RE: Vauxhall Calibra: Time for Tea?

[Twincam16]

dme123 said:

Perversely the new Top Gear with it's explosions and caravan smashing is now so tired, repetitive and unimaginative that it manages to be even more boring than old top gear with it's dry reviews of hatchbacks. You can read a summary of what's in an episode of new top gear and predict almost down to the individual jokes what is going to happen, at least you never knew if you could fit 3 suitcases or just 2 into the boot of the new Nissan Primera.

IMO Top Gear (even 'new' Top Gear) is at its best when it's somewhere between the two - actually reviewing cars, but specifically interesting, unusual cars (or if it is something more affordable, the 'hot' version at the very least).

Doesn't mean they can't do 'fun' things with them (take that trip they made to Italy with those three hot hatches, for example, or their various huge road trips), but I'm getting very tired of the 'build a silly car and crash it into lots of things' recipe, as per last night.

[manitou]

Agent Orange said:

No it's just you. Hideous gearbox too. Feels like you are changing gear with a gearbox made from rubber bands.

2.0 16v Calibra's were achingly slow and a complete non-event. The V6 didn't seem much better. Turbo one's I'd been in felt pretty rapid I'll happily admit and much more like it but not for me. With the Irmscher kit they looked okay in that 90's way that it was ok to fix skirts and spoilers but never classically good looking.

Calibra 2.0 16v achingly slow? the early redtops could manage 139 leptons iirc & the later ecotecs 135. The V6 wasn't much better? 0-60 in 7.3 & 147 flat out positively walking pace!

[matchmaker]

Limpet said:

They didn't handle for toffee, but the Cavalier and Calibra had a really nice range of engines. The 2.0 units (8 and 16v) were both lovely.

The 20SEH was a great engine. 129bhp from a n/a, single cam, 8v engine? Not bad for the 1980's.

[Russ T Bolt]

IanJ9375 said:

Had a Calibra Turbo, was always worried about the transfer box destroying itself under the 800psi of pressure or whatever it was.
Reality was that it went well, quicker in a straight line than a regular Scooby back then and was quite comfy

my Cavalier GSi went through 3 transfer boxes.

The Scooby was a fair bit quicker in my experience. My boss had a Calibra Turbo at the end of it' s lease when I got an Impreza as a company car, in every way the Impreza was quicker as was proven on a number of occasions.

[Crafty_]

manitou said:

Agent Orange said:

No it's just you. Hideous gearbox too. Feels like you are changing gear with a gearbox made from rubber bands.

2.0 16v Calibra's were achingly slow and a complete non-event. The V6 didn't seem much better. Turbo one's I'd been in felt pretty rapid I'll happily admit and much more like it but not for me. With the Irmscher kit they looked okay in that 90's way that it was ok to fix skirts and spoilers but never classically good looking.

Calibra 2.0 16v achingly slow? the early redtops could manage 139 leptons iirc & the later ecotecs 135. The V6 wasn't much better? 0-60 in 7.3 & 147 flat out positively walking pace!

The XE engine was/is flipping good. square bore/stroke meant 150hp/150lb/ft and it liked to rev. With internal work and throttle bodies you could reach 300hp and over 8k RPM still N/A.
Criminal really, that the turbo didn't get the attention the cosworth engine did back in the day - if it had we would have seen plenty of 400+ hp LET engines. Vauxhall still use 86mm bore/stroke today in the VXR engines.

The V6 I never really liked (too much in to the turbos), although the version fitted to the calibra and cavalier was better than the later vectra one with the octopus manifold. The Cavalier/Calibra one had a different intake and led over the rear bank.

[rix]

matchmaker said:

The 20SEH was a great engine. 129bhp from a n/a, single cam, 8v engine? Not bad for the 1980's.

Had this engine in my Mk3 SRi Cavalier. Loved it, felt pretty sprightly at the time!

[MartG]

Crafty_ said:

Criminal really, that the turbo didn't get the attention the cosworth engine did back in the day

Ironic when you consider that a large percentage of the heads were manufactured by Cosworth

[slippery]

manitou said:

the early redtops could manage 139 leptons

Why are you saying leptons? Is it in case you get nicked for saying how fast a car can go?
Also, if you insist on using this ridiculous expression, I think you'll find that one lepton does not equal one mile per hour.

[Le Mans Visitor]

s m said:

Le Mans Visitor said:

Here is my old Calibra, was 1 of 22 made and was a 2.0 Turbo 4x4 DTM. She was totally standard when I sold her but now she has been modified



She had to go as the fear of the toffee 4x4 system eating itself was too much.

Looks very smart - still got your Astra?

Yep.

[s m]

Le Mans Visitor said:

s m said:

Looks very smart - still got your Astra?

Yep.

Looks like my old burgundy one finally met its end this spring. According to DVLA website, tax outstanding after 01/05/2013
Was a great car

[manitou]

slippery said:

manitou said:

the early redtops could manage 139 leptons

Why are you saying leptons? Is it in case you get nicked for saying how fast a car can go?
Also, if you insist on using this ridiculous expression, I think you'll find that one lepton does not equal one mile per hour.

Sorry the red top will reach 139 mph or 223.699 kmh if you prefer

[slippery]

manitou said:

Sorry the red top will reach 139 mph or 223.699 kmh if you prefer

Either is fine!

[BenGB]

Drove a chipped (240ish BHP) 4x4 turbo owned by a friend back in the 90s before I had owned anything quick myself. Very amusing in a straight line, but a proper pudding round the corners. Terrible rear headroom too due to the swoopy roof.