Vauxhall VX220 Turbo | PH Private Area
You've (probably) seen it on TG; you've (likely) read about it in the mags. Now's your chance to own it...
Everybody dabbles in cross-company platform sharing once in a while, usually with woefully boring crossovers but the practice has given us some brilliant sports cars that otherwise may never have existed. Toyota, for instance, couldn’t justify developing the GR Supra on its own dime so it struck up a partnership with BMW to share some bits with the Z4, which turned out to be quite a successful venture (if one that ruffled a few purist feathers). Then there’s the Audi R8, which may have never come to fruition had the firm not put the legwork in with the Lamborghini Gallardo a few years earlier.
Of course, being owned by the same car giant, as Audi and Lamborghini are, does help matters somewhat. A luxury that wasn’t afforded to Lotus when developing the Series 2 Elise, which had to be substantially tougher to meet stringent new crash regulations. With no money to complete the work, the Norfolk squad went cap in hand to former owner General Motors, which was happy to fund the new platform in exchange for a sports car of its own. Lotus agreed, and work began developing the Elise S2 and its Vauxhall cousin: the VX220, a bit like the one we have here.
Both utilised the same aluminium architecture and many of the same components, but there were also a good number of differences, too. The VX220 had a longer wheelbase, for example, and was initially powered by a 2.2-litre naturally-aspirated engine from a Vauxhall Astra rather than the Elise’s 1.8-litre K-Series motor. The VX220 was, however, over 100kg heavier than the Elise, which led Vauxhall to recalibrate the suspension to help manage the extra heft. But that just meant the VX220 was a slightly softer, more approachable car against the more hardcore Elise - and allowed the companies to go after different buyers.
Further differentiation came with the VX220 Turbo, much like the car you see here, in 2003. Borrowing the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine from the Astra (and Zafira) GSi may have come with a chunky weight penalty, it now tipping the scales at 930kg, but the jump from 147hp to 203hp more than made up for it. That comfortably put the VX220 ahead of the Lotus on sheer power, and it would remain on top until the arrival of the supercharged Elise four years later. That didn't mean it was superior to the Lotus on track, but on a B-road blast the Vauxhall did rather come into its own.
Reviewers loved it, too. Both Tiff Needel and Jeremy Clarkson sang its praises on Fifth Gear and Top Gear respectively, with the latter controversially claiming the VX handled better than the Series 2 Elise. In fact, this very car played a part in the episode. It’s Vauxhall’s former press car, and while it doesn’t feature in Clarkson’s review, it was driven by OG Stig Perry McCarthy around the Top Gear test track. Its media duties didn’t end there, with appearances in most of the era’s major car mags.
So it's got some great stories to tell and, with only 60,000 miles on the clock, still has many more ahead of it. And it looks to have been cosseted since its retirement from duty, with lots of service history, some recent cosmetic treatment and a replacement radiator last year. The price is £16,750, and with that comes that private plate, which is a slight twist on ‘J3 VXL’ it wore during its time as a press car. Granted, you could pick this example up with a third of the mileage for a smidgen less, but this particular car appears to be in slightly better nick, and has a fantastic story to go along with it.
A cool car regardless, and only spoilt (for me) by the comparative lotus. Relative to now… good looking, sub 1,000kg and 200+ hp… pretty awesome.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16707124
Had an Elise 111R a few years later and imo it was the better car. The rarity factor of the VX220 is definitely cool though. Can’t remember last time I saw one.
Sadly, IMO at least, the engine really doesn't suit the car. The Elise and its derivatives are largely about how faithfully the car responds to driver inputs and the engine in the VX220 turbo just... doesn't, it's too laggy. They're not bad units in isolation, but neither of the engines used in the VX220 really felt right in a small sports car to me. Add to that the fact that the brakes are horrible and Vauxhall put the wrong sized wheels onto all but the VXR version (although that's easy enough to fix) and the whole thing just seemed to add up to less than the sum of its parts.
An awesome car that makes me smile every Summer morning or evening that I take it out for a blat, I never 'go anywhere' in it just driven for driving pleasure.
Enjoyed the car, but as kambites has said above, the brakes were fairly terrible especially on bumpy surfaces when going downhill.
It isn't as well-balanced as an Elise and can catch you out with turn-in oversteer if you are even a fraction too fast into a corner. It remains the only car I've ever spun in nearly 40 years of driving.
Did six or seven trackdays in my car, enjoyed the ownership but didn't miss it when I sold it. The steering feel is very good though, I preferred it to an S2 Elise in period.
Here it is, at Llandow in either 2004 or 2005:
An awesome car that makes me smile every Summer morning or evening that I take it out for a blat, I never 'go anywhere' in it just driven for driving pleasure.
Shame the pics are a bit insipid - the yellow on these is a proper bright yellow...
Think dodgy knees and back count me out this time though....
Had an Elise 111R a few years later and imo it was the better car. The rarity factor of the VX220 is definitely cool though. Can’t remember last time I saw one.
Fantastic thing to drive, true go kart, looked awesome and felt special, although I do remember how spartan it was, very difficult to get in and out of and being continuously blinded by car headlights as it was so low to the ground, would be even worse now given LED headlights and how bloated everything has become. Don't think I could have one nowadays.
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