The Tamora reinforced TVR's reputatuin for hand-building ferociously fast sports cars. Tamora its the entry level for the Blackpool firm, opening up new markets.This two-seat roadster has a better power-to-weight ratio than such renowned tire smokers as the Porsche 911 Turbo, the Dodge Viper GTS, the Ferrari 360 Modena, and the Chevrolet Corvette with that 350-horsepower, 3.6-liter Speed Six engine motivating 2337 pounds.

2002 TVR Tamora

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2002 TVR Tamora
  • Horsepower: 334@ 7200
  • Torque: 379@ 5500
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array



Whilst TVR cant guarantee shortcrust cannibalism, their Tamora promises to serve up some seriously hardcore fare of its own.TVR's performance claims are appropriately dramatic so the Tamora will top 170 mph, but we can easily picture reaching 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and hitting the 100-mph mark just 5.1 seconds later.


Sharing the platform and engine with the entry-level Tuscan, the Tamora undercuts its popular elder sibling by around £3,000, and its retail price of £36,500 will look attractive to anybody considering a Porsche Boxster S or Mercedes SLK32AMG.


Unfortunately, though, even if TVR returns to the United States, we won't be seeing the Tamora Genuine supercar performance belies the Tamora's true role in its low-volume, high-profile British manufacturer's range. According to Peter Wheeler, TVR's hard-driving and engagingly unconventional supremo, the new baby is actually a relatively soft option for TVR addicts who like to use their cars for commuting.


Tts Speed Six engine already two cylinders down on the Griffiths thunderous V8, but anybody whos heard a Speed Six used in anger wont worry unduly. The engine is a work of art, a bafflingly magnificent achievement from a company that fifteen years ago wasnt a great deal more technically advanced than an organisation down the road making plastic sand pits.


That Speed Six engine, designed completely in house, is no thud and blunder anachronism either. Its an all-alloy unit with four valves per cylinder and a fully mapped engine management system with some genuinely sophisticated engineering built into the manifolds and catalysts.


In theory, tuning the 24-valve straight six to deliver peak power and torque at high revs—maximum power is delivered at 7200 rpm—reduces the risk of young stockbrokers inadvertently unsticking the tail while negotiating rain-soaked urban traffic circles and sharp corners at commuter speeds.


Power assisted steering could be construed as evidence of TVR going soft in its old age, but customers find their TVRs marginally less uncontrollable with a bit of help from a subservient servo.


The perceived daily-driver role also explains why TVR is making brave noises about scaling new heights of reliability. This is not a word with which Wheeler's otherwise laudable enterprise has been synonymous in the past. True to his boutique brand's extrovert reputation, the fiberglass-bodied Tamora is a real eye-popper with its bold swoops, swirls, scallops, and spoilers.


The car is fitted with an ice detector in order to warn you when conditions are decidedly Tamora-unfriendly.If other TVRs are anything to go by, should immobilise the car for the drivers safety, but in this instance merely blinks up a warning light.

Interior

The Tamora features details such as doors that open when you touch a button on the underside of the side-view mirror. Wheeler and his team are sharp enough to realize that one of the reasons for TVR's ongoing success is that it doesn't fob customers off with parts-bin components from major manufacturers. TVR's keep-it-in-house philosophy embraces just about everything from unique engines to beautifully crafted switches and instruments.


The cockpitis snug and very welcoming  with exceptionally supportive seats and an adjustable pedal box.The five-speed manual gearbox's stubby shifter looks very sporting but the enormous turning circle warranted another item in the debit column, notably when trying to juggle the Tamora in and out of tight parking slots.


An analogue speedo and rev counter vie for the drivers attention with a multifunction digital display with winking shift lights and whilst it doesnt rival the Tuscan in terms of sheer design exuberance, it still looks the part. Broad swathes of leather and the trademark TVR metallic pastille controls are very much in evidence as well as a steering wheel with a conspicuous lack of dirigible protection. The starkly elegant pedal set is probably the most noteworthy piece of styling, and alongside the cosmetics theres also function.


The Tamora features central locking, electric windows, an electrically operated boot release, electrically adjustable door mirrors and an electric alarm system with engine immobiliser. You get a removable face stereo and tinted glass, although luxury touches arent what the Tamora is all about.


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Design and technology}0}

Echoing the design weve become used to in the Griffith and the Chimaera, the folding roof is neatly simple. A one-piece removable roof panel stores neatly in the boot. Nothing flashy, but it goes up and down easily, although do think twice before you wheel out the pressure washer. Most TVRs are about as waterproof as the General Belgrano.


There's more than enough straightline acceleration to drain the blood from your eyeballs, and the chassis copes very well with so much grunt.Driving this TVR is about as much fun as you can have on terra firma while fully clothed, stone-cold sober, and uninfluenced by recreational pharmaceuticals


Engineering

The companys engineering bent is evident in the attention paid to the oily bits. All round independent suspension comprising double wishbones and coil over dampers are assisted by chunky anti roll bars to give what promises to be a very firm ride. Likewise the brakes dont leave much to the imagination, with 304mm ventilated front discs with four pot callipers, whilst the rear brakes are only slightly less beefy at 282mm. Drive naturally goes to the rear wheels, the only form of traction control being the weight of your right foot.


The basic layout, front and rear, consists of upper and lower control arms with anti-roll bars and coil-over-gas dampers. High-geared steering that's almost telepathically communicative complements plenty of grip and sharp handling. The Tamora is one of those exquisitely balanced and very responsive mile eaters that require little more than a flexing of the wrists and appropriate amounts of pressure on the loud pedal.


TVR's customers tend to be real enthusiasts rather than poseurs, so the chassis feels increasingly competent as the pace increases, and the ride, a little stiff and joggly at low speeds, becomes surprisingly smooth and absorbent. Wickedly sharp, buttock-clenching bumps that had obviously claimed many victims—there were deep scars on the road—failed to damage the Tamora's exhaust system.

Exterior design

The exterior stylings bound to cause the most controversy, however, lacking the soap-bar slipperiness of the Tuscan or the priapic thrust of the Griffith. Instead the Tamora is a chunkier effort with a bluff rear and a stubby front that looks barely capable of swallowing the straight six 3.6-litre engine. The way the front wings crescent into the doors remains, a clever legacy of the days when TVRs panel fit was somewhere beyond catastrophic, but which has become a signature design touch.


Another distinctively TVR flourish is the vertical stacking of front and rear lights. The TVR 350C takes the Tamora platform and adds a hard top and even more way out styling.The Tamora is enough car to tempt people away from the far more voluptuous Tuscan model is open to question. TVR will have another fire breather on its books that will appeal to a different set of customers.


The Tamora could be their passport to serious dollar wealth as the Blackpool company eyes the US market enviously