My Supercharged VX220

[fridaypassion]

So Last September I picked up this calypso red VX220 (The NA 2.2)



I've had a couple of these before and always end up coming back to them.

This one had the added advantage of a throttle body conversion



Had a few jobs to do. Gave it a full detail and removed the lowered eibach springs it came with as they were far too hard. Put the standard springs back on. Lotus did a superb job of setting the car up as you'd expect and the standard setup is perfect for uk roads.



Quite randomly the opportunity to have a rather special modification came up. After a couple of weeks wait I got the car back with a stage 2 supercharger conversion



The cars is totally transformed. Its pretty much supercar quick to 120 meerkats and plenty of low down useable torque. Couple of writeups over on www.lovepetrol.com if you want some further info on the car or the conversion:

http://www.lovepetrol.com/content.php?151-VX220-th...

http://www.lovepetrol.com/content.php?173-LP-FLeet...

Thanks for reading

Edited by fridaypassion on Saturday 1st May 20:35

[flattotheboards]

Nice conversion and write up on LP. I am trying to avoid reading threads like this at the moment as im trying to avoid spending money on the VX at the moment but im not very good at it

[fridaypassion]

Well worth the money. Seek out Joe and Lee on the vx forum. Similar money to cams and hearwork I would think but for proper results!

[Gnits]

VX220 bloody good cars.
Supercharger bloody nice sound.
Must be great - enjoy it as much as you can.

[flattotheboards]

fridaypassion said:

Well worth the money. Seek out Joe and Lee on the vx forum. Similar money to cams and hearwork I would think but for proper results!

Sssshhhh your really not helping!!!! I know of Joe on the VX220 forum he has the mandarin VX doesnt he.

[Herman Toothrot]

Only think that puts me off doing the supercharger conversion is there seem to have been a large proportion of engine failures, rods letting go post conversion. I am tempted by a stage 1 conversion (as I worry the internals are not up to the task of anymore).

[fridaypassion]

Yes its Joe thats got the Manderin.

Good point on the internals. I did a lot of research and concluded that two things stand out as the main cause. Oil starvation and running too high revs. So no sticky tyres for me and also the rev limit is capped at 6500. People have upped them to 7 and 7.5k which is ridiculous for this engine.

[HairyChineseKid]

Nice Car, got myself a GSi turbo with a Z20LEH fitted, looking at getting a VX220 in the future, Courtenay are local to me and do the supercharger conversions for the 2.2's, what would be the advantage over a VX220 Turbo and a Supercharged 2.2 VX?, Recently been on the track with mine recently and fast corners its like an on/off switch having a turbo!

[soad]

Car looks lovely, me very jealous.

[AyBee]

Love the VX220, looks like a hoot with the addition of the supercharger. Any videos?

[sniff diesel]

What kind out power would the SC put out compared to on throttle boddies? Been in a 250bhp turbo one around Cadwell and was impressed.

[philmots]

That's aweosme Jon,

[fridaypassion]

Theres a vid here of another red SC VX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuoFG68kSio

Not mine but running the same setup. As you can see its quite fast! The 340 in front is also charged.

It should be running about 250 BHP (almost 300 to the tonne) It certainly feels that fast. Advantages over a turbo? Weight, std vs std the NA does have better handling too with no roll inertia you get from the iron block in the tubby. Power delivery is probably more user friendly in the SC too especially for track.

The ITB conversion had about 180 BHP so theres a fair amount of difference.

[stumpy67]

Lovely job.

Looks a great car, and a great mod to boot. Approximately how much does this cost to do?

[fridaypassion]

Courtnay charge £5200 for this conversion but they guys did it for a whole lot less than that plus I sold the ITBs. Believe it or not it cost me under 2 grand.

[stumpy67]

fridaypassion said:

Courtnay charge £5200 for this conversion but they guys did it for a whole lot less than that plus I sold the ITBs. Believe it or not it cost me under 2 grand.

That's fantastic value TBH.

I saw a VXR220 at Le Mans last year, camped next to him along with 3 Lambo's! Lovely guy actually. After that I always fancied one. He said he was as quick up to c120 kleptons, as the Lambos...

Double thumbs up.

[fridaypassion]

Its pretty ridiculous how quick it is to 120 flapjacks

Not done any timing or anything with it but it should be about 4 seconds to 60 and 10 to 100

[wmg100]

Very good write up and great car. I'm still toying with the idea of getting another and was thinking of a stage 3/4 turbo but if these guys are doing the supercharger at that price I may have to look into it.

[fridaypassion]

I suppose it depends what you're using it for. If its a daily driver I'd probably get a turbo but if its as a weekend car the NA is a lot better base car. No contest with the charger on it.

[wmg100]

fridaypassion said:

I suppose it depends what you're using it for. If its a daily driver I'd probably get a turbo but if its as a weekend car the NA is a lot better base car. No contest with the charger on it.

Just a toy really, would like to go on another euro trip in it but I've done that in an NA before so know it's up to it.