RE: Blood Brothers: Vauxhall VX220 vs Lotus Europa S
Discussion
G0ldfysh said:
Easy to liberate a few more horses and plenty more torque, with breathing mods, new exhaust and remap from either as well.
Top speed might not be what they are about but acceleration to make you smile after 7 years of ownership and 65+ thousand miles can't be a bad thing.
Love my Tubby...
+1 (7 years of turbo ownership) and i will never sell itTop speed might not be what they are about but acceleration to make you smile after 7 years of ownership and 65+ thousand miles can't be a bad thing.
Love my Tubby...
The original article said:
Follow your heart and buy a Lotus or listen to your head and go for the Vauxhall?
Firstly I have never driven either but both heart and head say VX. I could never see myself opting for the elise given the choice.I do understand how the article mentions lotus being the first manufacturer develop a track focused car but that aside i would still choose the VX.
Somebody above did mention badge snobery. This is something I have never understood. I really don't understand why somebody would/wouldn't purchase not only a car but anything at all based on the plastic emblem on the front of it.
Fingers crossed the VX is something I will aquire in the near future.
JdmRacer said:
Just give the keys of a exige s and leave the Elise Europa and vx as an image in the wing mirror 
Or, buy a Vx220 turbo , spend £6000 on mods to engine and suspension and you have have a car that costs circa £10,000 - £15000 less with about 70bhp per ton more than an Exige S 240 and wind in your hair thrown in for free.I love my Europa S, have driven all sorts and owned some other Lotus cars, but this just fits my needs. They are frustratingly hard to tune compared to the VX, but there is at least one with ~480bhp that wins a few too many GT races for the likes of the Italians and Germans to be happy about 
Unless you have owned one, it is hard to compare
Unless you have owned one, it is hard to compare
Really like the Europa, rare, love the looks, apparently a very good drive (if you don't think of it as plush GT). What scares me a bit is the rarity (less than 500 made?) and possible issues with parts suppply. Will you be able to get a front or rear clam for the thing in 5-10 years time? At what price and with what sort of delay? What about the rest of the parts not shared with Elises / VXs?
With the exception of those swayed by a badge I get everyones point of view to some extent but there's an issue no one seems to have mentioned yet.
To me at least the very point of these cars is the joy their tactility and accuracy gives you. I rarely exceeded the speed limit (ahem, if ever) in my Vx but often took well sighted sweeping bends,... quickly I'm certainly no driving god but alone on a good road in good weather there was an obscene amount of pleasure to be had just flowing smoothly down the tarmac. Vmax I really couldn't care less about although I'll admit accelleration I really do, probably more than I should.(That's why I can't find any love for the Toyobaru's, they seem to be comparable in intent but with the slider moved away from performance toward practicality)
The problem for me is that getting that accelleration by bolting on a turbo charger completely kills that sense of accuracy and control, that linearity. I test drove a Tubby and then bought an Na. I also drove a modified Impreza my brother was trying to sell at the time, which I knew would leave either for dead in a straight line(and for substantially less money) - BUT - there was litte joy to be gleaned from guiding it down the road. All that grunt and straight line performance only seemed worthwhile with someone to compare it to, in competition, be that real or imagined competition.
I think Lotus was very smart to go with superchargers for the Elise and Exige. The best of both worlds perhaps.
Kev
To me at least the very point of these cars is the joy their tactility and accuracy gives you. I rarely exceeded the speed limit (ahem, if ever) in my Vx but often took well sighted sweeping bends,... quickly
I'm certainly no driving god but alone on a good road in good weather there was an obscene amount of pleasure to be had just flowing smoothly down the tarmac. Vmax I really couldn't care less about although I'll admit accelleration I really do, probably more than I should.(That's why I can't find any love for the Toyobaru's, they seem to be comparable in intent but with the slider moved away from performance toward practicality) The problem for me is that getting that accelleration by bolting on a turbo charger completely kills that sense of accuracy and control, that linearity. I test drove a Tubby and then bought an Na. I also drove a modified Impreza my brother was trying to sell at the time, which I knew would leave either for dead in a straight line(and for substantially less money) - BUT - there was litte joy to be gleaned from guiding it down the road. All that grunt and straight line performance only seemed worthwhile with someone to compare it to, in competition, be that real or imagined competition.
I think Lotus was very smart to go with superchargers for the Elise and Exige. The best of both worlds perhaps.
Kev
Can't get on with the Europa's looks personally, whereas i think the VX still looks modern and very sharp. Agreed though, why does that VXR not have the Speedline wheels? They make it look like a real road-going racer!
I had the naturally aspirated 2.2 VX and with a geo setup to sort out Vauxhall's very safe setup, it became very pointy and much more like an Elise. The ABS was lethal - certainly worth removing - but other than that a great car. I later fitted Sachs coilovers and fitted the Vauxhall Sports Exhaust and (in my opinion), i had a car that went and looked better than an Elise, for less money. Also sold it for more than i paid; always a bonus!
I had the naturally aspirated 2.2 VX and with a geo setup to sort out Vauxhall's very safe setup, it became very pointy and much more like an Elise. The ABS was lethal - certainly worth removing - but other than that a great car. I later fitted Sachs coilovers and fitted the Vauxhall Sports Exhaust and (in my opinion), i had a car that went and looked better than an Elise, for less money. Also sold it for more than i paid; always a bonus!
Zagadkateg said:
Really sensible stuff
I'd agree with all of that I think. Between these 2 cars it would be the open nature of the VX that sways it for me. For a toy I want the lid to come off.
I've had an Elise and would have another in a heartbeat, but would certainly not be put-off the 220 by its badge.
Zagadkateg said:
I think Lotus was very smart to go with superchargers for the Elise and Exige. The best of both worlds perhaps.
Kev
I have done the supercharger conversion on the 2.2 engine, which is becoming quite popular now, and to an extent gives the best of both worlds - 250bhp / 215 lb/ft and good response..Kev
potsie said:
Final thought. Why do people buy the stripped out 'Rari "track variants" (think Stradale, Balboni and the like), rather than the "standard" version of the car and also get themselves a second proper track/road car, for when they want to scare the kids, if they really think they are Senna? ...and they'd save themselves thousands (and now two seperate cars while having aircon, normal seatbelts etc on their daily runner)... just a thought, but makes a tricked-up VX seem like a "must have" rather than a nice-to-have, in my eyes; but I would say that...
Yep, very good point, that's exactly what I've done. potsie said:
Two VX roadtests on Pistonheads two weeks? I'll take a story (or two) about an affordable car like the VX over the usual Dubai-market-focused supercar rubbish, any day. Time for more on the Integrale then, surely? or any number of other cheap alternatives... hmmm, are there any?
Final thought. Why do people buy the stripped out 'Rari "track variants" (think Stradale, Balboni and the like), rather than the "standard" version of the car and also get themselves a second proper track/road car, for when they want to scare the kids, if they really think they are Senna? ...and they'd save themselves thousands (and now two seperate cars while having aircon, normal seatbelts etc on their daily runner)... just a thought, but makes a tricked-up VX seem like a "must have" rather than a nice-to-have, in my eyes; but I would say that...
Out-and-out power, I'd guess, although like you say, unless they're Senna they're unlikely to get the best out of it.Final thought. Why do people buy the stripped out 'Rari "track variants" (think Stradale, Balboni and the like), rather than the "standard" version of the car and also get themselves a second proper track/road car, for when they want to scare the kids, if they really think they are Senna? ...and they'd save themselves thousands (and now two seperate cars while having aircon, normal seatbelts etc on their daily runner)... just a thought, but makes a tricked-up VX seem like a "must have" rather than a nice-to-have, in my eyes; but I would say that...
I remember back when the VXR220 was released Autocar pitted it against a Ferrari 360 Modena on both road and track, and found that with the same driver at the wheel, it put in faster track times and also managed to be just as enjoyable on the road while costing considerably less to run - it used half the fuel, cost a lot less to insure, all the bits were off-the-shelf Vauxhall apart from the bodywork, and the kind of speeds they got up to on real-world roads were practically identical. The only advantage the Ferrari had was its ultimate straight-line speed, but Autocar came to the conclusion that this wasn't much use.
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