46 replies to this topic

[Potatoes]

I thought I’d do a write up on my venture into VX220’dom, like a .org blog! I’ll share this for any of you folk that are thinking of joining the fold… and any forum members that are remotely interested!

 

It all started in 2012 when I got to drive an Elise 160 at an experience day. I absolutely loved it; so much more fun than the other supercars I drove that day. [montage music]Fast forward and through lots of research, lurking and talking to owners[/montage music] I found myself at Donnington with my little bro on the 9^th November 2014 pax’ing with Martin S, watching P11 COV, trying to help Bargi get his car on the road and chatting to a couple of forum members including christhegasman and Deano01. Awesome day, bug caught and 2 weeks later, car bought.

 

The car:

• 2002 VX220 N/A
• Lightening Yellow 059
• Sachs adjustable suspension
• TMS re-map
• Piper exhaust (precat removed)
• AP 4-pot brakes (front only) & Mintex pads (all around)

It’s running on it’s original LY wheels which I’ll be swapping out for some TD 1.2’s in a few weeks…

 

Saturday 22^nd November, I took a train ride for 2 hours across the country, eventually landing in Lymm, a little Cheshire village near Warrington with a chap called Brian who was selling the car. We chatted and it became clear early on that this car had been well looked after by most of it’s previous owners, specifically Jason (Jase_MK), Clive and Brian. The car is in AWESOME condition. Brian took me on a tour of Lymm in the car, I struggle to describe how the sound of an Astra 2.2 engine (stay with me…) fed through a Piper exhaust system with the precat removed makes you feel when you press the loud peddle… I felt like screeching like an excited kid in their favourite sweet shop with an all you can eat offer!

 

Anyway, I paid the man and drove off to enjoy the car for myself. The plan was to take a detour from Cheshire to West Yorkshire via the Snake Pass or Holme Moss but I’d spent so long looking over the car it had got dark, so I took to the M62. I thought I was flying down the M62 with a large grin on my face thinking how much I was looking forward to my wife sees this! However, I realised I probably wasn’t making the progress I thought I was when an articulated lorry joined the carriageway in front of me and started to pull away! The noise, seating position and feel thorugh the steering and suspension makes you feel like you're driving quite a bit quicker thanyou are when you're used to driving the commuter hack; in my case, a big Volvo! I wasn’t that bothered; I picked up the pace to a steady 65mph and headed home. When I finally got home, my jaw hurt from smiling, my bum hurt from the Sachs suspension being at their lowest setting and my wallet hurt a lot, but it was awesome.

 

Roll-on Sunday, the roads dried out and I managed to escape household and daddy duty (I have a 15 month old, more about him later) for 20 minutes to warm up the engine and take her on a quick spin around some of the national speed limited country roads near me. The car is absolutely glued to the road, giving me so much confidence in feathering and then burying the throttle through the tight and twisties. I’m sure there’s much more grip in it that I wasn’t brave enough to use but hey, that’s what car limit days are for, right?

 

The car is now tucked away until Friday when I’ve actually taken the day off work so I can go for a drive through the North York Moors whilst my wife’s at work and son’s at nursery. I’ll let you know how I get on

 

Until next time, happy motoring.

[MartinS]

Great news that you now have one, sounds like you got a good one too.

 

Enjoy.

 

Martin S

 

[CocoPops]

Enjoy it, don't bin it!

[Nev]

Yea, the low down seating position and abundance of noise(s) in a VX220 makes 60 MPH feel like 120 MPH (after you've been used to a nice quiet commuting barge).

[james_ly]

Time to get it on a track day then

[jonnyboy]

Time off work just to drive. He's one of us now

[Griffin]

Enjoy! It makes me want one even more, this and your wanted post are great, I  hope to be in the position to get one next year. I'll have similar wants and budget after reading up for about a year.

[Mopeytitan]

Enjoy! It makes me want one even more, this and your wanted post are great, I  hope to be in the position to get one next year. I'll have similar wants and budget after reading up for about a year.

 

i spent nearly a year reading and asking questions for just under a year before i got mine.

[Ormes]

Nice write up As above, enjoy... don't bin it

[P11 COV]

Still time to join us here http://www.lotus-on-...ent.php?eid=829

 

 

Edited by P11 COV, 25 November 2014 - 08:22 PM.

[Thealastair34]

enjoy local owner!

[VXkris]

Enjoy it mate. I deliberated for ages on getting a VX.

I've owned quite a few motors including alot of big (ish) BHP jap cars and this is the most fun i've had on four wheels!

 

[Potatoes]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]P11 COV: [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]Thanks Paul, I joined LoT on your advice and subsequently signed up to an event in July  [/font][font="arial, sans-serif;"] [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]Griffin: [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]I did exactly the same, it’s a great place to learn about these cars. It would be worth visiting someone who owns one or coming along to a trackday and seeing them in action.[/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]james_ly: [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]I cannot wait to get this thing on the track[/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]Thealastair34: [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]A local VX’er! I’ll keep an eye out for you mate, I live up in Stanley, be sure to honk if you see J222 DVX on the road  [/font][font="arial, sans-serif;"] [/font]

 

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]So today I went on my first proper drive in the car, in short: "well worth the wait!". More about that later.[/font]

 

I've identified 2 jobs that I’m going to read up on and tackle in the next few weeks:

• Passenger window does wind up smoothly and doesn’t meet the roof flush, I’ll set and afternoon aside to tinker with that one
• Thanks RobNA and Jason for the wheels, will be putting them on for a trial run on a dry day… if we get one before swaping back to my LY wheels until my next trackday

 

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]If anyone has any experience of the first issue let me know as some experience will be an additional help to the guide I've downloaded from the forum. Anyway, back to why I’m posting:[/font]

 

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]I'd planned on going for a short but enthusiastic drive on Friday morning as I had made some time for myself. You can imagine my disappointment when I turn the ignition to find the battery was flat… with no easy way to charge. The weather looked grim and with a load of jobs in the house I should be doing, I resigned myself to housework. Instead, I looked forward to Sunday when I knew I’d get some time in return for the husband points gained from the surprise Friday housework![/font]

 

Roll-on Sunday; the drive back from London was easy, the sun was out, the roads were clear, the smile on my face was wide, and the battery on my VX was being charged by my trusty steed; the 2003 Volvo V40 1.9d that I drive 50,000 miles in every year.

 

Conditions: good

Weather: mild, dry

Light: fading

Roads: empty

Temperament: pleased

Wife: happy

Favourite colour: lightening yellow

15 month old son: insane

Where I’m going with this: not sure, let’s move on…

 

Battery charged I headed out of my drive, turned right and hit the open road. The car handles superbly and that engine note… [insert image of Leonardo DiCaprio biting his fist in Wolf of Wall Street] …the engine note through the exhaust system injured my jaw again from all the grinning. Advice to self: must lay off the revs for short periods when driving enthusiastically to avoid grinning related injuries. What really gets me with this car is it’s ability to retain traction under hard acceleration and through the corners (within the speed limits of our UK road network of course), it’s absolutely phenomenal. I also get a little kick from looks I get from the folks on the street, you can clearly see them either appreciating the car, trying to work out what the hell I’m driving… and probably wondering who choose the colour, let’s be honest LY folks the colour is pretty garish! But we wouldn’t have it any other way, right?

 

An awesome drive, a fully charged battery, a slightly sore jaw, a 15 month old fast asleep and a happy wife…  an alright end to the weekend.

 

Until next time, happy motoring.

 

[jonnyboy]

I dont think this car is working out well for you is it? I sense you arent really gelling with it? :D:D

 

Another member for the NYLOC meets in the summer. I think thats 6 now within a 1 mile radius and there is a white Elise down the bottom of Altofts somewhere but he drives his less than I drive mine so not managed to catch him yet. 

[Thealastair34]

 

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]Thealastair34: [/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]A local VX’er! I’ll keep an eye out for you mate, I live up in Stanley, be sure to honk if you see J222 DVX on the road  [/font][font="arial, sans-serif;"] [/font]

 

 

i will but dont have a vx anymore i have a yellow elise 

 

enjoy it yellow is the best!

[Mangham54]

Yellow traitor would be the most apt description

[james_ly]

Is yours an everyday car? Mine is, a brilliantly silly way of getting to work!

[Thealastair34]

Yellow traitor would be the most apt description

 

 

still come on here to see how the other half live!

[Potatoes]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]jonnyboy: [/font]

Took a look at the NYLOC meets, they look great, I'll definitely be popping along to them in the summer.

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]james_ly:[/font]

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]Strictly a weekend car - I use a little Volvo V40 1.9d for my[/font][font="arial, sans-serif;"] 115 mile commute everyday[/font]

Thealastair34:

[font="arial, sans-serif;"]I'll keep any eye out for you mate[/font]

 

So, like that weird bloke in the pub, the one who joins you and your mates and just starts talking… and doesn’t stop; and doesn’t take the hint; and repeats himself whilst gesticulating wildly to explain stuff everyone already knows; and just seems to hang around acting a little bit more drunk than everyone else; and repeats himself; and should be at home having a wash: I’m back with another installment of me, talking about my VX experience.

 

To describe my time with VX so far as “completely trouble free” or “having a clue what I’m doing” would be pretty far from the truth. A more accurate description would be all of the following: “cold and wet”, “what in the fcuk is going on?” and “this is so much fun!”.

 

This week’s ups:

• Spa and Anglesey booked.
• Driving up to Holme Moss on Sunday:

 

Had a blast on the roads through Kirklees and around Holmfirth, I got the tail out twice as much as I'd meant to... to clarify, I got it out twice. The roads were slick-ish so I has having to take it very easy, especially coming down Holme Moss... there's no way I'm going to damage this car through my own stupid driving ...to retain traction on those tight hairpins. I'm looking forward to driving around that part of the world in the summer!

 

This week’s downs:

• Driving down Holme… get it? Down? ...what a rubbish joke… embarrassing, moving on.
• Getting told off by JG for coming across (admittedly) a little strong in my interest for Anglesey... and possibly my interest in general?

I also discovered a few niggles with the car that I’m going to need to sort before the summer, especially before the National and Spa. I actually drove it to a work function today, 52 miles on the M62 each way... in the rain, I don’t recommend it. I did the journey in the VX so I could listen to the knocking, feel the judders a bit more and also, partly to show off… who am I kidding, mainly to show off. I know what I’ve discovered is probably the tip of an almighty iceberg. Over the next few weeks and months there will be a lot for me to learn, a lot to do, probably a lot to purchase and I’ll come out of it with mucky fingernails, grazed knuckles, an emptier wallet and a badass VX220. That's why I'm here: to learn, share, vent, and hopefully gain a basic understanding of this car to ensure I get the best out of it and have a blast while it’s here.

 

Either way, it’s been a blast, thank you all for your advice and friendliness so far and, until next time, happy motoring.

 

Edited by Potatoes, 10 December 2014 - 08:47 PM.

[Acidpopstar]

And I thought I was over enthusiastic Glad you're enjoying it. Hope to see you at Spa if not before. Let me know if you want advice on upgrades for track work