VX 220

[cologne2792]

Anyone use one for a daily driver ? Are they livable with as such ?

[jules_s]

Yes

I drove mine for 10 years daily. You really need a shed to go with them though

Go over to vx220.org.uk and say hello

[carinaman]

Some Xmas links for your Ford Vee Six man:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=121...


The VX220 featured on my PH/Flux win £10k or £5K to spend in the PH classifieds.

[kambites]

No, but I've spent a fair bit of time in one and use an Elise as a daily driver. Really it's a question of how much you're willing to put up with and your circumstances...

• Even once the engine has warmed up, the heater is awful and there is bugger all insulation - expect to have to wear gloves in the winter. There are upgrades available.
• The cabin is small and not very well sealed so even if it never leaks it will get damp inside and you'll get condensation (and ice) on the inside of the windows which is an arse to clear (only an issue if you don't have a garage).
• Luggage space isn't as bad as people make out but it's still pretty poor - the boot is a little smaller than, say, an MX5 but access is poor so you're limited to soft bags.
• They aren't brilliantly built - expect to either tinker or spend money getting niggles fixed.
• Access isn't the best - getting in and out in open space is a knack that's easily learned unless you're extremely unfit or overweight, but in confined parking spaces you sometimes have to take the roof off to get out, which is a pain if it's raining.
• The cabin is loud. At motorway speeds you have to shout to talk to your passenger and if you do many long trips you will almost certainly want to wear ear-plugs.
• Most parts are interchangable with the Elise, which means there's a good after-market scene but some bits are VX220 specific and hence rare and expensive.
• The ABS system is awful verging on dangerous.
• The driving position is good if you're normal shaped, awful if you aren't (especially if you have unusually long legs). There is very little adjustment.
• They are hopeless on snow on the standard tyres.

All in all they make a perfectly viable daily driver, but don't expect to be able to treat it like a Focus.


It's worth browsing the SELOC forums as well as the VX220 specific stuff. There's a certainly amount of friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) banter between Elise and VX220 communities but to 99% of people, the VX220 is just another Elise variant.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 24th December 20:52

[Herman Toothrot]

kambites said:

basically summed it up

I had one, I'd add :

- heater absolute rubbish on the vx220, even when the engines hot coolant full temp, it wheezes little more than an asthmatic breath of luke warm air even worse than the Elise unit.

- Daily use, I found it more dangerous in terms of other road users not seeing you than a motorbike by miles. My VX220 got driven into in stationary traffic in town as someone coming out a side road thought it was a gap in the traffic where I was, they reversed out looking over my roof. It finally got written off about 9 months later as someone changed lanes into what they thought was a gap, again no, I was in said gap and got punted off the road. A year it lasted in total daily use. Been on the motorbike since, just starting my 4th year of daily commuting on the bike and never had any issue, I'd actually say in real daily use for commuting a bike is no less practical either.

[carinaman]

Thanks kambites, I've learnt some stuff from your post I wouldn't have without digging.

[jules_s]

Just to add to that ^^^

My heater has always worked perfectly - nice and toasty after 5 miles or so

And I've managed to do 115k without anybody hitting me

[stott]

Kambite's advice is spot on but I'll add:

Put a bit of dynamat and carpet in it and it'll be bearable up to licence losing speeds in the cabin noise dept, not loads as you don't want it too heavy but it helps a lot.

Hardtop also is a sound investment for the noise.

Dash is terrible as it reflects on the screen, get it flocked and its great but don't forget the vents too.

The one I have experience of has gaz dampers and wider front wheels too.

Enjoy, they are fantastic cars.

[Jasandjules]

Not had a VX but had an Elise. Not ideal as a daily for me. Not comfy enough for long journeys, too hard to get in and out of comfortably, especially passengers. Loud inside, very few creature comforts. If the VX is the same, I would say get a banger as well....

[kambites]

One other thing to remember is that you probably wont ever see a completely standard car.

Some will just have had various niggles fixed with upgraded components (such as the heater); others will have completely different suspension components (some cars are set up far too stiff, which ruins the handling and the ride to my mind); engine upgrades; brake upgrades; different wheel sizes (the standard car has "wrong diameter" front wheels, which hurts the handling, Vauxhall fixed this by going to Elise-sized wheels on the VXR); etc. Even a small difference in suspension geometry makes a huge difference to how these cars drive.

Ultimately, any Elise variant can be made to handle pretty much like any other Elise variant car, baring differences in weight.

[cologne2792]

carinaman said:

Some Xmas links for your Ford Vee Six man:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=121...


The VX220 featured on my PH/Flux win £10k or £5K to spend in the PH classifieds.

Some great stuff there - thank you

[zed4]

You need one of these upgraded heaters...

http://www.vx220.org.uk/forums/topic/126251-fezzas...

Well worth the money and makes the car much more usable day to day.