TVR Tuscan Challenge (Car)

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TVR
TVR Tuscan Challenge
TVR Tuscan Challenge
Tuscan Challenge
Sales designation: Tuscan Challenge
Production period: 1989–?
Class : race car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines:
Otto engines : 4.4–4.5 liters
(256–331 kW)
Length: 3937 mm
Width: 1740 mm
Height: 1184 mm
Wheelbase : 2336 mm
Empty weight : 850 kg

The TVR Tuscan Challenge is a 2-seater sports coupé that was developed and built by TVR in Blackpool ( England ) for use in the racing series of the same name.

development

When the new S-series showed the desired sales success, an ES , an S-series sports car with a 3.8 liter V6 engine from Holden, was developed . It was not until the British International Motor Show in Birmingham in 1988 that the car was unveiled as a prototype and there were plans to develop it further for road traffic. In order to arouse interest in buying, TVR used the traditional name Tuscan and introduced its own racing series, the TVR Tuscan Challenge .

In order to attract a large number of participants to the racing series, TVR offered the cars to those interested at a bargain price of £ 16,000 + VAT , provided that they agreed to take part in at least six of the twelve races for the championship. By purchasing the car, each buyer undertook to pay an additional £ 16,000 penalty at the end of the season if they did not take part in the required number of races.

When the racing series was successful in its first season in 1989, plans for a street version were dropped as TVR was busy building the S-series and the older wedge-shaped models as well as designing the planned Griffith and Chimaera models . The car never got beyond the prototype stage and the Tuscan Challenge continued to be produced in small numbers as racing vehicles.

The chassis based on the S-series had to be redesigned to cope with the enormous power of the tuned Rover V8 engine. At the end of this development there was a completely new chassis with a wider track, larger wheelbase and lots of stiffeners.

The original power of the engine was 350 bhp (257 kW) like the TVR 350i and was transmitted to the 229 mm wide rear wheels via a BorgWarner -T5 gearbox. In the early 1990s, the old Rover V8 had reached its development limits, Rover had been taken over by BMW and Wheeler reportedly refused to use German engines in his cars. He hired the engineer Al Melling , who developed the AJP8 engine, whose output was even higher than that of the Rover V8. With this new V8 engine, the car managed to accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in just over 3 seconds and from 0 to 160 km / h in exactly 6.9 seconds. The power-to-weight ratio of the car was just 1, 87 kg / bhp (2.54 kg / kW) and the top speed of 304 km / h, and so the car became popular with private drivers. All engines are sealed factory machines to ensure that all drivers have the same requirements.

Street versions

Although street versions of the Tuscan Challenge have never been officially built, some owners have converted their cars for use on public roads, as these cars share their tubular steel chassis and construction principle with their street-legal sister models, but without the comfort or fine-tuning. Most of these vehicles are converted racing versions; only a few were built from scratch, using only the chassis and body and each owner had comfort details built in to their own taste.

These conversions include the installation of a speedometer (which the racing versions lack), changes to the lighting, powder coating of the chassis, conversion of the gasoline tank from the passenger side to the rear of the car and conversions to protect the gasoline tank against impact. A traction control is also often built in. The difficulties in finding a Tuscan Challenge and the high conversion costs of around £ 10,000 ensure that a street version of this vehicle is rarely found.

Many of the converted Tuscan Challenge with AJP8 engine came to their engine from an accident-damaged Cerbera , as racing engines are leased from the manufacturer, although Rover V8 engines from earlier cars are easy to find.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TVR Car Club, About TVR: Past and Present (English) ( Memento from December 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ The history of the Tuscan Racer (English)
  3. ↑ Glynnsport: The TVR Challenge Series (English) ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ The history of the Tuscan Racer (English)
  5. ↑ PetrolTed's report on Shane Antill's street legal TVR Tuscan
  6. ↑ Glynnsport: The TVR Challenge Series ( Memento of 28 September 2007 at the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Andy Holden Racing ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Street versions of the TVR Tuscan Challenge (English)