TVR’s new Sagaris makes major strides forwards in several key areas technically and it's hard to argue against visually. In some ways it is the car TVR always promised to produce but never quite managed to deliver under Peter Wheeler, though much of the styling work was completed under his guidance.
It is surely one of the most spectacular sports cars ever to go on sale in the UK. In the flesh it’s a surprisingly small machine. Yet the drama of its stance and its details still lend it massive road presence, especially the low front splitter and the fake cooling fins that run along the tops of each wing.
Beneath the bonnet, but mounted so far back in the chassis that TVR rightly refers to the Sagaris as being front-mid-engined, lies Blackpool’s 3996cc aluminium straight six. Except in this instance it has been tuned to produce 406bhp between 7000-7500rpm and 349lb ft at 5000rpm. Thank this particular engine’s forged aluminium pistons, forged steel conrods, remapped fuel injection system and dry-sump oil system for that.
But it’s the chassis, arguably, that makes the biggest leap forward. There are double unequal-length wishbones at each corner and predictably vast ventilated disc brakes front and rear, but the springs are more than two times stiffer than any previous TVR’s and mark a radical change in suspension philosophy. The idea is that these stiffer springs allow far less body movement and provide much better high-speed control without any significant loss of traction or ride quality. Considering TVR got some of the best names in the business to help fine-tune the car’s dampers, it will be interesting to experience the results.
Apart from introducing harder springs and a rather more thorough approach to durability testing, another aspect Smolenski has altered is the way his cars steer. They are deliberately less aggressive than of old, hence the Sagaris has a rack that has two whole turns between the locks and electro-hydraulic assistance.
