VX220...what are your thoughts?
Discussion
Morning to all,
i've been ducking in and out of here for years and decided it was about time i registered and got involved.
I drive a rather nice (well I think so anyway)Nissan 350z 313 which i love to bits by I keep having my head turned by more fun, track/fast road based drivers cars, I already have a daily driver so no need to worry about practicality and the VX220 is looking rather appealing, does anyone have any thoughts on them or direct experince? I'd be after a 2.2 with Supercharger or a turbo.
Many thanks, Dean.
i've been ducking in and out of here for years and decided it was about time i registered and got involved.
I drive a rather nice (well I think so anyway)Nissan 350z 313 which i love to bits by I keep having my head turned by more fun, track/fast road based drivers cars, I already have a daily driver so no need to worry about practicality and the VX220 is looking rather appealing, does anyone have any thoughts on them or direct experince? I'd be after a 2.2 with Supercharger or a turbo.
Many thanks, Dean.
I had an NA for 2 years and I absolutley loved it...if you are looking you'll probably already know about the slight niggles they have but they're definitely character building.
When you read about the heaters being useless, trust me when I say they are absolutely pointless!
on track I was able to peddle my NA much faster round corners than a turbo (I'm not the best 'fast' driver in the world) and tbh, the whole reason I bought an NA over the turbo was it was better to drive in the real world of back road blasting
all in all, I would have another in a heart beat and it's one of only a couple of cars that I regret getting rid of
When you read about the heaters being useless, trust me when I say they are absolutely pointless!
on track I was able to peddle my NA much faster round corners than a turbo (I'm not the best 'fast' driver in the world) and tbh, the whole reason I bought an NA over the turbo was it was better to drive in the real world of back road blasting
all in all, I would have another in a heart beat and it's one of only a couple of cars that I regret getting rid of
te but the roof works really well.Surprised by the responses so far that are totally in favour of the NA model.
I was always of the opinion that the VXT was the far superior car and also offers far more tuning potential should you feel the need to do so. 250BHP + is easily achievable.
Taken from an Autoexpress long term test article
"He was blown away by the blown VX, loved the power delivery, the styling and the fact that it's more comfortable and refined than the normally aspirated long-termer we ran last year.
I agree - the revised spring and damper rates mean the Turbo soaks up bumps more readily"
I was always of the opinion that the VXT was the far superior car and also offers far more tuning potential should you feel the need to do so. 250BHP + is easily achievable.
Taken from an Autoexpress long term test article
"He was blown away by the blown VX, loved the power delivery, the styling and the fact that it's more comfortable and refined than the normally aspirated long-termer we ran last year.
I agree - the revised spring and damper rates mean the Turbo soaks up bumps more readily"
I didn't think the turbocharged engine suited the car at all, so the 2.2 would be my choice. If you can get one with a supercharger, by all means do, but straight line speed isn't really te point and the N/A is hardly slow as such. The turbo would be bottom of my list of Elise derivatives (but is still a decent drivers' car by almost any standard). As above, the turbo is also set up slightly softer.
Overall, the car is just an Elise with the wrong sized wheels (many have been "corrected" with Elise sized wheels now, the VXR came with them to start with) and slightly more weight, plus things like ABS and airbags before the Elise got them.
Overall, the car is just an Elise with the wrong sized wheels (many have been "corrected" with Elise sized wheels now, the VXR came with them to start with) and slightly more weight, plus things like ABS and airbags before the Elise got them.
Edited by kambites on Thursday 9th February 09:30
I went from a 350z to a lotus Exige so a similar move....
Never really gelled with the lotus, can't fully explain why but I just didn't. I used both cars as daily's so perhaps that had a bearing, but I was doing a lot of track days back then & the lotus made sense.
I think the 350z was a great road car & the Exige a great track toy & trying to combine something of the two down the middle is difficult, though I reckon I liked the big Z better. Nicer place to be, the gf could get in & out whilst wearing a skirt & although heavy in both actual weight & feel, could still be fun when you wanted it to be.
I had an mr2 spyder before the Z so that's what probably made it feel massive & made me want to go light weight again, although once I got the lotus it soon started to grate. Final straw came whilst hunched in the boot in the pussing rain at the ring whilst trying to remove the rear lights as the bulbs had fallen into them when the wires fell off.
I got my CSL after the Exige & I liked that a lot better but then that's just me.
Never really gelled with the lotus, can't fully explain why but I just didn't. I used both cars as daily's so perhaps that had a bearing, but I was doing a lot of track days back then & the lotus made sense.
I think the 350z was a great road car & the Exige a great track toy & trying to combine something of the two down the middle is difficult, though I reckon I liked the big Z better. Nicer place to be, the gf could get in & out whilst wearing a skirt & although heavy in both actual weight & feel, could still be fun when you wanted it to be.
I had an mr2 spyder before the Z so that's what probably made it feel massive & made me want to go light weight again, although once I got the lotus it soon started to grate. Final straw came whilst hunched in the boot in the pussing rain at the ring whilst trying to remove the rear lights as the bulbs had fallen into them when the wires fell off.
I got my CSL after the Exige & I liked that a lot better but then that's just me.
A mate has a Stage 3 Turbo (280bhp IIRC)
It is very fast but I got out still prefering my 210bhp MX5 as it wasn't really fun.
He attempted to use his as a year round toy and was defeated by the useless heater even after the well known forum mod.
As it can't be used year round I'd rather get a Westfield.
It is very fast but I got out still prefering my 210bhp MX5 as it wasn't really fun.
He attempted to use his as a year round toy and was defeated by the useless heater even after the well known forum mod.
As it can't be used year round I'd rather get a Westfield.
I have had my na for 6 months and done 14000 miles. Use it daily and love it!
The heater is shocking, but knowing you have already been asking on .org there is a guy selling new heater boxes he has made, along with cladding the pipes in the drivers side sill jobs a goodun.
I was doing 100 miles a day in mine minimum (the easiest route too and from work) and would often take a diversion home, and then find a reason to go out of an evning (never did manage diversions in the morning, never could get up in time)
I went for the na as I prefer the power delivery and the fact that for £3000 you can have it superchaged to 240 ish bhp (parts, fitting and remap) and of you do it yourself it can be cheaper still
I was looking at either S2000's, 350z's etc, and after driving a dog of a vx, i knew it had to be a good one!
go for some test drives, the turbo and na drive very differently, with the sc being an angry na in my opinion
The heater is shocking, but knowing you have already been asking on .org there is a guy selling new heater boxes he has made, along with cladding the pipes in the drivers side sill jobs a goodun.
I was doing 100 miles a day in mine minimum (the easiest route too and from work) and would often take a diversion home, and then find a reason to go out of an evning (never did manage diversions in the morning, never could get up in time)
I went for the na as I prefer the power delivery and the fact that for £3000 you can have it superchaged to 240 ish bhp (parts, fitting and remap) and of you do it yourself it can be cheaper still
I was looking at either S2000's, 350z's etc, and after driving a dog of a vx, i knew it had to be a good one!
go for some test drives, the turbo and na drive very differently, with the sc being an angry na in my opinion
redgriff500 said:
As it can't be used year round I'd rather get a Westfield.
I use mine all year round. The weak heater can be improved upon slightly, with a few mods and it just takes a bit more planning on cold mornings. I have now had my standard heater replaced entirely with an aftermarket solution and it works perfectly.doogz said:
ITB's, cams, and a new exhaust and intake,
ITBs, Cams, exhaust and mapping would be £5k plus, but it does offer a nice alternative.I have always liked the VX220, I think they're a great alternative to a Lotus Elise. Which one goes for depends on which kind of power delivery you like. Personally, I'd go for the turbo. There is something very addictive about cornering balanced on the throttle, then hitting that point when you can squeeze the power on again and getting that sudden rush which boots you out of the bend.
I've test driven a n/a one twice because I love them in principle and really want to like and own one.
Each time I got out feeling completely underwhelmed.
For me they are just to slow and the power delivery is too linear. WHilst this is a massive plus for some people I just found it completely unexciting and each time I just thought...blah.
Before you write them off based on my opinion/likes I felt exactly the same was about base Elises too. I still rpefer them to an elise so if you like that type of car then Im sure it will be good.
Each time I got out feeling completely underwhelmed.
For me they are just to slow and the power delivery is too linear. WHilst this is a massive plus for some people I just found it completely unexciting and each time I just thought...blah.
Before you write them off based on my opinion/likes I felt exactly the same was about base Elises too. I still rpefer them to an elise so if you like that type of car then Im sure it will be good.
doogz said:
badgerade said:
ITBs, Cams, exhaust and mapping would be £5k plus, but it does offer a nice alternative.
Are they made from unicorn bones?A good set of DTH ITBs, what, £1k, cams, plus fitting, say, pessimistically, the same again.
Another £3k for a standalone ECU, loom, and mapping? Really?
Add on £1500 for an exhaust and 4-1 manifold
£500 for a set of cams from the US.
Then fitting and mapping on top of that.
So yes, maybe 5k+ was a little over the top, but certainly not far off at all.
WOW...thanks very much for all the replies...I'm feeling totally torn.
I love my Zed, it looks superb so turns heads, sounds great and goes well but I have previously owned a couple of Clio Willys and a big power Nissan GTIR each of which were very raw drivers cars and I adored them for that reason, no frills, balls out the bath driving pleasure and with GTIR I had the added bonus of a massive turbo shove and all the noise that goes with it...but I'm not sure the Zed gives me quite the same buzz, I've even been on a few owners club drive outs which while lots of fun I'm not convinced I enjoyed them as much as i did in my GTIR days but then may that just because i'm knocking on a bit now.
This is driving me crazy!
I love my Zed, it looks superb so turns heads, sounds great and goes well but I have previously owned a couple of Clio Willys and a big power Nissan GTIR each of which were very raw drivers cars and I adored them for that reason, no frills, balls out the bath driving pleasure and with GTIR I had the added bonus of a massive turbo shove and all the noise that goes with it...but I'm not sure the Zed gives me quite the same buzz, I've even been on a few owners club drive outs which while lots of fun I'm not convinced I enjoyed them as much as i did in my GTIR days but then may that just because i'm knocking on a bit now.
This is driving me crazy!
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