coldel Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 As seen on another thread I am invading the realms of zedland with my cheap Vauxhall tat...well actually it is just an S2 Elise with a different bodykit and a few sensible extras...it is a brutal drive, decent straight line speed up to about 70 but the handling is epic, you can chuck it round corners at speeds which seem unbelievable. Not as powerful on the open road as the Zed but would easily drive away from most cars on twisty B roads. the feedback through the steering wheel is amazing, you totally feel everything, every stone every slight slide, you are correcting all the time so it is hard work but very rewarding. And it looks very unique. I spent about 6 months waiting for the right one, ended up with a 50k miles 02 plate 2.2 NA. It is highly specced with: VSE (Vauxhall Sports Exhaust) which is pretty bloody loud, but sounds terrific Interior extras, centre bracing, gear gaiter and knob which are all restricted distribution options Rear diffuser Otherwise very standard, which is perfect. Here she is: Have been tinkering with it last couple of weeks, first up was to tidy up the engine bay. It came with an engine cover off an Astra which is bulky and nasty, so I sprayed it Silver and Red, although looks a bit naff still. Reason for them is that water can get in through the grill and flood the spark plugs, there is an ingress plate option which I will be installing soon. I also took some time to polish the engine up a bit and spray the oil and coolant caps. Also the dash fascia was a bit scratched so got some cheap ebay vinyl to test wrap it, looks ok, might get a brighter red on it though Also a key mod, insulation tape around the door pins! They are about 1mm too small for the doors so rattle when driving along, a few wraps and fixed I have got a set of elise door pins which do fit properly but there is a chance you can lose washers down in the sill if you are unlucky, so wimped out! Interior is in good condition, not much wear on the leather, the door cards need sorting out but otherwise looks very good Also stuck some 'No Step' decals on the sills, any weight on those and your foot will go straight through! But after a few weeks ownership am loving it - the weather obviously helps and in winter it will probably be un-driveable but it is a fantastic piece of kit. It is about on par with a Zed accelerating but clearly the cornering is its strength. There is a £3k supercharge upgrade option which would make it blisteringly quick but really at the moment it has more than enough pace especially living in London! So apart from making it into a supercharged flying machine mods to do are: 1. More engine tidying, engine plates etc 2. Fezzus heater (guy on the VX220 forum who has built after market heaters which blow hot air!) 3. More interior tidying up, wrapping etc 4. Replace the V and badge on the front grill with the 'splam' option, again a forum member who builds replacements that simply clip on 5. Maybe powder coat the wheels black 6. Active subwoofer of the very thin variety Stay tuned 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Good start You also have the TRR (?) expansion bottle cover too, I had one for mine, must have to protect the weedy thing from UV. Seriously consider putting Exige size wheels on, they will absolutely transform the ride and will instantly get rid of the nasty understeer the 17" fronts give. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluke Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Looks great. Was one of the cars I considered, but at nearly 50 I wanted a bit of comfort. Do you have any sound clips of the exhaust? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Nice little motor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arran Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Why didn't you go for the turbo one out of interest? Looks clean though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 (edited) Good start You also have the TRR (?) expansion bottle cover too, I had one for mine, must have to protect the weedy thing from UV. Seriously consider putting Exige size wheels on, they will absolutely transform the ride and will instantly get rid of the nasty understeer the 17" fronts give. Yes Darren also mentioned the Exige wheels, although that will be at quite an expense so will hold back on those for a while whilst I get used to it as standard. The wife wouldnt be too happy with another big outlay so quickly! And yes the cover is vital, otherwise you end up with coolant bottles leaking which is never a good thing. Turbos were available Arran but for equivalent quality I was looking at an extra £5k on top, also I like the NA drive, the turbo's do just boot the boost in and on such a light car you need talent to keep it on the road if you are using all the power, talent I don't have Edited July 21, 2013 by coldel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Looks great. Was one of the cars I considered, but at nearly 50 I wanted a bit of comfort. Do you have any sound clips of the exhaust? Will fire it up and record soon and drop on here, its pretty meaty and the chaps on the kent run next week will get to hear first hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Will watch with interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Being tempted to go back to Norfolk built cars Neil? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonk Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Very nice Col, I like the look of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Exhaust vid, apologies there are kids shouting in the background, little playground next to our house (soon drown them out though!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MITZ@CougarStore Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Keep the updates coming... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Being tempted to go back to Norfolk built cars Neil? :-) I'm not sure how to answer that question. It's like when I see a Caterham and for a fleeting moment I want to do it all again. It doesn't help that I don't have a garage now. I used to use the S1 throughout the year but had a bit of a scary moment on black ice....fortunately the lightness of the car proved to be a big asset because I scrubbed of speed very quickly through the grass and bracken and no serious harm was done but I never quite felt the same again. It was mainly my fault because I overreacted and managed to add lift off oversteer into the equation. I had also "uprated" the suspension which was a big mistake...I should have left it as it came out of the factory. I had no issues with reliability, just minor niggles, which could be solved by aftermarket parts. In the right conditions the speed you could maintain on bendy roads defied logic. I put the later seats in and found them to be very comfortable. But if an Evora ever came down in price enough? Who knows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmanji Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 "Thumbs" Always turns my head when I see one. Was at Donny on a track day watching a turbo version as well as couple of others a couple of weeks back, very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Being tempted to go back to Norfolk built cars Neil? :-) I'm not sure how to answer that question. It's like when I see a Caterham and for a fleeting moment I want to do it all again. It doesn't help that I don't have a garage now. I used to use the S1 throughout the year but had a bit of a scary moment on black ice....fortunately the lightness of the car proved to be a big asset because I scrubbed of speed very quickly through the grass and bracken and no serious harm was done but I never quite felt the same again. It was mainly my fault because I overreacted and managed to add lift off oversteer into the equation. I had also "uprated" the suspension which was a big mistake...I should have left it as it came out of the factory. I had no issues with reliability, just minor niggles, which could be solved by aftermarket parts. In the right conditions the speed you could maintain on bendy roads defied logic. I put the later seats in and found them to be very comfortable. But if an Evora ever came down in price enough? Who knows Yes its nice to see a new set of decent discs and brakes priced around £200 for the lot instead of £500+ which often came up on the Zed. The cost of maintenance is so much less damaging and to be honest was one of the reasons I didn't go Japanese once again. The only thing I really fear from a cost perspective is any bodywork damage, which tends to write cars off. Although a guy on the VX forum has just managed to perfect replacement clams and sells them relatively cheaply for any of those owners unlucky enough to have the fibre-glass write off scenario happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuarty Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Great car, i loved mine for the time i had it. Only problem i had was overtaking other cars because you sit so low and on a hot day you cant see the road ahead because of the heat coming off the road! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yampiedog Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I was tempted before the Z. Just didn't see any for the right price but had an Elise a few years back and would love one of those again but again nothing for the right price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Nice wee car there, looks mint Is this your daily or a weekend toy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Yes the Elise's are appreciating a lot at the moment, even something like an 80k mile early S1 is going for around £8k-£9k which is a lot in the grand scheme of things. There is an element of badge snobbery though, the VX is essentially an S2 Elise. Its somewhere between daily and toy - I will use it for when I am doing stuff in the evenings but I commute on the train every day so its not used for daily work reasons. I also now have developed a great method for getting in and out quickly without looking a tit which helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Very nice, I have to admit ive been watching vx220`s and Elises on ebay now for about 12 months waiting for the right one to appear. I pretty much get an alert daily when any new ones appear. Seen a few which looked interesting, but im after one which needs a bit of work as a project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Also something I considered before the Zed (albeit the turbo version, which STILL manages 30MPG!). Test drove one and was impressed with the handling but the rather sparse interior, and the inevitability of having to use this thing day in day out in all weathers and I soon changed my mind, just wasn't practical for my lifestyle, even with no kids. If you can live with it though, they're lovely cars to drive, have to stir the gears a lot more than the Zed as I didn't think it pulled greatly at low RPM's, but push it and you will leave almost anything behind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 I would get yourself onto VX220.org Stew, quite a few cars up for sale on there long before they hit ebay and the like and obviously there are benefits of seeing owners history on the forum vs ebay. If price is a concern, there is always the cat c/d route which is no where near as fraught as Zeds. One guy had his VX written off after hitting a stray dog which split the front bumper and broke a headlight - bodywork write offs happen a lot. There is a guy on the forum called 'Turboluca' who picks these up and repairs them to a high standard - you get all the photo documentation of repairs etc. He only does turbos though...let me know what your budget is, car spec etc and happy to keep a lookout for you. CS2000 yes the turbos are very fast, if you look on you tube and search for VX vs GT3 there is a guy at the nurburgring chasing down and passing a GT3, although how much of that is car vs comparative driver skills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I would get yourself onto VX220.org Stew, quite a few cars up for sale on there long before they hit ebay and the like and obviously there are benefits of seeing owners history on the forum vs ebay. If price is a concern, there is always the cat c/d route which is no where near as fraught as Zeds. Cheers, yep i have been looking at the cat c & d ones, as like with the elises, if the clam gets damaged then its basically a write off, even though its usually just fibreglass work. The turbo ones are awesome, but its a huge jump in price from some of the cheaper NA ones ive seen to a turbo one. I did read about astra vxr mods you can do to the NA one, which sounds interesting..... My only concern with a NA one is that i remember test driving a series 1 Elise back in about 2000 when they were fairly new, and I was totally underwhelmed and disappointed by it. Back then though my fun toy car was a heavily modified Renault 5 GT Turbo which I worked out had twice the power to weight ratio of the Elise, handled like it was on rails & could do 0-60 in around 5 seconds or so, I was also using my motorbikes more - so jumping in an Elise felt quite slow. I remember turning up at the dealers on a brand new Ducati 748SPS and the guy just gave me the keys to the Elise and left me to it! Will checkout vx220.org - cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Sod the badge snobbery, I like the VX220. I love Elises too but the rarity of the VX makes it interesting. There's a lot to be said for modest power, especially in a lightweight. I honestly think that the 350Z has the perfect amount of power - at least you can use everything it has a lot of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have seen a few NAs going for about £6k, they tend to be higher milers though. Not many exist with 100k+ miles due to the ease of write off if you scrape the bodywork so no idea how good the engine and transmission is over longer mileage stretches. I would imagine they do ok as its a reliable engine and the car weight bugger all. You can modify the NA engine (not sure what VXR mods you can do to the non turbo?) but a shorter drive replacement in the gear box (or a zafira gearbox) will improve acceleration at the expense of top speed, lightened flywheel, freeflowing exhaust/cats all make for a quicker car - you can also go the individual throttle body route but that is expensive. Easiest route is supercharging which you can do for £3k-£3.5k which takes it from 150bhp to about 260bhp which will put the car in the 0-60 in 4 seconds bracket. Personally, I find that being sat one inch off the ground, with the top off, the engine 6 inches behind your head makes the car feel like its doing 60 when its doing 30 and produces miles of smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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