A NEW DAWN FOR ICONIC BRITISH MANUFACTURER
- TVR’s new sports car revealed in global public debut
- Gordon Murray design features full ground effect and 50:50 weight distribution
- Vital statistics: 400bhp/tonne, more than 200mph top speed, sub-4.0 seconds 0-60mph, carbon fibre chassis
Welcoming a new era in its history, TVR has unveiled its all new sports car, the TVR Griffith, at the Goodwood Revival. Revealed to media and visitors, the Griffith is the first new TVR to be launched since the company was resurrected in British hands.
The new Griffith stays true to the brand’s rich heritage, while employing cutting-edge engineering. The exterior has been designed to be as striking as it is aerodynamically efficient. The timeless sports car silhouette is accented with deep air intakes, generating high levels of downforce and cooling.
Embodying TVR’s long-standing ethos of the Sprit of Driving – the principle of delivering an involving driving interface where the driver will always be fully in control – the new Griffith uses intelligent engineering over electronic driver aids. Only the second front-engined production car to feature a flat floor, the new TVR Griffith boasts a full ground-effect aerodynamic package to ensure that the car remains stable at high speeds and delivers exceptional handling abilities.
Employing Gordon Murray Design’s innovative iStream architecture with carbon composite structure and body panels, the new TVR Griffith weighs just 1250kg, offers exceptional torsional rigidity and a perfect 50:50 weight distribution.
Powering the new TVR Griffith is a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre Cosworth-enhanced V8, which enables 400bhp/tonne and is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. The new TVR Griffith achieves a top speed of more than 200mph, and accelerates from 0-60mph in less than four seconds.
Les Edgar said: “Today’s unveiling is the culmination of nearly three years of tireless work by the team, and we’re all proud to be able to show the new TVR Griffith to the world. This is unmistakably a TVR, a British muscle car that’s as awesome and brutal as it is charismatic and refined. Importantly, the new TVR offers levels of technical sophistication, comfort, reliability and practicality never seen by the brand before.”
The new TVR Griffith unveiled to the public today is presented in Launch Edition specification, which includes a full leather interior and custom alloy wheels, as well as Launch Edition paint options and a bespoke infotainment system. Starting from £90,000, production of the new TVR Griffith Launch Edition will begin in late 2018.
TVR is also previewing the new Griffith in a striking pace car livery, signalling the brand’s intention to return to the racetracks of the world in the very near future.
DESIGN
Unmistakably TVR
Boasting timeless sports car proportions and radical styling, the new Griffith is unmistakably a TVR, while its LED headlamps and full ground effect aerodynamics truly bring the brand into the present day.
Designed to be as striking as it is aerodynamically efficient, the new TVR Griffith’s front end is dominated by a large, angular front grille set just centimetres above the car’s front splitter. Deep air intakes integrated into front valance not only provide optimum brake cooling, but generate additional downforce for front end stability. Meanwhile, the front light clusters are reminiscent of previous TVR Griffiths.
Front wings that are sculpted to match the contours of the front wheel lead the eye down the svelte waistline of the car, accented by a geometric air vent and double side exit exhausts.
The low, swooping roofline contributes to aerodynamic efficiency and channels air towards the car’s sculpted rear, which is finished with a concave LED light assembly and integrated rear diffuser.
Using physics to evoke the Spirit of Driving
The new TVR Griffith employs a full ground effect aerodynamics package to deliver outstanding stability and handling capabilities, and is only the second front-engined production car to feature an entirely flat floor.
Ground effect is the aerodynamic principle of using airflow along the underside of the vehicle to pull it closer to the ground, by creating downforce. In employing ground effect in the new sports car’s design, TVR has ensured the car remains stable at high speed, while also contributing to delivering exceptional handling and cornering capabilities.
Reversing the trend towards increasing vehicle dimensions, the new TVR Griffith is the most compact car in its class, measuring just 4314mm long, 1850mm wide and 1239mm tall. Similarly, due to its advanced lightweight construction and carbon composite body panels, the TVR Griffith weighs under 1250kg.
Grand Tourer interior comfort
Despite its compact dimensions, the new TVR Griffith’s interior packaging offers levels of comfort and practicality that makes it suitable for everyday use and long-distance driving. While strictly a two-seat sports car, it offers ample head room and cabin space, as well as more than adequate luggage and storage space.
The interior is undoubtedly driver-orientated, with an instrument pod housing a bespoke instrument cluster, which brings all main controls within easy reach. The car’s infotainment system, specially designed for TVR, is centrally located in a portrait format.
Interior surfaces are beautifully trimmed in leather, and remain uncluttered by only featuring controls that enhance the ‘Spirit of Driving’.
CHASSIS
iStream
The new TVR Griffith is the first production vehicle to employ Gordon Murray Design’s revolutionary iStream® architecture. The innovative manufacturing process not only ensures the Griffith remains lightweight, it also delivers exceptional torsional rigidity.
iStream® combines lightweight Formula 1 technology with outstanding safety standards. Unnecessary weight is stripped out, not only improving performance and dynamics, but also improving component durability.
The iStream® structure of the new TVR Griffith is constructed using carbon composite bonded to steel and aluminium, clad in carbon composite bodywork. In the event of an impact, force is directed through front and rear crash structures, ensuring the chassis remains intact and minimising damage to the bodywork.
Perfectly balanced
The development of the new TVR Griffith has been centred around the company’s long-standing ethos; the Spirit of Driving. This means that the new TVR Griffith’s well-engineered chassis and advanced aerodynamics put the driver fully in control.
To achieve this, the Griffith’s chassis is lightweight, exceptionally torsionally rigid, and perfectly balanced. With a weight of less than 1250kg, and the engine mounted well behind the front axle line, a precise 50:50 weight distribution has been achieved.
The car boasts a double wishbone suspension set-up with adjustable coil-over dampers and concentric springs at both the front and back axles. It has electric power assisted steering, which has been specifically developed for the new TVR Griffith, ensuring easy manouevrability at low speeds, without compromising feel or stability.
Braking power is provided by six-piston aluminum calipers and two-piece 370mm ventilated floating discs at the front, with four-piston aluminium calipers and two-piece 350mm ventilated discs at the rear.
To further improve traction while preserving excellent steering feel and feedback, the new TVR Griffith has larger, wider wheels and tyres at the rear (20 inch wheels with 275/30 tyres) than at the front (19 inch wheels with 235/35 tyres).
Complying with European Type Approval standards, the new car is fitted with an anti-lock braking system (ABS), and a configurable traction control system.
POWERTRAIN
Cosworth power
The joy of driving a TVR has always centred around a deep connection between man and machine. The new TVR Griffith continues this tradition, and the powertrain set-up is a vital part of this.
In the development of the new car, it was crucial that the vehicle’s power unit stay true to the brand’s rich heritage, while being utterly reliable and dependable, with sensible servicing intervals and adhering to today’s strict emissions control standards.
The Griffith is equipped with a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated Cosworth-enhanced V8, to further increase performance, without compromising the base engine’s renowned reliability.
Most notably, the V8 unit’s engine control unit has been substantially enhanced. This not only increases power, but delivers a broader range of torque and power.
A bespoke lighter flywheel and clutch, together with a dry sump system, mean that the engine can be mounted lower and further back in the chassis, reducing the car’s centre of gravity and helping to achieve the perfect 50:50 fore/aft weight distribution.
With the Cosworth enhancements, the engine enables the TVR Griffith to achieve a power-to-weight ratio of 400bhp/tonne. It is mated to a six-speed manual Tremec gearbox. The Magnum XL gearbox is capable of 700lb-ft torque and up to 7500 rpm.
TVR GRIFFITH LAUNCH EDITION
TVR will produce 500 Griffith Launch Edition models, with production starting in late 2018.
The TVR Griffith Launch Edition will be offered in a broad choice of colours, including specific Launch Edition colours, as well as custom paint options. It will be fitted with bespoke Launch Edition wheels measuring 19 inches in diameter at the front and 20 inches at the rear.
All Launch Edition models will have a full leather interior offered in a number of bespoke colours.
The TVR Griffith Launch Edition will start from £90,000, with a small number of allocations still available.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
| Body | |
| Two-seat coupe, with carbon chassis, and composite body with a number of aluminium panels. | |
| Chassis | |
| iStream® design steel and aluminium frame with bonded carbon composite sections | |
| Suspension | |
| Front: | Double wishbones with adjustable gas filled coil-over dampers with concentric springs |
| Rear: | Double wishbones with adjustable gas filled coil-over dampers with concentric springs |
| Steering: | Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) |
| Brakes | |
| Front: | Six-piston aluminium brake calipers and 2-piece ventilated floating brake discs with 370mm diameter and 32mm thickness |
| Rear: | Four-piston aluminium brake calipers and 2-piece ventilated floating brake discs with 350mm diameter and 32mm thickness |
| Wheels and tyres | |
| Front: | 235/35 ZR19, on 8.5in wide rims |
| Rear: | 275/30 ZR20, on 9.5in wide rims |
| Weight | |
| Unladen weight: | <1250kg |
| Dimensions | |
| Length: | 4314mm |
| Width (across body): | 1850mm |
| Width (including mirrors) | 2016mm |
| Height: | 1239mm |
| Ground clearance: | 136mm |
| Wheelbase: | 2600mm |
| Front track: | 1599mm |
| Rear track: | 1557mm |
| Fuel tank capacity: | 60l |
| Engine | |
| Configuration | Naturally aspirated V8 |
| Displacement | 4951cc |
| Construction | Aluminium block and heads |
| Valvetrain | DOHC, four valves per cylinder, twin independent variable camshaft timing |
| Compression ratio | 11.0:1 |
| Fuel type | 98-RON unleaded |
| Transmission | |
| Six speed manual transmission with multi-plate clutch; rear-wheel drive | |
| Gear ratios bespoke for the new TVR Griffith | |
| Performance | |
| Top speed | 200+mph (322+km/h) |
| Acceleration
0-60mph |
Sub 4.0 seconds |
Gordon Murray Design Limited is a British company operating from Shalford in Surrey. The Company is recognised as a world leader in automotive design and reverses the current industry trend for sub-contracting by having a complete in-house capability for design, prototyping and development. The Company is compact and focused and undertakes automotive and other engineering programmes in an efficient and innovative way. For more information please visit gordonmurraydesign.com
The assembly process is a complete rethink and redesign of the traditional automotive manufacturing process and could potentially be the biggest revolution in high volume manufacture since the Model T. Development of the process began over 15 years ago and it has already won the prestigious ‘Idea of the Year’ award from Autocar who were given privileged access in order to make their assessment. The simplified assembly process means that the manufacturing plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This could reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by approximately 80%. Yet the flexibility of this assembly process means that the same factory could be used to manufacture different variants. The iStream® design process is a complete re-think on high volume materials, as well as the manufacturing process and will lead to a significant reduction in full lifecycle