RE: PH Buying Guide: Vauxhall VX220
Discussion
hahaha thanks, I thought there might be a good explanation for it, but to many "replicas" out thereHaving done over 100 laps of the Ring in a Opel Speedster NA (rented from a dealer on the eastern side of Germany where I lived from 2002-2005, before moving back to the states), I'm very jealous indeed that you brits can pick these up so cheap.
The bottom of the Elise market here in the US is still in the mid to high $20k range, and having driven both I'd chose a Speedster/VX220 if they were available here. Hell I'd have chosen one over the Ferrari 308QV I ended up buying in 2007 and still enjoy very much.
Cruising ~700km to the 'Ring, with the top off, earplugs in, at 200-240kph, unloading my bag at the hotel and then proceeding to drive directly on the 'Ring for laps was something I'll never forget.
A vid from the first time with the Speedster, sharing driving duties with a couple mates from the Isle of Jersey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfDfDGyZvI
The bottom of the Elise market here in the US is still in the mid to high $20k range, and having driven both I'd chose a Speedster/VX220 if they were available here. Hell I'd have chosen one over the Ferrari 308QV I ended up buying in 2007 and still enjoy very much.
Cruising ~700km to the 'Ring, with the top off, earplugs in, at 200-240kph, unloading my bag at the hotel and then proceeding to drive directly on the 'Ring for laps was something I'll never forget.
A vid from the first time with the Speedster, sharing driving duties with a couple mates from the Isle of Jersey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfDfDGyZvI
Really enjoyed my VX220 NA. Paid just 8k for it, ran it for 2 years and 20k miles then sold it for just under 8k. All in I suffered less than £500 in depreciation. I also have to say nothing ever went wrong other than some condensation getting into the front headlamp. Cheap to run and insure too. I was also fortunate enough to own a 200bhp pretty hard focused westfield at the same time and I jumped in the VX more times than the westy because it was softer, it wasn't half as good on a track but down a b road, pushing on at 8 tenths commitment levels whilst catching some sun and listening to some tunes. Awesome.
Can anyone argue for a better performance bargain than that?
I upgraded to a Lotus Europa S which I have to admit apart from the badge and the aesthetics (my opinion only guys) I feel the VX was the better all round car. I miss my VX220
Can anyone argue for a better performance bargain than that?
I upgraded to a Lotus Europa S which I have to admit apart from the badge and the aesthetics (my opinion only guys) I feel the VX was the better all round car. I miss my VX220
I owned a VX220 turbo for a year. It was tuned to stage 2 and felt seriously fast!
Hardly any on the road and turned heads everytime I took it out.
Things to look out for....
Radiators: OE rads with plastics end caps burst. Better with a full alloy rad, costs around £600 to replace as front clam needs to come off.
Engine mounts: Made of cheese and they knock and sound like a coffee grinder on hard accelleration. Expect around £400 to change these.
Electrical gremlins, engine managment lights, leaking roof/windows, cat D's & C's are all common.
Hardly any on the road and turned heads everytime I took it out.
Things to look out for....
Radiators: OE rads with plastics end caps burst. Better with a full alloy rad, costs around £600 to replace as front clam needs to come off.
Engine mounts: Made of cheese and they knock and sound like a coffee grinder on hard accelleration. Expect around £400 to change these.
Electrical gremlins, engine managment lights, leaking roof/windows, cat D's & C's are all common.
I've got one of these, it's great. Old cars do need some care, and if you have bought a hard tracked one, then it will have some worn parts. Track modded cars will have have a whole host of aftermarket parts, and low mileage. When Test driving the car find an empty but if road and zig zag, as if you were warming the tyres, at a low speed. Listen out for knocks which could be the steering rack or toe links. Rattling timing chains when cold is not alarming, but all depends on the modification. Most VX owners are obsessed.expect bad paint on a ragged motor. And ask if the car has had an ECU Remapped. Some of the Tubbies can have 300bhp and the NA ones can be supercharged.
Oh, the parts are fairly cheap, and fixing them is really simple. You can do most of it yourself, or the owners club has some great members that will help you or do it on the cheap.
I have a 250bhp Supercharged one, fitted half price by a member of the owners club. Test drive one. You won't regret it. Prices are going up.
I have a 250bhp Supercharged one, fitted half price by a member of the owners club. Test drive one. You won't regret it. Prices are going up.
They are great fun, I've just bought myself a 2006 Turbo car re-mapped to 250 BHP and I'm in the process of upgrading toe-links etc so as to put on sticky tyres and get it on track.
I tend to jump in it rather than messing around with helmets and gear to ride my motorbikes, in fact it feels like a four wheel motorbike.
I tend to jump in it rather than messing around with helmets and gear to ride my motorbikes, in fact it feels like a four wheel motorbike.
KrazyHazy said:
Awesome. I hear they're quite hard to get, but last a lifetime. Can I ask how much and where from ??
You can buy them direct from Spitfire Engineering I'm not sure if they would be happy with me quoting prices over the Internet, I can say the quality is superb and it's a complete kit.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff