Vauxhall VX200 & Lotus Elise S2 The inside story
AND HOW IT SAVED THE ELISE
It’s 20 years since the Lotus Elise S2 was announced but – significant as that follow-up model was – the joint deal with GM to build the Vauxhall VX220 secured its future. We track down the Lotus staff responsible for this pivotal project FAST FRIENDS
Lotus had a surprise hit on its hands with the Elise. Rather conservatively, it had projected to build just 400 Elises a year, but that figure went out of the window when the pre-order book climbed to over 1300 cars. In fact, Lotus would go on to build 2500 Elise S1s per year.
On top of re-kindling the public’s fascination with its lightweight sports cars, the Elise showcased what Lotus does best – providing the automotive world with a technical and handling master class. There was simply no question of whether or not to produce a sequel. The realities of getting that follow-up made, however, were tougher than expected.
European crash legislation and tighter emissions laws for the new millennium were due to render the Elise obsolete just four years after its launch. Lotus had always been a low volume manufacturer so it needed a partner in order to get through all this red tape and shoulder the associated costs without a gap in production.
Current Lotus director of quality – and one of three senior project managers tasked with developing the Opel Speedster/VX220 – Andy Pleavin, says: ‘At the time we had a long-term relationship with General Motors Europe (GME); in fact we were in constant contact.’
The relationship between GM and Lotus was at its post- GM-buyout zenith. The two had co-operated before for high-profile projects like the Lotus Carlton, but Hethel had also been fundamental in developing GM’s Ecotec (L850) engine, plus numerous non-customer facing projects. It was this symbiotic relationship – and the inevitable conversations that it generated – which led to the idea of collaborating to develop an all-new sports car.
GM Europe hadn’t made a sports car – or anything really resembling one – since the Opel GT of 1968. Vauxhall, meanwhile, had been absent from that slice of the market for even longer. The last one it made – the Prince Henry – went off sale in 1914. Clearly, GM needed a partner with recent success in the sector if it wanted to get back in the game.
Its marketing department certainly wanted it to play, too. The public perception of both Opel and Vauxhall at the time – long after the Astra GTE and Opel Manta had given the brands some much-needed sex appeal – was one of manufacturers of rather pedestrian, everyday vehicles.
‘I think we all saw this as a mutually-beneficial opportunity,’ says Andy. ‘There was a sort of unofficial Opel skunkworks of engineers at Rüsselsheim who also really wanted to do something sporty with several very senior members of GME management also on board.’
The idea began to gain further momentum in summer 1998 when designer, Niels Loeb, did his initial sketches, which emerged just nine months later as the Opel Speedster concept car. It caused quite a stir when it appeared at the Geneva Motor show that March. Things really started moving after that, and Andy reckons that that was largely down to one man: ‘GM America seconded some staff to the project, including (current GM vice president) Jon Lauckner, with whom I had a great
relationship. He was a very keen supporter and a really interesting guy to work with. He also helped to knock down many of the barriers preventing it from reaching production; often in a fairly direct fashion.’
BORN TO BE DIFFERENT
GM and Lotus were keen to ensure that their two cars were different in styling, appeal and driver engagement right from the start. Since they would be sharing a platform and a factory (all VX220s and Speedsters were built at Hethel) there was a real danger that the cars would compete for sales.
Lotus’ current director of attributes, Gavan Kershaw, was the vehicle dynamics engineer for the VX220 and tasked with ensuring that this didn’t happen: ‘For me the two cars were always completely de-coupled projects. The brief for the VX220 and the outline of what GM wanted were actually agreed before the Elise S2 was finalised.’
It turned out that what GM wanted from Project Skipton ( yes, that really was its name) would go a long way towards differentiating the cars’ characteristics. Kershaw says: ‘The focus for the VX220 was on daily use. It had to have a brake booster, ABS and a driver’s airbag, but also little stuff like footrests and cup holders. The roof had to be made easier to operate and the whole car had to be less track-focused than the Elise.’
The powerplant and transmission were to come from Opel in the form of its 2.2-litre Ecotec engine and five-speed Getrag F23 gearbox. Lotus actually developed the former, but that wasn’t the deciding factor in its selection – GM needed its main dealer mechanics to be able to service the Speedster/VX220.
Good business sense it might have been, but this combination would have a knock-on effect on the VX220’s handling, as Kershaw explains: ‘The Opel engine was heavier than the K- Series, which gave the GM car a rearward weight bias. That meant that we had to give it more on-limit understeer than the Elise.’
The added ‘ benefit’ was that the GM car would be more forgiving in less experienced hands – the Elise was hardly fearsome, though apparently it had something of a reputation. Kershaw again: ‘I think GM’s engineers learnt a lot from us when they actually drove the Elise. They came over expecting it to be some nervous, twitchy racer but soon discovered just how compliant a road car it really was.’
Furthering the dynamic differences between the two cars was achieved through geometry as Kershaw explains: ‘ We had complete control over the VX220’s set-up, which meant making new bushes, wishbones, knuckles, brakes, plus a new wheel and tyre package. It really was a clean sheet but they (GME) still wanted enough of the Elise DNA in there to trade off its success, especially among the motoring press.’
What could have been dismissed as a relatively minor change for a ‘normal’ car were the wheels, which would cause Kershaw a few headaches: ‘GM wanted a 17-inch front wheel rather than the 16-inch of the Elise and we knew that we had to have shallow profile tyres to get the ride/ handling balance we wanted. The only problem was that our ideal wheel/tyre combo didn’t exist. We were dealing with a size that had more in common with a Ducati sports bike than a road car. Thankfully Opel had a fantastic relationship with Bridgestone at the time so we were able to develop a bespoke tyre package for VX220 in sizes that noone had ever seen on a car before.’
The common misconception is that the Elise and VX220 are separated
by little more than few styling tweaks and a badge. In fact, just eight per cent of the components are directly interchangeable. It might have been a cost-effective co-development, but it was far from a simple copy-and-paste.
Pleavin says: ‘The chassis tubs are broadly the same, as are parts of the suspension and running gear, but that’s about it.’
A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
GM always viewed the Speedster/ VX220 as a halo project that wasn’t really designed to net a large profit. Sales expectations were conservative as Hethel geared up to make up to 3000 of GM’s sports car per year and nearly the same number of Elise S2s – a target that was only met for 2001.
Things looked initially promising for the joint venture because half of the first year’s VX220/Speedsters had been sold pre-delivery. Magazine reviews had been extremely favourable but even so, interest quickly waned. With the basic Elise costing the same as a VX220, most prospective owners opted for the prestige of the Lotus badge. Especially here in the UK, which was deemed to be GM’s best market for its new sport scar. A total of just 7073 Opel Speedsters and VX220s (plus a few Daewoo-badged Speedsters) were sold by the end of production in 2005.
In an attempt to up footfall into Vauxhall and Opel showrooms, Lotus suggested a new turbocharged model with more power than the base Elise. There was a real danger that this decision could have blown up in Hethel’s faces, but as Kershaw explains, they weren’t concerned: ‘ We’d set out our stall with the harderedged Exige and motor sport Elises, so the Turbo VX220 wasn’t really deemed a threat. All the turbocharged version really did was give the GM car the performance it needed from the start. It was nearly 200kg heavier than the Elise, after all.
‘The VX220 was designed to be an effortless sports car and the torque delivery of the Turbo aided this.’
Disappointing sales aside, the Speedster/VX220 project had broadly achieved what GM wanted it to. The path was laid for the VXR range and the link between the race track and the showroom was now far clearer in customers’ minds. The future of the Elise – and perhaps Lotus in general – had been secured, but what of a GM sports car follow-up?
‘There was always talk of a replacement for the VX220, but I seem to remember that GM’s business was contracting across Europe at the time,’ recalls Pleavin. ‘These small-scale projects are always hard to justify, especially when there’s a change of staff up the chain.’
Although never badged as such, there was to be an indirect successor to the VX220 in the form of the 2006 Lotus Europa S. Essentially a slightly longer Elise with a lower sill line and more head room, the Europa resurrected the famous model name from the 1960s. Yet other than its mid-engine layout and name, the two cars were very different from one another. The Europa took many cues from the VX220 Turbo, not to mention its engine. The focus was on greater touring capability, luggage and cabin space and even soundproofing… In other words, just what Lotus customers didn’t want. Sadly, as with the VX220, it didn’t prove to be very popular and was quietly dropped in 2010 after just 456 were sold.
Despite outward appearances and sales figures, the impression that this project left on both GM and Lotus was almost entirely favourable. ‘ We had to step up our game to meet GM’s supply, process and perceived quality levels for this project,’ explains Pleavin.
‘This, combined with a lot of helpful manufacturing and production knowledge, is what we really gained from the deal.’
Kershaw also has nothing but praise for the venture, as he looks back on what was a hectic period. ‘I think the lasting change and development of the Hethel site to build the VX220 was its greatest legacy. We no longer felt like a niche cottage industry, only selling to motor sport fans and former Lotus owners.
‘The site was buzzing in this period and we were making nearly 5500 cars a year. It showed us what we could really do.’