Astravan Z20LET Turbo - sleeper

[graeme4130]

Hi all
As some of you would've previously seen on PH, RAW Motorsport had built a turbo astra van and decided it was time to move it on ;
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'd always been semi infatuated by the TWR built, XJ220 engined transit van that currently belongs to Goodward house and had previously been on top gear.
The TWR XJ van exchanged hands at around 100k and this was obviously out the question as a fun toy, so when this 'significantly cheaper version' appeared on PH, I just had to have it.

Several emails and a visit to Southampton later, and we agreed on a price, exchanged cash/shook hand, and it was bought.

Van arrives at my house ;


The full spec of the van is as follows ;
z20let engine
Regal stage 3+map 316bhp@ 0.9bar. Can be pushed to 1.4 if needed
Fully rebuilt engine with ;
Total seal rings
ACL race bearings
ARP rod bolts, stud and nut kit
New LEH pistons
Polished exhaust ports,3 angle valve seats and cut down guides.
Balance shaft delete kit
New oil pump
Inlet cam retard pully
VXR turbo technics Hybrid turbo turbo
Courtney Front mount intercooler
Milltek exhaust system with 100cell cat (custom welded std looking tailpipe)
Itg filter in CDTI air box
Courtney inlet elbow
Hard pipe kit
225 in tank fuel pump

Suspension
Billstein B8 shocks
Eibach springs
Astra coupe 5 stud set up
Rear antiroll bar kit

Wheels and tyres
Vectra 7x16 steel wheels
New Uniroyal tyres all round

Brakes
Astra coupe brakes with mintex racing front pads and Ap fluid

Not your normal van driver information ;


I'll keep this post updated, but the idea is to keep it as sleeper looking as possible, so first job this week has been to source a roof rack and get some aluminium drainpipes that I'll bolt/jubilee clip onto the rack so they're super secure.

Next job is to fit some made up graphics - I'm thinking along the line of these as follows ;

Also, I'll glue a coke can and an old copy of the sun to the passenger side of he dash and maybe get some fluffy dice
After that I'll get a few track days in and use it for sports car baiting

I've put a few hundred miles in already over the last few days and early impressions are great
It generates a decent amount of grip considering its producing 312bhp at the wheels. First gear, obviously, needs to be applied carefully and I've found short shifting into second a quicker way of getting off the line
Corner grip is better than I expected, but it's still a van with all the weight over the front, so it unsurprisingly has a tendency to try and plough straight on into the corners. Still, t's a lot of fun and once on the move, it'll scare some pretty serious sports cars (remember it only was approx 1180kgs I think)
It's hard to compare it to anything as its naturally a very different beast to either my RS4 or TVR, but baiting sports cars this year on the road and a handful of trackdays, I feel is going to be a lot of fun

I'll keep this thread updated as we go along

Cheers

Graeme

Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 28th April 19:37

Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 28th April 20:39

[graeme4130]

richtea78 said:

Should put Master Baiting Specialist on the door

Haha, I did think about this too

[graeme4130]

XJR500bhp said:

I wanted this too, good stuff. I do think you should push for more power though. 400+

I think traction may become a major issue then
Although, as they say, you can never have too much power, so watch this space

[graeme4130]

Japveesix said:

Nice van, would love to see vids of it on the move at some point especially seeing how it compares to anything else "quick" on the road/track

I'll get something sorted soon
In terms of performance comparison, then in a straight line from say 30-90 (2nd/3rd), then it's comparable to my 07 RS4 Avant, but feels quicker due to sheer drama and controlling wheelspin
Not sure I mentioned before, but it revs to 8.5k too (a bit like the Audi, but not as melodically, certainly)

[graeme4130]

R12HCO said:

graeme4130 said:

I'll get something sorted soon
In terms of performance comparison, then in a straight line from say 30-90 (2nd/3rd), then it's comparable to my 07 RS4 Avant, but feels quicker due to sheer drama and controlling wheelspin
Not sure I mentioned before, but it revs to 8.5k too (a bit like the Audi, but not as melodically, certainly)

Might sound daft, but a friend has the same engine in a Astra gsi with the rev limited upped and it didn't go any quicker. It just sounded pain-full and the turbo was running out of puff.

What is yours like?

It makes its peak power at just over 7, so no real need to have such high revs
Good to have even if I don't use them though

[graeme4130]

Quick update ;
Roof rack and firmly secured waste pipes added as well as a 'no tools left in vehicle overnight' sticker to up the builders look



Next step is to fit the sign writing I've ordered
I went for ;
"Dirk Van-Sleeper
Property maintenance
Baiting specialist"

All in a dirty red so it looks old and battered

That should arrive in the next couple of days, so I'll get that done pretty quick

Also in the pipeline is fitting an LSD. I'm just looking at options for that now, but I'll try and get that done in the next few weeks.
After that, I'll see how the diff helps it deal with traction and look at fitting vxr injectors and an uprated AFM so I can up the boost a little to bring it closer to 400bhp with a new map

I'll keep this thread posted

Edited - I was planning on using a lightweight aluminium ladder on the roof as well, but I gave it a try on the roof of my RS4 and not only did it rattle around like hell, it made an annoying whistling too, so I sacked that plan off for pipes

Edited by graeme4130 on Tuesday 30th April 18:05

[graeme4130]

5potTurbo said:

Because pipes don't whistle at all do they?


Great car though.


My car used to outrun 911s, which, for a 5 seater 'mpv', wasn't expected.

Haha, you're right. I'll cap them over
911 drivers are the bet as they're typically the type who'd hate to be beaten by anyone
Although saying that, I've just spent the evening blasting around in a friends brand new 991 series C2S, and I think it'll be a while before my van could give that a run for its money

[graeme4130]

Greg_D said:

I wouldn't start putting graphics on it, that's deeply naff IMO, as is 'baiting' supercars.
if you happen to be next to a 911 at the lights and he goes for it, then great! but be honest, when was the last time that happened???

You will spend your life beating up diesel Audis, well done... all the time looking like an unsuccessful plumber

I'm not quite sure where you got 'baiting aupercars' from ? I don't see that anywhere in this thread, no ?
Also, as said above, I don't pretend that it'll take a decent 911. I have other cars for that
And in answer to your question, in my experience, Porsche drivers are some of the most likely to want to race off the lights
Maybe it's your car attracts diesel Audi racers, whatever it may be

[graeme4130]

Signwriting now added

[graeme4130]

The Spruce goose said:

love the sign writing. i don't think it looks naff, i am guessing it is tongue in cheek, a bit naughty, 'inside joke', not a master baiting supercar champion

Haha, yeah it's all very much tongue in cheek.
The sole purpose of buying the van is to have a laugh and probably do a few track days
I know its childish, but the best fun we've had so far is going out baiting boy racers in subarus and things like cupra r's
I'll get a go-pro vid up some time soon

[graeme4130]

M159V8 said:

graeme4130 said:

I spot a Chim, RS4 Avant and a sleeper. You're winning

Not in the eyes of my mrs, I now have 'way too many cars' haha

[graeme4130]

The Spruce goose said:

one is for work tho...

Exactly
And for the purpose of tax, it is too

[graeme4130]

2cars4me said:

Amused that "Astra Sleeper" is an anagram of "Please Arrest".

[graeme4130]

callyman said:

y2blade said:

carreauchompeur said:

Can you please, please post up a video of how it goes and sounds though?

+1 I'd love to see a vid clip of it too.

Surprised Callyman hasn't commented on this yet! I'd have thought he'd of loved it?!

I'm here,
Please tell me you will take it to the VBOA rally at Billing this year...........

I might do, we'll see how the diary ends up nearer July 13th. Certainly possible

[graeme4130]

cheddar said:

Brilliant. Proper job.

What does it weigh? 1100? 1200?

280bhp/ton?

Never mind the traffic light grand prix's - traction off the line must be, erm, terrible.......

It's the 3rd gear full boost 4 car overtake with 'Audiman' up your chuff that's gonna surprise everyone.

Can you post up some in gear acceleration figures please.

And GoPro speedo video clip........

I've not had it properly weighed, but I understand it's a smidge over 1100kg's.
Of the line isn't great, although not as bad as I'd expected, but yes, 2nd and 3rd are where the fun is.
I'll post some Go-pro clips up next week if I can get a chance

[graeme4130]

I've not forgotten the go pro clips. I had a go last night and they didn't come out too great, and then it rained so that ended the fun (it's not the best in the rain as you might imagine)
Anyway, I'll try and get some footage tomorrow morning as it's going to a mates to get the gearbox and linkages looked at (gearbox isn't the most precise and it sometimes misses gears completely when pushing on at higher revs)
If not, then I'm away on Honeymoon from tomorrow night, so I'll certainly get something up when back.


Gave a guy in an recent S3 a little blip last night, he seemed shocked - Pulled up next time me further down the road and asked what was in it... i replied a standard 1.6 and that he might want to get his S3 looked at as it seemed to be struggling to keep up

Childish I know, but still fun

[graeme4130]

I'm still working on a proper one, but I took it out for a quick blast with the go pro today to see how it works.
Van's not quite boosting properly right now and boost seems to come in late and at around 8-10psi instead of the normal 13-14, so looks like I'll be spending a good chunk of tonight investigating a boost leak.. any suggestions

Anyway, here's todays clips ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdGCWnXbbw&fea...
http://youtu.be/DY-BShgEHY8

[graeme4130]

BBS-LM said:

"Dirk Van-Sleeper
Property maintenance
Baiting specialist"



Can I please go out with you in the van for a Baiting mission. So mush fun.

Edited by BBS-LM on Thursday 16th May 21:23

Actually, I left the 'baiting specialist' bit off as that was just that little bit too much for the already tongue in cheek signwriting
If you're in Swindon sometime, give me a shout and I'll take you for a spin in it

Next stop once I get this boost issue sorted is new injectors and sensor and then a 1.4bar map for some serious bhp

[graeme4130]

Sorry for lack up updates, but I just picked this up. So have been otherwise preoccupied ;

Am away for a week or so from Tuesday and then the van first gets its first trackday outing in June

[graeme4130]

Sorry for the lack of posts. Due to new other car, wedding and honeymoons, the van's not seen much action at all

I recently fixed the slightly vague gear selection with a new linkage cable kit. The old one has an almighty kink in it and the new one seems to have made selection a little less like pot luck of stirring a bucket

Anyway, as the pic shows, the can relived its original purpose today and managed very well to carry over 400ltrs of bottled water without grinding out or collapsing completely

Next step is a trackday later in the month where I'll get to stretch it's legs a bit more properly

Edited by graeme4130 on Friday 7th June 22:48