Vauxhall VX220 2000 2005
THE VAUXHALL VX220 is a Lotus Elise with a Groucho Marx nose and ’tache. Faced with re-engineering the Elise to meet new crash regulations, Lotus partnered with GM – in fact, the
VX came first in 2000, allowing Lotus to learn lessons that fed into the Elise. Vauxhall used its own engines, and there were three versions: a naturally aspirated 2.2 with 145bhp, a 2.0 Turbo with 197bhp and the VXR220 – a Turbo with an uprated chassis, brakes and 220bhp, limited to 65 units. Today they’re all great value: tattier cars with 100,000 miles start from £7k, while even the best 2.2s are £17k, the finest Turbos £19k. A VXR spans £22k-£30k. That equates to a saving of £5k-£6k over the most comparable Elises.
Some prefer the lighter 2.2, but Lotus chassis engineers favoured the Turbo for its better body control. All VXs are slightly softer than an Elise.
Sun shining, roof down, great road unfurling ahead, we’re driving a Turbo, one remapped to 260bhp – more than enough to offset the 60kg of ballast a Turbo carries at 930kg. There’s a little mush to the throttle and not an awful lot occurring at low revs, but there’s excitement in anticipating the turbocharged wallop, then a surge of boost that makes this car feel genuinely energetic, condensing one gear ratio after another into a blurry rush. Like many examples, this one has swapped the Vauxhall set-up of 17-inch alloys all-round for 16in front wheels and 17in rears, just like the Elise (and the VXR). It’s a tactile, highly nuanced steer, the driver working a small wheel like Bez on the maracas. The way the VX flicks into a fast corner with such ease and speed – accurate but still supple on this car’s Nitron springs – is particularly satisfying.
The gearshift is a bit stiff-jointed and the brake pedal a little slack initially in our test car, but this is a fabulously exotic-feeling drive considering the budget. It all makes the VX220 a great weekend and trackday toy, one that bottles much of the excitement of the Caterham and pours it into a package almost as useable as the MX-5.