What is a Tiger

Aviator

The Aviator was launched in September 2009 at the Tiger Open Day. Although under the skin it is a proven formula the bodywork (designed by Simon Keys of First Principle Design) is a radical departure from anything else in the Seven type market available today.

As mentioned in the press release the main purpose of this was to create an Arrow shaped design and viewed from above this is certainly true. Under the surface there is a modified R6 chassis (4" wider) and the car is powered by a Duratec engine pushing out 180bhp in the demo car.

Although it doesn't have it at present the car is envisioned to get a full hardtop making it a practical everyday proposition and the styling will certainly stand out from the crowd.

ZR6

This monster is based on the lightweight RS6 but is a little bit quicker. The car features a Ford Duratec engine as its powerplant which has a Rotrax Supercharger and full Throttle Body engine management as well. The net result at the moment is 265bhp with more to come as the engines are run in.

Having been out in the car when you could only use 1/2 the available power due to the road conditions the acceleration is ferocious and utterly relentless. A truely fantastic car!

Defining characteristics of the car are the all aluminium bodywork with the extra vents required to keep the engine and intercooler from overheating and the built in roll cage at the back.

R6 / RS6

The R6 is the replacement for the Super 6 - however there is one big difference. From the outset the R6 was designed to be raced and of the models produced I would think over 70% are built as track/race cars. Although eligible to race in a lot of different series most people choose to race in the Tiger series where close racing is pretty much guaranteed.

Early R6s still used the VW front hubs as in the Super 6, however the later models now all use Ford uprights. Engines are either Ford Zetec or Duratec with no other options supported by the factory. The biggest change from the Super 6 is under the skin where the old Cortina live axle has been replaced by a de-dion arrangement and the chassis is mostly round tube.

Defining characteristics of the car are the flat (carbon fibre) rear wheel arches and the distinctive power bulge in the nose/bonnet which appears on a lot of the Tiger range.

There is another variant call the RS6 which features a lightweight chassis and aluminium bodywork.

Cat E1 / Supercat / Cat XL

The Cat E1 is one of Tiger's biggest selling models, based on a single donor car (Sierra) it is easy to build with a lot of the parts simply unbolting and attached directly to the new chassis. The Car was introduced in 1997 and has remained in production ever since.

The Cat is unique amongst similarly styled cars in that it uses the entire Sierra rear axle subframe as it unbolts from the donor. There is a downside though it is a rather heavy unit but it does make for easy assembly.

Defining characteristics of the car are the aluminium side panels and the one piece rear bodywork (rather than separate wheel arches hanging on the tub).

The variants mentioned above are the Supercat which has wider rear wheel arches for bigger tyres (the Cat was developed for 185 section, the supercat will take 205) and the Cat XL which has 3" more width in the cockpit area for the more generously proportioned driver.

Avon

The Avon is unusual in that it wasn't developed initially by Tiger. The project was bought from the original owners where it was known as the Avon Sprint. This is the reason why there isn't the characteristic Tiger power bulge in the nose and bonnet.

Like most of the models it is Ford based for donor components however the biggest change from the other models in the range is a single piece body comprising rear section sides and scuttle panel as one moulding.

Despite the (possible) shortcomings of the one piece bodyshell it is the second most commonly raced version after the R6, although a lot of the race cars have 'modified' bodywork.

Rather strangely although the car is Ford based using the Sierra diff and other components the front hubs on this model are acutally from a Cortina.

Super Six

The Super Six was Tiger's first model and remained in production until the first half of 2008 when a shortage of some of the donor parts forced it out of production.

The car was based on a mixture of Ford and VW components with mostly Ford engines, examples have been produced with Crossflow, Pinto and Zetec powerplants.

Defining characteristics of the car are the upswept rear wheel arches and the distintive power bulge in the nose/bonnet which appears on a lot of the Tiger range. It is also the only Tiger to use a live axle configuration.

There was another rare variant called the SSI (Super Six Independent) which featured fully independent suspension most of these were exported to Japan in the early nineties but a few examples are in the UK.

ERA 30

Tiger also own the rights to the English Racing Automobiles (ERA) name and this is one of the two cars developed to carry that name. This is unlike any other car developed by Tiger. The ERA 30 features styling based on the Lotus 23 (the '30' name derives from the cars height) with a midmounted Zetec powerplant coupled to a Hewland MK9 transmission.

The body is available in two versions with different rear sections possible and is also designed to be competitive on the track as well as a very capable road car.

Another little known fact is that the front suspension of this car is lifted entirely from an R6 with the same geometry and track to ensure a good handling car.

ERA HSS

Tiger also own the rights to the English Racing Automobiles (ERA) name and this is other one of the two cars developed to carry that name. Unlike any other car developed by Tiger this is most definitely not a road car. It is a pure track / sprint machine with a midmounted Zetec powerplant coupled to a Hewland MK9 transmission.