Exterior not to my personal taste - a bit 'manga' IMO - but in TVRs equivalent of Europa blue it did look lovely. Enormous wheels do it justice.
The interior is well coachbuilt if overstyled for my taste. The pedals were strangely positioned for me, although I understand you can adjust the pedal box on these.
Door shuts with a decent thunk. Seat comfy if a bit narrow-hipped.
Start it up BLOODY HELL !! The engine is LEVIATHAN ! The car shudders and rumbles as the engine catches and fires. The blap of the exhaust makes my nape tingle as it falls to idle. Marvellous !
Pootle out onto the teeny Welsh lane and the steering feels fine, the throttle pedal has a hugely long travel and its difficult to crawl without kangaroo jumping. Ride seems fine at 30 mph. Brakes are powerful but lacking a bit of feel at low speeds - like pinching a brick in mole grips - you know theres some serious pressure, but you're never sure quite how much.
Out onto the main road and I hoof it - FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK!
The whole car snaps to attention and snakes in line behind that monstrous engine ! Its is a snarling, bellowing thing - it really feels like it is some barely tamed mythical beast rather than a mechanical thing - a lord of the rings extra perhaps - harnessed for some malevolent purpose. The torque is a tad less immediate than I'd expected but press that looooong thrittle pedal down and the power slaps in like Thor's hammer, slapping down a challenge to the rear tyres to grip, and to me to hold on without backing off.Gearchange is a little obstructive and I soon learn not to back off throttle too much when changing gear to avoid the kangaroo motion once more. Third gear acceleration is devastating - not just fast but a truly visceral and dramatic, affecting experience, like witnessing a Tornado or Volcano first hand. Amazing - I am left breathless !
I change up to fourth and I'm running out of road at a very illegal speed indeed - gentle bends become tight apexes at that speed, and credit to the car it steers predictably and admirably despite the engine's best efforts to snap it offline. I back off as we approach Newtown and swing it around a roundaboit in third to go back the way we came. The arse gives up gripping under protest and swings wide, complaining loudly. I have never ever applied opposite lock in normal driving in 22 years of driving ( in perfect driving conditions like these) but I have to today and the Tuscan responds as if I have just applied a normal mechanical device. I hammer up through second third again, my guts being lifted in my abdomen until I change up. The violence of the acceleration and the whole experience is something I could not of imagined. The engine bellows and snorts with genuine malevolence, and the whole car resonates with the effort of harnessing it.
I backed off
, short shifted into fourth and cruised back under a ton feeling the car handle the bends. In truth it is nowhere near the communicator that the VX is - steering only REALLY works when coupled with throttle inputs, and the ride is fidgety, and you're only ever a toe-press or lift away from fatal over- or under-steer.I thrum back onto the caravan site main car park and stop. I am grinnng like a loon. The owner (
Mike Marsh - you are a star mate ! THANKS ! ) steps out of the p-side and asks what I think.I tell him its wonderful, brilliant, fantastic because its his pride and joy and he's just let me spank it for fourteen miles !.
In truth, my opinion is more complex.
Being critical the car is really an engine with a car tacked on. That wonderful engine dictates every part of the Tuscan experience, handling, braking, steering, everything. In raw 'handling' terms, my VX has it whooped - as a means of enjoying what the road throws at you, the VX reigns supreme. The meld of driver/car and conditions is nowhere near that offered by the VX. However it is a fine handling car even when trailing the throttle by almost any standards and makes our 200SX feel like a tippy-toes barge by comparison.
However.....as a driving experience I don't know if there is a better one on earth. It would take a dead peron to not be thrilled by piloting that mastodon power unit, the drama, presence, even spirit of the engine affected me at a level below the waist and behind conscious thought.
The Tuscan is as brutal as the VX is delicate; as primal as the VX is refined. It tries to throw you off where the VX warns well in advance of any trouble. It is a ballbreaker, while the VX is a sweetheart. It is Metallica to the VX's Stone Roses.
I never thought I'd ever consider swapping the VX for anything but theres definitely a 'hmmmm' daemon running in my brain now that I need to deal with
Absolutely impractical, nearly unexploitable on road or track the Tuscan is a magnificent, bestial monster that made me desire it in spite of those things. Somebody tell me how stupid I am to consider one......please!
