Race Idiot
All TVR's current cars are better handlers and suited for trackdays. If the K series was unable to pass certifcation in the Elise I doubt TVR's 6 cylinder engine would pass, so it would probably get a nice American V8 which would also be easier to fix in America and to get parts etc, although the old Rover V8 was a GM Castoff i've heard but it's now stopped production.
You heard right.
The 215 cu.in./3.5L Rover V8 was designed in the late '50s by Buick and Oldsmobile, back in the days when the GM divisions were autonomous and had their own engineers. It was originally offered as the standard engine in the new-for-'61 Buick Special and Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass, and optional in the Pontiac Tempest. All-aluminum, and only 3.5L displacement; it was very light to say the least (around 325 lbs.). But it wasn't all that powerful, with only 155hp with the 2-barrel carburetor and 185hp with the 4-barrel. In '62 they bumped up the compression in the "Buick" version of the engine to give 200hp with the 4-barrel, and Oldsmobile produced the world's first ever production car with a turbocharger (beating out its sibling Chevrolet Corvair by about a month), the version of the F-85 called Jetfire. It still had a rediculously high 10.25:1 compression ratio, so boost was only 5psi, and it required the use of a special fuel Oldsmobile called "Turbo Rocket Fluid", a half-and-half mix of distilled water and methyl alcohol. It was kept in a small resevoir under the hood, and was used when the turbocharger spooled up under high load, in order to prevent pinging. In fact, the intake system was designed to bypass the turbocharger completely if there wasn't any fluid left in the reservoir.
The engine only lasted until the 1963 model year, after which the rights to the design and manufacturing were sold to British Leyland. After going through several changes, including eventually electronic fuel injection and several changes to displacement, it continued to live on until this year, when the Land Rover Discovery's 4.6L version of the engine will be replaced by the new LR3's 4.4L Jag-derived engine.
In a way, it still lives on. The 215 design was made into a slightly modified bored and stroked iron-block version in 1964 that pushed displacement up to 300 cubic inches (4.9L). It wasn't nearly as sophisticated or techniologically advanced, but it was cheaper and more powerful, and that was all that mattered to the American car-buying public in the mid-'60s. The 300 was also made into a V6 version in 1964, with 225 cubic inches displacement (3.7L). However, Buick engineers didn't modify the firing order from the V8 to V6, so it was rough as hell. They sold the design to Kaiser-Jeep in 1966, which used the engine in CJs and Commandos. Even AMC kept using the engine in CJs and Commandos after they had bought Kaiser-Jeep in 1970. They finally sold the design back to GM in 1974, which was coincidentally right around the same time as the first oil crisis. GM needed something fuel efficient to put in its smaller cars. Before reinstalling it into production cars GM engineers completely redesign the bottom end, gave a smoother firing order, and bored it out slightly to 231cu.in. (3.8L).
The 3.8L was turbocharged in the late-'70s, harkening back to its predecessor of almost 20 years before. It eventually was fitted with fuel injection in the '80s, and once again turbocharged in Buick Regal coupes, the most well known being the Regal T-types, Grand Nationals and famed '87 GNX. In '87, the Buick GNX became GM's fastest car in a straight line, beating out the V8-powered C4 Corvette. (The engine was used again in the '89 20th Anniversary Pontiac Turbo Trans Am, which again made the car the fastest in GM's stable). It was given a slight redesign in 1990, and renamed 3800. It was then supercharged in the Buick Park Avenue Ultra and Pontiac SSEi in 1991 and '92, redesigned again in 1995 to become the 3800 Series II, and redesigned again in 2003 to become the 3800 Series III, where the engine makes 260hp and 280ft-lbs in supercharged form.
Alas, even the old 3800 is going to be given the boot in the coming years. Holden has already replaced the "Ecotec 3800" with the DOHC "Alloytec", and the Buick Regal's replacement has dropped it in favour of the new 3.6L VVT-equipped motor. It will also be replaced with a 3.9L version of the 3.5L OHV V6 in the Malibu and G6.
To finish up, and get the point I was originally going to make, if TVR ever intended to use a new GM V8 extensive modifications to the driveline would need to be made, as none of the Buick engines remain in production save for the 3800 Series II & III, which are both designed for front-drive applications. They'd have to use a Corvette or Holden drivetrain (which I would wholeheartedly support; an LS2-, LS1- or LS6-equipped TVR would be a hoot to drive).
man I dont think they will ever reply. Oh and the TSO is alright but IMO nothing compared to the Mantis and Mantra.
