New car....VX220 content...

[joebristolgym]

340R track geo sounds like the way forward from the research I've done - if I can get enough camber removing shims without having to machine anything.

The VX is defo going on the track at Castle Coombe when the weather gets a bit better - think there's an action day there in April/May time. Prob just do a couple of 15 min sessions - I don't want to ruin a set of brand new tyres straight away lol.

I find the car does understeer sometimes when you don't expect it to, and are trying to slide the back out - it's really very annoying! The poor state of the front tyres is obviously an issue right now, but not for long.

 

[jonnyboy]

Dont worry about wearing tyres out on track m8 the VX doesnt touch them. You could get 20 trackdays out of a set of tyres quite easily.

 

[andyroo]

My T1-Rs were close to the wear markers after about 4000 miles, and the Bridgestones I had before that did about the same (rears that is) and thats road driving! Maybe I drive a bit agressively?

 

[Englebert]

All depends on the geo, but generally the fronts will take a lot of use before wearing out.

On standard geo the car just understeers for Britain, its utterly boring.

 

[jonnyboy]

hmm where you based m8?You should come have a drive of mine. Mine is standard and has a totally neutral balance. I think its more when the wheels are pointing all over the place you get issues with understeer. I rekon almost nobody will have driven a car with "standard geo" as most people who actually get any kind of allignment done will go for a more agressive setup. My car must be quite unique in that it has standard geo but it is actually accurate to the spec.If your getting 4k out of a set of VX tyres theres is a fault with the car for sure unless you've been going burnouts every day!

My other VX I bought with the original tyres on it and it had 7.5k on the clock. I did 3 trackdays, a ring trip and some pretty commited road driving totalling about 7-8k and they were still only 2/3 worn.

 

[Englebert]

Well, i spent almost £2k on the car as soon as i got it, initially having standard geo. As said, it has a 'Vauxhall' setup, not a Lotus one. Therefore, if you jump into a standard Elise you will be suprised how much better it is than a VX220. My track geo setup was like driving another car, it pissed all over the stock setup.

IMO, car with such little weight over the front needs to be confidence inspiring and for me that is a razor sharp turn-in. This may make it a little more oversteery and difficult on the limit, but if i didn't want to be challenged i would have stuck with a Clio...

I've driven probably 50 combinations of Elises/VXs and the best ones are the modified i'm afraid, don't believe the hype! Plus, they don't turn into deathtraps, you just need to take them to someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[joebristolgym]

I'm quite hard on tyres generally - I'm lucky to get 4000 odd miles out of front wheels on a front wheel drive car, and I'm encouraging the back to slide as much as possible in the vx. It annoys me that if I turn in and then accelerate too early that it pushes the front wide - and it's difficult to predict when it will do that and when it won't. You find yourself having to drive round that problem.

I had a front engined, rear wheel drive caterham 7 clone (Tiger Cat), which isn't the best of it's type of car by any means and it never once pushed the front wheels wide - guess because it has the engine weight nearer the front (although a long way behind the wheels) - but it was more playful.

My front tyres aren't helping matters - I'll see how it is once I have new ones on and go from there. Understeer to me is so much worse then oversteer.

 

[Brett]

Realy nice car mate. I understand what you mean about understeer, you don't realy want that out of a RWD sports car.

 

[joebristolgym]

Definitely don't want understeer - a nice neutral balance would be fine, I also don't want too twitchy a back end - just one that can be provoked when necessary.

Got my first really good power slide yesterday where the back slid out and I kept the foot in for a good distance - normally I have kicked the back out to 45 degrees ish, then just foot off and opposite lock to bring it back under control. Felt awesome.

Mpg isn't too great - I thought with the car being less powerful and much lighter then the 182 that it would be better on fuel. I'm prob driving it a tiny bit harder then the Clio, but not by much.

182 was generally averaging around 25-28mpg the last few months I had it, and doing the same kind of driving, my vx is doing around 18mpg. Thats the same for 4 tanks for fuel now, and my vx has a thimble for a fuel tank I reckon. 32 litres at 18mpg pretty much comes out at 130 miles range from a full tank.

I live in petrol stations these days.

 

[Justin]

18mpg! thats worse than my tvr!

 

[joebristolgym]

I know...either there's something horribly wrong, or I'm just an animal behind the wheel. I never go anywhere particularly slowly, and if there's an opportunity for oversteer then all the better.

Maybe I shoul dtry driving nicely and see if it gets much better. I was hoping for early 20's at least!

 

[elmo2002]

Rear end is actually surprisingly stable (got brand new 225/45/17 Toyo T1-R's on it), and only slides if you really provoke it.

Or when i drive it lol

 

[Englebert]

MPG isn't as good as the Clios but not 18mpg bad! Got well over 30mpg easy...

 

[joebristolgym]

Or when i drive it lol

I could say that's because you drive like a d*ck...or to break cars. Like your cup brakes are broken lol.

My standard 182 brakes only ever faded out twice in 10/11 months, apart from that they were totally fine and my car was heavier as you keep reminding me!

 

[joebristolgym]

MPG isn't as good as the Clios but not 18mpg bad! Got well over 30mpg easy...

My 182 never managed to average 30 in everyday driving - it was normally around 25mpg...occasionally higher, more occasionally lower. Guess it must be what is between the seat and the steeringwheel/pedals that's the problem.

 

[E-ray_172]

Lovely motor mate.
The MPG sound's a bit crap tho, wonder how bad the turbo version would be then :S
I'm loving getting over 35mpg around town and over 45 on the motorway compared to what I was getting with the 172/182.

 

[Englebert]

My 182 never managed to average 30 in everyday driving - it was normally around 25mpg...occasionally higher, more occasionally lower. Guess it must be what is between the seat and the steeringwheel/pedals that's the problem.

I think its you fella! I got 40mpg in my Clio...

 

[jonnyboy]

Low mpg is probably from jabbing the throttle all the time kicking the back out

I get 30+ in mine. M8's stage 4 turbo gets about 30 pootling about off boost. Not bad for something that will outpace most stuff on the road!

 

[drhowser]

nice bit of car that joe!

i'll have to try to get to see it when i come over to see mine next.

as for setup, these guys are close to you, and are very good!
http://www.trackdevelopments.co.uk/

 

[Rob.]

They are nice cars. Would't of got one in the winter tho

 

[Aluco]

Looks awesome, although the side picture reminds me of a cat up on its haunches (sp?)

I know that isn't the point of these cars but it would look pretty cool lower!

 

[joebristolgym]

nice bit of car that joe!

i'll have to try to get to see it when i come over to see mine next.

as for setup, these guys are close to you, and are very good!
http://www.trackdevelopments.co.uk/

No worries, I'm about 5 mins from where your car is!

I've called them, they want 95 quid to assess the car, then find out what I'm looking for and it's then so much per hour that it takes them...he reckoned about 200 quid.

I need new tyres a service and an mot first so going to do that, then when I have the money get the geo done.

Also want hids as the standard headlights are pap. I may as well have candles rather then bulbs they're so pants.

 

[joebristolgym]

They are nice cars. Would't of got one in the winter tho

Cheaper cheap cheap at this time of year. Who needs warmth anyway?

 

[cat171]

They have dropped a fair bit, I was after a tubo one, viewed one the other day. I'm put off now (winter etc)

 

[joebristolgym]

JUst buy it in winter as it's definitely a buyers market at this time of year. It isn't that hard to live with day to day as long as you dress appropriately.

 

[clio geek]

very cool car, it goes very fast at track days, have seen a couple of the VX220 at the Sturup Track in Sweden, one of them had a bigger Turbo upgrade and no one was able to follow him..dammit

 

[joebristolgym]

I wish I had the turbo...I think on track days I'm going to be quick through the corners, but being caught up on the straights by a lot of stuff!

Getting new front tyres this week and then servicing the car and saving for a full geo setup - got a potential airfield day to go on at the end of this month if I can get the day off work. Should be good for finding where the limits or grip are in a safe place.

Icy roads are definitely not the place at the moment!

 

[jonnyboy]

The track is the one place your NA will not feel slow. I chase turbos round all day long at trackdays in my standard NA. The track is a great leveller!

 

[Englebert]

Problem is a Clio is just as quick round a track too, but they're still good fun.

 

[joebristolgym]

The VX will feel faster though, and you can't beat the feeling of power oversteer. Try that in a 182 lol!

I'm not convinced my 182 would have kept up with the vx on a really twisty dry track - although in the wet I think it would have been quicker as easy to drive on the limit.

Feeling the need to play with suspension already - there was a group buy on gaz coilovers for the vx recently - and the price on ebay is only 450, compared to 1100 for similar specced Nitrons. No doubt you get what you pay for, but I think for less then half the price the Gaz have a similar spec - 1 way adjustable damping and height adjustable.

 

[joebristolgym]

Got 195/45/17's on the front now - found I made a bit of a f**k up on the Toyo front - they only make 194/45/16's....so got Eagle F1 gsd3's on the front instead.

All I can say is awesome! Power sliding and doughnuts are now on the agenda!

 

[drhowser]

dont break it...:rasp:

 

[joebristolgym]

I'll try not to, I'd be gutted if I did...

 

[Englebert]

Gaz are shocking, don't you dare!

 

[PYE21]

Gaz are shocking, don't you dare!

Seconded!!!

 

[joebristolgym]

I had Gaz coilovers on my 182 and they were great. Mate had them on his Impreza too and they were also good. Note on vx220.org they had a group buy on them a while back and most people seem happy.

What's not to like? They are height adjustable and damping adjustable, and are a sensible price?

I've had Koni's/Avo's/Spax on other cars and none of them put the GAz to shame - the Gaz seemed better quality if anything.

Appreciate Nitrons/bilstein etc will be better quality, but then they are double the price too.