Quick question re appearance of Turbo & Non-Turbo

[graham@reading]

Lo folks - quickie if you would (fnarr)

I know about the intakes on the sides but am I right in thinking these two different fronts distinguish Turbos and non-Turbos rather than being an aftermarket replacement?

Standard :



Turbo :

[ulakye]

The only difference on the front is the lower splitter which are only on turbos although many NA owners added them retrospectively.

I can't tell from the photo if the front V has been removed or just painted black but this was not standard - apart from the VXRs which had a black V.

[Digital]

There are a few other external clues (wheels are the most obvious difference), including the rear lip spoiler, although a few NA owners fit these, and the vents on the engine cover in the VXT stick up, whereas the 2.2 ones are flat I believe

[graham@reading]

So given that there's no splitter on the yellow one and it looks like the vents are flat, it's safe to assume an NA?

Where the second one is generally likely to be a Turbo due to splitter and protruding vents but could possibly be made to look like one.

[apprentice]

Digital said:

There are a few other external clues (wheels are the most obvious difference), including the rear lip spoiler, although a few NA owners fit these, and the vents on the engine cover in the VXT stick up, whereas the 2.2 ones are flat I believe

Correct.

[ulakye]

graham@reading said:

So given that there's no splitter on the yellow one and it looks like the vents are flat, it's safe to assume an NA?

Where the second one is generally likely to be a Turbo due to splitter and protruding vents but could possibly be made to look like one.

First one is definitely an NA. Second one looks like a turbo because the alloy wheels are different but again they could have been added to an NA.

[Digital]

graham@reading said:

...and it looks like the vents are flat...

I meant the vents on the engine cover, i.e. the bootlid behind the rear window

[EDIT] Obvious answer is that the NA is the one that's smoothly going round the corner while the VXT is the one where the engine is wanting to put the car into a spin

Edited by Digital on Saturday 25th November 17:25

[graham@reading]

[pauljoecoe]

The black one is the turbo cause it its a guy called Partridge who is driving it and i know he has a turbo. It's going sideways becuase thats the way he likes to drive!

The yellow is an NA as doesn't have the front splitters and doesn't have the protruding side air intakes (ears)

It also looks like Partridge is passengering in the yellow one.

[mike9009]

Another visual difference between the NA and turbo is the headlights. The turbo have a black 'cowling' and the NA a silver 'cowling'

It is often a good way to see if the car has been in a smash. Check if the wrong type of headlights or rear lights have been fitted - however some early turbos were fitted with silver items as standard.

Mike

[qprgav]

The top one was a special edition, VX lightning. Also identifiable by the matt black windscreen surround and black alloys. Ran a 2.2 NA. It also received the dark headlamp cowlings

[siztenboots]

The turbo has dashboard pockets hidey holes above the inner sills ( the black bits ).

The turbo has a different Stack dash display , the fuel guage is a measure in blocks 'XXX---', the NA has 'litres remaining'

Turbo also has different window door seals at the top.

Na has a non standard wiper arm and blades.

[cyberface]

The turbo also has a funny rotating turbine assembly bolted to the exhaust manifold near the engine block, whereas the non-turbo has a plain exhaust manifold. Hope this helps.

[thunderace]

The Turbo also has an additional badge under the VX220 logo on the rear, it says 'Turbo'

This is an option for NA (No Acceleration) owners with very small willies

[cyberface]

thunderace said:

This is an option for NA (No Acceleration) owners with very small willies

Bloody hell, what must you think of those poor Elise owners with weedy 1.8 K engines - 'guaranteed by Lotus to have absolutely NO torque whatsoever'

[VxDuncan]

By different fronts do you mean the grill?

The top pic (the NA) has an aftermarket Imerser grill fitted. The tubby at the bottom has the std "V" grill. A black V is usually the sign of a VXR, though some owners paint theirs or remove the V completely.

If you really want nerdy trivia, apparently, as with all Vauxhalls, the Vx220 was designed as an Opel so was styled with the Opel lightning strike grill. The Vauxhall V was an afterthought and supposedly affects cooling due to the increased size. Being mid engined the biggest issue when tuning is heat / cooling -hence the ears on the turbo.