14 replies to this topic

[dw1]

This is inspired from the sum of collective inputs on vx220.org and two years of ownership (long may that continue). By now you should have already drawn two conclusions about this post, first that if you’re going buy a VX and enjoy it you need to go in with eyes wide open, second is that I clearly did and absolutely love the car. With that in mind I will try not to be too biased and also give insight to help widen your eyes. If you’ve come from a two seater then you will already be aware of space compromises, if you come from a four seater then start peeling because it will be a shock going to any two seater but particularly one like this where the concept of storage space would even have minimalists staring in disbelief. Glove box, forget it. Cup holder, yes if you drink out of thimbles. Sill pockets, good for an ipod nano and slim fingers. Ah, but there are two cubby holes each the size of oranges which apart from the fact there is nothing to stop items flying out on the move are extremely useful for…well…two oranges perhaps of maybe a solitary glove. How are your eyes doing? Opening a little? That’s good, keep going because once you’ve accepted the storage limitations you can then get clever on how to work with it. The boot is bigger than you first think, not enough for a rigid hand luggage case due to the size of the boot opening but if you use squishy bags then you can pack for a week away for two. One tip to maiximise space is to line the boot with some plastic and then pack it as if it were a suitcase. There is also the shelf behind the seat. Using the softtop bag as if it were a case means that you can pack a surprising number of items in and know it will fit perfectly behind the seat plus you can still fit the roof in there as well on top. Picture this, its been bucketing it down with rain followed by a frost, you leave the house on a cold morning and if your car didn’t come with the option of central locking (yes a 21st century car that DOESN’T have central locking as standard) then you’re bent over breathing into the locks to de-ice them. Then you contort your body into the car to be greeted by ice on the inside of the windscreen. Ten minutes later your so called heater, which is about as effective as an asthmatic hamster, has managed to clear a golf ball sized gap to peek through only to fog up from your breath. Ah. Now as far as the ride goes its only until you travel in a VX that you realise just how much you’re insulated in any other car. The sound insulation or should I say lack of it is all too apparent with your ear drums ringing with crashes, bangs, whirrs, thunks, drones and clicks. For the uninitiated it can be very disconcerting. Then there’s the ride quality, with the N/A being a little less damped than the turbo, but we’re splitting hairs here folks. Again compared to any other normalish cars the ride is, shall we say, very real. However with open eyes it’s surprisingly comfortable and the seats extremely supportive to allow you to cross continents but not quite in the same level of refinement of the more plush two seaters. Factor in the lack of air con on a blistering hot day, and you’ll find the cold setting on and the wheezy fan might waft pass your face once or twice if you’re lucky. And even with the roof off don’t expect that to cool your hot back without some rather unusual forward lunging, arms aloft movements known only to seasoned VXers. Funny how having a warm engine right behind you, roasts you in summer but never seems to make a jot of difference to warming up the cabin in the winter. So why do VX owners do it? The simple answer is another question, ‘have you driven one?’ The point really, is if you understand what you’re entering into it means that you’ll just accept all the compromises because most of them are necessary to give you such an exquisite driving sensation. That means instead of being pissed off with the car, selling it and regretting ever buying one you actually see all the foibles as endearing elements that just come with the territory, you accept them. And when its all getting that little bit hard there’s always a group of helpful VX devotees frequenting the forum all too happy to help you through. It’s always difficult to tell, but is that wide eyed look you’re now sporting one of enlightenment or pure terror? If it’s enlightenment then what a treat you have ahead of you. Seeing cars in your rear view mirror shrink to the size of a pea in a blink. Not braking for bends with the car just going round them, almost defying physics with its lack of inertia. Turning a corner quicker than your bossy sat nav woman can deal with. Feeling every nuance of the road surface with the car telling you how exactly much grip it has and inviting you to play some more. Invigorating, stimulating and extraordinary, the VX washes over all your senses to serve up a massive dollop of driving pleasure that you just cant get from normal cars. I went in with my eyes wide open and absolutely love the car, after all they do say love is blind.

[southpaw]

Well said.

[Retset]

Very well said - I absolutely love mine and wish I'd bought it a year ago (when I bought a Westfield)! Still, I have an equally quick estate car* for when the weather is not to my liking so I'm being a bit of a softy really *not round corners

[techieboy]

Absolutely!

[mandarinvx]

Great piece of writing - should be added to the buyers guide

[Spindoctor]

Excellent essay. Should be compulsory reading for newbies and prospective owners.

[XXX]

Nice write-up!!

[Yellow_or_black?]

In addition, I think all members should be made to read the Buyers' Guide before you can join! It's brilliant Edit: including a linky, because although 'the Buyers' Guide' gets referred to a lot in replies to newbies, I'm not sure they know where to find it...(yes I know it's in the 'Quick Links'!).

I read it front-to-back before I went shopping. Before reading it I knew nothing; afterwards - I knew what I needed to look out for, could ask sellers a lot of intelligent questions, and avoid stoopid ones on here

Edited by Yellow_or_black?, 12 January 2008 - 09:31 PM.

[theotherjonnymac]

Good piece. A garage does solve a fair few VX issues in my experience

[slindborg]

You forgot to add, "never talk to dealers/vauxhall as they have an ability to pretend the car never existed" good guide though

[bohemoth]

and never talk to vauxhall dealers as they will try and tell you if your buying an na dont as its not that good, this happened to me because they wanted me to buy something they had in stock

[simonrockman]

What really inpresses me is the mature response from the people on this forum. On most one-make fora, or worse Mac sites, anyone who says anything slightly negative gets stoned as a heretic. I wrote something saying the iPhone is a wonderful device but Apple is naieve about the phone market and I was flamed like crazy for a spelling mistake. I loved my VX, it's gone and I feel pangs of remorse (even though I've ordered a Lotus Eagle), because I know I'll never has anything as exciting again. I often drive much more expensive things, I had a Cayenne Turbo for a week, a new M6, I've driven an Atom 275 and a Carerra GT, but the VX was very special. Only the Atom was more exciting and even I draw the line at leathers and a helmet to drive a car. A comment I would add to the "eyes wide open" is that a range of 200 miles is a pain. After I collected a few speeding points the range improved to a poetic 220 miles but when I was doing a 100 mile round trip commute I felt I was spending far too much time at the pump. Simon

[Cookies220]

What really inpresses me is the mature response from the people on this forum. On most one-make fora, or worse Mac sites, anyone who says anything slightly negative gets stoned as a heretic. I wrote something saying the iPhone is a wonderful device but Apple is naieve about the phone market and I was flamed like crazy for a spelling mistake.

I loved my VX, it's gone and I feel pangs of remorse (even though I've ordered a Lotus Eagle), because I know I'll never has anything as exciting again. I often drive much more expensive things, I had a Cayenne Turbo for a week, a new M6, I've driven an Atom 275 and a Carerra GT, but the VX was very special. Only the Atom was more exciting and even I draw the line at leathers and a helmet to drive a car.

A comment I would add to the "eyes wide open" is that a range of 200 miles is a pain. After I collected a few speeding points the range improved to a poetic 220 miles but when I was doing a 100 mile round trip commute I felt I was spending far too much time at the pump.

Simon

Here here. I have a 307 to drive round on a daily basis and get over 550 miles out of a tank of fuel. The 200 ish miles you get from a VX (driving sedately) may come as a real shock to those not in the know. Some people get really p*ssed off have to continually re-fuel. For me, it wouldn't make sense to have a lightweight car and then overload it with fuel, plus, it always looks soo cool parked up at the pump

[Whippet]

Brilliant

[VXJON]