Astravan Z20LET Turbo - sleeper

Astravan Z20LET Turbo - sleeper

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graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Monday 22nd July 2013
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Undecided yet, might go to castle Combe on the first Friday of August.
I'll have to check my van's allowed first

The van's had quite a lot of use over the last few weeks ferrying my downhill bike around, although the lack of aircon or a stereo are killing me in this heat
I might get some speakers in it this week

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Sunday 2nd March 2014
quotequote all
Hi all
Haven't posted up for a while as the van's seen the last year or so being used to lug my various mountain bikes around
Anyway, I've just treated it to 4 new toyo Proxys which has really transformed the handling and grip after the last tyres were perhaps a little past their prime
Also, it passed it's MOT last week with no advisories and I treated her to an oil service and some loving tinkering

Pics
This is it performing it's normal duty of lugging about my mountain bike having just had the new Toyo proxys fitted ;


I wanted to try and get some graphics for it to keep it's Sleeper image, but after looking around at a few 'builders van' types, which is what I was trying to get the look of, I decided to get the just removed decal look, which meant applying stickers and letting them bake on for a couple of months in the sun and then peel them back off again when they were nice and cold so it left the adhesive on the side. It came out quite good, and with the bolted on drainpipe on the roof and the increasingly worn looking steel wheels, it's keeping that sleeper look quite nicely


The tyres have helped out quite a lot, but it's still not super great off the line as you either get bogged down in wheelspin (it'll also spin its wheels at 70 in third in the dry on the old tyres) or you just miss the boost and get stuck in the lag of the turbo spooling up.
However, from about 40 in third, it's proving to be a real weapon and as childish as it is, I've had great fun in getting a bit of a roll on with fastish sports car and then boosting away from them as they're left staring behind trying to work out how they've just been beaten by a knackered looking astra van,

I had it on the rollers again recently, and it made 321bhp and weighed in a 1045kg, which make a power to weight ratio slightly better than a 991 C4S

Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 2nd March 19:18

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Sunday 2nd March 2014
quotequote all
aspirated said:
Loving the 'just removed decal' look hehe

So what other metal have you been embarrassing?
It's been a real mix. it's obviously not GTR fast, but it's a bit faster after about 40 than say an E46 M3 and will easily pull away from your Golf GTI / civic type R boy racer Brigade
I went out in it recently and we did some rolling comparisons against my RS4 and a mates V8 Vantage, and although my Audi would pull away from it, it wasn't by as much as I was expecting and not far off the AM at all, which made for an interesting spectacle smile

I've looked at perhaps swapping out the Bilsteins for a slightly better damping solution, but as I mainly use it for lugging my mountain bike about, it still needs to retain some compliance so as to keep comfort.

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Sunday 2nd March 2014
quotequote all
Funnily enough though, my Wife absolutely hates the sight of it, which only makes me like to work on it on the drive more smile

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Monday 3rd March 2014
quotequote all
greggy50 said:
Really cool car OP out of interest what injectors/turbo is this running and where was it mapped/dynod?

As that is a real impressive power for only 9 psi!
Hi greggy
It's not actually 9psi, but 0.9 bar which is around 12.5 psi.
The injectors are standard, but I believe if I'm to go anywhere higher than .9b then I need to upgrade to the VXR solid injectors
The turbo is a turbo technics hybrid VXR unit
Original RR and stg3+ map was made by Regal through RAW Motorsport
Engine & turbo unit are rock solid and cooling is decent, so could handle much more pressure with new injectors, but then wheelspin would be a joke if it was up to 370-80 bhp

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Monday 3rd March 2014
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Kev T360 said:
Ahhh.....I see sir has gone for the "Audi bannan paddle shifters",very nice and quite rare.

Also the van is brilliant, would l love this.
You can never have too big a paddle smile

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Tuesday 4th March 2014
quotequote all
The wife's pressuring me to sell this now, so if anyone's interested, drop me a mail

I'm using the browny points gained for selling the van, so that she's not so annoyed when an R8 V10+ turns up in the garage as a weekend toy later this year smile

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Tuesday 4th March 2014
quotequote all
I reckon a fair price is £2,900
Engine is only 3k miles after full rebuild with new pistons, turbo etc. has just been serviced, now MOT and four new toyos
Is still registered as a 1.7 petrol FWIW, so cheap tax etc if that's a concern

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Tuesday 4th March 2014
quotequote all
aspirated said:
graeme4130 said:
The wife's pressuring me to sell this now, so if anyone's interested, drop me a mail

I'm using the browny points gained for selling the van, so that she's not so annoyed when an R8 V10+ turns up in the garage as a weekend toy later this year smile
Get a well specced V10 manual instead! Will be one of the last manual supercars, plus you already have your automatic estate tongue out
I did think of this, but the standard v10 just didn't ignite my fire in the same way the DSG boxed v10+ did. It's right up there with the Italians and less of a liability on the wallet

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Thursday 13th March 2014
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mr_oversteer said:
graeme4130 said:
aspirated said:
graeme4130 said:
The wife's pressuring me to sell this now, so if anyone's interested, drop me a mail

I'm using the browny points gained for selling the van, so that she's not so annoyed when an R8 V10+ turns up in the garage as a weekend toy later this year smile
Get a well specced V10 manual instead! Will be one of the last manual supercars, plus you already have your automatic estate tongue out
I did think of this, but the standard v10 just didn't ignite my fire in the same way the DSG boxed v10+ did. It's right up there with the Italians and less of a liability on the wallet
You could also get a V10+ in manual. had one for a week a while ago and wouldn't even consider the DSG now
I was firmly of the manual camp, but since driving the DSG car, I'm sold and convinced smile
Plus, my RS4 is DSG, so at least I'll keep some parity between my day to day car and weekend toy

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Saturday 15th March 2014
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graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
Sold it today. I'm a bit sad to see it go to be honest, but it's gone to an enthusiast who's already had a few magazine featured vauxhalls

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Monday 2nd February 2015
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I miss that van. Look forward to the updates mate

graeme4130

Original Poster:

3,839 posts

182 months

Thursday 5th February 2015
quotequote all
Eddygee said:
The van will be back with a few upgrades...

Fully forged bottom end, wossner oversized pistons, pec h beam rods, acl bearings throughout, arp rod head and mains bolts

Ported and polished head, oversized valves, piper cams, meth injection, custom tubular manifold, Garrett gt2860rs turbo (soon to change) full 3" custom exhaust

Helix 6 paddle clutch and lightened std flywheel

RnD Motorsport goodies such as spherical top mounts, drop links, rear beam bearings etc.

Brembo 4 pot front brakes with 300mm discs

And more to be added later smile

I'll upload a few pics.
Man, i miss that Van
Good work Eddy - How much power are you looking for ?