I tried to like this car, really, I did!
Nismo reviews the TVR Griffith 500
Understeer, then oversteer.
TVR is a manufacturer I'm not all too acquainted with. All I know about them is they make some freaky awesome paints, and the bonkers Cerbera Speed 12. I first saw the Griffith in GT1, and I had to drive one as part of the licensing tests. It was super difficult to handle, but looking back on it
I initially blamed the game's physics, since simulators 15 years ago were nothing like what we have now. However over the course of this week, I learned that, nope, it really was the car at fault.
Sporty roadsters require sporty colours!
Ah, but "at fault" is such a harsh way of putting it... It's not that the Griffith is a bad car, it just takes some getting used to its unique characteristics. TVR make cars that demand to be
driven, not simply used for the daily commute. And nowhere is this more obvious than the powerplant. It's a 5L V8. This in itself should let you know that it's going to be a monster, I mean last week we were surprised at the Clio's performance, and now we're hopping into a car with over double the engine.
Thing is, I reckon it's looks are the problem. It doesn't look bad, and I'm not saying it looks bad, but it looks rather unassuming. There's no aggressive looking aero kit, no low front splitter, thick rear wing, massive brakes, or anything else that might make you think "Oh cripes, I'm climbing into a monster!"
. No, it just looks like a fun little roadster that you'd take for a cruise and maybe a fun drag race on the highway.
Ash holds his line despite traffic behind him
Chrome... must be McClaren!
First lap, first corner!
But I'm getting sidetracked, all we at COTW care about is how it felt to drive. And after Tuesday, I was ready to say "not good.." But like I said, all you need is to get used to its characteristics. You can't get away with last minute late braking, the brakes aren't that good. It is quite dangerous without TCS, even more so on sport hards. The slightest whiff of a rumble strip or grass and it'll understeer if it was a front wheel, oversteer if it was a rear wheel. Weight isn't an issue either, as there's barely a ton of it to throw around. It could perhaps do with some camber, just to aid it when turning in or going for an apex, but other than that the handling shows no real flaws.
I had mixed results in the races. On some tracks, the Griffith was quite good to me, and on others, it said "🤬 you, I'm the boss!". The race at Fuji was quite awesome, with plenty of runoff and nice wide lines, I was able to battle through the pack and gain a sizeable lead. Until Baron got past everyone else and had clear air, but even then I was able to keep him at bay and deny him a win.
On one occasion, we even took our Griffiths off road, and it did pretty well as a rally car! Not exactly a WRC winning vehicle, but it wasn't hopeless on the dirt!
Who said Kiwis can't fly!
Grass-blasting.
So what do I think of the Griffith?
Well, as previously stated I'm not exactly a TVR fan. But the Griffith seems to be one of those cars where mastering it will make you a better driver. It's not the best car at the pp level (I slaughtered everyone in the lobby in a GT300 RX-7. Yes, even Vic and Baron!), and it's far from being my favourite car, but for what it is, logging some serious miles in this machine and throwing it around will really refine your racecraft. It's gutsy, temperamental, light and cheap, and for that reason I'm calling it a
sleeper! 👍
The rest of my pics from this week:
P.S. As some of you may know, Brad's in Austin for the F1. So I'll once again host the goings on for this next week. The new car will be announced later tonight!