The TVR Cerbera Speed Twelve made its world debut at the London Motor Show in October 1999 and is a departure from the traditional TVR manufacturing methods.
With its hybrid aluminium honeycomb and tubular steel chassis, carbon fibre bodywork, six speed sequential gearbox and unique fabricated steel blocked V12 800 bhp powerplant, this sensational lightweight variation of the Cerbera theme is in the tradition of week-end race cars that can be driven to and from the track. The car inherits more than just the engine and therefore name of its GT1 predecessor. With the recent demise of GT1, TVR has taken the opportunity to develop a new GT2 contender that will take TVR back onto the global GT stage. International GT rules mandate a flat floor and a tubular steel roll cage and so the primary chassis of the car consists of a T45 steel tubular safety cell which is integrally braced by the flat aluminium honeycomb floor and bulkheads. This hybrid construction both follows the racing rules and allows for the car to be quite simple to assemble.
The front bulkhead is immediately behind the engine whilst the rear one lies directly ahead of the rear wheels. This allows the exhausts to exit cleanly away from the engine and then turn ahead of the footwell to run down the sills, and the driver to sit as far rearward as possible. The removal of the previous structural reliance upon the tunnel allows this to be as narrow as the gearbox dictates and in turn allows the driver to be positioned further inboard towards the centreline of the car. The honeycomb floor and bulkheads are stiff enough to accept the seat mounts and pedal assemblies directly without need for further reinforcement. The floors are stabilised at their outer edges where they are folded up 90¦ to give 40mm of crushable protection for the occupants.
The wide sills house the silencers which are also contribute to the side impact protection which ends finally with the cage doorbars. Because the floor and bulkhead assembly form the complete cockpit area they can be assembled, bonded and rivetted before the cage is bolted into place. This then forms a sealed centre section that contains the driver and fuel tank safely within the rollover cage and also has the required flat floor. There are front and rear subframesthat are simple, light yet stiff tubular fabrications (again in T45 steel). These are bolted to the cage through the honeycomb bulkhead panels via ingenious self aligning steel fittings that make use of the shear stiffness of the bulkheads to triangulate the roll cage structure. The engine is fitted by removing the entire front end of the car, without the necessity of disconnecting any oil or water pipes. The outermost ends of the subframes terminate in aerospace alloy billet bulkheads that fulfil both structural and practical roles.
At the front two back to back, machined from solid plates, form a void that is the oil dry sump tank: provide all the mountings for the front suspension and steering rack and physically connect the open subframe tubes. At the rear a similar machined from solid plate seals the rear of the differential housing and provides mountings for the rear suspension. The differential housing provides a structural load path between the rear subframe and the cabin section via a fabricated casing that also locates the rear lower wishbones. The suspension consists of classic double wishbones all round, with coil over gas clampers operated by pushrods and with rising rate anti-roll bars front and rear. The centre lock rnagnesium wheels run on steel hubs within exquisitely fabricated aerospace steel vaned uprights to allow cooling air to reach the massive (51" brake discs and callipers.
At the rear the driveshaft CV joints are Integrated within the hub/bearing assembly. All of the suspension joints pivot on spherical bearings. The bodywork is all manufactured in house out of carbon fibre pre-preg composite with a mixture of Nomex and Kevlar reinforcement, the overall style being that of a Cerbera on steroids. The entire front and rear are one piece mouidings for quick and easy access whilst the cabin section is bonded to the honeycomb bulkheads and sides to form the sealed passenger compartment. The front screen contains a heating element for elegant demisting whilst rear vision is perhaps described at best as 'adequate", given the imposing presence of the rear wing.
Of all the new features of the Speed Twelve, the most significant is TVR's own all-new. 7.7 litre V12 which gives the car its name. In unrestricted form this engine gives 800 bhp @ 7250 rpm and 650 ft lb of torque at 5750 rpm. In principle, the engine is two Speed Sixes but in reality shares little but the valves of its smaller sister. Among its more notable features are Its aluminium 48 valve heads, high molybdenum EN14T steel block. EN40B nitrided steel crankshaft and EN24B conrods. Even the road car is trimmed in an extremely spartan fashion with weight saving being paramount in the engineers' minds but a small number of road cars have been delivered already. The racing programme has been very successful, even in its early stages, and the drivers of the Cerbera Speed 12, Ian McKellar Jnr. and Bobby Verdon-Roe. have been on the podium of the British GT series a number of times in 2000 Including of the car's maiden victory at Silverstone during the summer.
Year: 1999 Status: Currently in production
Engine: 7.7 litre V12 Power: 800 bhp @ 7250 rpm
0-60: n/a Top speed: n/a
With its hybrid aluminium honeycomb and tubular steel chassis, carbon fibre bodywork, six speed sequential gearbox and unique fabricated steel blocked V12 800 bhp powerplant, this sensational lightweight variation of the Cerbera theme is in the tradition of week-end race cars that can be driven to and from the track. The car inherits more than just the engine and therefore name of its GT1 predecessor. With the recent demise of GT1, TVR has taken the opportunity to develop a new GT2 contender that will take TVR back onto the global GT stage. International GT rules mandate a flat floor and a tubular steel roll cage and so the primary chassis of the car consists of a T45 steel tubular safety cell which is integrally braced by the flat aluminium honeycomb floor and bulkheads. This hybrid construction both follows the racing rules and allows for the car to be quite simple to assemble.
The front bulkhead is immediately behind the engine whilst the rear one lies directly ahead of the rear wheels. This allows the exhausts to exit cleanly away from the engine and then turn ahead of the footwell to run down the sills, and the driver to sit as far rearward as possible. The removal of the previous structural reliance upon the tunnel allows this to be as narrow as the gearbox dictates and in turn allows the driver to be positioned further inboard towards the centreline of the car. The honeycomb floor and bulkheads are stiff enough to accept the seat mounts and pedal assemblies directly without need for further reinforcement. The floors are stabilised at their outer edges where they are folded up 90¦ to give 40mm of crushable protection for the occupants.
The wide sills house the silencers which are also contribute to the side impact protection which ends finally with the cage doorbars. Because the floor and bulkhead assembly form the complete cockpit area they can be assembled, bonded and rivetted before the cage is bolted into place. This then forms a sealed centre section that contains the driver and fuel tank safely within the rollover cage and also has the required flat floor. There are front and rear subframesthat are simple, light yet stiff tubular fabrications (again in T45 steel). These are bolted to the cage through the honeycomb bulkhead panels via ingenious self aligning steel fittings that make use of the shear stiffness of the bulkheads to triangulate the roll cage structure. The engine is fitted by removing the entire front end of the car, without the necessity of disconnecting any oil or water pipes. The outermost ends of the subframes terminate in aerospace alloy billet bulkheads that fulfil both structural and practical roles.
At the front two back to back, machined from solid plates, form a void that is the oil dry sump tank: provide all the mountings for the front suspension and steering rack and physically connect the open subframe tubes. At the rear a similar machined from solid plate seals the rear of the differential housing and provides mountings for the rear suspension. The differential housing provides a structural load path between the rear subframe and the cabin section via a fabricated casing that also locates the rear lower wishbones. The suspension consists of classic double wishbones all round, with coil over gas clampers operated by pushrods and with rising rate anti-roll bars front and rear. The centre lock rnagnesium wheels run on steel hubs within exquisitely fabricated aerospace steel vaned uprights to allow cooling air to reach the massive (51" brake discs and callipers.
At the rear the driveshaft CV joints are Integrated within the hub/bearing assembly. All of the suspension joints pivot on spherical bearings. The bodywork is all manufactured in house out of carbon fibre pre-preg composite with a mixture of Nomex and Kevlar reinforcement, the overall style being that of a Cerbera on steroids. The entire front and rear are one piece mouidings for quick and easy access whilst the cabin section is bonded to the honeycomb bulkheads and sides to form the sealed passenger compartment. The front screen contains a heating element for elegant demisting whilst rear vision is perhaps described at best as 'adequate", given the imposing presence of the rear wing.
Of all the new features of the Speed Twelve, the most significant is TVR's own all-new. 7.7 litre V12 which gives the car its name. In unrestricted form this engine gives 800 bhp @ 7250 rpm and 650 ft lb of torque at 5750 rpm. In principle, the engine is two Speed Sixes but in reality shares little but the valves of its smaller sister. Among its more notable features are Its aluminium 48 valve heads, high molybdenum EN14T steel block. EN40B nitrided steel crankshaft and EN24B conrods. Even the road car is trimmed in an extremely spartan fashion with weight saving being paramount in the engineers' minds but a small number of road cars have been delivered already. The racing programme has been very successful, even in its early stages, and the drivers of the Cerbera Speed 12, Ian McKellar Jnr. and Bobby Verdon-Roe. have been on the podium of the British GT series a number of times in 2000 Including of the car's maiden victory at Silverstone during the summer.
Year: 1999 Status: Currently in production
Engine: 7.7 litre V12 Power: 800 bhp @ 7250 rpm
0-60: n/a Top speed: n/a