Vauxhall Omega track car - yes, really!
Discussion
So, the background....
A long time ago, in discussion with PHer and tame racing driver Synchromesh, we pondered: what about a track day car that was 6 cylinder, RWD, manual..... but not another bloody BMW?
Initial thoughts centered on a Jaguar S-type for ultimate incongruous hilarity. However, this was swiftly put paid to by a total lack of affordable off-the-shelf performance upgrades such as suspension and brakes.
At the same time, chatting to good friend Jimmy Recard and mentioning the idea brought up another proposition - an Omega. Now, here was a cheap, relatively plentiful and very well-made car with a lot of potential. Due to their popularity as a drift barge, there was also a decent supply of brakes, coilovers etc available from performance suppliers.
Fast forward several months, and with Synchromesh having been distracted by his own track car projects, myself and Jimmy firmed up on the idea and started seriously looking for a V6 manual Omega. We quickly discovered that the fabled 3.0 MV6 (sport trim) model was now virtually unobtainable - at least, unless one wanted to spend several thousand pounds on one of the few remaining uncrashed or rust-free examples. Thoughts turned instead to the 2.5 V6 in standard trim, but the majority of these turned out to be comfortably specced automatic cruisers. Later on, we found out that the auto was standard on all V6s - manual was an option you had to deliberately tick, and who would do that on a motorway barge?
At this point, it was May 2017. I was studying for my final year exams at uni, and Jimmy was busy with work commitments. With a lack of suitable cars forthcoming, and both of us rather skint, we put the idea on hold for the time being.
In 1999, one slightly strange buyer decided to spec a 2.5V6 CDX (comfort trim, with soft suspension and small wheels) estate in Jewish Racing Gold, with a towbar.... and a manual gearbox!
Fast forward to April 2018 and the car was listed on Gumtree, with 66,000 miles, for the princely sum of £650. The original owner had turned out to be an elderly gentleman who didn't drive very much,. He sold it to the vendor - a chap who also didn't drive very much.
The car had an excellent MOT history with nothing to note until the 2018 MOT. Jimmy spoke to the seller in Felixstowe on the phone and found out it was a manual and left a deposit via bank transfer. That was that!
The following weekend I went to stay at Jimmy's house in Birmingham to make the trip to collect it together in my Jeep. We arrived in Felixstowe at around 10am on the Sunday morning to find a car that was great, barring some iffy colour matching on the offside wing and minor trim defects. The V6 sounded great revving out, too. Jimmy drove the Omega behind my Jeep the 260 miles back to the unit and we parked it up, to get back to our normal lives for the time being.
For the next few months of the car's existence, Jimmy kept a diary and this is as it goes:
19/05/2018
Driving back from Felixstowe to Cheshire, the brakes were clearly atrocious with a massive amount of slack travel before the pedal bit at all. The main piece of maintenance for today was to bleed them. The fluid that came out was awful. I got the nice job of sitting in the car and pumping the pedal while Matt released the bleed valves in turn until the fluid leaving the system looked fresh.
In addition to this we also replaced the boot lift struts as they were totally flaccid (although a handy broom handle had been included in the sale!), the wipers and checked the scuttle for debris as that’s a weak point on the Omega for rust. We also added a solar battery charger.
04/08/2018
We came to the car to find the battery completely dead. Our main ambition for today had been to solve a central locking fault involving the driver’s door not locking/unlocking, which we originally believed to be a lubrication issue. We jump started the Omega from my Astra and set about dismantling the driver’s door card. After circa 15 minutes running, the Omega shut off suddenly and we found that there were no flickering dashboard lights. The car wouldn’t start from a known-good forklift battery so it was jump started from Matt’s Jeep, running sweetly. Feeling that the battery could have died, we decided to buy a brand new battery and unexpectedly this completely solved the central locking problem. We therefore fitted the single bonnet strut I had bought, assembled the driver’s door card, topped up the coolant, adjusted the throttle cable, fitted one of the two replacement exhaust rubber hangers I had bought, and unblocked a windscreen washer jet (using a straightened paper clip).
The other main event of the day was trying the new 18” alloys Matt had collected for the car from a breaker’s yard, from an Astra H Twintop. They came with an odd mix of three Chinese ditchfinder tyres and one Michelin winter tyre. All were flat but have seemed to hold air since inflation. We also removed the solar charger we had attached on the previous maintenance session in case that had somehow killed our battery.
07/10/2018
I went to Evesham to collect a set of wheels Matt had found on eBay. Light, Lenso wheels (in the correct fitment!) with Dunlop slick tyres. The seller had had them on his tuned (538bhp!!!) Astra H VXR and turned out to be a really helpful guy, helping me diagnose a little stutter with my Astra H SRi Turbo 200 (turned out to be MAF sensor - I had to kick myself for not working that out myself!). He had enough components in the garage to build about half a dozen engines - he kept handing me all sorts of bits to look at - everything from forged rods and pistons to coilpacks.
28/10/18
Weightwatchers. We stripped out trim and the rear seats, but didn't get time to go much further. We also got chance to try the Lenso wheels and slick tyres we had bought, but unfortunately the bulbous sidewall on these tyres met the suspension strut on the front so we bought a set of Nankang NS-2Rs that Synchromesh happened to have spare. We kept these as spare in case the ditchfinders turned out to be unusable.
At the end of the day we loaded the car onto the trailer and moved it to my home from the unit, ready for the upcoming track day.
Pictured here in the Hemi Jeep's natural habitat....
Now, to November 2018.... the first track outing was here, whether the car (and drivers!!!) were ready or not. As novices, we invited our friend Synchromesh along for support and a little guidance, which he did in exchange for the opportunity to check out the beast for himself. It was a busy day at Oulton Park, with over 80 extremely varied cars being put through their paces. The Omega wasn't among the fastest but didn't embarrass itself immediately!
Track virgin Jimmy improved massively throughout the day, and towards the end was approaching the speed and commitment of myself (a 5 time track "veteran") and race driver Synchromesh.
All three of us were very pleasantly surprised with several aspects of the car:
- With a lot of weight stripped out of the interior, it wasnt as slow as we feared
- The random ditchfinder combo gripped predictably and lasted all day without melting or falling apart
- Although floaty, the handling was pleasingly viceless and encouraged you to push harder and harder. then again, at launch in 1994 the Omega was praised for its ability to (and I quote directly from Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe) "run rings around the E34 525i"!
Come 3.30pm, we were beginning to congratulate ourselves on a fault-free day with our untried elderly barge. No oil or water used, brakes (just about) holding up with regular cooling-off sessions, and no untoward rumbles or clonks.
I went out for one final session with Jimmy as a passenger....... downchanging from 3rd to 2nd for Foulston's chicance, the car wouldn't go into gear. Thinking I'd missed a gear, I tried again - only to realise the the clutch pedal was firmly stuck to the floor. It dawned in my mind that something had gone drastically wrong, confirmed by a horrible grinding noise as the car finally slotted into gear. As we coasted to a halt and waited for the tow truck. Further investigation and experimentation revealed that the car was fine when out of gear with the engine running, and went into gear fine with the engine turned off.
So, all logic currently points to a disintegrated clutch or clutch release bearing. A sad end to an otherwise fantastic day, and as I write the car is currently sat at my local motorsport garage awaiting their assessment come Monday morning.
Predictably (and understandably) I have spent all night weathering a variety of clutch-related banter from the others, but every cloud has a silver lining. If the original, 20 year old clutch had not disintegrated at the end of today and lost us the last 45 minutes of track time, it would probably have let go at the start of the next event. That would have been significantly more irritating! Additionally, today is probably the hardest the car has ever been driven in its life, and the clutch copped some serious abuse!
Anyway, we've all come away having had a fantastic time today, and a long list of planned upgrades to slowly evolve the car into a full-fledged track machine. Roll on the next event!
A long time ago, in discussion with PHer and tame racing driver Synchromesh, we pondered: what about a track day car that was 6 cylinder, RWD, manual..... but not another bloody BMW?
Initial thoughts centered on a Jaguar S-type for ultimate incongruous hilarity. However, this was swiftly put paid to by a total lack of affordable off-the-shelf performance upgrades such as suspension and brakes.
At the same time, chatting to good friend Jimmy Recard and mentioning the idea brought up another proposition - an Omega. Now, here was a cheap, relatively plentiful and very well-made car with a lot of potential. Due to their popularity as a drift barge, there was also a decent supply of brakes, coilovers etc available from performance suppliers.
Fast forward several months, and with Synchromesh having been distracted by his own track car projects, myself and Jimmy firmed up on the idea and started seriously looking for a V6 manual Omega. We quickly discovered that the fabled 3.0 MV6 (sport trim) model was now virtually unobtainable - at least, unless one wanted to spend several thousand pounds on one of the few remaining uncrashed or rust-free examples. Thoughts turned instead to the 2.5 V6 in standard trim, but the majority of these turned out to be comfortably specced automatic cruisers. Later on, we found out that the auto was standard on all V6s - manual was an option you had to deliberately tick, and who would do that on a motorway barge?
At this point, it was May 2017. I was studying for my final year exams at uni, and Jimmy was busy with work commitments. With a lack of suitable cars forthcoming, and both of us rather skint, we put the idea on hold for the time being.
In 1999, one slightly strange buyer decided to spec a 2.5V6 CDX (comfort trim, with soft suspension and small wheels) estate in Jewish Racing Gold, with a towbar.... and a manual gearbox!
Fast forward to April 2018 and the car was listed on Gumtree, with 66,000 miles, for the princely sum of £650. The original owner had turned out to be an elderly gentleman who didn't drive very much,. He sold it to the vendor - a chap who also didn't drive very much.
The car had an excellent MOT history with nothing to note until the 2018 MOT. Jimmy spoke to the seller in Felixstowe on the phone and found out it was a manual and left a deposit via bank transfer. That was that!
The following weekend I went to stay at Jimmy's house in Birmingham to make the trip to collect it together in my Jeep. We arrived in Felixstowe at around 10am on the Sunday morning to find a car that was great, barring some iffy colour matching on the offside wing and minor trim defects. The V6 sounded great revving out, too. Jimmy drove the Omega behind my Jeep the 260 miles back to the unit and we parked it up, to get back to our normal lives for the time being.
For the next few months of the car's existence, Jimmy kept a diary and this is as it goes:
19/05/2018
Driving back from Felixstowe to Cheshire, the brakes were clearly atrocious with a massive amount of slack travel before the pedal bit at all. The main piece of maintenance for today was to bleed them. The fluid that came out was awful. I got the nice job of sitting in the car and pumping the pedal while Matt released the bleed valves in turn until the fluid leaving the system looked fresh.
In addition to this we also replaced the boot lift struts as they were totally flaccid (although a handy broom handle had been included in the sale!), the wipers and checked the scuttle for debris as that’s a weak point on the Omega for rust. We also added a solar battery charger.
04/08/2018
We came to the car to find the battery completely dead. Our main ambition for today had been to solve a central locking fault involving the driver’s door not locking/unlocking, which we originally believed to be a lubrication issue. We jump started the Omega from my Astra and set about dismantling the driver’s door card. After circa 15 minutes running, the Omega shut off suddenly and we found that there were no flickering dashboard lights. The car wouldn’t start from a known-good forklift battery so it was jump started from Matt’s Jeep, running sweetly. Feeling that the battery could have died, we decided to buy a brand new battery and unexpectedly this completely solved the central locking problem. We therefore fitted the single bonnet strut I had bought, assembled the driver’s door card, topped up the coolant, adjusted the throttle cable, fitted one of the two replacement exhaust rubber hangers I had bought, and unblocked a windscreen washer jet (using a straightened paper clip).
The other main event of the day was trying the new 18” alloys Matt had collected for the car from a breaker’s yard, from an Astra H Twintop. They came with an odd mix of three Chinese ditchfinder tyres and one Michelin winter tyre. All were flat but have seemed to hold air since inflation. We also removed the solar charger we had attached on the previous maintenance session in case that had somehow killed our battery.
07/10/2018
I went to Evesham to collect a set of wheels Matt had found on eBay. Light, Lenso wheels (in the correct fitment!) with Dunlop slick tyres. The seller had had them on his tuned (538bhp!!!) Astra H VXR and turned out to be a really helpful guy, helping me diagnose a little stutter with my Astra H SRi Turbo 200 (turned out to be MAF sensor - I had to kick myself for not working that out myself!). He had enough components in the garage to build about half a dozen engines - he kept handing me all sorts of bits to look at - everything from forged rods and pistons to coilpacks.
28/10/18
Weightwatchers. We stripped out trim and the rear seats, but didn't get time to go much further. We also got chance to try the Lenso wheels and slick tyres we had bought, but unfortunately the bulbous sidewall on these tyres met the suspension strut on the front so we bought a set of Nankang NS-2Rs that Synchromesh happened to have spare. We kept these as spare in case the ditchfinders turned out to be unusable.
At the end of the day we loaded the car onto the trailer and moved it to my home from the unit, ready for the upcoming track day.
Pictured here in the Hemi Jeep's natural habitat....
Now, to November 2018.... the first track outing was here, whether the car (and drivers!!!) were ready or not. As novices, we invited our friend Synchromesh along for support and a little guidance, which he did in exchange for the opportunity to check out the beast for himself. It was a busy day at Oulton Park, with over 80 extremely varied cars being put through their paces. The Omega wasn't among the fastest but didn't embarrass itself immediately!
Track virgin Jimmy improved massively throughout the day, and towards the end was approaching the speed and commitment of myself (a 5 time track "veteran") and race driver Synchromesh.
All three of us were very pleasantly surprised with several aspects of the car:
- With a lot of weight stripped out of the interior, it wasnt as slow as we feared
- The random ditchfinder combo gripped predictably and lasted all day without melting or falling apart
- Although floaty, the handling was pleasingly viceless and encouraged you to push harder and harder. then again, at launch in 1994 the Omega was praised for its ability to (and I quote directly from Autocar's Steve Sutcliffe) "run rings around the E34 525i"!
Come 3.30pm, we were beginning to congratulate ourselves on a fault-free day with our untried elderly barge. No oil or water used, brakes (just about) holding up with regular cooling-off sessions, and no untoward rumbles or clonks.
I went out for one final session with Jimmy as a passenger....... downchanging from 3rd to 2nd for Foulston's chicance, the car wouldn't go into gear. Thinking I'd missed a gear, I tried again - only to realise the the clutch pedal was firmly stuck to the floor. It dawned in my mind that something had gone drastically wrong, confirmed by a horrible grinding noise as the car finally slotted into gear. As we coasted to a halt and waited for the tow truck. Further investigation and experimentation revealed that the car was fine when out of gear with the engine running, and went into gear fine with the engine turned off.
So, all logic currently points to a disintegrated clutch or clutch release bearing. A sad end to an otherwise fantastic day, and as I write the car is currently sat at my local motorsport garage awaiting their assessment come Monday morning.
Predictably (and understandably) I have spent all night weathering a variety of clutch-related banter from the others, but every cloud has a silver lining. If the original, 20 year old clutch had not disintegrated at the end of today and lost us the last 45 minutes of track time, it would probably have let go at the start of the next event. That would have been significantly more irritating! Additionally, today is probably the hardest the car has ever been driven in its life, and the clutch copped some serious abuse!
Anyway, we've all come away having had a fantastic time today, and a long list of planned upgrades to slowly evolve the car into a full-fledged track machine. Roll on the next event!
Edited by ChemicalChaos on Saturday 10th November 23:19
Loving the drift animation (at Lodge?)Although not a shared owner on this car, I've been roped in (well, it didn't take much persuasion) to benchmark the mods as the car progresses and give a few track-driving pointers to the boys. I don't claim to be an especially quick driver, but I've done a few track days in my time.
Just a week before, I was driving a Radical at Silverstone, so the Omega could've been a huge disappointment. But it really wasn't. There's something fun about tracking a car totally unsuited to the task, and showing up 'faster' vehicles in the process.
The car has potential, too. It's a predictable chassis which, once we've controlled the roll with a set of coilovers and added grip with the NS-2Rs, I think will handle quite tidily. Obviously everything is blitzing us on the straights, but the cams should make us less of a mobile chicane there. And the weight loss will help everything. So, it's a promising start, but there's way more to come.
Unfortunately I didn't get any clear laps in my benchmarking session, but managed to put in a 2.25.7. I had to move out the way for an Atom at Lodge so lost speed coming over the line, got massively held up at Cascades by a stock car thing, and had to move over again for an unnaturally fast 205 up Clay Hill. Taking these into account, I think it's around a theoretical 2.24. In terms of conditions, after a wet morning the track had mostly dried out, but it started to spit with rain again about five minutes before this lap. The OBC read 12°c. Maybe in warmer, drier conditions a further few seconds could've been found.
You'll also notice I wasn't using heal and toe for down changes. It's a really nasty feeling having to drag the revs up on the clutch, but I physically couldn't get my foot across. I don't think I ever driven a car with such wide pedal spacing. It's something we plan to rectify with a pedal extension for next time.
Oh, and the compartment by my right knee kept popping open when I hit kerbs. It just adds to the silliness.
https://youtu.be/i7MEopnwzw4
Just a week before, I was driving a Radical at Silverstone, so the Omega could've been a huge disappointment. But it really wasn't. There's something fun about tracking a car totally unsuited to the task, and showing up 'faster' vehicles in the process.
The car has potential, too. It's a predictable chassis which, once we've controlled the roll with a set of coilovers and added grip with the NS-2Rs, I think will handle quite tidily. Obviously everything is blitzing us on the straights, but the cams should make us less of a mobile chicane there. And the weight loss will help everything. So, it's a promising start, but there's way more to come.
Unfortunately I didn't get any clear laps in my benchmarking session, but managed to put in a 2.25.7. I had to move out the way for an Atom at Lodge so lost speed coming over the line, got massively held up at Cascades by a stock car thing, and had to move over again for an unnaturally fast 205 up Clay Hill. Taking these into account, I think it's around a theoretical 2.24. In terms of conditions, after a wet morning the track had mostly dried out, but it started to spit with rain again about five minutes before this lap. The OBC read 12°c. Maybe in warmer, drier conditions a further few seconds could've been found.
You'll also notice I wasn't using heal and toe for down changes. It's a really nasty feeling having to drag the revs up on the clutch, but I physically couldn't get my foot across. I don't think I ever driven a car with such wide pedal spacing. It's something we plan to rectify with a pedal extension for next time.
Oh, and the compartment by my right knee kept popping open when I hit kerbs. It just adds to the silliness.
https://youtu.be/i7MEopnwzw4
Thanks for the replies all! Glad to see our madness is appreciated 
I've heard back from the motorsport garage - it does appear that the clutch release bearing has gone through the "fingers", explaining the lack of drive and pedal welded to the floor. I'm currently researching if any HD applications exist before the put a new standard clutch in. I'm in no hurry to get the car back so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
We also aim to do something about the root cause of the issue - namely the huge pedal spacing that rendered heel'n'toeing impossible and led to the rampant clutch abuse. Top option at the minute seems to be to get some generic pre-drilled aluminum "sports/tuning" pedal pads from ebay and bolt them to the existing brake and accelerator, with the overlaps facing each other to close the gap.
The slightly more redneck option was to heat and bend the pedal stalks towards each other, but that would mean jauntily angled pedals amongst other disadvantages.....
For example, after some research it appears that a popular mod amongst the GTO community in the US it to fit C5 Corvette brakes. We had been looking slightly closer to home for parts, such as Astra VXR calipers, but if 'Vette bits fit, it would be a) hugely cool and b) much more potent!!
As I said at Oulton, we'd love to use your car as an inspiration and benchmark! You've done a lot of the early mods we want to, in terms of weight/stripping and suspension and tyres, and I must say it looked particularly mean going round the track!
With your smaller engine but lighter shell, we reckon on eventually matching your power to weight ratio so it would be great to have a friendly duel the next time we're at the same day!
I've heard back from the motorsport garage - it does appear that the clutch release bearing has gone through the "fingers", explaining the lack of drive and pedal welded to the floor. I'm currently researching if any HD applications exist before the put a new standard clutch in. I'm in no hurry to get the car back so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
We also aim to do something about the root cause of the issue - namely the huge pedal spacing that rendered heel'n'toeing impossible and led to the rampant clutch abuse. Top option at the minute seems to be to get some generic pre-drilled aluminum "sports/tuning" pedal pads from ebay and bolt them to the existing brake and accelerator, with the overlaps facing each other to close the gap.
The slightly more redneck option was to heat and bend the pedal stalks towards each other, but that would mean jauntily angled pedals amongst other disadvantages.....
Dr G said:
Completely see the logic in the purchase and all the better for being an estate.
Are Omegas related to the Commodore/GTO/Monaro underneath?
Vauxhall/GM expert Jimmy is best placed to answer that, but yes I believe that the basic chassis is shared with the VT Commodore and subsequent HSV/Monaro/Pontiac GTO. We're not sure yet if any of the suspension, axles etc are, but we're looking into it as an alternative source of go-faster parts!Are Omegas related to the Commodore/GTO/Monaro underneath?
For example, after some research it appears that a popular mod amongst the GTO community in the US it to fit C5 Corvette brakes. We had been looking slightly closer to home for parts, such as Astra VXR calipers, but if 'Vette bits fit, it would be a) hugely cool and b) much more potent!!
Andrew-b90y3 said:
Great thread and nice to meet you both at Oulton on Saturday for a chat (I was in the green E36 estate).
Sorry to hear about the break down at the end of the day but it was good to see another estate out on track!!!
Keep up the good work!
Ah, nice to meet you online as well as in person! Do you have a build thread for your E36 at all? Sorry to hear about the break down at the end of the day but it was good to see another estate out on track!!!
Keep up the good work!
As I said at Oulton, we'd love to use your car as an inspiration and benchmark! You've done a lot of the early mods we want to, in terms of weight/stripping and suspension and tyres, and I must say it looked particularly mean going round the track!
With your smaller engine but lighter shell, we reckon on eventually matching your power to weight ratio so it would be great to have a friendly duel the next time we're at the same day!
Well done boys 
Truly bonkers yet utterly utterly brilliant. You do know an LS V8 will fit in that?
although not sure how well the standard gearbox would cope with the extra torque!
I vaguely remember something about Opel building a V8 one, not sure why it didn't make production in the end though.
Keep up the good work
Truly bonkers yet utterly utterly brilliant. You do know an LS V8 will fit in that?
although not sure how well the standard gearbox would cope with the extra torque!I vaguely remember something about Opel building a V8 one, not sure why it didn't make production in the end though.
Keep up the good work
Those wheels look ridiculous! Especially with that paint colour...
As a serial Omega owner (currently two in the fleet), I can say that there isnt much shared with the big Aussies. A couple of bushes and IIRC, something in the rear damper department, but otherwise the chassis geometry is totally different.
Speaking of - once youve got wheels and suspension on, make sure you get a full geo setup - the standard VX settings are too vague, and it'll strip the inner edge of the fronts in a very short time. Obviously if you're coilovering, youll have to have custom settings anyway, but Omegas are very, very camber sensitive.
Also, standard brakes are generally woeful and warp discs very easily. I think early Monaro brakes fit with a suitable adapter bracket. Most big brake kits will need 18" wheels for clearance.
Ive seen it done with some combination including Mercedes ML discs, too.
As a serial Omega owner (currently two in the fleet), I can say that there isnt much shared with the big Aussies. A couple of bushes and IIRC, something in the rear damper department, but otherwise the chassis geometry is totally different.
Speaking of - once youve got wheels and suspension on, make sure you get a full geo setup - the standard VX settings are too vague, and it'll strip the inner edge of the fronts in a very short time. Obviously if you're coilovering, youll have to have custom settings anyway, but Omegas are very, very camber sensitive.
Also, standard brakes are generally woeful and warp discs very easily. I think early Monaro brakes fit with a suitable adapter bracket. Most big brake kits will need 18" wheels for clearance.
Ive seen it done with some combination including Mercedes ML discs, too.
ShampooEfficient said:
Those wheels look ridiculous! Especially with that paint colour...
As a serial Omega owner (currently two in the fleet), I can say that there isnt much shared with the big Aussies. A couple of bushes and IIRC, something in the rear damper department, but otherwise the chassis geometry is totally different.
Speaking of - once youve got wheels and suspension on, make sure you get a full geo setup - the standard VX settings are too vague, and it'll strip the inner edge of the fronts in a very short time. Obviously if you're coilovering, youll have to have custom settings anyway, but Omegas are very, very camber sensitive.
Also, standard brakes are generally woeful and warp discs very easily. I think early Monaro brakes fit with a suitable adapter bracket. Most big brake kits will need 18" wheels for clearance.
Ive seen it done with some combination including Mercedes ML discs, too.
Funny you should say that...As a serial Omega owner (currently two in the fleet), I can say that there isnt much shared with the big Aussies. A couple of bushes and IIRC, something in the rear damper department, but otherwise the chassis geometry is totally different.
Speaking of - once youve got wheels and suspension on, make sure you get a full geo setup - the standard VX settings are too vague, and it'll strip the inner edge of the fronts in a very short time. Obviously if you're coilovering, youll have to have custom settings anyway, but Omegas are very, very camber sensitive.
Also, standard brakes are generally woeful and warp discs very easily. I think early Monaro brakes fit with a suitable adapter bracket. Most big brake kits will need 18" wheels for clearance.
Ive seen it done with some combination including Mercedes ML discs, too.
I've just finished some research into brake upgrades, and was disappointed to see that it seems the Aussie bits won't fit straight on. However, it seems we are spoiled for choice with Vectra 2.8 turbo, Astra H VXR and Cosra E VXR bits. A browse of ebay has revealed all 3 are available, for wildely varying prices!
Can anyone who is more of a Vauxhall expert than us possibly please advise further?
In the meantime, the garage is now well underway replacing our clutch. For anyone in the South Cheshire/North Shropshire area, I can't recommend Wettenhall Motors/WMD Motorsport enough! Located near Oulton Park, by day they are a normal car garage, but out of hours they work on, prepare, tune and compete in all manner of exciting circuit and rally cars. They are proper enthusiasts that really know their stuff!
Their initial diagnosis of siezed and subsequently fubar'd release bearing was correct. We can only hypothesise that age, plus standing around for 6 months, then a day of 6000rpm action, was enough to cause it to partially sieze/deterioriate - causing it then overheat and fully sieze, going through the clutch fingers and losing drive/jamming the pedal down.
So, one Borg and Beck OE quality replacement is currently winging its way into the gearbox. Hopefully this should give somewhat more reliable service!
Whilst the car is in the garage and in the hands of mechanics far more experience/competent than us, we have decided to partially address the lack of straight line power (literally everything else was faster on the straights at Oulton!). With his enthusiast knowledge of Vauxhall engines (comparable to my own level of Land Rover geekery!), Jimmy came up trumps with an apparently common mod.
The X30XE G version of this engine, as used in hot Vectras, has a significantly pokier inlet cam than the smooth and mild Omega. However, to stop the engine sounding too rough at idle, Vauxhall still paired it with a smooth exhaust cam in the Vectra. Can you see where I'm going with this?
Yup, the done thing in VX tuning circles is to drop 4 lumpy inlet cams into the top of our X25XE, yielding an apparent 30bhp gain!
Coupled with some further dieting of the interior, and removing the cats for a straight pipe, we should have a significantly more potent car for the next day out
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff