VX220 Turbo - Retro fit air con?

[Somerled]

Hi all,

Wondering whether anyone here has (or has tried to) retro fit air conditioning to their VX220 Turbo?

I am thinking of getting one of these great cars for Greece, but my stumbling block is the air con. Unfortunately 'just take the roof' doesn't cut it in that climate!

Thanks for your help!

[mike9009]

One guy on VX220.org.uk has converted to aircon. He had the car exported to HongKong though.

Can't remember the exact details but woth a search over there for the thread.

HTH

Mike

[Somerled]

Thanks for the guidance Mike - had a look and it sounds like it's possible, but overall a pretty big deal.

How do you find the VX Turbo without a/c? I mean, do you get heatwaves from the engine at all? (I'm thinking like a TVR owner on this one).

Also, on generally hot days do you find yourself boiling in the cabin? (In the UK, let alone in countries with hotter climates...)

[Rosso Rebel]

It's not as hot as our Chimaera, for instance which really suffers from heat soak, (Well, actually it's us who suffer!!) but, obviously you're still sat in a plastic box, and unfortunately the fan is rubbish, so there's no respite if you're stuck in traffic.

[mike9009]

The heat in the cabin can become a little overwhelming during hot weather. I remember one trip down to France when we got stuck in some traffic - myself and the wife got out the car in the traffic jam just to cool down!

The car is fine whilst moving - just don't get caught standing still.

Hope this doesn't put you off a great car though!

Mike

[cyberface]

Somerled said:

Thanks for the guidance Mike - had a look and it sounds like it's possible, but overall a pretty big deal.

How do you find the VX Turbo without a/c? I mean, do you get heatwaves from the engine at all? (I'm thinking like a TVR owner on this one).

Also, on generally hot days do you find yourself boiling in the cabin? (In the UK, let alone in countries with hotter climates...)

Bit late on this - I've owned a Griff 500 and there is no comparison. The TVRs have big engines in front of the driver so heat comes straight into the car. In the summer, my Griff was so hot inside it was often unbearable, but I guess it had more than twice the engine capacity of my VXT (but less power.... hehe) The VXT has the engine behind the driver with a mesh engine cover - you can see the heat haze out the back window.

The problem is lack of airflow - most of the blower's air is wasted by piss poor Lotus design of the piping into the car, which also fills the car with dust and grit. There is a kit available now IIRC, developed by someone on vx220.org that seals the main intake pipe to the ducting properly and allows fitment of a high-flow filter as well - this should make quite a bit of difference.

Black leather gets hot, and obviously dark coloured cars suffer as well. Mine is bright yellow with a bright yellow hardtop, and I haven't yet started yearning for air-con (or a new Exige with a better engine swap...) - so you may find a light colour with hardtop keeps most of the heat out. Getting the seats retrimmed in a lighter colour alcantara may help as well.

I *never* take the roof off (well, I did it twice, and got sunburnt each time, I am blonde and my girlfriend is a redhead, we don't tan for fun) and have been very happy with the car even in long journeys. Even *she* is happy sitting in the (less comfortable) passenger seat for hours in the summer. IMO it's better than an average cheap (i.e. no air-con) shopping hatchback because the engine, turbo and zorst is behind you. Air con would be nice (and we're all spoilt now since even cheap hatchbacks have it these days) but I bet it'd be expensive, tricky to plumb, and hard to find space for (may lose boot room) in a VXT. And you don't really want to be making the car any heavier really, though I gather the modern air-con kit used by Lotus in the Exige isn't hugely heavy.

[stevenandalex]

Or sell the vxt and buy a 111R with air con.

[Code Monkey]

stevenandalex said:

Or sell the vxt and buy a 111R with air con.

If you can cope with the lack of torque and bhp, and are happy to stop driving a rare car. hehe