RB5SCOTT

best thing you can do with a calibra turbo is put the engine in a NOVA

mattski

I seem to remeber hearing some interesting comments about the cavalier/calibra's 4x4 system

As for the Nova... MAX POWER!

mattski

Last night a Calibra Turbo with a 'big' exhaust tried it on along the A45 near Coventry.

So, I, erm, went along with it for a bit, initially pulling away from it but then it caught up pretty rapidly, eventually overtaking me (I did 'give up' at about 70mph as I wasn't game for a silly high-speed race).

So, what is the spec of these things?

Still not a scoob tho, even if it is fast in a straight line

[This message has been edited by mattski (edited 17 December 2000).]

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

204bhp, 2ltr turbo engine, a rather pathetic 4x4 system which normally breaks very easily (probably cos its a cheap vauxhall system) not that fast really, a scoob is a more energetic and the better drivers car, top end of 150ish if i remember correctly (155??)
end of the day its just a cavalier aint it!!

Tony

DavidLewis

My younger brother has a Calibra Turbo (yes, I trying to dis-own him ) and his 4x4 system has failed. Defaults to 2WD in this sitution but the fault is 'electrical' rather than mechanical. Is it a true 4x4?

Ian Cook

No the vauxhall 4*4 system is not a true 4*4 system. Its front wheel drive most of the time, and when the need arises the rear wheels are driven, think it uses an electronic clutch mechanism of some description, this means they can get fair fuel economy, but other than that is prone to failure !

CC

I've driven two of them, both in good condition, and they weren't particularly quick. Quite boring imo.

They're supposed to be 6sec/150mph but they certainly didn't feel it.

scooby1

Last week someone told me that there are LOTUS Calibra's. Has he got mixed up with the Lotus Omega/Carlton or is this true?

Ian Cook

NO lotus Calibras, must be mixed up with the Carlton, only Vauxhall car to carry the lotus badge i think ! although its not the only one they have worked on.

Dave T-S

I drove a Calibra Turbo for a week six years ago. Typical performance Vauxhall, quick in a straight line but fell over on corners.

Knock it if you will.....but the transmission is stronger than the putty gearset in a Scoob and the engine will take 300bhp without many mods. A lot of them have been modded to 250-300bhp by Courtney and the one you came across was probably not standard - (if that makes you feel better!! )

mattski

the exhaust certainly wasn't standard, and it did seem very quick in a straight line... was funny watching it go around a bend quickly tho, looked pretty messy.

Bob Rawle

The calibra/cavalier 4x4 Turbo has a permanent 4 wheel drive system running at a 50:50 split, the only time is disengages is when you brake so that it can then use the wheel sensors for the abs instead of sensing the wheel speed differential for the 4x4, As for power then 204 bhp standard running circa 8 psi boost but they are very tuneable, mine generated circa 270 bhp at 1.0 bar and I ran it up to 1.3 bar very happily, still going strong in another owners hands at 140,000 miles, the transfer box is the weak link but only of abused, mine went at about 80,000 and it was pretty obvious that the previous owner to me had not treated it very well, it contains an electro-hydraulic clutch (7 plates actually) that transmits the drive to the rear wheels, if tyres are not kept matched and/or fluids not changed regularily then clutches wear out causing hydraulic failure, its pretty spectacular as you pump all the transfer box fluid and all the power steering fluid out into the road in just a few seconds, the one that you saw may well have been non-standard, I know of a few that are around running up to 2 bar of boost without any problems putting out well over 300 bhp. The 16v engine has a Cosworth pedigree, it runs a 9:1 compression ratio at that. Handling is certainly not good, I ended up with Chassis Dynamics springs and Koni top adjustable shocks lowering the car about 60 mm, Powerflex bushes, Willwood brakes helped out as well.

Still not a patch on the Scoob though.

Any Vauxhall fans looking in should talk to Chris Stweart at Regal in Southampton, who are one of the best at tuning these cars.

buddy

Hi Matt,
Youll have no bother against a 4x4 calibra at all, most of them are running in 2 wheel drive anyway and the owners just dont notice!,the previous owner will just have taken the fuse out.ABSOLUTE DOG POOH CAR AND I WOULDNT EVEN RISE TO THE OCCASION (you did the right thing dude.)All due respect to calibra owners.
Bud

GP

being a Vaux man myself, I ought to leap to the defence... but I can't - the Vaux 4x4 does indeed have a transfer box that is far too complex and tends to break unless the car is run with military precision - the engine however is a strong one - but is actually better in NA form - mine gives about 210-220bhp with standard cams - currently building a 250bhp 9000rpm screamer in the shed

so anyone in the south west who wonders what the hell that astra shaped yellow streak was, wave hello and call me an ambulance..

Hoppy

I had one of the first Calibra Turbos about eight years ago. Did 60,000 trouble-free miles. And for its day, I reckon it was damn good. Nothing wrong with the 4-wheel drive, either.

0-60 was around 6 secs as I recall, and would have been less if the clutch could handle it (it just slipped and then got very smelly). Top end was officially 152 and I had it showing over 160 a few times. High 6th gear and super-smooth aerodynamics. Very economical - rarely under 30mpg. Comfy, practical and would beat just about anything over 100mph (especially Cossies!) provided there weren't any corners.

Worst thing about it was turbo lag. And the chassis. And the brakes. As mentioned above, I believe Courtney (sp?) could sort it out. Imagine what a Lotus Calibra Turbo would have been like (with the V6 engine).

Hoppy

firefox

I had a slightly modded Cav Turbo... similar to Bob....but different approaches

Turbo..exhaust.. injectors... ECU... 300bhp

Luckily.. the transfer box survived...well while I had it..

I did loose two exhaust manifold studs.... and they took some replacing...

One "tunning" company decided to blow my stock ECU...which kinda pi$$ed me off a bit..

Overall.. they were/are incredible straight line cars...even with suspension tweaks they couldnt handle.... My Cav SRi out handled it easily

Damn door seals went at about 145... subtle hint to change upto 6th

Very smooth cruisers... very laid back..

I sold it on.. and I believe it was stolen within 2 weeks of the new guy getting it.

J.

ps - I fitted a custom AP made clutch... lets just say it destroyed the wheel within a few days.. it was a weeeeee bit harsh .. lol

Bob Rawle

I ended up doing all sorts to my beast, overcame the turbo lag by fitting independant electronic boost control (Van Aaken) and a big hybrid turbo, spooled up like a rocket, had to fit a 5th injector cos it just ran it out of fuel. Add charge cooler, forced air feeds, uprated fuel pressure etc etc and it ended up one fast car

Some pics still around on ...

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Bob

My Cav GSI had the dreaded porus cylinder head problem, did you experience any such problems? I had to get mine fixed in Wales.

Grrrr.

Still, was a comfy performer though.
F

Bob Rawle

Yup had the dreaded porous head syndrome, I was lucky, under certain conditions Vauxhall would replace, my car just met all the conditions so it was replaced with the Coscast item FOC courtesy of Vauxhall. Down to the dealer at the time, he was great and put in alot of effort to see that it was done under warranty. I ran mine on 95 ron for the whole of the 75,000 miles I did with it, never missed a beat even at 1.3 bar.
Also had the cracked cambelt pulley syndrome but was lucky, Regal Autosport changed it the second time round and spotted that they were cracking up else the engine would have gone for sure, those pulleys are definately a consumable item, there was a big stink on Watchdog over it.

Bob

Sparks

Bobs old car (mine currently) is still running just fine, well apart from a dodgy air idle valve ( some things don't change eh ? ). If you think they handle crap in 4WD you want to try it in 2WD - does get a tad scary!

Main problem far as engine goes is the bay wasn't designed to house a turbo engine - so the intercooler is stuck half behind one headlight to the side of the radiator. Heat is a major problem to the point that ( as bob told me and several other owners have confirmed ) running an induction kit gives noticeably slower spin up and ultimately less performance. It runs a K&N element and is much better off for it ( can even get torque steer on roundabouts if you try hard enough.. ). Bob fitted the car with an air temp. gauge ( I think he did this on his wagon too ), panel filter gave intake temps of upto 20/30 degrees lower than an induction kit. Anyone found this with a scoob ?

Before anyone gets 'muppeted' don't worry - Cav is going next year for an Sti!

Shaun

I had a calibra turdbot, and it was a mega bit of kit......wouldnt go round bends, but it was lugging quick!

I had the normal....induction kit, superchip, cat back scorpion (which was the BEST EVER sounding exhaust I have EVER had), performance thermostat etc etc....oh and a pace chargecooler, that really worked well.

Bob,

You havent mentioned another weak point on the turdbots.....the penny washer on the wastegate! Mine shot its last bolt and cost me mega money to get fixed (the manifold is part of the turdbot, so a re-con turbo was mega money!)

I wouldnt off missed buying the car for anything....leather, air-con etc etc. It was a good bit of kit, when I had one 4 years ago.

Shaun.

Bob Rawle

It was a weak point on the standard turbo but the hybrid's didn't seem to have the problem, as you say the turbo is integrated into the exhaust manifold placing it very close to the exhaust ports thus giving a very quick spool up and vrtually no lag. Mark, welcome, induction kit on Scoob produces very similar temps to the panel filter, same issues exist with temp soak etc but intercooler is far better even though it is sat on top of the engine. If an aftermarket ecu is used then induction kit gives benefit, modified air inlet tract can provide more though, but as standard (in UK form)almost as well off with the good panel (HKS/K&N/ITG) as anything.

EvilBevel

I had one, but with the NA engine (150 BHP). Didn't know much about cars back then (1992), still don't actually, but I bought it for the looks.

One of the best looking cars of the decade if you ask me, en the fuel economy sometimes felt like voodoo. Torque steer was ridiculous, and wheelspin at the lights were a given.

Oh well, at least I didn't have to call it a Vauxhall (Opel ), and apart from some cam belt thing and blowing out 2 cats, we had it for 100.000 miles.

Oh, and ... you could do corners with it as well then ? I always stopped, got out of the car, and lifted the back to put it where I wanted to go, then got in again

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Evilbevel

Talk about torque steer on the Cav, well I had an Astra GTE 16V before that. It was quite exciting in the dry let alone the wet!!! I couldn't believe how torquey it was, you could even overtake in 5th!!!

I've still got a the superchip for it if anyone's interested, with a RR printout - 167BHP top whack.

F

church_monster

Talking of these, if you were the bloke in the black turbo type one on the M20 towards london last friday ~(you know who you are MR 4" exhaust and james bond style smoke)~ I couldn't race you as this subaru has radar and thats why you were pulled up by the nice man in the police volvo at the next junction and we wern't....the moral of that story is watch out for the plain wrapper with the powerful radar or buy your own when you get your licence back !!