Tiger Factory Visit
The following Saturday myself and Raf took a trip to Wisbech to Tiger Sports cars. Upon arriving you might wonder if you had got the right place. Tiger are a distributed organisation, their manufacturing setup is located away from the workshops we visited. Pulling into the services on the road to Wisbech you would be mistaken for overlooking them. We were welcomed by Paul, one of the leading specialists at Tiger. I have to compliment them on their no-nonsense approach to selling a car. We were left to browse the cars in the workshop completely by ourselves no-one pestering trying the immediate hard sell, this gives you time to appreciate the cars, aesthetically more than anything.
We were pointed in the direction of the Tiger Cat E1, whilst Paul went down the road to fetch the Tiger Avon. The Tiger Cat E1 is Tiger's best selling kit, it is built upon the bedrock of the Sierra single donor. The model we were shown is the Super Cat, sporting the wide body work and enlarged cabin space, first impressions were good, it really felt good on the inside the engineering was superb. I felt immediately at home in the car and extremely comfortable. Downsides were the Sierra peddle box fitted to this model, it has become apparent to me that the way forward is really with a solid floor mounted peddle arrangement. I had plenty of room in the Cat, it was comfortable and not cramped and it definitely gave me the sensation of being a tourer, I was already picturing myself touring across Europe in it.
We were shown round a number of other models just to give us an idea. Tiger has just started producing the ERA HSS and 30 replica models which looked stunning in their BRG livery. The R6 road car and race converted car were much of a talking point. I tried not to concentrate too much on these 200 Bhp monsters, as they were well outside my price range.
Whilst waiting for the Avon to arrive, a natural discussion broke out over what we had seen so far, both Raf and myself were impressed with the engineering of the cars, however the peddle problem still presented an issue, I was extremely enthusiastic about the styling of the Tigers, the centre line bonnet bulge, I thought, gave the car a unique but aggressive look. Raf did not agree and would prefer the cars with a more traditional Seven look, with a flat bonnet.
Enthusiasm is everywhere at Tiger, this was demonstrated none more so than when one of the chassis engineers dropped into the workshop on his way home from the main manufacturing unit. For the next two hours we proceeded to discuss all manner of aspects of the cars, when Paul returned with the Avon is was immediately up in the air to inspect the fully independent rear suspension. The setup was very appealing, this car would not be lugging around half a tonne of pig iron in the form of a Sierra rear axle, its fully independent double wishbones had one purpose in mind, saving weight.
Sitting in the Avon, it was immediately apparent of the difference a few inches width makes. The Avon was snug but purposeful, for an average size man such as myself, everything fell into the correct position, my feet were happily on the pedals, the steering wheel was chunky but felt good to grasp with a proper racing feel to it. Unlike the Robin Hood the gear stick was not ridiculously far forward, my hand naturally fell onto the stick. The interior trim of the Avon was extremely appealing with a distinct stitched design over the drive tunnel. I have only a couple of problems while sitting in the Avon, the hand brake does tend to fowl left arm movement more than other models as it sits slightly higher, where many others are recessed. And dash space, especially around the steering wheel is limited, meaning the gauges have to be offset to the left rather than being set behind the wheel.
Discussing the pedal issues my larger footed friend faced was not a problem for Tiger, soon the bonnet was off and we were discussing potential ways to provide more room by shifting the peddles, which is exactly what you want from a kit car manufacturer. "No it can't be done", or worse still "We can't help you" are not things you really want to hear.
Outside the car it is noticeable that the Avon looks subtly different to all other Tigers, although it has a shaped bulge in the bonnet, it is not the same hump design as the other cars, perhaps this is down to the fact the Avon didn't originate with Tiger, it was purchased and developed as a lowcost solution from the Phoenix sprint car.
Inevitably racing came up, and I was pleased to hear that no matter which Tiger I purchased and whatever engine configuration I chose I would be able to race it. Paul spoke with much detail about the types of cars racing in the one make series for Tigers, proving to be a very popular series there were enough classes for all competitors meaning that the series was not over subscribed, This was indeed good news.
Engine options for the Tiger are not restricted to Ford only engines, but they are only supported by Tiger as such, the example model has a 1800cc Ford Zetec engine running standard fuel injection, and although this means cutting an unsightly hole in the bonnet it bring the engine costs down to as little as £295 + VAT for a 2000cc Zetec second hand. This dramatically reduces my donor costs.
Our final thoughts before leaving, well... I have to confess I fell in love with the Tiger, it demonstrates all the characteristics of things I want in a kit car. I can race or tour in it. It may be basic to start with but it is customisable enough to enable me to change particular aspects I don't like later on.
It is light, punchy and has a well sorted chassis as demonstrated by Bill Solace in the Ultimate Kit Car DVD who tested the very car I was sitting in, with nothing but praise for it.
As a final treat just before we left Tiger, Paul showed us out to a running Tiger R6, he took us for a short spin up the road to give a better experience of the sensations of driving a kit car. Although perhaps more powerful than where we would be starting with its 200 Bhp Duratec engine, the R6 provided aphenomenall grin factor, with raw acceleration that literally stole the breath out of your mouth. I was sold before, but I was chomping at the bit when I came back from the test drive.
I can't wait for my build to start, roll on summer and let the build commence!
We were pointed in the direction of the Tiger Cat E1, whilst Paul went down the road to fetch the Tiger Avon. The Tiger Cat E1 is Tiger's best selling kit, it is built upon the bedrock of the Sierra single donor. The model we were shown is the Super Cat, sporting the wide body work and enlarged cabin space, first impressions were good, it really felt good on the inside the engineering was superb. I felt immediately at home in the car and extremely comfortable. Downsides were the Sierra peddle box fitted to this model, it has become apparent to me that the way forward is really with a solid floor mounted peddle arrangement. I had plenty of room in the Cat, it was comfortable and not cramped and it definitely gave me the sensation of being a tourer, I was already picturing myself touring across Europe in it.
We were shown round a number of other models just to give us an idea. Tiger has just started producing the ERA HSS and 30 replica models which looked stunning in their BRG livery. The R6 road car and race converted car were much of a talking point. I tried not to concentrate too much on these 200 Bhp monsters, as they were well outside my price range.
Whilst waiting for the Avon to arrive, a natural discussion broke out over what we had seen so far, both Raf and myself were impressed with the engineering of the cars, however the peddle problem still presented an issue, I was extremely enthusiastic about the styling of the Tigers, the centre line bonnet bulge, I thought, gave the car a unique but aggressive look. Raf did not agree and would prefer the cars with a more traditional Seven look, with a flat bonnet.
Enthusiasm is everywhere at Tiger, this was demonstrated none more so than when one of the chassis engineers dropped into the workshop on his way home from the main manufacturing unit. For the next two hours we proceeded to discuss all manner of aspects of the cars, when Paul returned with the Avon is was immediately up in the air to inspect the fully independent rear suspension. The setup was very appealing, this car would not be lugging around half a tonne of pig iron in the form of a Sierra rear axle, its fully independent double wishbones had one purpose in mind, saving weight.
Sitting in the Avon, it was immediately apparent of the difference a few inches width makes. The Avon was snug but purposeful, for an average size man such as myself, everything fell into the correct position, my feet were happily on the pedals, the steering wheel was chunky but felt good to grasp with a proper racing feel to it. Unlike the Robin Hood the gear stick was not ridiculously far forward, my hand naturally fell onto the stick. The interior trim of the Avon was extremely appealing with a distinct stitched design over the drive tunnel. I have only a couple of problems while sitting in the Avon, the hand brake does tend to fowl left arm movement more than other models as it sits slightly higher, where many others are recessed. And dash space, especially around the steering wheel is limited, meaning the gauges have to be offset to the left rather than being set behind the wheel.
Discussing the pedal issues my larger footed friend faced was not a problem for Tiger, soon the bonnet was off and we were discussing potential ways to provide more room by shifting the peddles, which is exactly what you want from a kit car manufacturer. "No it can't be done", or worse still "We can't help you" are not things you really want to hear.
Outside the car it is noticeable that the Avon looks subtly different to all other Tigers, although it has a shaped bulge in the bonnet, it is not the same hump design as the other cars, perhaps this is down to the fact the Avon didn't originate with Tiger, it was purchased and developed as a lowcost solution from the Phoenix sprint car.
Inevitably racing came up, and I was pleased to hear that no matter which Tiger I purchased and whatever engine configuration I chose I would be able to race it. Paul spoke with much detail about the types of cars racing in the one make series for Tigers, proving to be a very popular series there were enough classes for all competitors meaning that the series was not over subscribed, This was indeed good news.
Engine options for the Tiger are not restricted to Ford only engines, but they are only supported by Tiger as such, the example model has a 1800cc Ford Zetec engine running standard fuel injection, and although this means cutting an unsightly hole in the bonnet it bring the engine costs down to as little as £295 + VAT for a 2000cc Zetec second hand. This dramatically reduces my donor costs.
Our final thoughts before leaving, well... I have to confess I fell in love with the Tiger, it demonstrates all the characteristics of things I want in a kit car. I can race or tour in it. It may be basic to start with but it is customisable enough to enable me to change particular aspects I don't like later on.
It is light, punchy and has a well sorted chassis as demonstrated by Bill Solace in the Ultimate Kit Car DVD who tested the very car I was sitting in, with nothing but praise for it.
As a final treat just before we left Tiger, Paul showed us out to a running Tiger R6, he took us for a short spin up the road to give a better experience of the sensations of driving a kit car. Although perhaps more powerful than where we would be starting with its 200 Bhp Duratec engine, the R6 provided aphenomenall grin factor, with raw acceleration that literally stole the breath out of your mouth. I was sold before, but I was chomping at the bit when I came back from the test drive.
I can't wait for my build to start, roll on summer and let the build commence!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home