Table of contents for Aug-Sep 2016 in Performance Vauxhall

SUBSCRIBE TO PERFORMANCE VAUXHALL SEE PAGE 44 FOR DETAILS I love the thought of a Vauxhall being the fastest and quickest street legal car in the world. Again. Fortunately, I don’t think any of us will have to wait too long for Andy Frost’s incredible 1972 VX4/90 FD to reclaim the ‘world’s fastest’ title – a badge of honour that it wore with pride (along with VXR livery) for two and a half years. Yup, as the cover of this issue of Performance Vauxhall proudly announces, the mighty Red Victor 3 is back. It’s bigger, better and bolder than ever before. And as you’ll gather from reading the feature, it’s a hell of a lot quicker too! RV3 isn’t the only Vauxhall that’s been raising eyebrows in the PV office…

Self-styled ‘hypermiler’, Felix Egolf, likes to set new automotive records by travelling the furthest distance possible in a car while using the lowest amount of fuel. Remarkably, his latest challenge saw him cover a staggering 1311 miles in a 1.6-litre CDTi Insignia on a single tank of happy juice! Hopping into the ecoFLEXpowered hatch at Lucerne, Switzerland, Egolf journeyed south through Germany’s Black Forest before stopping at Opel’s Rüsselsheim headquarters. This initial 266-mile stretch of the journey saw the Insignia achieve an average fuel consumption of 88mpg! The trip then took Egolf to Münster in North-West Germany and up to Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast. The return leg saw him pass Hanover, Kassel and St. Gallen before he reached his final destination in the Swiss city of Zürich –…

There’s something undeniably satisfying about being behind the wheel of a rearwheel drive Vauxhall or Opel. Be it the ability to plant the pedal to the metal without worrying about torque steer, the sensation of being thrust forward from behind (ooer!), or the potential to slide the rear end of your tail-driven GM gem (safe in the knowledge that the car’s more-or-less even distribution of weight is unlikely to see you propel your pride and joy straight through the front of Rumbelows while you’re trying to impress your mates with a display of DIY drifting), there’s nothing quite like the excitement of piloting a Griffin or Blitz-badged bruiser that sends power to the asphalt via its back wheels. Hemel Hempstead inhabitant, Tom Ibbotson, knew that he wanted to get hold…

www.facebook.com/PerformanceVauxhallMag @PerformanceVaux EIBACH CHASSIS UPGRADES FOR CORSA E VXR Over 9000 Corsa VXRs have been sold to date, and suspension tuning equipment manufacturer, Eibach, has always been ahead of the pack when it comes to refining the breed. As if to prove the point, the firm has just announced a range of chassis upgrades for the Corsa E VXR. Kicking off the proceedings is an application-specific incarnation of the company’s acclaimed ‘Sportline’ kit. Dropping the VXR by 25mm at the front and 20mm at the rear (without compromising on ride quality), the improved handling and reduced body roll delivered by the radiant red springs is eclipsed only by the performance of the ‘Pro-Street-S’ coilovers that Eibach has released for the all-conquering supermini! Designed for fast-road Corsa E VXRs, this trick…

FAST FACTS > 4000bhp 8.8-litre Chevrolet V8 > Twin Precision 102mm turbochargers > Twin-speed GM TH400 gearbox > Carbon-fibre propshaft and body panels > Penske adjustable coilovers It’s not unusual for us to speak to a feature car owner who confirms that his or her love of Vauxhalls can be traced back to a childhood spent in a household where at least one parent drove a Griffin, so you can imagine our surprise when the man in charge of the world’s most powerful Vauxhall tells us that his Dad didn’t even own a car! Then again, Andy Frost and his 4000bhp 1972 VX4/90 FD are all about challenging perceptions. “My father walked everywhere!” confirms the 55-year-old transmission specialist from Wolverhampton. “It was actually the Victor FD owned by one of…

Visitors from all over Europe descended upon Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire for the recent Performance Vauxhall Show. As the world’s only magazine dedicated to tuned and modified Griffins, Performance Vauxhall had a strong presence at the event. Our stand spanned more than sixty cars, from C20LET-powered classics to the latest in modified VXR V8 muscle. We were proud to have Red Victor 3 at the heart of our display, not to mention other aweinspiring past, present and future feature cars, including Adam Beard’s twin-engined Corsa B and Ashley Talbot’s Mk1 Astra GTE ‘work in progress’. We also had a trade stand selling our latest issue, a selection of back issues, souvenir T-shirts and some great subscription deals. One of the attractions of PVS is the opportunity for punters to…

FAST FACTS > 348bhp 2.8-litre V6 turbo > Insignia VXR turbocharger > Z20NET F40 short ratio gear set > DAP R lowering springs > Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 wheels There’s a school of thought that suggests you have to have the most outlandish car out there in order to attract the attention of motoring magazine editors who might be on the hunt for feature fodder. The truth of the matter is that while all of us like to see blisteringly high-powered machinery splashed across the pages of the rags we’re reading, a Vauxhall boasting a well-balanced performance package that includes a wide range of quality mechanical and cosmetic upgrades stands just as much of a chance of registering on a writer’s radar as an other-worldly Griffin pumping out a…

Tail-happy thundersaloon. V8 muscle car. Capable alternative to the BMW M5. The E1 VXR8 is all of these things and much, much more (“wholly anti-social and vaguely reprehensible,” according to the RAC!). Best of all, this awe-inspiring mass of thunder from Down Under is an absolute bargain that can be picked up on the used car market for as little as twelve grand. To put that into perspective, this is a Vauxhall that delivers well over 400bhp in its factory form, one that has masses of tuning potential (who can forget the 748bhp supercharged example on the cover of our last issue?!), a 0-60mph time of near-five seconds, and more road presence than Mad Max’s ‘Interceptor’. All of this for the price of a new five-door Corsa diesel. Hoorah! Picking…

Thousands of Cars on Display! The infield at Donington Park will be covered in a sea of cars during the Fast Car Festival weekend. Performance machinery from across the globe will amass in extensive club display areas and themed paddocks! Whether you’re a fan of American Muscle, Italian Exotica, British Brawn, Japanese Tech or Germanic Grunt – you can see it all on display at the show. Part of a Car Club? If you and your club would like to attend the show, you can book your space online at thefastcarfestival.co.uk/club-tickets Supercar Paddock The roar of V8s, the whoosh of turbos and the wail of V12 engines will be in the air as the UK’s most comprehensive platform for supercar owners, Supercar Driver (SCD), takes centre stage at the show.…

Few cars can lay claim to the kind of enduring popularity enjoyed by the Mk5 Astra VXR. Even in its standard guise, this brilliant hot hatch offers a whole lotta fast fun. Better still, the model’s Z20LEH engine is a modifier’s dream come true thanks to the turbocharged two-litre unit’s willingness to produce big power if treated to the right combination of aftermarket tuning parts. This was a fact not lost on 24-year-old BMW technician, Charlie Gaskin. Despite spending his days tinkering with German autobahn stormers, his love of turbocharged Vauxhalls saw him eyeup an Arctic Edition variant of the Mk5 VXR as a replacement for the C20LET-powered Corsa B that he was in the process of building. FAST FACTS > 533bhp Z20LEH engine > Owen Developments GT3076HTA turbo >…

FAST FACTS > 556bhp forged Z20LET engine > Owen Developments GTX3076R turbo > Astra VXR M32 six-speed gearbox > KSport ten-piston big brake kit > Triple Eight Racing seats Ihave had loads of Vauxhall projects over the years, but I’d never consider getting rid of this one,” stresses the appropriately-named, Andrew Carr. When you take into account the fact that he can list Cavalier Turbo 4x4s, numerous Mk2 Astra GTEs, various VXRs and a Lotus Carlton among the modified motors that he’s owned, such a declaration suggests that his current performance Vauxhall must be very special indeed. And make no mistake, it is. “I used to be into Fords, and I’ve always had a soft spot for big BMWs, but there’s something about lighting up the tyres of a tuned…

www.facebook.com/PerformanceVauxhallMag @PerformanceVaux Fancy seeing your Vauxhall in our Hall of Fame? It doesn’t matter if you’ve modified the latest VXR or a classic retro ride, we want to see your cool creation! Email a brief spec, a few pics and a bit about yourself to dan.furr@kelseymedia.co.uk. We’ll get back to you ASAP. UWE GOLLNICK AGE 50 years young! JOB Plumber FAVOURITE VAUXHALL Opel Kadett C Coupé BEST THING ABOUT ‘CAMOWAGON’ Either the Alpine in-car audio entertainment system or the Pepas ‘Comfort’ and CID video convertor units MOST EXPENSIVE MOD The audio/video equipment MK5 ASTRA ‘CAMOWAGON’ Opels badged as Vauxhalls are becoming a common sight in Germany, and Uwe Gollnick’s Mk5 Astra CDTi estate is a brilliant example of ‘Vauxhallising’ in action. Known affectionately as ‘Camowagon’ (we can’t think why!), this…

Read through the pages of pretty much any issue of Performance Vauxhall, and you’ll note that a significant number of the cars we feature are powered by engines that make use of hybrid turbochargers. Essentially, this means that the car’s snail-shaped bhp booster differs from manufacturer specification in some way or another, usually through the introduction of aftermarket or custom component parts and modifications that render the turbo different fromits original factory state. There are lots of ways to modify a turbocharger, although the choice of changes available can differ depending on the design of the unit being worked on. That said, the end result is almost always the same, with quick boost response in the lower rev range and extra airflow capacity for more power at high rpm. Dorset-based…