Ralphs Arden VXR

[Ralph_ENG]

Thought id post a few pics of my Car up.

Had the car just over 4 years now. Was originally no plans to play but then caught the bug as you do

Running TMS stage 3 (adjust map i think cause i had a problem with my map and it was found to be corupted?)

Full Milly Race Quiet which i love

Forge FMIC (front Mount Inter Cooler)

Lowered on Sportlines (red Eibach)

White Adjustable RARB

Iridium Plugs

ITG Panel Filter

Forge Recirc Valve

Forge Actuator

Cool running stat

Blue SMDs

3 Guage Conversion (Water Oil Boost)

Eonon Double Din which apart from being quite quirky is a nice little stereo

Ksports 330mm with Yellow stuff pads

Rear EBCs discs and Yellow stuff pads with braided hoses

Still to Fit an LSD (limited Slip Diff) but as i am 34 i like to think i am past the Traffic light Grand Prix

Still not sure i want to go the coilover route or in fact take the car any further.in all honest but i think i am nearly at the stage i want to be yea right he says.

Photos taken at Old House after a clean

New Wheels Chrome Black, taken from a White Nurburgring VXR astra and refurbed, i think they set the car off really nice and 18s are better for Ring Trips then 19s are for handling and cheaper for tyres :lol:

New Rubber Khumos for Ring Trip in May Euro/Ring Trip in Sept

And after Yesterday added front brakes.

Comments welcome, i know the VXR seems to have developed a reputation recently but i still love it and its my Ring Toy.

I can put up a Video for people of a 9:03 lap at the ring when i was at Stage 2 last year with Road tyres and standard brakes if people are interested Quite a interesting lap and i found the Apex quite hard about 2 mins in

 

[rossk26]

Why so many paragraphs !!!! (*insert meme)


What is the astra running? Before you get all of the "could have had an ****" instead of spending all that money on an astra!! I'm guessing you are just a fan, and thumbs up for the time and effort you have put into it.

Not my cup of tea off the engine hoses and stuff, too bling...

 

[MeEsH BaKkA]

Not bad, not a fan of the wheels though.

The RARB is the best mod for these cars, I can't understand why one was not fitted from the factory, completely removes the understeer mid/exit corner.

You are a braver man than me wanting to run stage 3 and an LSD, I hope you have lots of cash spare for gearboxes, at "stage 3" torque you are on borrowed time with the box. It isn't called an M32 nothing, the 32 bit is the torque rating in NM and you are probably making around 340Ftlb.

 

[Ralph_ENG]

Why so many paragraphs !!!! (*insert meme)


What is the astra running? Before you get all of the "could have had an ****" instead of spending all that money on an astra!! I'm guessing you are just a fan, and thumbs up for the time and effort you have put into it.

Not my cup of tea off the engine hoses and stuff, too bling...

Only did the topic like that cause it lists the stuff i have done to it for ease of referance

Always been a Fan of the VXR and Astras in general, i owned a old school GTE 16v with a Calibra Turbo conversion but never got it properly on the road after quite a few problems with it.

Its not everyone cup of tea i understand that and the money i spent on it about 1/3 of the cost of the car.

The Engine was only updated like that cause with the purchase of the Intercooler it come with the chrome pipe from the cooler to the inlet so i just updated rest of the pipes to blue, in hindsight i should have gone black but to be honest i not 1 for turning up at shows or meets and standing around with my Bonnet open and the only reason the bonnet was open was cause the Actuator was just fitted and we was about to go out and test it

Its meant to run about 300 bhp on that Map but the BHP is slightly down, not really sure why, its been looked at and we cant put our finger on it without changing this that or the other. The torque as below is around the 330-340 mark and the Forge Actuator holds that very nicely which was fitted yesterday also.

Not bad, not a fan of the wheels though.

The RARB is the best mod for these cars, I can't understand why one was not fitted from the factory, completely removes the understeer mid/exit corner.

You are a braver man than me wanting to run stage 3 and an LSD, I hope you have lots of cash spare for gearboxes, at "stage 3" torque you are on borrowed time with the box. It isn't called an M32 nothing, the 32 bit is the torque rating in NM and you are probably making around 340Ftlb.

Strange how everyone is different i think the car looks slightly better with those wheels and i had the 19s (top few pics) on for 4 1/2 years, till yesterday anyway and was still dubious about then going on.

Some will say the best upgrade for a VXR is the LSD but i have never had the need for 1, The RARB was very interesting when fitted and i did notice a big improvment but no more or no less then putting lowering springs on

Thanks for comments anyway

 

[andrewdodd13]

I do love the VXR Blue or whatever Vx's official name for it is. It's a nice car in general, although I'd be scared of that much power coming from only the front wheels. I hear the new model Astra has some sort of new setup to deal with extreme torque steer?

I'm quite shocked at the trim level on this car though - I'm guessing the double DIN headunit is aftermarket, the Vauxhall display on the top panel appears terrible though! Even the one in my dad's Vectra has more toys than that.

 

[MeEsH BaKkA]

The worry I would have is the extra strain you will be putting through your gearbox with the LSD fitted, you might be fine but the box is already underrated as standard hence the torque limits in 1st-2nd from the factory (probably removed with the thorny map).

Don't get me wrong the wheels are not bad, and the AST wheels from the nurburgring are pretty light and the offset increases the track a little which helps the handling even more.

As for why the RARB makes such a difference, well, the car was not fitted with one from the factory at all, this caused the mushy understeery front end which characterises the Astra VXR in standard form. The rear anti roll bar sharpens up the front end massively, also helps liven up the inert rear.


Edit: Andrewdodd, the extreme torque steer is a top gear fabrication, the astras are not actually that bad. The only time I have noticed it is on heavily cambered roads

 

[Berger]

Plenty of oil coming out that cam cover, lovely discoloured hose.

Why did you pick the 8 pot brakes, just because they are OMG 8 potz so must be better than 4 or 6? Does the Nurburgring Edition have uprated brakes you could have used?

 

[[TW]Fox]

No RDS on the radio?

 

[Princey]

After market radio there, the standard CD-30 does.

 

[Ralph_ENG]

I do love the VXR Blue or whatever Vx's official name for it is. It's a nice car in general, although I'd be scared of that much power coming from only the front wheels. I hear the new model Astra has some sort of new setup to deal with extreme torque steer?

I'm quite shocked at the trim level on this car though - I'm guessing the double DIN headunit is aftermarket, the Vauxhall display on the top panel appears terrible though! Even the one in my dad's Vectra has more toys than that.

Its Arden Blue. I dont see the power as a issue if i am honest, i like to put my foot down, why wouldnt i doing this much to a car, but i dont plant it off the lights and play traffic light GP with it or try and go round round abouts at 90 I will give it some stick though have no fear of that

Yea the double DIN is after market and gauges are an added extra along with the Blue lights The display is the standard display for an Astra as i didnt have climate control fitted to the car, the Climate control is semi colour screen with a few more bit on it if that makes sense. Also i cant recall if i lost some info when the DoubleDin was fitted, i think its more on the Climate screen you loose something, cause it goes onto the new head unit?????

The general standard of the Trim in the VXR is ok, not many toys but the car is based on a 2005 model, even the later models up to the 2010/11 last releases were the same

The worry I would have is the extra strain you will be putting through your gearbox with the LSD fitted, you might be fine but the box is already underrated as standard hence the torque limits in 1st-2nd from the factory (probably removed with the thorny map).

Don't get me wrong the wheels are not bad, and the AST wheels from the nurburgring are pretty light and the offset increases the track a little which helps the handling even more.

As for why the RARB makes such a difference, well, the car was not fitted with one from the factory at all, this caused the mushy understeery front end which characterises the Astra VXR in standard form. The rear anti roll bar sharpens up the front end massively, also helps liven up the inert rear.

As above i dont tend to plant it 1st, maybe more a 2nd gear plant and i like to think i got a bit of Mechanical simpify

Oh i know the car is mushy from new but i suspose the fact it was made back in 2005 (mines a 57 plate), also what would the fun be if you couldnt buy after market bits

I am not sure if the car standard has a limit in 1st or 2nd gear i know the Focus ST has (5 pot ????) but i dont think the VXR has ???????? mate if it has i have learnt something new today after owning it for nearly 5 years lol, again i dont think that 1 of the characteristics of the TMS map is to remove any limit on 1st and or 2nd, i will investigate that

 

[Ralph_ENG]

Plenty of oil coming out that cam cover, lovely discoloured hose.

Why did you pick the 8 pot brakes, just because they are OMG 8 potz so must be better than 4 or 6? Does the Nurburgring Edition have uprated brakes you could have used?

I dont think there is Oil coming out of the Cam cover but the discolouring was interesting as that pipe has only done 1000 miles, i got a replacement from Forge and you can change that, unless you go black, which i did wish i had sometimes, you just cant stop that happening

Very long and boring story behind the 8 pots but to cut a long story short it come down to cost and the difference between the set up i have and the 4 pot upgrade that AP or Alcon do meant i could have brought 2 sets of Ksports to 1 set of AP, i didnt buy the brakes for the 8 pots just to help my ring trips

The Nurburgring edition does not have any different Brakes to the standard VXR, again i could have got the Vectra upgrade but at the same cost of the Ksports it didnt make sense, if you get me ?

No RDS on the radio?

The car wasnt running and had only just had the ignition on to show it lit up, it does say Radio 1 usually

After market radio there, the standard CD-30 does.

The aftermarket is a direct replacment for the CD30 and all my steering wheel buttons work etc

 

[Princey]

I do like these cars, I had a TMS Stage 3 car with diff and RARB before I swapped to a Monaro VXR.

 

[Ralph_ENG]

I want VXR8 I detail 1 twice a year for a friend and its really nicely put together, i havnt been in a Monaro or even been remotely close to 1 but not for the want of trying

I like the astra also but also understand that some people will always se it as a Boy racer/chav car, I also own a insignia diesel as a get to work car.

The astra is just my Ring Toy, and will always divide opinions, the stuff i have done to it i think makes a half decent standard car a bit better i am not 1 for blinging up the outside of the car although i am tempted with making the roof black with a wrap just to unique it to it being my car if that makes sense............

 

[[TW]Fox]

I want VXR8 I detail 1 twice a year for a friend and its really nicely put together

It really isn't, I hired a Commodore once which is the same base car and the build quality was terrible.

The VXR8 has tremendous presence though. I saw a bright yellow 61 plate yesterday and it looked and sounded awesome. So much so that it makes up for the dodgy quality

 

[Princey]

The Monaro VXR actually has and is well acknowledged among the community who have swapped to VXR8s to be better put together than the VXR8.

For starters the 'normal' Monaro has hard plastics on the dash where as the VXR/HSV/GTO has soft touch dash, leather trimmed centre console ect. It's still no German car but still better than a Mustang and other rivals, although thats not hard.

 

[Ralph_ENG]

I dont know i would disagree to an extent, as i said me and a mate of mine spend a day on a friends 58 plate giving it a good going over for the summer and then winter months and i cant fault the car inside or out, and the car you get for your money i think rivals most cars if not betters them that are twice as much?

The new VXR8s is a differnet animal to the older version and i have seen the Yellow up close and it is very nice

 

[Ralph_ENG]

The Monaro actually has and is well acknowledged among the community who have swapped to VXR8s to be better put together than the VXR8.

Sorry my above reply wasnt to you Princey

I wouldnt argue with that statement 1 bit but as i said i havnt been anywhere near a Monaro properly to compare

 

[andrewdodd13]

Its Arden Blue. I dont see the power as a issue if i am honest, i like to put my foot down, why wouldnt i doing this much to a car, but i dont plant it off the lights and play traffic light GP with it or try and go round round abouts at 90 I will give it some stick though have no fear of that

Yea the double DIN is after market and gauges are an added extra along with the Blue lights The display is the standard display for an Astra as i didnt have climate control fitted to the car, the Climate control is semi colour screen with a few more bit on it if that makes sense. Also i cant recall if i lost some info when the DoubleDin was fitted, i think its more on the Climate screen you loose something, cause it goes onto the new head unit?????

The general standard of the Trim in the VXR is ok, not many toys but the car is based on a 2005 model, even the later models up to the 2010/11 last releases were the same

Ah well. I've never actually driven one, so as someone said above the torque-steer hearings just come from the likes of Top Gear and Evo saying that it's a problem.

Dad's top-screen in the Vectra (SRi) has things like MPG (obviously not what you're looking for in a VXR though!) and remaining range. There's actually a lot more information on it but I've never looked through it. It's similar to this although without the automatic climate control stuff. I'm actually quite impressed that you still get the radio frequency with the aftermarket unit, dad's just looks like the audio is switched off (although it was a botched install tbh, the steering wheel controls don't work either).

 

[The Running Man]

Nice but do you mean as stock the car has no rarb or do you just add a thicker one? Also you spend so much on the car and wheels and then drop in a set of khumos lol. I had a set of ecsta on my last car good because they are cheap but not because they are a good tyre if that makes sense.

 

[Simon]

Looks nice, I almost laughed at that rear suspension though.