Wednesday 5th February 2003

VX220T Debut

General Motors to unveil the Turbo at Geneva

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[laner]

Thank goodness they have finally added more power. Hardly surprising they had low sales when their own sporty astra would whip the previously whip the VX's arse!!

[laner]

Too many whips in there. oops

[Jonathan T]

If I was looking at getting an Elise type car I still wouldn't get this one. It's too ugly and has lost the performance through lightweight idea of the original (the Elise). The Elise that is produced to compete with this will be some car!

[DanL]

Thank goodness they have finally added more power. Hardly surprising they had low sales when their own sporty astra would whip the previously whip the VX's arse!!

Eh?

VX:
Maximum speed 136mph
Acceleration 0-60mph 5.6 secs

Elise S2:
Maximum speed 125mph
Acceleration 0-60mph 6.1 secs

Both from Evo's web site under Data/The Knowledge. I don't want to start an arguement, but it's not a slow car. It's just not a Lotus.

Dan

[spining-v-grid]

It's funny how the stat's differ from magazine to magazine.....does anyone know why

The slowest sprint time for the standard Elise is 6.1seconds as stated here but other sources have the figures as low as 5.5secs. In racing terms this is a lot.

So who do you trust ?

SPV

>> Edited by spining-v-grid on Wednesday 5th February 12:27

[DanL]

spining-v-grid said:
So who do you trust ?

Autocar, but I've not got a copy to hand. Evo has the S2 sport 135 timed at 5.4 to 60, and topping out at 129 mph - I can only assume that the Evo tester for the Elise must have been a good deal fatter than that for the VX.

I wasn't aiming to show that the VX is faster - I can't believe there's anything much in it between the VX and Elise. I was just refuting the claim that the VX was slower than an Astra! Evo was the first place I could think of that'd have both cars tested with the figures online.

Dan

[Podie]

The difference between the two, IMHO, is badge-engineering...

[laner]

Not being argumentative Dan but check out the specs of the VX and Astra Gt's. i think u will be surprised.....mate.

[DanL]

laner said: Not being argumentative Dan but check out the specs of the VX and Astra Gt's. i think u will be surprised.....mate.

I can't find anything on an Astra GT (or Gti) on Vauxhall's website, but I've looked up the Astra GSi turbo (0-60 in 7.0, top speed of 150) and the Astra Coupe Turbo (0-60 in 7.0, top speed of 152), and I guess these aren't what you're referring to.

It's been a while since I've bought a car mag (the joy of Pistonheads, I suppose! ) Any chance you can point me at a link for the thing? I'm surprised Vauxhall do any cars that could be considered 'quick', so I need to know what to look out for on the roads!

Dan

[grahambell]

spinning-v-grid said "It's funny how the stat's differ from magazine to magazine.....does anyone know why?"

Can be down to a variety of reasons. Some mags (like Pistonheads)quote manufacturers' figures. Others have the gear to do their own performance tests.

Even so, results can vary due to things like track surface, air temperature, skill of driver, weight of car as tested and the fact that some cars are simply better than others.

Incidentally, expect to see a Pistonheads test of this car in a few months.

[cpearson]

sorry but no astra i know past or present can get close to a vx's arse well a lone "whip" it.

[iguana]

Good VX turbo article in Autocar this week.

>> Edited by iguana on Wednesday 5th February 18:32

[robp]

I think it comes down to the badge.

I would like to think I would go for the VX, but I know if it really came down to it i would put my money on the Lotus.

[paulnederland]

Looking at the specs of the VX T and the Lotus Elise S2, I would think that true sportscar enthousiasts would prefer the VX-T over the S2. You might not like the looks or the badge but again, the VX T must be a real Boxster and Z4 beater.
The real interesting question is what Lotus will do to deal with the VX T competition.

"Rumours persist of a tie up with Toyota with either a 200bhp four pot or even a V6". In my view, the 4 pot would only be an equal to the VX T. A V-six would definitely be a product differentiator. Esspecially if the weight can be kept down to that of the VX T.

Is Lotus planning to announce the engine in Geneve?

[clanger]

True sportscar enthusiasts would never countenance buying a Vauxhall badged anything - thats the reason they can't move the VX