TVR shows off silhouette and V8 powertrain

TVR has issued yet another pic teasing its forthcoming sports car scheduled for reveal at the British Goodwood Revival festival on September 8.

Following earlier glimpses of a darkened frontal image and a snap of its side exit exhaust, the latest preview of Britain's all-new rival for the Porsche 911 shows a silhouette outline of what is presumably the final production version's bodyshell.

It seems the new TVR, rumoured to bring back the company's old 'Griffith' name, will do without a large boot lid spoiler. This news shouldn't surprise as the car will feature an advanced underbody aero package partly designed and engineered by F1 and supercar legend Gordon Murray.

Another snippet we can glean is the lack of a rear transaxle, so the front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car will likely not achieve the optimal 50:50 front/rear weight distribution.

Purists worried that TVR would abandon a manual gearbox will be relieved to see evidence of a small stump which is tipped to sprout a manual gear-lever when the car enters production.

Claimed to be the smallest in its class, the new TVR Griffith is said to measure 4300mm in length and stand 1271mm tall -- 228mm shorter and 13mm lower than the current Porsche 911 GTS – a closely priced rival.

From earlier teases, we know the new Brit will weigh just 1200kg -- more than 300kg lighter than the 911 GTS.

And we already know power comes courtesy of a thumping Cosworth-developed 5.0-litre V8, providing enough punch for a power-to-weight ratio of 298kW (400bhp) per tonne.

So even the entry-level model coupe will deliver at least 357kW (480bhp).

Translation?  Expect supercar-levels of performance.

TVR reckons its first new model in more than a decade will hit 100km/h in less than four seconds and top out at more than 200mph (322km/h).

While the new model is said to be already sold out for 2017, the British sports car specialist has announced it will build 500 ‘Launch Edition’ cars, each priced at £90,000 ($A155,000).

Even more powerful models will follow and the Cosworth-tuned Ford ‘Coyote’ V8 will eventually be available in five states of tune — standard, 'big power','track day-spec' and two further versions for racing which include a full-blown GT3-specification engine for a Le Mans racer.

To help adapt the new engine to fit in the Murray designed car, Cosworth has converted the V8 to dry-sump lubrication which helps packaging and reduces the risk of oil starvation at high g forces.

And to boost performance over the standard car, there’s new engine mapping, modified variable valve timing and an exhaust manifold developed for that side-exit exhaust system.

To improve response, the V8 will come with a lighter flywheel.

Key to development has been TVR’s investment in a carbon-fibre and aluminium-rich chassis plus lightweight composite body panels to keep weight low and the structure stiff.