British brand builds another bruiser

TVR make cars for drivers. These vehicles are made to accelerate, brake and corner to such a degree, that many other 'standard' features are left by the wayside.

Mountains of torque, a low drag coefficient, perfect weight distribution and serious levels of grip constitute what has made TVR the marque it is today.

As such, your average TVR has little boot space, no beverage holders, is not built for the family and is best used for throttling hard down deserted backroads.

It would be fair to say that the average TVR is hard to live with. Which is why this next model was developed - essentially the entry-level TVR.

Making the brand even more accessible to enthusiastic drivers, TVR has just recently created it's cheapest model yet. You wouldn't call them supercars, but that's because the price of admission isn't stratospherically high. For a well 'ard TVR, as the Brits would say, you'll pay about the same amount as for an HSV GTO Coupe.

The new Tamora is cheaper than the Tuscan or Cerbera, but many an Englishman - who, it must be said, dearly love TVR - think that the new Tamora isn't as visually appealing as its precursors.

We don't think it's ugly, but it's not exactly a work of art either. But as the saying goes, you can never judge a car by its paintjob, or something...

The TVR Tamora is based on the same underpinnings as the Tuscan, with new body panels and a de-tuned engine. As we've mentioned, the new look is spurned by some, but take the subtle wheel arches for instance - the way the low profile rubber on 16-inch wheels is only just covered gives the Tamora an aggressive edge. All the panels are made from carbo-fibre, which helps keep the weight down.

It's about the size of a Mazda MX-5, but would give your average Lamborghini a seriously good run for its money.

It also has the same tubular frame and wheelbase as the Tuscan, but it is shorter and narrower, meaning reduced overhangs.

Many drivers criticised the Tuscan as having too much power, which gave the very lightweight vehicle a serious lack of traction at the rear - wheelspin was as simple as feathering the throttle.

So the engine was de-stroked from 4.0-litres to 3.6, and the suspension settings were fettled. You get independent double wishbone suspension at all four corners and coil over gas dampers assisted by large anti-roll bars.

As such, the new Tamora is much easier to drive on an everyday basis. People are already comparing the similarly priced baby TVR with the epochal Porsche Boxster S.

Making use of a six-speed manual transmission, the 1060kg Tamora is fitted with said 3605cc engine. And speaking of engines, people go on about Porsche's impressive 'boxer' six-cylinder mills, and of course there is much veneration for the trusty V6 engine too.

Yet TVR has predominantly stuck with the straight-six, giving it's cars a signature engine configuration, if you will. These inline sixes are free-revving wonders - how many 3.6-litre V6s have a 7500rpm redline?

Anyway, back to the Tamora's powerplant, and the 3.6-litre mill found in the diminuitive Tamora is a quite a piece of work. When stretched, it can propel the little two-seater to 160km/h in about 9 seconds.

It can accelerate to 100km/h in about 4.2 seconds, which is exceedingly fast. But different to the Tuscan, the Tamora's tweaked engine develops its power much higher up the rev range, meaning if you want to drive it semi-sensibly, it won't be a chore.

With four-valves per cylinder, dual overhead cams and a very high compression ratio of 11:1, the inline six creates 261kW @ 7200rpm, with peak torque of 393Nm on tap @ 5500rpm.

This allows the car a top speed of about 260km/h and, thankfully, the brakes are up to the job of slowing the feather-weight sportscar down. Both front and rear discs are ventilated, with the fronts measuring in at 304mm, and the rears at 282 mm. Four piston calipres up front do most of the work, while larger single potters at the rear lend a hand.

The new Tamora is simply the entry-level TVR, but with Ferrari-like specs, it's anything but generic. To keep costs down, the interior is fairly plain, and air-conditioning is an optional extra - it's just too heavy to include as standard!

The dials simple and the Tamora doesn't have the likes of ABS, EBD or ESP - instead it has three gear change lights that can be set to any amout of revs to tell the driver when best to shift. You also push a button underneath the mirrors to automatically pop open the doors. Very suave.

The Tamora has been a complete success for TVR, in terms of creating a car that has power, but can also take on corners without fear of the rear-end stepping out.

Some even say it's a turning point for TVR, and that it's finally hit the nail on the head - at least in the drivability department. Perhaps in a few years time TVR will unleash a new-look Tamora that would do the car's handling and power characteristics a little more justice. But for now, we're just impressed with what TVR is doing with its line-up.

The TVR Tamora is the cheapest of all the TVRs, costing £37,410, which translates to about local $102,000. Porsche is preparing to re-jig the current Boxster series with bigger engines, and the new Boxster S vs Tamora would be a very interesting duel indeed. As it stands, the new TVR Tamora is definitely a step in the right direction for one of Britains last independent auto makers.