Budget Vauxhall VX220
Discussion
Lovely project, and silver NA's are the best
Have you thought about starting a project thread here:
http://www.vx220.org.uk/forums/forum/33-projects/
Have you thought about starting a project thread here:
http://www.vx220.org.uk/forums/forum/33-projects/
Hi all,
Thanks for the kind words, I thought I’d put another post as a few people seemed to be interested.
So my first drive home in the new car was certainly enlightening, firstly it was the first car I’ve ever owned that seem to draw people's attention, I stopped in a fuel station literally a mile from where I bought it and a chap complimented my nice car and started asking me questions about it, he was quite surprised to learn that I’d only owned it about 5 minutes!
Secondly was just how much more a raw experience it was to anything else I’ve driven. What I mean by that is that you feel and hear absolutely everything, stones pinging in the wheel wells, the noise of the brakes (who knew brakes made so much noise) and geez the exhaust noise, by the time I’d get home I’d realised the exhaust was definitely not the standard one.
Lastly I couldn’t help but notice just how darn crashy the ride was, the suspension had initially seemed fairly compliant whilst leaving the seller's property going over a couple of speed bumps, however at speed any imperfection in the road crashed horrendously through the whole car, it can be winch inducing at times.
I arrived home a bit confused because obviously the lotus chassis is revered for it’s ride and handling and I just hadn’t really got that initial impression from the first drive, but also pretty thrilled that I’d finally attained something of a dream car (picture below is it taking pride of place in my garage)
I immediately knew that my first job was going to be sorting the suspension, the way a sports car drives is absolute top priority for me over everything else and was the reason I shifted my Z4 after such a short amount of time, clearly the way it drove was not the top priority for BMW when they designed that car…
However I decided to wait out the last bit of summer and enjoy driving it as much as I could before starting work on it over the winter, so first thing was to get the hardtop off and take it for some roof down drives.
I’m actually at this moment a long way down the line with the suspension rebuild so I’ll start posting the progress I’ve made so far in the coming weeks.
Thanks for the kind words, I thought I’d put another post as a few people seemed to be interested.
So my first drive home in the new car was certainly enlightening, firstly it was the first car I’ve ever owned that seem to draw people's attention, I stopped in a fuel station literally a mile from where I bought it and a chap complimented my nice car and started asking me questions about it, he was quite surprised to learn that I’d only owned it about 5 minutes!
Secondly was just how much more a raw experience it was to anything else I’ve driven. What I mean by that is that you feel and hear absolutely everything, stones pinging in the wheel wells, the noise of the brakes (who knew brakes made so much noise) and geez the exhaust noise, by the time I’d get home I’d realised the exhaust was definitely not the standard one.
Lastly I couldn’t help but notice just how darn crashy the ride was, the suspension had initially seemed fairly compliant whilst leaving the seller's property going over a couple of speed bumps, however at speed any imperfection in the road crashed horrendously through the whole car, it can be winch inducing at times.
I arrived home a bit confused because obviously the lotus chassis is revered for it’s ride and handling and I just hadn’t really got that initial impression from the first drive, but also pretty thrilled that I’d finally attained something of a dream car (picture below is it taking pride of place in my garage)
I immediately knew that my first job was going to be sorting the suspension, the way a sports car drives is absolute top priority for me over everything else and was the reason I shifted my Z4 after such a short amount of time, clearly the way it drove was not the top priority for BMW when they designed that car…
However I decided to wait out the last bit of summer and enjoy driving it as much as I could before starting work on it over the winter, so first thing was to get the hardtop off and take it for some roof down drives.
I’m actually at this moment a long way down the line with the suspension rebuild so I’ll start posting the progress I’ve made so far in the coming weeks.
Edited by andrewc2102 on Friday 29th April 19:18
OP, it's inevitable that the suspension bushes etc will be well past their best given the age of the car and lack of continuous use I can see from the online MOT history so I'd look at working up a plan of works for the suspension & ask the owners on the VX220 forum for their advice and experiences on cost etc. plus also look at the age of the tyres & look to replace the complete set whilst you're at it!!
Good luck with the project as I'm sure you'll create a nice car in the end
Good luck with the project as I'm sure you'll create a nice car in the end
andy97 said:
Is the Elise “revered for its ride”?. Handling, yes, but don’t recall compliments about the ride (nor adverse comments tbf) but I have only driven one on track.
Aye, this. The 'ride' of a VX/Elise is atrocious for those who don't appreciate that there's zero soundproofing and is made of aluminium and fibreglass glued together. The handling though, is another level. 
I’ve owned my NA for 4 years now, and it’s the most satisfying vehicle on 2 or four wheels I’ve driven. I’ve stripped mine down to the tub to sort out years of bodges from previous owners, probably due to their relatively low value in the past, and gone for an OEM+ rebuild. The most expensive thing I’ve invested in is a set of all-singing Nitrons with custom valving and springs from Meteor Motorsport. The GAZ Golds I fitted 100 miles ago were 100x better than the original setup but after trying another vehicle with Nitrons fitted I was turned…. I’ve got the GAZ’ for sale if you interested? 😬
The ride/handling thing is a curious one and I've been through the same.
What they are good at, is taking the way a road undulates, cambers, dips and rises - my Elise can float over things that my E class gets all confused on. At speed the "ride" along the road is brilliant.
What they are not good at is isolating you from the actual road surface texture, the cracks, stones, drains, grates etc.
What they are good at, is taking the way a road undulates, cambers, dips and rises - my Elise can float over things that my E class gets all confused on. At speed the "ride" along the road is brilliant.
What they are not good at is isolating you from the actual road surface texture, the cracks, stones, drains, grates etc.
I've owned my silver vx since 2010 and it's been a great car. It's transformed from a standard 2.2 NA to a 250bhp SC car with all sorts of modifications/improvements/maintenance along the way.
Ride wise I've always found it to be quite compliant, the suspension has good damping and if set to soft it's pretty good. The problem most find is that it lacks any sort of protection from the bumps/noise that you wouldn't normally hear in a normal road car. The aluminium tub makes for a bit of an amplifier and makes sounds sound so much louder. I've actually found it to be pretty useful when it comes to diagnosing issues with the car over the years. I found tyres make a big difference, some good compliant road going tyres with decent sidewalls make a huge difference. Old tyres go hard and make things worse.
Suspension wise, Type116 and Max88performance will be able to advise what it available. You can get the standard stuff refurbed or look at the offerings from Nitron, Gaz or Quantum. They tend to be the go to brands.
Can't remember my total spend on the suspension refurb but I ended up doing bearings, bushes, painting, shocks, bolts, ball joints, drop links, arb; it was pretty exhaustive. Made the car feel brand new though.
Ride wise I've always found it to be quite compliant, the suspension has good damping and if set to soft it's pretty good. The problem most find is that it lacks any sort of protection from the bumps/noise that you wouldn't normally hear in a normal road car. The aluminium tub makes for a bit of an amplifier and makes sounds sound so much louder. I've actually found it to be pretty useful when it comes to diagnosing issues with the car over the years. I found tyres make a big difference, some good compliant road going tyres with decent sidewalls make a huge difference. Old tyres go hard and make things worse.
Suspension wise, Type116 and Max88performance will be able to advise what it available. You can get the standard stuff refurbed or look at the offerings from Nitron, Gaz or Quantum. They tend to be the go to brands.
Can't remember my total spend on the suspension refurb but I ended up doing bearings, bushes, painting, shocks, bolts, ball joints, drop links, arb; it was pretty exhaustive. Made the car feel brand new though.
Sford said:
I've owned my silver vx since 2010 and it's been a great car. It's transformed from a standard 2.2 NA to a 250bhp SC car with all sorts of modifications/improvements/maintenance along the way.
Ride wise I've always found it to be quite compliant, the suspension has good damping and if set to soft it's pretty good. The problem most find is that it lacks any sort of protection from the bumps/noise that you wouldn't normally hear in a normal road car. The aluminium tub makes for a bit of an amplifier and makes sounds sound so much louder. I've actually found it to be pretty useful when it comes to diagnosing issues with the car over the years. I found tyres make a big difference, some good compliant road going tyres with decent sidewalls make a huge difference. Old tyres go hard and make things worse.
Suspension wise, Type116 and Max88performance will be able to advise what it available. You can get the standard stuff refurbed or look at the offerings from Nitron, Gaz or Quantum. They tend to be the go to brands.
Can't remember my total spend on the suspension refurb but I ended up doing bearings, bushes, painting, shocks, bolts, ball joints, drop links, arb; it was pretty exhaustive. Made the car feel brand new though.
This! I had tyres that were 9-10 years old on the front of my VX220 (the original tyres from when it had left the factory essentially) and it made the front quite 'crashy' over bumps. As Sford says, rubber that is old gets hard and can perish etc. When they were changed out for new tyres the difference I thought was substantial to the ride quality and made the front end seem a lot more compliant. Check the age of your tyres would be an easy place to start and could make a decent improvement without much effort.Ride wise I've always found it to be quite compliant, the suspension has good damping and if set to soft it's pretty good. The problem most find is that it lacks any sort of protection from the bumps/noise that you wouldn't normally hear in a normal road car. The aluminium tub makes for a bit of an amplifier and makes sounds sound so much louder. I've actually found it to be pretty useful when it comes to diagnosing issues with the car over the years. I found tyres make a big difference, some good compliant road going tyres with decent sidewalls make a huge difference. Old tyres go hard and make things worse.
Suspension wise, Type116 and Max88performance will be able to advise what it available. You can get the standard stuff refurbed or look at the offerings from Nitron, Gaz or Quantum. They tend to be the go to brands.
Can't remember my total spend on the suspension refurb but I ended up doing bearings, bushes, painting, shocks, bolts, ball joints, drop links, arb; it was pretty exhaustive. Made the car feel brand new though.
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