( http://www.bigpower.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3847) Anyway, a few weeks have passed and Dan was finished licking his automotive wounds. His MSN had been a heavily used means of pestering the living hell out of a few of us poking, prodding and cajoling us for more ideas, concepts, photos and the like. His shortlist was longer than most peoples lifetime wish lists! He basically wanted;
Power
rear wheel drive
presence
and the ability to stun people when necessary (Manfoot
)Those that know him well were surprised when he started veering away from an R32. I was a bit surprised but I felt it was as good a time as any to try something new. I mean for this sort of budget, where exactly do you go after a 500+ GTR?
To quote a source "in Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos (Greek Κέρβερος, Kerberos, "demon of the pit") was the hound of Hades, a monstrous three-headed dog (sometimes said to have 50 or 100 heads) called a hellhound. Cerberus guarded the gate to Hades and ensured that spirits of the dead could enter..............'
Now, the cryptic amongst you will have deduced that young Daniel has gone and bought himself a bit of an animal, albeit one wearing a dinner jacket, but for the less versed in ancient myth I bring you
the TVR Cerbera
The last picture shows Dans new car next to Ians. Anyone that knows Ians R33 knows that it tends to tweak the old glance or acknowledgement when burbling through most town centres. A great looking car with some nice mods, proper JDM in the main. Unfortunately Dans little Cerb, only 4.2 litres (bless) and not a turbo in sight.
Normally I tend to think '
' but on this occasion there was no need for pity, more a need for ear defenders and a cautious right foot.I'll give you some stats first and then some notes from an all too brief test drive.
0-60 4 secs
0-100 9 secs
185+ top end
1100kgs
mmmmmmmm
Those are factory figures and Dan will be removing the CATS soon. Giddy-up 8)
The drive. A busy Saturday afternoon at the Shire meant that I could only squeeze out for a few minutes. Thanks to Mr Booker and his anti-social 15 foot long phallic extension of a car, I arrived back late. Well........I was offered a drive, what the hell was I supposed to do?
Dan lead the way, I was immediately impressed with the unique styling of the Cerb compared to the JapCrap I know and love. Leather is always nice and this car had a feel of a living breathing conveyance. Mr Denings anology of his car being made from a single piece of oak was about right. I climbed aboard, dropping into the passenger seat, and the only position I could adopt was one of a man being lowered into a cannon like a circus act. With my legs pointed about infront and a reclined seat back holding my torso, I swung the featherweight door shut. This weightless door shutting reminded me of the Sierra, apart from the build quality, trim standard and the bonnet dropping away out of view much like an old muscle car.This Cerb actually has a full on, staged starting sequence. A car thief would not stand a chance trying to chore this bugger, and with that thought Dan primed the car and started her up. Sweet Jesus
I know a loud car when I hear one. Some might say that my own is a touch vocal but this Cerb makes mine sound like one of those electric scooters. At tick over it sounded awesome and remember those pesky CATS are still in place. Noise testing will be interesting on Wednesday, that's for sure. A few well practiced blips of the throttle soon told me that I needed to see what the car would do under proper engine load.
Dan driving we edged out onto the High Street and headed towards the A11. If Ians car could make people look, Dans car would make people stop conversation, point fingers, babies would cry, birds would fall from the sky, men would smile and nod , women wanted to see if there was a correlation between bonnet length and.................anyway. You get the point. At 15 mph on a beautiful sunny day, all eyes were on the Cerb at a little over a thousand revs. What the fuck would happen when he opened the taps? With a cacophony of bangs and thuds like anti lag, our sedate progress seemed at odds with the fireworks from the exhaust. Their synchronicity improved with revs. The car climbed through the rev range so quickly, almost like turning the volume knob on an amp. We saw the derestricted sign and Dan fed the throttle, 1/2 inch at a time. The car devoured third gear and lazily started chomping its way through fourth on thick, gutsy globs of torque. Having driven a few big V8's and many six cylinder cars, this engine seemed to borrow from both. Tonnes of torque from no revs at all but it revs like an RB26?! 'This will be a giggle' I thought. Until I noticed something, that was. Dan, for the first time in 5 years of knowing him, was showing mechanical sympathy (or was it fear) He was shifting up at 5k rpm and and there was no way he was hitting the carpet with the throttle. The car still felt fast if a little choked by the CATS, and the Nitron equipped suspension was sublime, far better than the other two Cerbs I'd been in. Big, big brakes slowed our progress admirably and we headed towards Snett, for a swap over. Dan said I could drive :P
I gratefully accepted his offer and realised I had some flip flops on (over 300 bhp and lb torque, someone elses car, flip flops and no ABS or traction control meant me kicking them off) Soon sorted that and I selected first in the tight gearbox and brought up the weighty clutch. The torque was like God giving you a hand up the road. Seemless acceleration and seemless grins from Booker-san sitting in the pax seat. Grinning and laughing at the acoustics. We went passed this pub four times in 20 minutes and guys, without fail, every time people did the whole stop, stare and point thing. To say that Dan enjoyed those moments is an understatement. A little earlier whilst Dan was driving I had mentioned to him about his early gear changing and he said' There's no redline, so I'm doing it by ear' Bearing in mind this flat plane crank, race exhaust with CATS and 4.2 cammed V8 sounds like a world war 2 Spitfire prepping for take off, quite how he could discern an upshift is beyond me.....I think he was being a pussy
Our MSN conflabs had led me to read that peak power of 360+ hp was achieved some 2.25k in the range later and when I told Dan that, he tipped his head a little and laughed this big old belly laugh. He said I'd better see what it was like then.I came off of a roundabout and firmly pressed the throttle holding out for 5.5k before changing again. There was no traffic and even keeping within the speed limits showed more of the potential, more throttle and more revs = more grins for Dan. A little further up I went to exit, the super sharp steering darting us in, went to blip the throttle using heel and toe and cocked it right up! The spacing is quite unusual with no shoes on but Dan was gracious enough not to laugh or grab the wheel in disgust. We returned to the shop, snapping onlookers undergarments en-route and parked up at the store for a debrief.
It handled, stopped and pulled like I expected, maybe better. With full revs and committed gear changing I think Dan may be in for a shock. It was nicely appointed and looked gorgeous. It is simply the best sounding motor vehicle I can think of at this moment. Maybe the GT3 at full revs is purer, perhaps the RB26 at 6k sweeter but for all around jaw dropping sonics the AJP V8 is pretty bloody good.
Best of all it's replaced Dans smile. I don't doubt their relationship will be a tempestuous one but they can sometimes be the most fulfilling.
Hope it goes well for you mate. Took some guts to drop the GTR and go for something different. I hope you get what you deserve :thumb:
