RE: Vauxhall Cavalier GSi 2000 | Spotted
Discussion
njw1 said:
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... 
My dads Carlton too, I think it was universal. I can still hear the sounds m said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
Remember being a passenger in one of these, 5-up passing Gatwick on the M23 with over 150mph showing on the speedo around 1997. Should not have been as fast as they were with just that Red Top in but that thing FLEW!!
Didn’t the speedo only go to 140?
irish boy said:
s m said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
Remember being a passenger in one of these, 5-up passing Gatwick on the M23 with over 150mph showing on the speedo around 1997. Should not have been as fast as they were with just that Red Top in but that thing FLEW!!
Didn’t the speedo only go to 140?They were still showing 140 clocks in the 91 brochure
Kinda liked these back in the day.
Price new in 1992 was £18,185. (£20k for the 4x4).
Nerdily, I thought that the GSI had blacked out side pillars but no. The SRi did but not the GSi.
My Dad had a 1.6L and it was great. Central locking and a proper sunroof. On an L model!
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Price new in 1992 was £18,185. (£20k for the 4x4).
Nerdily, I thought that the GSI had blacked out side pillars but no. The SRi did but not the GSi.
My Dad had a 1.6L and it was great. Central locking and a proper sunroof. On an L model!
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
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 Turbo and V6 clocks went up to 160 - maybe very late ones had them fitted as they used parts up?
They were still showing 140 clocks in the 91 brochure
16v models did indeed only have 140mph speedos and as you say, Turbo and V6 were 160mph. I got my old Turbo off the clock, showing 152mph on GPS... they weren't exactly slow cars! They were still showing 140 clocks in the 91 brochure
The cars were only around for a relatively short period of time..
Mk3 was introduced in 88 on an F plate, Gsi released in 2wd and 4wd on a G plate in 89. FIrst turbos were late 92 on J plate.
Lesser models had a beam rear axle, both Gsi, turbo and 16v NA and Calibra turbo models shared the independent rear suspension chassis, the 2.0 8v 4x4 used this too. IRS chassis suffered from E30 like excessive camber on the rear when lowered, I guess the "stance" kids would like that nowadays ?
The Gsi was gone by early-mid 93 and only very few were on K plates, turbo continued until 94 last ones were on an M plate. Calibra turbo went a little further (96 N I think were the last turbos).
Facelift cars had different headlights and grille, the XE engine replaced by the "ecotec" XEV 136hp unit in Sri models, no Gsi and all cars had the beam axle. The V6 came along to replace the turbo, again beam axle. Facelift turbos gained an ugly airbag steering wheel with no height adjust (Vauxhall were adamant that the adjustment could mean sub-optimal release of the airbag in an accident and fixed columns for years), they also lost the headlight wipers. Rear lights became "smoked" from factory and the reverse/indicator lights where "blistered". Boot centre panel had reflector sections to match the tail lights. Control of the heated mirrors switched from being independently switched on to being activated by rear screen heater.
All turbos had heated front seats (which made the alternator light glow when they, the mirrors and rear screen were on!). Also had check control for blown bulbs/work brake pads etc, advanced for its day I suppose.
The V6 was disappointing, too heavy, torque compared to a turbo felt weak, no sense of urgency, they also had the 2wd F25 gearbox, which was hydraulic clutch and weird gear ratios compared to the F28 6 speed from the turbo cars. It was a poor replacement for the turbo car.
XEV engine was an odd thing, virtually identical bottom end/block but a different head design and different cams too. Its folly was Opel switched from Bosch Motronic engine management to Siemens, which was more up to date but franky, a bit rubbish. Best thing you could do with an XEV was throttle bodies and dump the OEM management. XEV were forever plagued with the cam and crank shaft sensor disagreeing, easy to resolve but a pain in the ass nonetheless.
The XE was a cracker and still is, other than the small block chevy it must be the most swapped in engine? 86mm bore and stroke so "square", which meant good torque, helped by the long runners on the inlet manifold. Weak points ? there were two head castings, coscast heads were fine, the other ones could go porous, which was a bit of a sod to sort out. If I recall correctly there was a waterway that had to be sleeved to sort it out ? most cars just got a coscast head put on. I think it was about 4 wires to get one running, no canbus networks in those days!
There was a 2.2 version of the XE in Fronteras, same bore, longer stroke. I was always interested in using one of those and a suitable turbo, would have been good fun I think. At one point QED offered an all alloy block at god knows what cost. SBD did a whole host of stuff if you wanted to tune N/A. Hard work comapred to a turbo engine though.
BTCC engine (which was still in use in some form in BTCC Chevy Cruzes a few, well maybe 10? years ago was built by Swindon Race Engines, they either re-machined or cast new heads that were reversed, so inlet on the front of the engine, exhaust at rear (like a Mi-16 layout) which you can see in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CaUSFDMIys reckoned to be about 300hp apparently.
XE could suffer air leaks from the seal around the plastic inlet plenum. Early engines (rememberr it had already been in the Mk2 Astra GTE 16v) had metal idler pulleys/tensioners which eventually got noisy bearings, ignroe at your peril! Later engines (and the turbo) got plastic ones, much cheaper to replace but did raise the risk of them not being changed and the plastic breaking up.
LET (turbo engine) was almost the same as XE, the XE had a blank where the oil drain was on the block, easy to convert!. Bigger injectors and slightly milder cams if I recall. Pistons were forged, so stronger than XE ones - you could use XE pistons but at low boost only. If you "chipped" an LET (literally by putting new chips in the ECU!) and put a strong turbo on it you could hold 1 bar all day long, further cooling etc meant maybe 20 on overboost and hold in the high teens safely. Had a different inlet manifold top part to the XE due to plumbing from the intercooler.
The engine never really received the attention the Cosworth engine did, but it was capable, stronger pistons and rods, bigger turbo etc and 500hp could be found, I can remember looking at engine build pictures of some bonkers ice racing swedes back in the day.
Calibra turbos had extra gauges (oil pressure and amps IIRC?) under the radio, weirdly cavaliers never got them but it was an easy retro fit. Calibras never drove as well, seemed floppier and just a bit "loose", I presume from the weight of all the glass?
Transfer box issues were common, in part due to owners and dealers not really understanding how to look after them - needed to keep tyres as a set of four, change both high and low pressure fluid often. As someone said it was just basically a wet clutch pack that got squeezed together by fluid pressure - when they failed the seals blew. I don't know about now, but early Haldex boxes were similar, except them had a "wedge" that drove the clutches together rather than using fluid pressure. The Vx system (getrag I think?) wouldn't last forever though. There were conversions available to lock them in to 4wd - not ideal for slowing the car (stock system disconnected rear drive under braking). Removing prop and rear driveshafts was done too!
Had a 91 2wd Gsi and a 93 turbo which had all sorts of mods, sold it with 180k on, body would need work soon (weirdly, not the arches though) but engine was good as gold - all the mods (and a transfer box @ £2500!) were done by the previous owner who became rather adept at mapping Subarus and was last heard of messing with porsches.
Fond memories, but there are more interesting things to stick £20k in to.
Mk3 was introduced in 88 on an F plate, Gsi released in 2wd and 4wd on a G plate in 89. FIrst turbos were late 92 on J plate.
Lesser models had a beam rear axle, both Gsi, turbo and 16v NA and Calibra turbo models shared the independent rear suspension chassis, the 2.0 8v 4x4 used this too. IRS chassis suffered from E30 like excessive camber on the rear when lowered, I guess the "stance" kids would like that nowadays ?
The Gsi was gone by early-mid 93 and only very few were on K plates, turbo continued until 94 last ones were on an M plate. Calibra turbo went a little further (96 N I think were the last turbos).
Facelift cars had different headlights and grille, the XE engine replaced by the "ecotec" XEV 136hp unit in Sri models, no Gsi and all cars had the beam axle. The V6 came along to replace the turbo, again beam axle. Facelift turbos gained an ugly airbag steering wheel with no height adjust (Vauxhall were adamant that the adjustment could mean sub-optimal release of the airbag in an accident and fixed columns for years), they also lost the headlight wipers. Rear lights became "smoked" from factory and the reverse/indicator lights where "blistered". Boot centre panel had reflector sections to match the tail lights. Control of the heated mirrors switched from being independently switched on to being activated by rear screen heater.
All turbos had heated front seats (which made the alternator light glow when they, the mirrors and rear screen were on!). Also had check control for blown bulbs/work brake pads etc, advanced for its day I suppose.
The V6 was disappointing, too heavy, torque compared to a turbo felt weak, no sense of urgency, they also had the 2wd F25 gearbox, which was hydraulic clutch and weird gear ratios compared to the F28 6 speed from the turbo cars. It was a poor replacement for the turbo car.
XEV engine was an odd thing, virtually identical bottom end/block but a different head design and different cams too. Its folly was Opel switched from Bosch Motronic engine management to Siemens, which was more up to date but franky, a bit rubbish. Best thing you could do with an XEV was throttle bodies and dump the OEM management. XEV were forever plagued with the cam and crank shaft sensor disagreeing, easy to resolve but a pain in the ass nonetheless.
The XE was a cracker and still is, other than the small block chevy it must be the most swapped in engine? 86mm bore and stroke so "square", which meant good torque, helped by the long runners on the inlet manifold. Weak points ? there were two head castings, coscast heads were fine, the other ones could go porous, which was a bit of a sod to sort out. If I recall correctly there was a waterway that had to be sleeved to sort it out ? most cars just got a coscast head put on. I think it was about 4 wires to get one running, no canbus networks in those days!
There was a 2.2 version of the XE in Fronteras, same bore, longer stroke. I was always interested in using one of those and a suitable turbo, would have been good fun I think. At one point QED offered an all alloy block at god knows what cost. SBD did a whole host of stuff if you wanted to tune N/A. Hard work comapred to a turbo engine though.
BTCC engine (which was still in use in some form in BTCC Chevy Cruzes a few, well maybe 10? years ago was built by Swindon Race Engines, they either re-machined or cast new heads that were reversed, so inlet on the front of the engine, exhaust at rear (like a Mi-16 layout) which you can see in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CaUSFDMIys reckoned to be about 300hp apparently.
XE could suffer air leaks from the seal around the plastic inlet plenum. Early engines (rememberr it had already been in the Mk2 Astra GTE 16v) had metal idler pulleys/tensioners which eventually got noisy bearings, ignroe at your peril! Later engines (and the turbo) got plastic ones, much cheaper to replace but did raise the risk of them not being changed and the plastic breaking up.
LET (turbo engine) was almost the same as XE, the XE had a blank where the oil drain was on the block, easy to convert!. Bigger injectors and slightly milder cams if I recall. Pistons were forged, so stronger than XE ones - you could use XE pistons but at low boost only. If you "chipped" an LET (literally by putting new chips in the ECU!) and put a strong turbo on it you could hold 1 bar all day long, further cooling etc meant maybe 20 on overboost and hold in the high teens safely. Had a different inlet manifold top part to the XE due to plumbing from the intercooler.
The engine never really received the attention the Cosworth engine did, but it was capable, stronger pistons and rods, bigger turbo etc and 500hp could be found, I can remember looking at engine build pictures of some bonkers ice racing swedes back in the day.
Calibra turbos had extra gauges (oil pressure and amps IIRC?) under the radio, weirdly cavaliers never got them but it was an easy retro fit. Calibras never drove as well, seemed floppier and just a bit "loose", I presume from the weight of all the glass?
Transfer box issues were common, in part due to owners and dealers not really understanding how to look after them - needed to keep tyres as a set of four, change both high and low pressure fluid often. As someone said it was just basically a wet clutch pack that got squeezed together by fluid pressure - when they failed the seals blew. I don't know about now, but early Haldex boxes were similar, except them had a "wedge" that drove the clutches together rather than using fluid pressure. The Vx system (getrag I think?) wouldn't last forever though. There were conversions available to lock them in to 4wd - not ideal for slowing the car (stock system disconnected rear drive under braking). Removing prop and rear driveshafts was done too!
Had a 91 2wd Gsi and a 93 turbo which had all sorts of mods, sold it with 180k on, body would need work soon (weirdly, not the arches though) but engine was good as gold - all the mods (and a transfer box @ £2500!) were done by the previous owner who became rather adept at mapping Subarus and was last heard of messing with porsches.
Fond memories, but there are more interesting things to stick £20k in to.
Reading through the comments and glad to see some people sticking up for the Vauxhall.
To those saying "Bulls
t" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.
Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
To those saying "Bulls
t" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
Sf_Manta said:
Reading through the comments and glad to see some people sticking up for the Vauxhall.
To those saying "Bullst" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.
Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
The fords aren't worth it either ! But most certainly, the Cav GSi, especially the one in the advert, isn't worth anywhere near £20k. More like £5k with fake exhaust.To those saying "Bulls
t" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
Davie said:
16v models did indeed only have 140mph speedos and as you say, Turbo and V6 were 160mph. I got my old Turbo off the clock, showing 152mph on GPS... they weren't exactly slow cars!
The fwd GSi must have been one of the few performance cars that could nearly achieve the speedo top speed ( excepting some Jap and U.S. stuff )A real 137ish on a long straight and a marked 140.
Can remember my friend’s E30 323i getting left floundering by a GSi on the new ( and mostly deserted ) stretch of the bypass to Shrewsbury
Someone earlier mentioned the punchiness of this shape SRi but I remember the one that seemed really quick ( and cheap at under £12k ) was the same engine in the basic L trim 2.0 4x4
Over 125mph, 60 in 8.5 ( with 2 gearchanges to make ) and nearly 30 to the gallon average. Was a performance bargain in the late 80s for a new 4-door car and very unobtrusive in the car park
Sf_Manta said:
Reading through the comments and glad to see some people sticking up for the Vauxhall.
To those saying "Bullst" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.
Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
To those saying "Bulls
t" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
1995 the year Cleland won the Championship in the Cavalier
I always wanted to buy a Cavalier 4x4, the bog standard one with grey bumpers and such like then put mildly tweaked Turbo running gear in it thus creating a bit of a sleeper. I did put the engine from my Turbo into a Cavalier SRi hatch, that caught many people out... and in some ways I liked it even more than the Turbo, part of me wishes I'd kept it. Breaking into wheel spin in 5th never got boring.
Crafty said:
BTCC engine (which was still in use in some form in BTCC Chevy Cruzes a few, well maybe 10? years ago was built by Swindon Race Engines, they either re-machined or cast new heads that were reversed, so inlet on the front of the engine, exhaust at rear (like a Mi-16 layout) which you can see in this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CaUSFDMIys reckoned to be about 300hp apparently.
Bit of info on the race engine
XE was a fantastic engine in road format
Had it in the Astra - mine was a Coscast head ( oval stamp on lip of head visible with inspection mirror )
Like a lot of them it put out more than quoted bhp according to a local rolling road ( nearly as much power as RR operator’s 325 )
He said it was pretty normal for them
Davie said:
I always wanted to buy a Cavalier 4x4, the bog standard one with grey bumpers and such like
as did I... the last one I saw for sale online was asking something like £5,995 from a bit of a dreamer over in NI! There was a chap on the old Vx forum who had one, brought it to a couple of meets, but was a total bellend unfortunately. Used the 4wd to cake someone else's car in mud at a very rainy PVS after he'd had too many beers and decided we'd rather be rid of him, so I banned him.
Car was actually kind of cool though
I can see this going for £12k, similar age high spec clean cars can get that. £20k isn't going to happen though.
While I'm not a Vauxhall fan, and this car was rebranded the Chavalier in the 00s didn't do much for its reputation, we've moved on from that, so I can appreciate it for what it is now. Hope it goes to someone who will appreciate and look after it.
While I'm not a Vauxhall fan, and this car was rebranded the Chavalier in the 00s didn't do much for its reputation, we've moved on from that, so I can appreciate it for what it is now. Hope it goes to someone who will appreciate and look after it.
Sf_Manta said:
Reading through the comments and glad to see some people sticking up for the Vauxhall.
To those saying "Bullst" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.
Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
Has anyone achieved anything remotely similar on the public road or is that 14/10ths..To those saying "Bulls
t" no Vauxhall is worth £20k!" but what about a Mk1 Escort? the prices for those have gone nuts and you want a good one? that'll be £20k or more for a decent one.Same goes for the E30 BMW M3, a decent VW Mk1 Golf GTi and the Pug 205 GTi in both iterations, why not the Vauxhall? Even the humble AE86 Corolla has rocketed in price and yet the Vauxhall / Opel brand keeps being put down. About time it got some recognision and given most examples have been ragged to hell and rusted out, this is a prime example of the brand having been preserved and well worth the price given no restoration work needs to be carried out.
Also, can't beat this picture from Dingle Dell at Brands Hatch if i remember correctly?
P-Jay said:
My Dad had an SRi company car of this era, he still says it was the best car he ever had he's got a lovely Volvo S90 now, but apparently the Cav was better..
As you've alluded to in your post I think this is 100% rose tinted spectacles. Most people would be stunned at how poor the cars they remember being brilliant really are; each new car was an incremental upgrade and you don't notice upgrades as keenly as you notice downgrades too. I loved these growing up and they seemed very exotic and exciting compared the the 1.6L my cheapskate father had; actually interesting cars were far less common than now, and vanishingly rare on the roads of South Wales in the 80s/90s.
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