Racing Clutch

I'm seeking to inform myself about clutch upgrades for the VX. AP don't have anything listed under Opel or Vauxhall in their racing clutch section. Are there any other reputable suppliers who might be able to help? Can anyone help to point me in the right direction as I know very little about this? cheers

Does no-one know anything about it then?

Found this in my search about racing clutches, posted by a VR6 owner : Quote: "I put in an AP Racing clutch last year and it is already slipping. Today the new clutch went in, Velocity dual fiber with stock pressure plate and another L&B flywheel. WARNING on the AP clutch. Yeah, it holds great, but it will dig some major grooves into the pressure plate and flywheel. The disc itself is almost like new. If I can find a good camera, I will post pictures of the grooves in the pp. I would definitely NOT use the AP clutch again. This clutch is only for those who need tons of gripping power and don't care how long it will last." I'm now looking at Sachs racing clutches, but they too have none listed for VX/Speedster on their web site. Will find out more tomorrow.

Speedy, you might like to contact Tim Skipper from the Evo forum (_Tim_). He used to have an S2 Sport 190 whose clutch failed on its first track day. Lotus then did some work on it and he had no more problems with it. He may be able to tell you who made the clutch, or maybe how you could get hold of one

Tim Skipper from the Evo forum (_Tim_).

Thanks, Jim.

Can you please tell me the web site, as I don't know it. cheers

I'm now looking at Sachs racing clutches, but they too have none listed for VX/Speedster on their web site. Will find out more tomorrow.

Talked to them this morning. They've got clutches for every Opel you can imagine...
except the Speedster.

Speedy...go to http://www.evo.co.uk, then click Interact on the Flash toolbar - that'll take you to the forum. You then need to register to be able to post.

cheers

Speedy, you might like to contact Tim Skipper from the Evo forum (_Tim_). He used to have an S2 Sport 190 whose clutch failed on its first track day. Lotus then did some work on it and he had no more problems with it. He may be able to tell you who made the clutch, or maybe how you could get hold of one

I'm 99.9% sure that Tims clutch failed due to a hydraulic problem, not a clutch problem.

I use an AP clutch on mine, and recently I've stripped the engine & box down. The clutch is about 1/2 worn, and theres no grooves in the PP or the flywheel.

Bri

But AP don't list an uprated clutch for the VX...

Whats the gearbox off? The Astra 2.2? Migt be worth a call to AP

Long post

Rushed up to Germany to collect my repaired Speedster just before they shut at noon this morning in my 300ZX with my bro - saw 250kmh between traffic - nice to be able to use motorways as they were originally intended as opposed to how it is in the UK or in Switz.

Anyway, Speedster was parked ready for collection. A failure of the hydraulics shouldn't happen and Opel agreed to pay for this part of the repair. The remaining cost to me was 633.04 euros which they wanted in cash as the Visa machine was not accessable being in the closed-on-Saturdays service department. At least I was fowarned of this though.

On inspection the car, which admittedly had come straight from the racetrack for repair, had not be cleaned at all. The brakedust-blackened rear wheels showed prominent fingermarks - it really looked a mess. Clearly they felt that, as I was a foreign customer, the chances of further custom were slight and so no effort need be made. My bro compared it most unfavourably with the service he gets from Jaguar and wondered whether, should I have chosen an Elise, I would not have fared better.

So, then got in the car to find a piece of interior trim about 10x8" lying in the passenger footwell. returned to enquire from the garage owner what that might be and why was it there. He was out by his Speedster Turbo and said, not very helpfully I thought, that he knew Speedsters and had never seen this piece - no idea. As it still had the build sticker from January '01 on it, I knew it must be from my car. I pointed this out, but the garage owner and his sales staff still could not help....

then it dawned on me... it was the stuck-on mappocket for the rear of the passenger seat. Garage owner knew of no such item, so I showed him the one on his Turbo. Good, isn't it when a customer has to tell the staff and owner of an officially authorised Speedster dealer the features of the car?!

When I got home I checked in the boot and found a small bag containing two small, black, plastic parts which look like something to do with the roof location points. No mention on the invoice. I'll take a pic later and post it to see if anyone can work it out.

Of course I drove the Speedster first upon collection and left the ZX to my bro. Coming straight from a couple of hundred intensive highspeed kilometers in that, the Speedster felt a bit like a pedal car at first! Stopped soon after for a meal and when I got back in again I was already aclimatised and at one with the car again. Bliss! Later, in Switz. we swapped again and my bro took me out to go over some great back roads he knows. From my viewpoint following in the ZX, I could watch the repeated head-turning effect of the speedster on pedestrians - amazing. On the backroads, it was clearly effortless for the Speedster. It was nice to see it in action too - so squat and planted, no lean or rock. As my bro is not too familiar with the Speedster, the ZX kept up but I was very aware of the car's weight drifting it out on corners and when we got to the bottom of a long hill section, the brakes were fairly cooked.

I later took the lead and had difficulty watching the road, as the view im my mirror was so gorgeous. Seen so, my debadged and debarred grille with a small Lotus badge gives it an aggressive look - not predatory like a shark, more like a very nimble wasp. The headlamp "eyes" add to this impression, without it becoming as overthetop insect-like as an Elise S2.

Summary:
Opel garages are depressingly mediocre
I've got my Speedy back and I love it even more.