VX220 for track, competition and shopping.
Discussion
16 years ago I had a drive in an Elise S1 Sport 135. Shortly after I had a go in a VX220 Turbo. I was hooked, and had to have something similar. I got a little distracted en route and bought cars ranging from a rustbucket Italian turbocharged hot-hatch and rubber-band-powered MX5 to a 6.0l LS2 Monaro and V8 TVR via everything in between. Earlier this year I finally admitted that using the 1700kg 400bhp Monaro for car club autosolos wasn't ideal. Fun car though it was, it often felt like trying to drive the APC from Aliens through a multi-storey car park. Monaro gone. Hello VX220.
I looked at Elise S1, S2 and VX220 NA. I realise the Elise is marginally the purer driver's car, but after a year in the Mad Max truck I wasn't that fussed about the last nth degree of steering feel. Prefer the looks of the VX anyway. Found one in my preferred colour with hardtop; makes it look a bit more GT car/Exigey. Incidentally, I drove a couple of VX220 Turbos and didn't reckon the extra performance made the car any more fun to drive, so saved a few grand with the 2.2 NA.
The car is standard other than VX VSE exhaust, which makes the car sound a bit more meaty. It sounds OK, but I'm still suffering V8 withdrawal. Otherwise it drives like most other Elise-type cars drive. When I bought the car it had rock-hard 10+ year-old Bridgestones on the front, with recent rears made by some random Chinese tyre & dangerous toy company. An excellent combination, congratulations to the previous owner on surviving. I fitted Goodyear Eagle F1s all round the first week I had the car. Ride is now much less crashy than before; I was surprised how 'firm' 10 year-old sidewalls are... I also unbolted the hardtop in the recent good weather and ran with the soft roof. Yet again, the ride seems better. It feels like the hardtop paradoxically induces what feels like scuttle shake over manhole covers etc, whereas without it the whole car seems a bit more compliant.
The OE halogen headlights were, well, arse. Fitted Elise-Shop Hurricane HID lights which are a revelation for £70 or so. First autosolo next month, followed by first trackday. More later.
I looked at Elise S1, S2 and VX220 NA. I realise the Elise is marginally the purer driver's car, but after a year in the Mad Max truck I wasn't that fussed about the last nth degree of steering feel. Prefer the looks of the VX anyway. Found one in my preferred colour with hardtop; makes it look a bit more GT car/Exigey. Incidentally, I drove a couple of VX220 Turbos and didn't reckon the extra performance made the car any more fun to drive, so saved a few grand with the 2.2 NA.
The car is standard other than VX VSE exhaust, which makes the car sound a bit more meaty. It sounds OK, but I'm still suffering V8 withdrawal. Otherwise it drives like most other Elise-type cars drive. When I bought the car it had rock-hard 10+ year-old Bridgestones on the front, with recent rears made by some random Chinese tyre & dangerous toy company. An excellent combination, congratulations to the previous owner on surviving. I fitted Goodyear Eagle F1s all round the first week I had the car. Ride is now much less crashy than before; I was surprised how 'firm' 10 year-old sidewalls are... I also unbolted the hardtop in the recent good weather and ran with the soft roof. Yet again, the ride seems better. It feels like the hardtop paradoxically induces what feels like scuttle shake over manhole covers etc, whereas without it the whole car seems a bit more compliant.
The OE halogen headlights were, well, arse. Fitted Elise-Shop Hurricane HID lights which are a revelation for £70 or so. First autosolo next month, followed by first trackday. More later.
Part of the attraction of the NA rather than forced-induction was that I could use most of the performance without a) ending up in a field upside-down and/or b) going to jail. Similar to the Chimaera 4.0 I had; TVR noise, performance and fun, but without the sphincter-twitching near-death-experience of a 5.0 or Cerbera. Maybe I'm getting soft....
Tharriso
Yes, although running road tyres I do plan to put the higher tensile bolts etc on the car. I'm pretty sure they're still the originals. There's a YT clip of a VX220 owner tracking his car at Croft when the hub-carrier bolts went, resulting in an unplanned trip into the scenery.
Yes, although running road tyres I do plan to put the higher tensile bolts etc on the car. I'm pretty sure they're still the originals. There's a YT clip of a VX220 owner tracking his car at Croft when the hub-carrier bolts went, resulting in an unplanned trip into the scenery.
A long overdue update: Have done 3 trackdays so far, Silverstone National with PH last October and again earlier this month, Abingdon last December with MSE. The car went well in wet & dry, exactly what I want from a light-ish track car. I also did an Autosolo in it last year with Farnborough Motor Club, something I've normally used my Mk3 MR2 for. I struggled with a lack of steering lock on the tighter sections, and a surfeit of grip (and lack of LSD) meant that it was difficult to get the tail out to point the car at low speed, something that the MR2 was better at.
Faster, more sweeping track stuff is more the car's forte, and I've decided to do some sprints this year. MSA Nat 'B' non-race licence has arrived.
Abingdon, great fun for an airfield circuit.
First time out at Silverstone the pedal suddenly went to the floor, resulting in a Code Brown going into Copse. I've now replaced the black watercolour paint that was in the braking system with Motul RBF660 fluid, fitted new discs all round, and have EBC Yellowstuff pads on the front. Much better.
The original Bilsteins, although fine on-track, were giving a very crashy ride on the road. The springs also looked like they'd been rescued from the ocean floor. Ordered some Quantum Zero coilovers, and after a chat with a very helpful Ian from Elise Parts settled on trackday springs 300 front, 400 rear. Very happy with the result. Much better ride and damping on the road, with sharper steering. In retrospect, the Bilsteins were obviously shot, and in recent weeks had rapidly deteriorated, with the spine-shattering crashes now accompanied by a bouncy-castle experience. I reckon at least one of the rears was doing no damping at all. I've also fitted new Elise Shop track-rod ends and had the geo done.
First event in a week's time at Abingdon Long Circuit sprint.
Faster, more sweeping track stuff is more the car's forte, and I've decided to do some sprints this year. MSA Nat 'B' non-race licence has arrived.
Abingdon, great fun for an airfield circuit.
First time out at Silverstone the pedal suddenly went to the floor, resulting in a Code Brown going into Copse. I've now replaced the black watercolour paint that was in the braking system with Motul RBF660 fluid, fitted new discs all round, and have EBC Yellowstuff pads on the front. Much better.
The original Bilsteins, although fine on-track, were giving a very crashy ride on the road. The springs also looked like they'd been rescued from the ocean floor. Ordered some Quantum Zero coilovers, and after a chat with a very helpful Ian from Elise Parts settled on trackday springs 300 front, 400 rear. Very happy with the result. Much better ride and damping on the road, with sharper steering. In retrospect, the Bilsteins were obviously shot, and in recent weeks had rapidly deteriorated, with the spine-shattering crashes now accompanied by a bouncy-castle experience. I reckon at least one of the rears was doing no damping at all. I've also fitted new Elise Shop track-rod ends and had the geo done.
First event in a week's time at Abingdon Long Circuit sprint.
First proper competition event last week. The car is still in one piece! For those that are unfamiliar, 'speed' events comprise sprints & hillclimbs. Timed from a standing start over a fixed course, one car at a time (mainly). This new event at Abingdon is quite long for a sprint course (it combines two separate layouts from the annual summer CAR-nival sprint).
Classes exist for everything from daily-driven hatches to ex-F1 cars. As I was in a road car class the mods required to the car are minimal; yellow tape on the battery earth cable, an ON-OFF sticker by the ignition, and a black timing strut on the front of the car to trigger the timing beams. I bodged one by cutting a hard plastic storage box with my Dremel. After wincing through the bombardment of hot molten plastic splatter I wrapped it in black tape and had a functional but somewhat wobbly strut that managed to pass scrutineering. That process was quite informal BTW. Noise testing involved being asked to blip the throttle once! Cars potentially closer to the dB limit had the usual noise meter at 4500rpm thing. Otherwise it was a quick check that the tyres weren't flat followed by a bloke inspecting my helmet. Fnarr.
4 runs in total; 2 practice, 2 competitive, all timed, spread throughout the day. My first run time was within a second of my final one. Not exactly improving, but I did come 51st out of 102 entrants overall. I had my arse handed to me on a plate within the A8 class I was competing in. The VX220 is in with Caterham R500s and such like. Very friendly paddock, good to have a wander and a chat with owners of some fantastic machinery.
The new suspension has fixed rates, so not much to play with other than tyre pressures. 3 psi makes all the difference to the handling, and at one point had the rears a little too pumped; very pointy and drifty in the low-speed sections, but spun the thing at 80mph after going over a cracked seam in the airfield surface. After some new pants I tweaked the tyre pressures back to a more neutral setting and took it a bit easier.
Some may consider £100+ entry fee for less than 10 mins on-track to be poor value, but it's certainly an adrenaline rush. I still plan to do trackdays too; next one in May, then the 8-run Abingdon CAR-nival sprint in June. Think I'll make a metal timing strut in the meantime.
Classes exist for everything from daily-driven hatches to ex-F1 cars. As I was in a road car class the mods required to the car are minimal; yellow tape on the battery earth cable, an ON-OFF sticker by the ignition, and a black timing strut on the front of the car to trigger the timing beams. I bodged one by cutting a hard plastic storage box with my Dremel. After wincing through the bombardment of hot molten plastic splatter I wrapped it in black tape and had a functional but somewhat wobbly strut that managed to pass scrutineering. That process was quite informal BTW. Noise testing involved being asked to blip the throttle once! Cars potentially closer to the dB limit had the usual noise meter at 4500rpm thing. Otherwise it was a quick check that the tyres weren't flat followed by a bloke inspecting my helmet. Fnarr.
4 runs in total; 2 practice, 2 competitive, all timed, spread throughout the day. My first run time was within a second of my final one. Not exactly improving, but I did come 51st out of 102 entrants overall. I had my arse handed to me on a plate within the A8 class I was competing in. The VX220 is in with Caterham R500s and such like. Very friendly paddock, good to have a wander and a chat with owners of some fantastic machinery.
The new suspension has fixed rates, so not much to play with other than tyre pressures. 3 psi makes all the difference to the handling, and at one point had the rears a little too pumped; very pointy and drifty in the low-speed sections, but spun the thing at 80mph after going over a cracked seam in the airfield surface. After some new pants I tweaked the tyre pressures back to a more neutral setting and took it a bit easier.
Some may consider £100+ entry fee for less than 10 mins on-track to be poor value, but it's certainly an adrenaline rush. I still plan to do trackdays too; next one in May, then the 8-run Abingdon CAR-nival sprint in June. Think I'll make a metal timing strut in the meantime.
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