38 replies to this topic

[boghouse]

In my quest to find the best way to get into VX ownership without a huge budget( £13k) I'm looking at various options. (Bear with me as I'm new to the whole VX220 scene) Getting a run out soon in a VXT as I think that's where I should go from what I've seen/driven so far......BUT....Has anyone supercharged an N/A?? Does it work? Is it reliable/driveable? Are kits readily available? Cost? Seems I could get a good N/A for 11k ish and then supercharge it? Best of both worlds? Would I get the more nimble/agile handling traits of the N/A combined with turbo like power output? Your thoughts please

Edited by boghouse, 06 February 2007 - 08:43 PM.

[RobNA]

Look literally 5 topics down in this section

[mandarinvx]

Basically - yes, there are... but ouch, it costs a lot... but oooohhhh it goes well

[jasvxt]

Ill probably get but IMO whats the point you spend £13k on an n/a then another £5k on s/c conversion then the car owes you £18k, but wont actually be any where near worth that on the open market, should you sell it on. And even then you will only be matching Vxt performance. When in fact you could of bought a Vxt with Nitrons (gives almost perfect handling with correct Geo setup) and stage 2 already on for £13750.00 IE Yambos Vxt or indeed others that are likely to come up. You know it makes sense Boghouse, do the Maths Rs Jas

[boghouse]

Jas. I didn't reckon on a S/C install costing that much I agree though...It doesn't make sense when you add the numbers up and then put it against all the seemingly good VXT's that are available on here. Need to get my run out in a VXT to see how much different an animal it is than the N/A. Believe me...If I had the £13750 in my pocket right now I'd be winging my way to Chester to have a serious look at Yambos car

Edited by boghouse, 06 February 2007 - 09:49 PM.

[NickB787]

Ill probably get but IMO whats the point you spend £13k on an n/a then another £5k on s/c conversion then the car owes you £18k, but wont actually be any where near worth that on the open market, should you sell it on.
And even then you will only be matching Vxt performance. When in fact you could of bought a Vxt with Nitrons (gives almost perfect handling with correct Geo setup) and stage 2 already on for £13750.00 IE Yambos Vxt or indeed others that are likely to come up.

You know it makes sense Boghouse, do the Maths


Rs


Jas

try it lets say my poor old supercharged vx (242bhp <900kg) and a vxt( 200bhp 930kg) do you feel lucky punk ,well do you

But really, your choice, I did the S/C on my car not to sell on but enjoy, I DIDN'T want a turbo, it is a different car to drive.

Buy a NA £10,000 then S/C it and keep it to enjoy. If you are going to sell it on in a year forget it You will loose money.

[speedyK]

try it lets say my poor old supercharged vx (242bhp <900kg) and a vxt( 200bhp 930kg) do you feel lucky punk ,well do you

But really, your choice, I did the S/C on my car not to sell on but enjoy, I DIDN'T want a turbo, it is a different car to drive.

Buy a NA £10,000 then S/C it and keep it to enjoy. If you are going to sell it on in a year forget it You will loose money.

If you only want it for the public road and traffic light grand prix, then a turbo is fine. If you care about throttle response and handling finesse at the limit on track as well as performance, then S/C is the way to go

[PaulCP]

try it lets say my poor old supercharged vx (242bhp <900kg) and a vxt( 200bhp 930kg) do you feel lucky punk ,well do you

But really, your choice, I did the S/C on my car not to sell on but enjoy, I DIDN'T want a turbo, it is a different car to drive.

Buy a NA £10,000 then S/C it and keep it to enjoy. If you are going to sell it on in a year forget it You will loose money.

If you only want it for the public road and traffic light grand prix, then a turbo is fine. If you care about throttle response and handling finesse at the limit on track as well as performance, then S/C is the way to go

totally agree

but then it takes a "different type of driver" to recognise that

[MEAGY]

Surely you can get a vxt for £13k mate with market the way it is, your not going to get the best at that price but it will put at the bottom of the vxt food chain If Yambo drops his price(which he wold be an idiot to do)(no offence Yambo)then go for his. Failing that then there is a couple on pistonheads for £13500 which you might be able to knock them down!

[LazyDonkey]

Just a thought...... If it was my money I'd get a good NA and some change rather than going for a ropey VXT - if you crave more power later than you can always change to a VXT at a later date. Buy an NA for £11k and it's unlikely to drop much in a couple of years. Then you can spend the change on trackdays and nice new things for you car

[speedster]

Plus you don't have to SC or turbot the NA to get that fun additional power. Thorney has the TB's on the way and there's loads of intake, head and cam work you can do too! Now here's my story. Once upon a time I bought an NA..... I'm now running a (self) modified NA and there's day's when I feel power greedy with magic numbers like 400 bhp over 10,000 RPM floating through my head Then there's the other day's when I figure I don't have to FI this beast, it near mental enough anyway. I'll just go buy those cams, get the max-plus head job and take on some serious geo work using my nephews set-square and triangle. This lead me to the conculsion I'm a a confused NA owner and I blame Thorney for not having the TB's kit available last summer So with a confused mind one clear day the route I decided to take is as follows: Goal - I'm going to modify the car to my own maximum potential. This was a break through. No? So I am now very busy trying to understand what my maximum potential actually is hence I am current trawling through writings on SC's, Turbos and TB work.... Sorry I can't finish this story yet but I hope it helps you make your mind up!

[NickB787]

Plus you don't have to SC or turbot the NA to get that fun additional power. Thorney has the TB's on the way and there's loads of intake, head and cam work you can do too!

Now here's my story. Once upon a time I bought an NA.....
I'm now running a (self) modified NA and there's day's when I feel power greedy with magic numbers like 400 bhp over 10,000 RPM floating through my head Then there's the other day's when I figure I don't have to FI this beast, it near mental enough anyway. I'll just go buy those cams, get the max-plus head job and take on some serious geo work using my nephews set-square and triangle. This lead me to the conculsion I'm a a confused NA owner and I blame Thorney for not having the TB's kit available last summer So with a confused mind one clear day the route I decided to take is as follows:
Goal - I'm going to modify the car to my own maximum potential. This was a break through. No? So I am now very busy trying to understand what my maximum potential actually is hence I am current trawling through writings on SC's, Turbos and TB work.... Sorry I can't finish this story yet but I hope it helps you make your mind up!

Good on you. That’s the way to go all that matters in the end is YOU are satisfied with your car. There seems to be two distinct groups with this car the ones who own for a few years get board and go on to buy another vehicle and the ones who are quiet nuts and don’t know when to quit. I love the basic car but wanted to personalize it a bit and increase it’s performance. I also hung around for a year and a half for the T/B kit but gave up after fully researching the S/C route and I felt that was the way to go, also with the further increase in performance available. For me it’s like the wife love her sometimes want to her but would never get shot of her. Problem is I can’t suggest modifications to her (hope she doesn’t read this) .

[boghouse]

Thanks guys. After YEARS (18 now) of driving/modifying/sprint and hills/fast road driving in Westfields I just fancy a total change to something fun to chuck over the cat n fiddle/Lancashire twisty roads but that I don't HAVE to keep modifying; and don't have to (most of the time) resort to wearing full face helmet to drive anywhere there's likely to be other traffic/flying debris ..........hence why I was looking at getting a Tubby (with maybe a stage or two already added on). I'm well aware that you never get your money back on mods and certainly not on engine mods!! when and if you eventually sell the car on (God knows I'm going to get nowhere near back what I've thrown at the westy recently ) Having had only 1 drive of an N/A around manchester ring road I really haven't got anything to go on as regards comparing on limit handling traits of N/A versus TUBBY but then having been in westfields for so long virtually everything feels a bit soft and less "direct" in its handling. If I do get myself into vx220 it won't be seeing track use as I just want it for weekend road blats/ lemans and the odd trip to work in the sun so absolute handling nirvana is not THAT vital but having something quick enough not to get frustrated with IS. More research required methinks

[jasvxt]

Guys don't get me wrong the n/a is a fine car but at the end of the day it lacks real power as standard. Alright many n/a owners claim better handling. Ive driven both the n/a and a standard turbo and can honestly say the handling is better on the n/a. But a Turbo with nitrons fitted levels the handling with the n/a IMO. And lets be honest the fact that many desire the S/C or throttle body conversions confirms even owners of the n/a desire real power, yet wont admit it And lets be fair 30kg isn't a massive difference, given the power difference between the n/a & Turbo. My post also explains that Yambos car for instance has stage 2 power, and nitrons, and about 240bhp more than an equal for a S/C n/a for £5k less. All the above IMO and for gods sake Boghouse don't take my word for it, in fact don't believe a thing i say, or indeed anything anyone has said on this thread. Drive both and make up your own mind. The mathematics win hands down anyway. Rs Jas

[boghouse]

Jas....Yours and others offers to run me out in a Tubby will make or break the decision anyway I 'm giving EVERYTHING you lot say equal thought as this strikes me as the best place to get the right advice on things 220. I really want to get myself in a VX (still no takers on the westy though) and the N/A I drove (shabby dealer forecourt car) may not have been at its peak....But looking in from the outside a Turbo with Nitrons sounds like the most sensible way to go. Hopefully Yambos car will still be around long enough.

Edited by boghouse, 07 February 2007 - 12:24 PM.

[JawZ]

And lets be honest the fact that many desire the S/C or throttle body conversions confirms even owners of the n/a desire real power, yet wont admit it

Doesn't everyone want more power?

[coopa]

Sounds like you would be better off with the turbo Be careful with Nitrons for road use though as they are very hard as standard, so unless you are going on track they're probably not worth it. /NA owner who wouldn't swap it for a turbo, ever.

[PaulCP]

Sounds like you would be better off with the turbo

Be careful with Nitrons for road use though as they are very hard as standard, so unless you are going on track they're probably not worth it.

/NA owner who wouldn't swap it for a turbo, ever.

Agreed (so long as you are ok with turbo power delivery) get a T

Agreed forget the nitrons since you don't need to maximise the handling

[Code Monkey]

And lets be honest the fact that many desire the S/C or throttle body conversions confirms even owners of the n/a desire real power, yet wont admit it

Doesn't everyone want more power?

nope no need for more power here.

Happy with what i have for the road, apparantly it is good for the traffic light grand prix as well,

[john_s]

apparantly it is good for the traffic light grand prix as well,

Is that the thing the novas do?