 Cerbera.
Occasionally. I don't get involved with the engines on those as you really need to have years of experience with them to confidently start pratting around. I'm not hugely fond of them, but I do like the AJP8 very much.
I had a Chimaera 400HC for a while, unfortunately had to sell it due to life, but I completely agree it always had more to give, and easily if you were a good driver. Currently got an NB MX-5, and that's got far more front end grip than the Chim ever had, there's corners near me that i'll take at 60 in the MX-5 that i'd struggle at 50 in the Chim, but it's not got that savage torque of the RV8. You can't use most cars to anywhere approaching their limit on the roads, I'd much rather have fun at low speeds and still feel like you're having to work the car and yourself.
Couldn't agree more.
Nice rumbly sound. I wonder how a V8S would compare to an MG RV8, same engine similar looks but different recipe.
I've only ever driven one RV8, but I remember it feeling like a very old car. Very narrow, felt like you were sat up high on it. The V8S, by comparsion - much lower feeling, more raw, more visceral, feels broader. A less refined car for sure, and not as well built, but definitely feels more capable (as you'd expect, really, as it's a lot newer).
@@UPnDOWN Thanks. I drove an MGB GT once, a rubber bumper one - nice ride and comfy seats but that was about it.
@@UPnDOWN I had the experience of a passenger ride in a Marcos Mantula back in 1991 as a teenager and the overall feeling is highly comparable. I wonder if it is really the case.
There's not much that could make the transformation of petrol and air into such a glorious noise as that car. Maybe the fruity fart of a Morris Minor exhaust on the overrun could give it a run for the money but, hey, I'm old and drive a minor. Damn I can't find the flat cap emoji 🙄
Similar experience to my 3.9 mgbgt except my rear suspension is even worse ☺️
Well that sound is pure filth!
And so much more opportunity to enjoy it than you do in, say, a German or Italian supercar accelerating to 60 just outside Burford. I've never been a fan of the styling, but it seems to be a whole lotta entertainment! Cheers to the owner!
You actually owned the lovely earlier V6 Capri engined proper Old School sports car looking ones (I think you said S1/S2?) Even those are utterly cool and still surely with a different but also very tasty V6 soundtrack! Nice!
I wonder if anyone fits the Cosworth 24 valve engines?
I've had an S1 and an S2. S1 had the Capri/Sierra XR4i 2.8 engine, which to be fair didn't feel like it could pull a fart out of a bedsheet. The 2.9 in the S2 was definitely gruntier, but the EEC injection system on it was pretty crap.
Both of them made a good noise, both quite fun to drive at middling speeds in the countryside. V8S definitely more fun all round though, but then they're more expensive.
Yes people have fitted the 24v BOA and BOB engines. It's not as simple as you'd think, but it's been done. Never driven one but assume it'd give the V8 a run for its money, if a good conversion.
So they basically used the Tuscan racer chassis for Griffith etc? Considering it was a race car chassis it was not good at all. Gordon Murray put a 5.0ltr Griffith up on his chassis test rig after being puzzled by the cars poor handling characteristics. He wondered what was possible to improve things? The answer was literally NOTHING, the chassis was SO weak and poorly designed that you could fit top quality springs, shocks, roll bars etc and little would improve. Basically you needed a completely redesigned chassis if you wanted those cars to actually corner! I still utterly LOVE TVRs though! My all time fave being the Cerbera followed by all the later cars but also the Griffith, Chimera, even the 80s wedge cars, the earlier Capri engine cars and now also this the V8S (I thought a V8S WAS an earlier wedge car?) TVRs are the greatest British cars EVER made!
It's not the Tuscan racer chassis exactly, it's based on it, but the chassis in the Griffith & Chimaera is fine. I'm sure if you faff about putting it on a high-tech rig it'd laugh at you, but in the real world for the use that real people use them for, they're fine. They do corner well, in fact they drive really nicely until you go sticking stiff shocks and low profile tyres on. They aren't made for that, they're made to be road cars., and roads in the UK are rubbish. A bit of flex is welcome IMO!