Tabla de contenidos para February - March 2018 en Performance Vauxhall

SUBSCRIBE TO PERFORMANCE VAUXHALL SEE PAGE 48 FOR DETAILS The start of January sees many of us make New Year’s resolutions that prove difficult to stick to. Perhaps you’ve promised yourself a trip to the gym a few times a week, a reduction in the amount of sugar, cigarettes or alcohol (delete as appropriate!) you consume, or completion of the Vauxhall build you started a while back? That last one sounds familiar… Whatever the personal challenge you’ve set yourself, we wish you the very best of luck. And if it’s an automotive project, then we want to know about it. Indeed, our Builds series focuses on projects that promise to deliver fantastic feature cars. This issue’s instalment stars my recently acquired BTCC Super Touring Cavalier GSi (check it out on…

Many owners of modified motors think about taking their cars to a rolling road in order to discover how much power has been achieved after a series of engine modifications have been applied, but it’s just as important to get a reading in advance of any work being carried out so that you can be absolutely sure that the car was operating without fault before you started tinkering. It’s also vital to be able to compare and contrast dyno graphs (ideally registered on the same rolling road) before and after tuning has taken place, thereby giving you the opportunity to see what impact the changes you’ve made have had on the performance of your Vauxhall, where there might be room for improvement, and whether or not the results have met…

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS Super Touring Cavalier 016 Centre-lock BBS split rims Comprehensive tubular framework Side-exit exhaust system FIA endurance racing fuel tank Despite withdrawing from the BTCC as a works team in 2009, Vauxhall remains the most successful car maker to compete in the competition, racking up an unparalleled number of podium places, race wins, title victories and fastest laps that look set to be added to by the might of today’s manufacturer-supported Power Maxed Racing Astra Ks. Indeed, the achievements of the Mk2 Astra GTE, VXRacing Astra Coupe and the virtually unbeatable VXRacing Vectra Cs are well regarded by motorsport fans, yet it’s undoubtedly the Super Touring era’s Mk3 Cavaliers that rank highest when it comes to listing the best-loved Vauxhalls to have competed in the modern BTCC. OWNER DAN…

Atrek to Crail Raceway in the East Neuk of Fife may be a long slog for many who live south of the border, but the venue’s managers do all they can to make you feel welcome. The events hosted at the former naval base vary each year, yet for more than a decade, Vauxhalls have ventured from all over the UK to enjoy Viva Vauxhall, an annual gathering of Griffins that sees quarter-mile action alongside bustling club display areas. Pushing your car hard from a standing start along what was once an active runway costs just twenty quid for unlimited runs, but Crail also boasts an increasingly popular drift oval, attracting a cost of just a tenner for an entire day’s use. Amateur motorsport doesn’t get any cheaper! Viva Vauxhall…

The Corsa C was introduced almost twenty years ago, replacing the Corsa B that had been in production since 1993. Based on a new platform, the updated Vauxhall offered a wide variety of trim options, including the range-topping 1.8-litre SRi. The sixteen-valver was as good as it got while eager beavers held on to hopes of a turbocharged Corsa C GSi that failed to materialise. At its original point of sale, the SRi proved more popular in 1.4-litre guise due to lower running and insurance costs, meaning that the 1.8-litre version remained largely overlooked and can be difficult to get hold of today. We think this larger-engined SRi is well worth a look, providing an affordable base for a tuning project, and one which doubles up as a fun daily.…

FAST FACTS 502bhp 2.1-litre Z20LEH engine 3J Driveline Gripper differential Bilstein B14 coilovers Alcon four-piston brake calipers Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.3 wheels If there’s a downside to this tuning lark, then suffering the consequences of mechanical failure after pushing your car’s standard components past their limit is probably it. This frustration is made doubly painful when factory parts throw in the towel with only the mildest of mods, as though a design flaw or shallow tolerances decide to stop you in your tracks before you’ve had a chance to get going. Owners of Mk5 Astra VXRs who’ve been forced to deal with the infamous Getrag M32 ‘chocolate gearbox’ complaint will know only too well what we’re talking about. “I’ve been through four of those ‘boxes!” laughs Reece Hibbard. The…

FAST FACTS 265bhp C20LET engine GAZ Gold coilovers Cavalier V6 brakes Speedline wheels SR body kit FAST FACTS Coscast cylinder head Alloy radiator SFS silicone hoses Classic digidash Standard GTE trim FAST FACTS 260bhp C20LET engine Stage 1 hybrid turbocharger VMAX Evo 5 ECU chipset Spax RSX Krypton coilovers Speedline wheels “THE C20XE PRESENT WAS MISFIRING, RESULTING IN HUGELY REDUCED DRIVEABILITY” OWNER JOHNNY HAW AGE 21 JOB Fabricator FIRST VAUXHALL Corsa C 1.0 FAVOURITE VAUXHALL Lotus Carlton Modifying a Vauxhall is an addictive pursuit, and more often than not, those of us who like to get our hands dirty beneath the bonnet of a Griffin – no matter its age – will harbour a desire to own more than one of Luton’s finest. Of course, time, space and money are…

You’d be forgiven for thinking that since the end of the 2017 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season back in October, the Power Maxed Racing (PMR) team and its duo of Astra K Next Generation Touring Car (NGTC) track stars have taken time off to relax, but the truth of the matter is that winter months for a professional racing outfit can be busier than when its cars are attacking the asphalt. The PMR Astras proved to be formidable championship contenders during their first year of racing, but the team can’t afford to down tools if it wants to bag top-spot silverware in 2018. The series has attracted a hugely increased volume of spectators in recent years, with the infamous ‘rough and tumble’ of the competition enticing 400,000 punters at…

FAST FACTS Z20LET LOVERS * Established 2010 * 19k members * Global reach * Open to Z20LET and Z20LEH owners Z20LET LOVERS Go cars, not show cars. That short sentence is all that’s required to understand how organisers of the continually-expanding Z20LET Lovers Facebook group (bit.ly/z20letlovers) view the Vauxhalls their members are in charge of. Sure, you can polish and pose with your turbocharged Griffin, only taking it out for a run on the sunniest of days, limiting mileage to the local shops and back, but if that’s your attitude, then you’d be better off filling in a ‘show and shine’ competition application form than riding with these guys. Not that they consider Z20LET Lovers to be a traditional car club. “It’s a community of like-minded petrolheads offering advice, friendship…

We have a winner! Following the publication of our Car of the Year 2017 shortlist a few weeks ago, you’ve been voting in your thousands for the great Griffin you want to see crowned champion. All of the contenders up for the title represent the very best of our corner of the modified motor scene, but there could be only one winner, and it was your call. After we counted the votes, it was clear that we had a runaway victor in the form of Roger Guigno’s 592bhp VXR-powered Mk5 Astra van. This Meteor Grey load-lugger first appeared on the cover of our Summer issue before taking pride of place on the Performance Vauxhall stand at PVS. Slammed on an Air Lift Performance air ride kit comprising AutoPilot V2 digital…

FAST FACTS 348bhp X25XE engine K64 T04E turbocharger BC Racing coilovers Rotiform KPS wheels Mazda Soul Red paintwork OWNER MARCIN WACHOWIAK AGE 31 JOB Crane operator FIRST VAUXHALL/OPEL Calibra 2.0 BEST THING ABOUT YOUR ASTRA Definitely the engine! LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOUR ASTRA Poor fuel economy There was a time when a modified Griffin fitted with a 54° V6 engine was a common sight in the pages of Performance Vauxhall. The 2.5-litre beating heart of a Mk3 Cavalier, Calibra, Omega or Vectra B was regularly seen nestled in the engine bay of a Nova, Corsa, Tigra or Astra. V6 power represented a lot of torque and a significant hike in bhp for not a lot of money, making the conversion as popular as a Red Top swap. A few enterprising…

FAST FACTS 550bhp big block Chevrolet V8 Protech Shocks coilovers Centreline wheels HiSpec Motorsport four-pot brakes Deist parachute April 1990 was pretty bleak. We saw the introduction of Poll Tax, the alarming Scandinavian Star ferry disaster and the Strangeways Prison riot. For the young Matt Griffiths, however, the very same month heralded positive change after he walked into his local newsagent and grabbed a copy of our sister title, Custom Car. “The magazine drew me into another world!” he recalls. “Inspired by what I saw in print, I decided to hit the road in search of Santa Pod Raceway. I had no idea if there was an event taking place that day, so you can imagine my delight when I arrived at the legendary Northamptonshire drag racing venue to find…