2005 Black Sapphire VX220 Turbo

[SirSamuelBuca]

Awesome. I really need a go in one of these.

[deltashad]

Top buy, excellent in every way. Except boot space.

[gofasterrosssco]

deltashad said:

Except boot space.

Its actually respectible for the type of car it is IMHO. You can squish a lot of soft items in as the boot is effectively the full width of the rear of the car. Ideal for a long weekend away, but yeah, not much else..

If your getting the front resprayed, it might be worth also budgeting for armourfend or similar coating, as the flat nose and relatively soft paint picks up stone chips very easily.. Mine was resprayed and looking good, until one (albeit very enjoyable) drive with a few other cars. Its now almost rough to the touch..

[Arun_D]

Your VX looks superb. Lovely example

Love the treaure trove under the seat. Not too long into ownership of my Exige, I noticed something peeking out from under the passenger seat, pulled it out to discover a boarding pass for the Eurotunnel dated earlier that year. It didn't take very long to make a wild stab in the dark where on the mainland the previous owner may have been heading to (a certain track in Germany, perhaps?!), so later on I went on that useful Nurburgring photo site where you can type in your reg number, and lo and behold, found a great set of shots of the car going round the Nurburgring (and looking rather at home there too). Needless to say, it has returned there under my ownership.

Also found 5p under there one day, which explained the odd metallic sliding noise when cornering!

[ali4390]

I was speaking to a colleague earlier about his old VX and he was saying he misses it to this day.

Yours is a stunning example, in fact one of the nicest I've seen (although I did see a red one with some carbon extras at the weekend that looked fantastic).

[Ordinary_Chap]

Awesome cars, the Turbo engine (borrowed originally from the Astra?) really does make the car potent with its low kerb weight.

I've only been in a modified one and the performance left me going gosh thats a whole lot of speed for little money.

[p4cks]

You will not be disappointed! I loved my VXs, and ended up going back to one each time I got a new car. I've had 4 NAs and 2 Turbos. After I sold my last turbo I said that I wouldn't have another, as a 7th would be ridiculous. But I find myself looking on the PH classifieds quite regularly for one.

Excellent, excellent purchase OP.

[exigepete]

Ran a VX220 Turbo a few years ago for 2 years and did 15,000 miles, great little car. The fan always blows dust everywhere, constant battle to keep the interior dust free. Mine had a full respray under warranty and I got Painshield film applied straight away to prevent chipping.

[tranter5]

looks lovely really do want to scratch that itch with one soon!

[Andy_sx]

Looks lovely mate, well done. Re the front end spray,mine is in at the minute getting some fibreglass reairs and a front end respray / belnding into doors / sills and the job is over 2k.... that is through the insurance, but still rediculous! Taking the front clam off is easy as long as the bolts arent rusted etc, there is a good guide on the owners forum.

Mine will be up for sale very soon, and I'm not looking forward to it! I love the car, but need something physically bigger at the mo, and cant afford to run 2 cars. Its only the NA, but the way you can keep the speed up negates the deficit in outright hp to alot of other cars, along with the low weight!

[gez c16b]

Lovely cars, I keep looking at them in the classifieds.

I currently own a Clio 200, and keep looking at the VXT.

How would you compare the two cars since you've come from a 197? Handling etc.

Thanks

[gez c16b]

That's a good mixed review,
I'm loving my Clio 200, it does everything I expected it to do, and excelled them.

Reason I'm asking, is that I keep finding myself looking at the vx220 turbo's.

I rarely use the back seats in the Clio, must have opened the boot just a handful of times, and I guess I'm just looking for that more raw/special looking car, ohhhh and some boost of course

In the next 6-8 months I think I could find myself looking at them. Especially with insurance dropping down quickly on them. Currently paying £690 FC on the Clio, and the vx would have been £890.
So I think if the vx comes Down to the clios price range on the insurance, I'll probably start to consider it.

Edited by gez c16b on Wednesday 22 August 15:52

[philmots]

FlashBastd said:

The Clio is great fun and is fully useable every day, but will depreciate like a stone, cost a fortune once out of warranty, and possibly returns worse fuel economy than the VXT.

Interesting comments.

Putting 12k into a newish Clio 200 probably wouldn't be ideal from a depreciation point of view, but putting half of that into a 197 with Cup's etc will safeguard significant losses (this was my choice)

I disagree with the costs of running a Clio out of warranty, though. I've had years of 172's, Megane's and now a 197 Cup with no issues. There's also nothing really common that goes wrong with them.



I love your VX though. I'd love one!

[philmots]

I understand the trim is a bit rubbish! I can live with that though...

Gearboxes - I wonder how many that have broke have seen significant abuse?

Manifolds - not heard of that one, thanks..

Ball joints/track rods - do you think track work prematurely wears these components? I remember a member on 197.net having to replace both sides on his 10k mile 200 due to kerb hopping!

I genuinely think if you drive it with a bit of sympathy you'll not experience half these issues. Maybe the manifold...

Tbh.. All cars are money pits! ;-)

[C.A.R.]

Lovely!

Saw the VX220 which is in the UK Time-Attack series roar past me on the motorway last year, it's red with Lightning McQueen graphics! Always fancied one of these little Vauxhalls, proper no-compromise little roadster!

[gofasterrosssco]

Can't fully answer you're query on the necessity for a corner weight set-up, but can recommend Cornering Force. They have a good amount of experience with VX220's and chassis set-up and testing. They tested my damper recently and happy with their service.

You might end up being tempted by their rather tasty looking ARB set-up however (as I am)..

[stu1984]

Welcome to the VX fold.... A lovley looking example. A good future purchase IMO is a hard-top. They make the car look even better IMO and also improve the noise levels in the 'cabin' a little. I have one on my NA (which is red) and with the colour coded hard-top it looks significatnly better than with the black soft top. They are circa £500-600 though so maybe one for the future!! Enjoy

[gofasterrosssco]

stu1984 said:

Welcome to the VX fold.... A lovley looking example. A good future purchase IMO is a hard-top. They make the car look even better IMO and also improve the noise levels in the 'cabin' a little. I have one on my NA (which is red) and with the colour coded hard-top it looks significatnly better than with the black soft top. They are circa £500-600 though so maybe one for the future!! Enjoy

I have a hardtop, and agree on looks, but its doesn't help any with wind noise (better than roof off obviously), and is actually noisier because sound seems to reverberate within the cabin even more.. Anyway, still have mine on most of the time, keeps the soft top in good condition :-)

[TVR MAN]

I seem to remember that rounded disc retaining screws is a common problem on the VX220. You could try hammering in a torx bit or knocking them round with a chisel rather than drilling.

[andyroo]

Man, I want a VX again. Such a cool car. Here is (was) mine :