15 replies to this topic

[stevevx220]

Hi , has anyone fitted or heard of Jrz suspension of Holland? They are sending me a details of their hand built dampers/springs, they have a kit for the vx! Steve V.

[minime]

yep!! i have heard of them......very expensive!! should have a koni system on mine soon!!

[Ricky2772]

JRZ are one of the best kits around, very high quality, hence VERY expensive, even more than Spax. I was quoted 2/300 euros more fore jrz, same weight, same specs, so I opted for what I new already was excellent and went for the spax. no regrets.

[robS]

Do I remember correctly that the rear struts on the VX are different from the Elise? If so does any one know what the difference is? Just thinking because Nitron do a kit for the Elise and if I'd had the money last year I would have put them on my TVR, ended up with adjustable AVOs which are still vastly superior to the stock items from TVR.

[BogBrush]

I've pinched this from the evo website. It gives you some idea to what upgrades they did to the vx220 sprint.

Elise Sport 190 v VX220 Sprint  


n electrical cut-out and a plumbed-in fire extinguisher system: now there's a couple of things you don't expect to see on a Vauxhall VX220. Same goes for a roll-hoop, competition seats and six-point harnesses. And the 'motorsport' decals (which suit the car well) are a bit of a surprise, too. What's going on?

Vauxhall is endeavouring to make the most of its investment in an image-boosting sports car, that's what. Perhaps to counter the general assumption that the VX220 is the grown-up, civilised, 'soft' adaptation of the Lotus Elise, Vauxhall wants to see the VX making waves on the trackday scene, to prove it's as tough as the rest of them. It wants to cement the VX's reputation as a pukka sports car, not just a sunny day cruiser.

Bizarrely, the notion for a tricked-up VX arose from an economy run. Vauxhall Motorsport's Andrew Duerden won the event outright (calculated on an index of improvement over the standard economy figure), and in the process came to appreciate the roadster's finer qualities: its agility and engine flexibility. Realising it would make a good trackday machine, Duerden investigated how the tyres could be upgraded. Turned out that because the fronts are a unique size, changing tyres wasn't really an option. However, Exige wheels fit the VX and there's plenty of rubber available for them. But to fit the Exige wheels you have to change the front uprights, and when you change them you have to change... And that's how the project snowballed into life.

The car you see here represents close to the ultimate that you could squeeze out of a VX220 (until the rumoured turbo version breezes in, that is). Duerden calls it the 'show-off' car, 'a race car modified for road use', although most customers will do things the other way around. All the suspension is rose-jointed, the front featuring Motorsport Elise uprights with standard Elise uprights at the rear. There are bespoke driveshafts, AP Racing competition-spec brakes and master cylinder (the standard VX's servo is ditched), race-spec Pagid pads, Dynamics two-way adjustable dampers with height-adjustable platforms, stiffer springs, a five-setting front anti-roll bar; and so the list goes on.

Duerden points out that most of the aforementioned stuff is off-the-shelf (mostly Lotus's shelf) and that you can add
what you want, when you can afford it. Not quite so ready-to-wear, but also with Lotus input, is the engine conversion. As yet it's still a development unit and has a claimed 20bhp increase over the standard ECOTEC 2.2-litre's 145bhp. Modifications to the lump include a new plenum chamber, larger, Pipercross conical air-filter, different cams, a flowed exhaust manifold, modified exhaust back-box, and a reprogrammed ECU. Because the mods are still in the developmental stage Vauxhall has no price to quote, but reckons that to have the same level of work done by external tuners would be in the region of £3500.

Beyond the surprise of what the Vauxhall Motorsport demo car looks like, is the surprise of firing it up and giving the throttle some exploratory prods. This VX sounds like it's got a BDA twin-cam stuffed under the engine cover; its barrel-chested yowl is accompanied by the noise of air being gulped down by the hungry induction system, and soon any notion that the VX220 is a delicate wee creature is smothered by the inspiring din. Not that the engine mods make the car feel madly quicker, but with the howling filling your head you'll believe you're going 20mph faster than you actually are.

All softness and delicacy has been eradicated from the chassis, too. The ride is a trifle brusque for road use, but keeps body roll tightly in check on the track. You have to heave the racer into corners more than you do the road version, but there's plenty of feel through the wheel and appreciably more front-end grip. The brakes are best confined to the track; the non-servoed pedal requires a mighty kick to get any form of retardation, and even then you have to get the pads up to a high working temperature before they'll perform properly.

But as we said earlier, this particular car is just an exercise in what's possible. If you're looking to modify your VX, then the Vauxhall Motorsport boys will wheel you up to Hethel (well, that is where most of the bits come from), show you what you could get if you had bottomless pockets, then discuss what you actually need. The VX220 is taking a long while to wheedle its way into the sports car buying public's consciousness, but these trackday upgrades should help change perceptions.

Lotus Elise Sport 190
There's a 'BRAKE' board on the approach to a seemingly impenetrable wall of tyres across the Lotus test track at Hethel. Gavan Kershaw, one-time test driver now turned PR bod, is still accelerating in the Elise Sport 190 as we pass the board. As we get closer it's clear that the 'wall' is, in fact, a chicane, but not one we're likely to negotiate at this velocity. I'm only part-way through reading myself the last rites when Kershaw finally punches the brakes. My spine connects with the inside of my rib-cage, Kershaw twitches the steering right then left, and we're through with comparatively little drama. Kershaw turns and grins the grin of a bloke who enjoys scaring the life out of the innocent – mean barstool.

All too fleetingly the Series 1 Elise Sport 190 arrived, tantalised, then vanished. But during its brief life it became a minor legend, a track machine of extraordinary ability. Now it's back in the Series 2 body, partly because the trackday scene is growing ever more vibrant and partly as a way of keeping the Lotus Motorsport workshop busy now that it doesn't have to look after a full grid's worth of Sport Elise racers. And, of course, there's the small matter of new potential rivals competing to steal sales away from the Elise – the range needs a 'hero' and the Sport 190 is a prime candidate for wearing its undies on the outside of its tights.

Although you can't buy a completed 190bhp Elise from Lotus (homologation and all that), there is a Sport 190 trackday package you can have fitted to your pre-registered car. This gives you the basics for the sort of circuit stormer that would keep most of us satisfied – you get the uprated engine (more of which in a minute), sports dampers, race-spec pads, Corbeau race seats, competition harnesses, Exige-style wheels, and the latest track-biased but road-legal Yokohama Advan AO48 tyres. The gearbox isn't touched as the Series 2 Elise has a set of closely stacked ratios as standard.

Before we move on to how far Lotus Motorsport can take your Elise from this base point, let's have a closer look at the engine mods – they represent a considerable proportion of the £10,587 cost of the Sport 190 package. Just about the only part of the original engine retained in the conversion is the block. Built on-site by motorsport technicians (to think, we used to call them mechanics), the engine gets a VHPD (Very High Performance Derivative) head, new cams, pistons and crank; the ECU is reprogrammed to cope with the increased wallop while at the same time complying with Euro III emissions compliance – in other words, your 190 Elise will pass an MoT in later life – and all the gases exit through a stainless steel sports exhaust system.

Depending on your ambitions, needs, and the goodwill of your bank manager, you can uprate the standard 190 package in stages all the way up to full-on motorsport spec. The yellow beast pictured here goes most of the way – it has the same AP Racing competition brake set-up as the Sport Elise racer, fast road-cum-race pads (as used on Lotus endurance racers), a bigger capacity radiator, carbonfibre airbox, a Sport Elise gear linkage, Dynamics adjustable two-way dampers with variable height platforms, rose-jointed suspension, stiffer springs, a beefier clutch (though a solid clutch is recommended if you run slicks), and wider wheels and tyres.

While there's even more you could do to the Elise, this still represents a pretty extreme specification. Yet what's so impressive is that the car isn't a handful to drive, even for folk not as skilled as the likes of Lotus's Mr Kershaw. It's very well balanced and nicely linear in all its responses, more so even than the standard 120bhp Elise. Take the brakes; they bite early and eagerly, feeding in their stupendous stopping power with such progression you never feel as if they'll lock up, even if you've left things a bit late. It's a benign trait shared by the Yokohama AO48 tyres; they don't suddenly let go, but instead relinquish their grip in a steady, regular fashion, instilling confidence, encouraging you to push hard and to experiment. As the roadholding diminishes the nose punts wide initially, as a form of gentle warning; ultimately the tail will let go, but smoothly and gradually, unless you decide to give it some provocation with the throttle.

There are other games you can play with the accelerator, too – like making the 190 go exceedingly fast. So much horsepower in such a light car makes for pole position performance, and, though you need to keep the revs in the mid-range and beyond to enjoy it, the biggest problem you face is punching through the gears quickly enough to extinguish the change-up light in the tacho. The noise the 190 motor makes is truly magnificent, deep in tone, urgent in delivery and evocative of the very best motorsport soundtracks.

The trick – and it's a very neat one – that Lotus has pulled off with the Sport 190 is to create as near-as-dammit a race car that doesn't bully or intimidate the inexperienced or hesitant driver, but flatters their abilities. In the hands of talented helmsmen it should be pretty much uncatchable on your average trackday.

[Ricky2772]

Do I remember correctly that the rear struts on the VX are different from the Elise?

YES.
speedy has longer rear shocks. 43cm eye-to-eye
fronts are the same.

[Thorney]

Anyone know how/who we can contact at Vauxhall Motorsport so we can get details on what and how they can do?

[stevevx220]

Thats a good idea, as in the`sprint` spec Steve V

[Thorney]

Thanks for that Stu, and welcome by the way Just to keep everyone else informed Stu is Head of PR for Vauxhall and heard of us through the Yahoo group. I've asked him for a whole load of information on tuning, the turbo and Sprint type upgrades, he's even threatening to come along to the February meet in a shiny VXT (which I believe will be the first one on the roads?). I'm on a couple of forums (Audi etc) and its nice and actually quite rare for anyone from the manufacturer to be so helpful, thanks Stu.

[VEX]

We (Sharon and I) did a test run of the pre-lunch section of the our run in Feb, found some great roads for us to play on. But, please be gentle with me, it is my first time planning a route! :ph34r: Stu, could you get us access to the Milbrook circuit on the Sunday, we will be driving past the door as it were? It would be interesting to how the VXT goes up Aston Hill, the hill climb that gave Aston Martin there name! Can't wait for feb now. Chris

[VEX]

Actually Stu, I have just checked the route and map and we do literally go past the gates of Millbrook Circuit on the run! Can you do anything for us? Chris.

[Thorney]

Can someone post up the full details somewhere and whack it in the callender?

[VEX]

That someone would have to be me. I'll get a provisional route up in the next couple of days. Switching to 'runs' section to get feed back on dates. Chris

[BogBrush]

Both ourselves and Lotus were very pleased with the result and the car will be shown for the last time at the Autosport show before its pensioned off.

Well seeing as it's going to be pensioned off. Can I have it? Please
Will show the lotus boys a thing or two next time I go to brands

On a more serious note, what will happen to it? Will it be scrapped? I know the track vx's at bedford autodrome get scraped at the end of their life

[Thorney]

I'll have the wheels and suspension