Vector W8 Twin Turbo and other toys.

[Vectorw8015]

W8 said:

They drive fantastic! The front is very light , with ultra responsive steering, and the ride is actually very compliant, not hard. A great exhaust note, and great sound when backing off the throttle and the wastegates kick in. Turbo lag is very low. Here’s a pic of another W8 in graphite gray at a recent Concours event.

Bill's car 001.

[Gary C]

Vectorw8015 said:

Gary C said:

Tell us how it drives

Hi Gary,

The car drives very well. I have set the suspension up a little firmer than what was the factory set up. The suspension is fully adjustable. But it is very compliant over bumps. In its current configuration it pulls 1.25g on the skid pad, so it corners very well. The car is fairly light for its size, Just over 3200 lbs. The car is extremely wide and you are always conscientious of this when you drive her. And due to her tall gearing she is not as quick out of the hole as some of her contemporaries. With a 3 speed gear box first gear is good for over 80 mph so she is very long in the tooth, but with 650 ftlbs of torque she still gets up and goes. 2nd gear is good for 160+ mph. Her top end is rather boundless and she gets there rather quickly. Adding octane and boost helps a little but she can do it all at only 8lbs of boost. So the extra is just overkill for most.

I have driven McLaren F1's, which are a fun but dicey car to drive the rear end always wants to lead the way. She is more like a EB110 SS in the way she drives and handles. The Jag XJ220 feels a little more cumbersome just due to her length and the front end tends to load up in the corners.

But she is comparable to all of the above. She was the first supercar on the planet and was dubbed so back 20+ years ago as a way to separate her from the cars of the day. She is still very relevant today from a performance and handling perspective.

I still enjoy her after all this time. I still think she is one of the prettiest cars ever designed. Her body lines have held up well when you consider that they are over 35 years old.

Sounds like it drives almost like an F355 with a Saturn V rocket up its arse ! Fantastic. So not quite a daily.

35 years where did the time go. Its actually 5 years older than my 911, but still looks as if its from the future.

Thanks for sharing.

[Reciprocating mass]

For me the vector w8 was always a car you new existed being a 43 year old but I never really new to much about.
What an amazing machine it is and was in its day, thanks for sharing, it has been one story of cars that I have genuinely not had much knowledge of and have enjoyed finding out more about,
that dash is ruddy marvellous
I suppose it’s a bit far to bring it to a Sunday service lol
Thanks for sharing it with us

[Vectorw8015]

David Kostka and Derek with 016 at the Peterson Museum.

Edited by Vectorw8015 on Thursday 28th February 16:31

[Vectorw8015]

Hagerty the magazine has Vector W8 #001 featured in the new issue. Still finding her way in to magazine articles 26 years later.

Edited by Vectorw8015 on Friday 1st March 17:10

[foxbody-87]

Wow! Surely you must be the only W8 owner on here??

[Vectorw8015]

A set of photos from the W2 years, sorry for not publishing more, but I have not shown these to many people over the past 30+ years. I may want to write a book in the retirement years. So these photos are of 400 N Marine. The main assembly area. The reason I note this is because the next set of photos are from the same building as we were building the last W8, car 018 which is technically the 17th production car, which is a story for another time. But you will note how much the facilities had changed over the years.

[Vectorw8015]

Getting closer to the end of days at Vector. Car 018 being assembled. The last W8 ever built.

[Vectorw8015]

And for those of you who wondered how we transferred power to the ground. A very heavily modified TH425. The only stock part of it was the aluminium case. Everything beyond the case was completely custom. The drive belt was more than twice the size of the stock chain. Valve body, clutch packs. Input and output shafts, bands and drums etc all custom. The differential, our own design. A beast. Helical cut gears and a Gleason Torsen limited slip differential. It's own wet sump oil pump.

Edited by Vectorw8015 on Monday 4th March 10:14

[RicksAlfas]

I found this on my bookshelves at the weekend (published 1983).

[Vectorw8015]

A few shots of the differential in the car. You could lick the bottom of my car and you would get it dirty.

[Vectorw8015]

A few other images of my car.

[Vectorw8015]

[Gary C]

Quite a responsibility owning such a car

And writing a book would, by the interest shown here, be fantastic. A good, technical and historical book with lots of technical pictures and some insight into the ins and outs of the political shenanigans would be a fascinating read (rather than a glossy coffee table show piece) and I for one would buy it.

[z06tim]

I agree. I would love to see a technical/historical book covering the W8, and you definitely have a lot of experience and material to make it.

Something like Dave McLellan's C4 Corvette book, or James Schefter's "All Corvettes are Red", on the C5, would be a format I think works.

Thanks again for posting more photos. That transmission is quite unique!

Apologies for my repeat post from Saturday - since removed.

[Vectorw8015]

A few interior photos

[samoht]

Thanks for the pics, very insightful - especially the gearbox and diff. Very clever to use the design of the transaxle gearbox from the Toronado, but without turning the drive through 90 degrees as it did - yielding a neat and compact drivetrain package, without sitting the engine right over the wheels a la Muira, or turning the drive through 90 degrees twice like the Cizeta.

Do you happen to know what the front/rear weight balance is?

[Vectorw8015]

samoht said:

Thanks for the pics, very insightful - especially the gearbox and diff. Very clever to use the design of the transaxle gearbox from the Toronado, but without turning the drive through 90 degrees as it did - yielding a neat and compact drivetrain package, without sitting the engine right over the wheels a la Muira, or turning the drive through 90 degrees twice like the Cizeta.

Do you happen to know what the front/rear weight balance is?

45% Front
55% Rear

[UnluckyTimmeh]

What are the button all down the sill/side of the seat?

I’m guessing seat adjustment and it look like mirror adjustment? But what are the others?

Many thanks for all the info so far. It’s fascinating

[Dr G]

Gary C said:

...and I for one would buy it.

Goes without saying; my name would be straight down on the list for a copy.

PHers get first run signed copies, right?