VXR 500 should I?

[tuscan_al]

Kinda need a change and want to stay rwd and bhp but down to one car etc. Really thinking these fit the bill. Know I loose the looks but it's got reliablity and less spanner work going for it. Or am I wrong??

[John D.]

Pardon my ignorance but is this a Monaro? How much?

[tuscan_al]

Yes monaro, around 18-20k for the 500, 14k for 400bhp vxr.

[John D.]

Well you would'nt be satisfied by a mere 400bhp would you?

Is the 500 SC or what?

[tuscan_al]

Yes same ls2 engine with a blower and some ap 6 pots to stop it! 400 is too close to current car. But it's the £145 10k service interval that gets my attention too.

Need to flog the Tuscan and work out what to do next year.

[Vixpy1]

My personal preferance would be for a normal 6 Litre VXR, and do the mods. I'm not the biggest fan of the VXR500 conversion, aftermarket ones are better IMHO

[tuscan_al]

Vixpy1 said:

My personal preferance would be for a normal 6 Litre VXR, and do the mods. I'm not the biggest fan of the VXR500 conversion, aftermarket ones are better IMHO

Just means finding a mod friendly insurance co, I understand the mods are off the shelf, and Monkfish could/do do better.

[Sods Law]

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1385238.htm

[John D.]

Sods Law said:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1385238.htm

Not a fan of the mis-mash of Holden and VXR badging on that one.

[VerySideways]

Personally i really like the Monaro, but that red is a bit "full on" for my taste... it's not a small car, so that's a lot of very bright paint.

Get a yellow one

[SVTRick]

Nice motor

Watch out for aftermaket blowers on stock compression.
Cylinder walls on the bigger bore motor are thinner.

Go for cams and fueling with a good tune.
Loads of N/A horsepower to be got from a stock block

[xllifts]

SVTRick said:

Nice motor

Watch out for aftermaket blowers on stock compression.
Cylinder walls on the bigger bore motor are thinner.

Go for cams and fueling with a good tune.
Loads of N/A horsepower to be got from a stock block

I assume walls are thinner due to gaining cc, by boring them out more rather than reducing piston hieght (short stroke Fnar possible on the 5.7?)or am i talking arse?

[nonuts]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Really? That 5.7 block is rather well proven and can make big numbers either NA or FI, after all the later 6.0 isn't actually that much different from what I understand anyway.

Also I've had the pleasure of following a few original 5.7s on Tunnel runs and they didn't seem to have any power or noise issues.

[Turbofun]

tuscan_al said:

Kinda need a change and want to stay rwd and bhp but down to one car etc. Really thinking these fit the bill. Know I loose the looks but it's got reliablity and less spanner work going for it. Or am I wrong??

I was lucky to get a ride in the some Monster VXR S/C @600 horse at VMAX a while back. It was very fast and quiet a experience however it was a very fast saloon type car.
You have to ask yourself do you want to replace your car (TVR)with another sports car (light, nibble, very involving) or a fast saloon (larger/4 seats/weight/fun)?

Or a mix of the above

Perhaps I might just get flamed here.... how about a 996 3.6 C2 man
Reasons
1. There's a good choice of cars about
2. You can get 4 people in at a squeeze
3. Its lots of fun, nibble, involving.
4. You can drive it like a relaxing GT
5. You can switch off the TC and get very side ways
6. Reliable and reasonable cost wise to run(pretty economical on M/W 27-30mpg)
7. There are lots of upgrade routes to go with the car, even a S/C

[tuscan_al]

Going to get a drive of some this week if I can and actually see how I feel about them.

One do it all car is appealing to me right now.

Nathan,

I was starting to look at things like Caymans too etc, just the servicing costs again of anything from stutgart or the M division is what I'm trying to get away from. Love the idea of an RS^ too, but not the bills!

Elises and the likes are fine, but I'm going for the leave it outside all year option too with the garage being used for bikes maybe come the spring.

Edited by tuscan_al on Monday 7th December 10:44

Oh also thinking about CL600 bi turbos, but the bills are huge there too.

Edited by tuscan_al on Monday 7th December 10:51

[john_r]

Never driven the Monaro, but the VXR8 was not a good experience. Too snatchy, constantly unsettled on the back end and just felt like a big car trying to be a small car - badly. And the interior didn't help as it was bland and again came across as 'trying too hard' - too bitty and not a shred of class. The E60 M5 felt smaller as a driver if that makes sense, and has an extremely plain interior; but it felt a nice, clean, comfortable, ergonomic place to be.

Any car will cost a lot of money to run if it's driven like we all drive our cars...

I learned the hard way, that trying to run one 'do everything' car costs a lot more than running a daily and a fun...

But, ignoring all of the above, how about a well-sorted E39 M5!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1385498.htm

[VerySideways]

Thankfully the VXR8 and the Monaro are quite different

[Turbofun]

tuscan_al said:

Going to get a drive of some this week if I can and actually see how I feel about them.

One do it all car is appealing to me right now.

Nathan,

I was starting to look at things like Caymans too etc, just the servicing costs again of anything from stutgart or the M division is what I'm trying to get away from. Love the idea of an RS^ too, but not the bills!

Elises and the likes are fine, but I'm going for the leave it outside all year option too with the garage being used for bikes maybe come the spring.

Edited by tuscan_al on Monday 7th December 10:44

Oh also thinking about CL600 bi turbos, but the bills are huge there too.

Edited by tuscan_al on Monday 7th December 10:51

Any Performance Car will have bills attached but getting something from Germany would normally be reliable

How about somthing like this plus find yourself a hardtop if you keeping the car outside. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1356985.htm

[VerySideways]

Servicing a 335i is cheap compared with servicing an M3...

As an alternative to the SB350 powered Monaro, how about a SB350 powered C5 'Vette 'vert?
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1224980.htm

[John D.]

Turbofun said:

How about somthing like this plus find yourself a hardtop if you keeping the car outside. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1356985.htm

Come on Nathan, Al will never be able to look his old TVR buddies in the eye if he buys that!