[Jamesybaz]

Looks like there will be another RS3 on it's way to car heaven tonight. Just been walking the dogs and the baby up at a reservoir near Denshaw, Oldham. On my way home, I've just come across an 8P sprawled across both lanes of the road I was driving down. The back wheel was angled out about 45 degrees and the rear quarter, door and sill are in a state. I've seen the car about, looked in really nice condition in the off white colour with an RS3C*Z reg plate. Pity really, would love to know how the lad has lost control, it's a particularly long straight road 🤔 I didnt grab a pic, I thought itd be rubbing salt in the wounds a little. The 3 passengers looked fine, if not a little shaken. Bit a bad night for that owner.

[terminator x]

You'd have to be moving to get a RS3 out of shape on the public road!

TX.

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[Evil Diesel]

Or have more performance than ability. A serious problem with modern performance cars - just think about it - a FL RS3 has better performance than a Ferrari 360 in both speed and handling.  If I had access to one of the modern platforms when I was in my 20's I would be dead! (had the 16v Astra GTE back then but that was tame by today's standards although it was a rocket ship of it's day)

[Richie Rich]

Always a real pity to hear the above, let’s hope everyone came out unscathed..? Astra GTE 16 V eh Tony..? I only had the 1.8 version but always remember the LCD display, and the white plastic wheel covers that always went missing in car parks.,!

[Evil Diesel]

The dash would look naff today I suppose with proper VCs about but, in its day, was really cool!

 

I think the 0 - 60 was about 6.6 secs - that was unreal for the time.

[T-800]

I had em all.
1 x 1.8 GTE D reg
1 x 2.0 16v SFI GTE
1 x 2.0 8V GTE

And then the mighty 16v GSi in Spectral blue.

https://uploads.tapa...15c94e4b4.plist
https://uploads.tapa...1fab3fb1e.plist
Lol happy days.

I even had a Calibra 16v which when I bought it had the porous head so I stripped it down and sent the head away to a firm in Wrexham who specialised in fixing the oil galleries in the head by inserting a liner.

The red top coscast engine was a peach for its time.


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[Richie Rich]

That Lotus Carlton was a rare sight even back in the 90’s, the prices they command now are unreal... Even though most of the interior was from a 1.8 GL..

[RS3Dell]

That Lotus Carlton was a rare sight even back in the 90’s, the prices they command now are unreal... Even though most of the interior was from a 1.8 GL..

Back in the day an old boy would drive by my mother in his Lotus Carlton...a lovely & understated car.

Dell.

[Fivepotfan]

I had em all.
1 x 1.8 GTE D reg
1 x 2.0 16v SFI GTE
1 x 2.0 8V GTE

And then the mighty 16v GSi in Spectral blue.

https://uploads.tapa...15c94e4b4.plist
https://uploads.tapa...1fab3fb1e.plist
Lol happy days.

I even had a Calibra 16v which when I bought it had the porous head so I stripped it down and sent the head away to a firm in Wrexham who specialised in fixing the oil galleries in the head by inserting a liner.

The red top coscast engine was a peach for its time.


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I also had an Astra GSI. Mine was in red. Traded it for a Golf VR6 which got plenty of mods and made around 270bhp which was a lot for a hot hatch in those days. 

[T-800]

I also had an Astra GSI. Mine was in red. Traded it for a Golf VR6 which got plenty of mods and made around 270bhp which was a lot for a hot hatch in those days.

Back in the 90’s that GSI was a good car, provided you didn’t ask too much of it in the corners


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[Fivepotfan]

I had a few SRI/GSI Vauxhall’s but the cam belts were the weak point and several ended up with engine damage. Gave me a good excuse to mess with the engines. I would strip them and do all the rebuilds and even the head porting/gas flowing my self.
The best one I had was a limlited edition Vectra Touring car replica called an ST200 (not the lesser Supertouring). It had massive factory fitted AP Racing brakes, special Speedline alloys, adjustable suspension, LSD diff, some mental Recaro seats and was a real hoot to drive.
The good old days!


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[terminator x]

I had em all.
1 x 1.8 GTE D reg
1 x 2.0 16v SFI GTE
1 x 2.0 8V GTE

And then the mighty 16v GSi in Spectral blue.

https://uploads.tapa...15c94e4b4.plist
https://uploads.tapa...1fab3fb1e.plist
Lol happy days.

I even had a Calibra 16v which when I bought it had the porous head so I stripped it down and sent the head away to a firm in Wrexham who specialised in fixing the oil galleries in the head by inserting a liner.

The red top coscast engine was a peach for its time.


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The GSi's were awesome. My BiL had the 2000 version of the Cavalier (I think) which had about 150hp which was mad in its day!

TX.

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[T-800]

The GSi's were awesome. My BiL had the 2000 version of the Cavalier (I think) which had about 150hp which was mad in its day!

TX.

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Yes anything bar the 4x4 turbo had 150 bhp with the RedTop engine.
It was developed in conjunction with Cosworth.
The 4x4 Turbo version had 204 bhp

Vauxhall then went to their own Ecotech version in later Astra / Cavalier GSi that had 135bhp

I think the Redtop C20XE was the first to use sequential fuel injection.


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[Roy]

Have you seen the price of a Lotus Carlton today ??

 

Make sure your sitting down 

 

I had 3 205 GTI's   one 1.6 and the 2 1.9's   they use to stick to the road real good back then

 

Then had 2 Toyota MR2's mk2  one normal the one T bar... they were lovely cars still like them even today .....

 

Funny how we still like the cars we used to have 

[Paul]

I had a Calibra 16v in magnetic blue... 

 

I also had a Vectra GSI V6,  back when they took an SRI off the production line, to fit it out at Motorsports Developments in MK  with the GSI body kit, wheels brakes, interior, upgrade audio, 3.0 inlet cams and Remus ( Irmscher)  exhaust, topped off with 17” alloys and Yokohama tyres. 
 

ive also been in one of 3 off commissioned Vectra ST3000

 

 

It basically a GSI, shipped back to MSD, has a 3.0l v6, AP brakes, Koni's (i think) LSD, lowered final drive, leather interior (recaro) fully leccy windows all round.
BTB bespoke exhaust, and induction and head work.
 

[Paul]

My best friend had a raft of Astra GTE’s. An OHV 8v work hack that used to seize occasionally and snap the camshaft in half, 30 mins after a visit to a scrapyard it would be back on the road.

 

and his 16v which we crashed once,was repaired and and was eventually written off outside Croughton airbase waiting to turn right, it was static, and was Hit so hard from behind the exhaust zigzagged  forward and ripped  the engine clean off its mountings . The rear of the car was flush with the back of the front seats reducing its length by half. 

[Evil Diesel]

Sounds like he needed to be somewhere else!  Not sure those cars were as structurally as stable as todays offerings mind you but, even so, it was a great engine for it's day.

[Fivepotfan]

I had a Calibra 16v in magnetic blue... 

 

I also had a Vectra GSI V6,  back when they took an SRI off the production line, to fit it out at Motorsports Developments in MK  with the GSI body kit, wheels brakes, interior, upgrade audio, 3.0 inlet cams and Remus ( Irmscher)  exhaust, topped off with 17” alloys and Yokohama tyres. 
 

ive also been in one of 3 off commissioned Vectra ST3000

 

 

It basically a GSI, shipped back to MSD, has a 3.0l v6, AP brakes, Koni's (i think) LSD, lowered final drive, leather interior (recaro) fully leccy windows all round.
BTB bespoke exhaust, and induction and head work.
 

The guys at MSD were brilliant! I got to know the manager (Ken) and he talked about the cars they built as if they were his children.

I had to have the LSD rebuilt in my ST200 and took the car back to MSD in MK. Ken came out and looked at the car and said ' ah I wondered where the black one ended up' (I had one of two black ST200's that was ever built). I left the car with them for the week and came back on the following Saturday morning to pick the car up.

Ken handed the keys back and explained they had stripped and fully rebuilt the front diffs (with built in LSD) and added a few 'extras' for no extra charge because the guys in the workshop were bored on Friday and wanted something to do. The extras turned out to be a new ECU, upgraded cams (from the ST300 I believe), new engine software, new injection system parts and a re-alignment of the suspension.

Car felt fantastic on the drive home.

Edited by Fivepotfan, 18 August 2020 - 12:16 AM.

[Paul]

After a HDD failure the only picture I have left.
Loved that car, Sounded like a touring car on full chat with k&n cone filter . .
My parents could hear me through every gear change for 3 miles 🤣
Factory fit Yoko’s were so soft and sticky, you could see them wear going to the shops!

 B338A0A2-2AE1-48DC-A93F-7790B33068B4.jpeg   94.07K   13 downloads

Edited by Paul, 18 August 2020 - 07:07 AM.