RE: Vauxhall Cavalier GSI: PH Ad Break

[Oelholm]

Escort Si-130 said:

- Nope, viewpoint was explained earlier. Pretty rational.

[zygalski]

BILL PAYER said:

When its so bad that it distracts you from driving ,yes!

Lots of the annoying rattles/squeaks can be easily & cheaply fixed.

[BILL PAYER]

Baryonyx said:

Sounds like it's time to man up!

Take a leaf out of these guy's books, they wouldn't let a little noise put them off their drive.





And...

"oh, hey there, we don't give a st about the noise!"

Sounds like its st that your talking.so end of conversation.

[wildcat45]

My neighbour had one of these in dark blue.

I love the love for the Cavalier on this thread.

It harks back to the pre BMW/Audi days when owning a top end Vauxhall or Ford was not something to ridicule.

I wish it was more like that now.

[richb77]

I had a 1992 one of these.

Probably one of the best cars i have ever owned (some may say thats sad but its true).

Reliable, cheap to maintain, 150bhp was perfectly adequate in the day and comfortable. Shame at 140k the steering rack went and a replacement (apparently bespoke to the GSI) was twice the value of the car. In hindsight i should have fixed it as the replacement Senator 24v was a bit dull in comparison.

[SRi Slim R]

I love the vauxhalls. This was the era when vauxhall were bringing out some great cars.

My dad, uncles and neighbours had many of these in various varients.


The GSI's cavalier look best in Maroon IMo
The Cavalier Turbos in white or Black.

[SRi Slim R]

F1GTRUeno said:

Makes you wonder when they looked at smart as they did, why so many people decided to ruin them with horrible modifications.

I like them when lowered, not too low obv. Just a tad or 2

[exgtt]

Escort Si-130 said:

Well how about the Sierra Saphire Cosworth - you seem to forgot about that one eh.

exgtt said:

Brilliant cars! What was Ford offering at the time, the Sapphire 2.0 twin cam? The Cavaliers engine was well ahead of the game, no other multivalve engine came close (in family saloons anyway)

I also forgot about the 3S-GTE, SR20DET etc but then again i was probably refering to N/A motors eh ming mong.

[s m]

exgtt said:

Escort Si-130 said:

Well how about the Sierra Saphire Cosworth - you seem to forgot about that one eh.

exgtt said:

Brilliant cars! What was Ford offering at the time, the Sapphire 2.0 twin cam? The Cavaliers engine was well ahead of the game, no other multivalve engine came close (in family saloons anyway)

I also forgot about the 3S-GTE, SR20DET etc but then again i was probably refering to N/A motors eh ming mong.

There was the 160bhp Peugeot 1.9 in the 405 ( from E-reg ).
The year after ( H-reg ) Nissan had the 150bhp engine in the P10 eZX. I remember a twin test of the eZX/EGT vs the GSi in Fast Lane

[s m]

The other 4wd saloon that used to crop up in the group tests besides the 2.9 XR4x4, 405Mi-16x4.... was the Audi 90 quattro 20v. An extra 300cc but it used to poke out 170bhp

[Baryonyx]

BILL PAYER said:

Sounds like its st that your talking.so end of conversation.

Did you end up here by mistake looking for mumsnet? Creaking interior indeed, is it disturbing the children sleeping in the back?

[STattam]

Was as quick as a standard 4x4 Saph, 0-60 time was consequence of extra gear change needed

Loplop said:

If you're going to compare the 'Cosseh' compare it to the Cavalier Turbo which had 204bhp and 4WD.

6 Speed Box too don'tcha know?

0 - 60 in 6.4 Seconds Which is about half a second slower than a Saph, but it'll also reach 149mph.

They don't blow themselves up anywhere near as often and are a lot easier to get power from.

A 2.0 4x4 Sierra is more comparable to a GSi 2000 4x4.

That makes the Sierra look awfully slow.

You don't have to re-mortgage your house to buy a Cav Turbo these days either.

[Davie]

wildcat45 said:

It harks back to the pre BMW/Audi days when owning a top end Vauxhall or Ford was not something to ridicule.

I wish it was more like that now.

That's one of the reason I love mine. There is no better feeling than wiping the smile of some elitest pricks face when armed with a 20 year old Vauxhall Cavalier.

Then again, the opposite works too. One of the best days I had in mine was on Run What You Brung day when I got paired up with a stripped out Saph Cosworth. He got me by a whisker, then I got him, he got me, I got him and so it went on all day. There was none "OMG, my FORD is WAAAAAAAAY better" pish. Properly decent bloke.

Almost as good as the run up the A68 with the guy on the big sports bike.

[exgtt]

s m said:

There was the 160bhp Peugeot 1.9 in the 405 ( from E-reg ).
The year after ( H-reg ) Nissan had the 150bhp engine in the P10 eZX. I remember a twin test of the eZX/EGT vs the GSi in Fast Lane

Primera eGT, Crikey forgot about those! Not only built well but handled too. Think they were a bit of an unsung hero in the GSI's day.

[s m]

exgtt said:

Primera eGT, Crikey forgot about those!

That's fine....as long as you remembered about DRE.....

[Pork]

The Cav GSi it the only car I've ever had two of. Have 1991 H plate in white and replaced it a few years later with a black G plate.....super cars.

This was in the mid 90's, long before they had the image then went on to get. All my mates were hankering after Renault 5 GTTs and Escort RS Turbos, I got one of these and it surprised a lot of people.

Superb car at the time.

[BILL PAYER]

Baryonyx said:

Did you end up here by mistake looking for mumsnet? Creaking interior indeed, is it disturbing the children sleeping in the back?

Keypad Warriors i love em.

[Liquid Tuna]

NotNormal said:

Baryonyx said:

... with weak gearboxes.

I assume he means the transfer box as the gearboxes are good for LOTS of power.

Transfer boxes are not that strong though and are prone to failing primarily down to poor maintenance as not a lot of people (inc. dealers) don't know that there are two seperate chambers within the casing. Both of these need to have the oils changed at service intervals. Couple to this, owners need to ensure that the front and rear tyres are within 2mm of each other and the difference in tyre circumference must not exceed 15mm. If either of these limits are exceeding when driving then the viscous clutch plates burn out and you end up with a car that is just FWD.

Can someone explain the reason for this to me please? How does this happen and why are the tolerances so fine?

[Devil2575]

The Cavalier GSI was a credible performance saloon in it's day. In 1990 a lot less people had BMWs and Audis and owning a Ford or a Vauxhall wasn't looked down on in the way it is now.

The person who made the Chav comment deserves a metaphorical slap in the face.

[DKS]

Because there's a series of small clutch discs that effectively manage the slip to the rear wheels. It's a bit too clever, and slips drive to the rear when it senses too much difference front/rear. Like a 'proper' 4x4 in diff lock mode, it's only meant to do it really when needed. If the tyres are very far out, it ends up doing it all the time, overheats and either stops working or, as was more common, explode in a very boring Hollywood style as pressure to operate the clutches was supplied by the PAS system.

A very cheap and effective mod was to fit an inline switch to the power for the 4x4 ECU to put it to sleep if, say, you were on a long motorway cruise.
Luckily it's very easy to mechanically disable the system and run the car permanently 2WD, or you can buy locked boxes, or even take the little clutches out and bolt them together!

IF it's maintained and all the fluid and the uprated accumulator are renewed it's actually OK, but ignorance and fear at the time mean a lot were killed or converted to 2WD.

Edited by DKS on Friday 8th March 22:25