RE: Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000 | Spotted
Discussion
The Vauxhall system used pressure linked to the power steering to activate the clutch packs and engage the rear wheels. It had an accumulator bulb that needed replaced after X amount of time and they were susceptible to wind up. Basically it was a good system when it worked but lack of knowledge and care and thus, it was problematic. Mine failed on my Turbo after a natter of months, hence locked box in and did 90K and many a standing start with no concerns.
The Volvo system was a viscous coupling I believe, so similar but minus the complex accumulator side of things do a little more robust but also not 'proper' 4x4 and also probably neglected and misunderstood thus, failures were also happening though.
The Haldex system on 2000 onwards cats was totally different.
The Volvo system was a viscous coupling I believe, so similar but minus the complex accumulator side of things do a little more robust but also not 'proper' 4x4 and also probably neglected and misunderstood thus, failures were also happening though.
The Haldex system on 2000 onwards cats was totally different.
Davie said:
The Vauxhall system used pressure linked to the power steering to activate the clutch packs and engage the rear wheels. It had an accumulator bulb that needed replaced after X amount of time and they were susceptible to wind up. Basically it was a good system when it worked but lack of knowledge and care and thus, it was problematic. Mine failed on my Turbo after a natter of months, hence locked box in and did 90K and many a standing start with no concerns.
The Volvo system was a viscous coupling I believe, so similar but minus the complex accumulator side of things do a little more robust but also not 'proper' 4x4 and also probably neglected and misunderstood thus, failures were also happening though.
The Haldex system on 2000 onwards cats was totally different.
How did the cavalier turbo compare to the gsi 2000?, was it noticeably faster?.The Volvo system was a viscous coupling I believe, so similar but minus the complex accumulator side of things do a little more robust but also not 'proper' 4x4 and also probably neglected and misunderstood thus, failures were also happening though.
The Haldex system on 2000 onwards cats was totally different.
markcoznottz said:
How did the cavalier turbo compare to the gsi 2000?, was it noticeably faster?.
Yes, significantly but perhaps not in normal NA vs forced induction ways.The GSi2000 was 150bhp from the faithful old Redtop and the Turbo was 204bhp from basically a Redtop with a turbo bolted to it... plus it had the added grip of 4x4 and the 6 speed gearbox. The thing is, the turbo itself was quite small and part of the manifold which granted, not an ideal design, but meant it wasn't that laggy and nor did the boost come in like a kick to the face... so it was very easy to drive quickly over B roads and such like, more so compared to the GSi which wasn't slow, but needed revved to get the best from it and lacked the mid range shove that the turbo brought to errrr... the Turbo.
Davie said:
s m said:
It was a pretty old car when it won the championship in 95. The new shape Vectra had come out by then
Hmmm, not sure on that one... Cavaliers ran till late 1995 and the Vectra was launched and thus campaigned in 1996. As for the £20k price tag this one has or had, it does seem dear but then again all 90's stuff has gone crazy so why shouldn't a rare and appreciating Vauxhall not go the same way. If I had copious amounts of money and space, I'd have this purely because I have a fondness for Cavalier Mk3's and I'd be that nostalgic guy who has good memories of days gone by but if I only had £20k to spend on a weekend toy / hobby then no, I don't think I could put it all into a Cavalier GSi.
Like many, growing up I had little interest in supercars or F1 and so on and instead, loved the 90's BTCC championships and being of sound Scottish stock, Cleland became a bit of a boyhood hero and so the whole Cavalier thing started. Though it was a close run thing between the Vauxhall and the Volvo campaigns for me. In 1999, having got fed up with an unreliable 309XS, I bought a 1992 Cavalier GSi2000. It was grey, 2wd and completely standard and thinking back, was only 7yrs old at the time which given I was 18, seems a bit mental! And yes, I told my Mum it was a 1.6...
I loved that car, adored it in fact but being 18 I had a slight ignorance to the mechanical side of things and instead was blown away but it sheer pace. It was a true 140mph car and oddly, cost a fraction of what the likes of a Nova GSi or Caibra cost to insure. I spent a fortune keeping it immaculate and being 18, lowered it 30mm, fitted 17" Fox 6 alloys and the requisite Laguna splitter. That transformed the handling (not the splitter) as they were always a bit soft and floaty on their original 55 series tyres and comedy spring heights. I then ruined it (looking back!) by lowering it 80mm and fitting 18's on 35 series tyres. It looked great but drove appallingly! In three years, it never put a foot wrong despite the abuse it got however it's life was cut short having been heavily rear ended by four big girls in a Citroen Saxo. That as they say, was that.
By then I was 21 and had some NCB and a cheque from the insurers. I looked at a few things, including a Diamond White Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 sat on RS 7-spokes. It was still a bit dear insurance wise and whilst it had a great drivetrain and yes, huge tuning potential... compared to the Mk3 Cavalier the Sierra just felt old, cheap, plastic and fragile. Whereas the Cavalier was all soft touch plastics and wrap round door frames, the Sierra just felt like it'd been built on a budget of about forty quid. In the end I didn't do a buy as the cool kids say. From memory it was a K plate car and up for £4000 back in 2002... looking back now, part of me wishes I'd just bought it and kept it given the way their prices have gone of late but I didn't, so that was that.
Instead, I bought a K plate Cavalier Turbo in Spectral Blue. I paid £3500 from a dealer in Aberdeen and it was utterly fabulous in my eyes. It was a quick car back then, still is even by today's standards with 0-60mph in about 6.4secs and it was also capable of 150mph and then some. I drove it daily for years and god knows how many miles and pretty much rebuilt it along the way. I believe it was the first UK car to get a "locked" transfer box, doing away with the complex and crap accumulator system and mechanically locking the drive to the rear which transformed the car. It was mapped, front mounted intercooler, Bilsteins and 30mm springs and was around 250bhp. It went all over the UK and to Germany with me several times.
The beginning of the end was when it got the rear wing dented, that lead me to get a full respray which made it stunning but I was still using it daily and so it started to look less stunning all too quickly again. I took it off the road in 2008 with a view to doing a light restoration and then painting in, which I started but life took me on various paths over the next few years which meant the car spent more time sat gathering dust in various units then actually being worked on. During my ownership, I also ran countless T5 Volvos and other Cavaliers... several SRi 16's included and I started to realise that the Volvos were just better in every sense. The Cavalier Turbo was moved from storage to storage for years whilst I debated what to do with it and eventually, about two years ago I took it home with a view to at least getting it running again.
However, a few weeks in and I realised that I no longer loved Cavaliers and with a new wife and baby, found myself asking if I wanted to spent the significant time and money it needed to be "right" again. I needed structural work, a respray and almost every moving part replaced and ultimately I figured that like this white GSi in the article, what the hell would I do with an immaculate Cavalier... I don't do shows, it'd get ruined using it and it wasn't suited to modern life at all so in the end, after almost 15yrs and 100,000 miles in my hands, I sold the engine and running gear and debated crushing the shell as I didn't think I'd want to see it live on in new hands. But I changed my mind and sold the rolling shell and it was last seen up for sale, complete for £8k but strangely, it didn't bother me.
Yes, they were flawed in many ways and a rather numb drive unless modified but the Mk3 Cavalier was a very good bit of kit and the performance models were some of Vauxhall's greatest efforts in my opinion. As much as I loved my Turbo, the 2wd Redtop equipped GSi2000 and indeed the standard SRi models were probably the best - simple, quick, cheap and surprisingly well made and resilient and given the glory days of the BTCC campaign, first in GSi kitted cars and latterly in SRi bodied cars, I can see why an immaculate white 2wd GSi with low miles could command such a premium. Granted, performance Vauxhall's of this era will never be on par value wise with the equivalent old Fords of this era, such is the joy of the RS scene tax but I don't see why they can't be held in high regard and valued accordingly... even if £20k seems a bit keen. I think being a Volvo man too, I'd struggle to see past an immaculate red Volvo 850R estate or Gul 850 T-5R estate and about £10k change but that's not the point.
Back in the day indeed.
Edited by Davie on Saturday 10th August 13:18
Going back to the Cavalier -> Vectra switch, what I meant was that when the Cavalier was crowned BTCC champion in the latter part of 95, you couldn't walk into a VX dealer and spec a new Cavalier - just new old stock. The new shape Vectra was in the showrooms by then and coming down the production lines. Agree they didn't start campaigning it till 96 season though
This was mine, in around 1994, bought at least 3rd hand from a friend for about £4k. It was my first "real" car after a slew of minis.
In case it isn't clear, it was the 4x4 variant. Stealthy, eh? I did peel off a corner of those graphics but the paint was yellow so I left it alone.
It was actually quite decent in slippery conditions - campsites and snow. Went places my friends SRi couldn't. Compared to my Subaru's I replaced it with, it felt heavy and underpowered but... first car so I remember it fondly.
In case it isn't clear, it was the 4x4 variant. Stealthy, eh? I did peel off a corner of those graphics but the paint was yellow so I left it alone.
It was actually quite decent in slippery conditions - campsites and snow. Went places my friends SRi couldn't. Compared to my Subaru's I replaced it with, it felt heavy and underpowered but... first car so I remember it fondly.
Davie said:
markcoznottz said:
How did the cavalier turbo compare to the gsi 2000?, was it noticeably faster?.
Yes, significantly but perhaps not in normal NA vs forced induction ways.The GSi2000 was 150bhp from the faithful old Redtop and the Turbo was 204bhp from basically a Redtop with a turbo bolted to it... plus it had the added grip of 4x4 and the 6 speed gearbox. The thing is, the turbo itself was quite small and part of the manifold which granted, not an ideal design, but meant it wasn't that laggy and nor did the boost come in like a kick to the face... so it was very easy to drive quickly over B roads and such like, more so compared to the GSi which wasn't slow, but needed revved to get the best from it and lacked the mid range shove that the turbo brought to errrr... the Turbo.
s m said:
The well-loved Motorhub dealer seem to have quite a stock of Turbos and a GSi at present
Indeed, been sat for a long time too and more than one has a questionable past if rumours are to be believed. As an aside, a few years back several 'as new' 90's performance Vauxhalls including Cavalier GSi's, Turbos and Astra Mk3 GSi's were found in an old mill in or around that area and seen on a car transporter soon after. But what came of them or the finer details never really emerged. 90's quick Vauxhall in shady situation shocker! markcoznottz said:
Yes I remember the unusual exhaust housing design, not seen anyone else do that before or since.
Vauxhall ran the same design of KKK turbo on later incarnations of the 2.0 turbo right up to and including the current Mk6 Astra verso I don't think it's that uncommon a design these days plus plenty upgrade options available from hybrids the big ass Holset esque stuff with tubular manifolds though the Cavalier tuning could never hold a candle to Sapphire tuning, Cavalier GSi's even less so as most simply chucked in a turbo unit... though there were some running lumpy cams, throttle bodies or carbs and nitrous but they were few and far between, even back in the day. squareflops said:
I bet another 20k that the clutch pedal still squeaks
Squeaky Vauxhall clutch pedals! Every mk2 and 3 Cavalier and mk2 and 3 Astra I've ever driven or been in had one, thinking about it now my mate's Novas and my mother's old Corsa made the same funny noise when you pushed the clutch too, they don't build them like that anymore...
Watchman said:
This was mine, in around 1994, bought at least 3rd hand from a friend for about £4k. It was my first "real" car after a slew of minis.
In case it isn't clear, it was the 4x4 variant. Stealthy, eh? I did peel off a corner of those graphics but the paint was yellow so I left it alone.
It was actually quite decent in slippery conditions - campsites and snow. Went places my friends SRi couldn't. Compared to my Subaru's I replaced it with, it felt heavy and underpowered but... first car so I remember it fondly.
They did seem to weigh a fair bit more than the early Imprezas and the extra weight slowed them down over the 2wd GSi version In case it isn't clear, it was the 4x4 variant. Stealthy, eh? I did peel off a corner of those graphics but the paint was yellow so I left it alone.
It was actually quite decent in slippery conditions - campsites and snow. Went places my friends SRi couldn't. Compared to my Subaru's I replaced it with, it felt heavy and underpowered but... first car so I remember it fondly.
I remember the tv ad for them as well
TV Advert
Used to enjoy watching the GSis do battle with the M3s on a Saturday lunchtime on Grandstand
Mark Hales got to compare them both in a track test
A friend had a CDi, i bought a SRI so he got a white GSI to get one over on me.
I borrowed it one day and saw 140 on the clock* on a downhill section. Thing is, the needle stuck at 140 so he got to enjoy it every day thereafter.
Rather than getting it fixed, he just put some little stickers on the rev counter instead to show his speed in 5th.
I borrowed it one day and saw 140 on the clock* on a downhill section. Thing is, the needle stuck at 140 so he got to enjoy it every day thereafter.
Rather than getting it fixed, he just put some little stickers on the rev counter instead to show his speed in 5th.
- Private road (obvs)
littlebasher said:
A friend had a CDi, i bought a SRI so he got a white GSI to get one over on me.
I borrowed it one day and saw 140 on the clock* on a downhill section. Thing is, the needle stuck at 140 so he got to enjoy it every day thereafter.
Rather than getting it fixed, he just put some little stickers on the rev counter instead to show his speed in 5th.
Probably still had a fair bit left at the indicated 140 as well - maybe only a real 128-ishI borrowed it one day and saw 140 on the clock* on a downhill section. Thing is, the needle stuck at 140 so he got to enjoy it every day thereafter.
Rather than getting it fixed, he just put some little stickers on the rev counter instead to show his speed in 5th.
- Private road (obvs)
s m said:
They did seem to weigh a fair bit more than the early Imprezas and the extra weight slowed them down over the 2wd GSi version
I remember the tv ad for them as well
TV Advert
Used to enjoy watching the GSis do battle with the M3s on a Saturday lunchtime on Grandstand
Mark Hales got to compare them both in a track test
100mph real speed - speedo 118mph!!! NutsI remember the tv ad for them as well
TV Advert
Used to enjoy watching the GSis do battle with the M3s on a Saturday lunchtime on Grandstand
Mark Hales got to compare them both in a track test
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