Griff 500 to VXT anyone else done it ?
Discussion
I've owned many Tiv's including a Griff 500, I think the only thing you will miss is the comparative practicality of the Griff (big boot, lots of room in the cabin) and the noise.
Apart from that I think you will find the VXT is just as quick if not quicker in many situations. I went from Cerb to Griff back to Cerb then to Exige and now VXT . I think you will be amazed just how capable these little cars are, give it a go it will even be a releif to your wallet in comparison.
steve
I went from a 450 Chimera to a VXT.
The Chim was quicker off the line, (lots of torque from tickover) but once on the move, the VXT was as quick upto 70ish, after which, the VXT was quicker.
I have found some other main differences;
1) Its actually quite difficult to describe just how much better the handling on the VXT is. You have to try it to believe it.
2) The Chim had so much more road presence. The VXT is visually stunning and they are pretty rare, but there's little sense of occasion when you silently roll down the road. There's nothing like the sound of a big V8!
3) The VXT will cost you next to nothing to keep on the road. Annual servicing circa £120. Don't get me wrong, bit can drop off just like a TVR as the VXT is hand built also, but the bits are (generally) a lot cheaper.
After a year of ownership, I'm actually thinking of going back to TVR (Tamora) as I miss the sound!!!
The Chim was quicker off the line, (lots of torque from tickover) but once on the move, the VXT was as quick upto 70ish, after which, the VXT was quicker.
I have found some other main differences;
1) Its actually quite difficult to describe just how much better the handling on the VXT is. You have to try it to believe it.
2) The Chim had so much more road presence. The VXT is visually stunning and they are pretty rare, but there's little sense of occasion when you silently roll down the road. There's nothing like the sound of a big V8!
3) The VXT will cost you next to nothing to keep on the road. Annual servicing circa £120. Don't get me wrong, bit can drop off just like a TVR as the VXT is hand built also, but the bits are (generally) a lot cheaper.
After a year of ownership, I'm actually thinking of going back to TVR (Tamora) as I miss the sound!!!
wassy said:
Thanks for the advice.
Must admit Tamora's and T350's look pretty cheap but a friend of mine has just had a £3500 bill for his 10k mile Tamora. ( valves,guides,small ends and a main bearing )
Is it worth the risk ?
Must admit Tamora's and T350's look pretty cheap but a friend of mine has just had a £3500 bill for his 10k mile Tamora. ( valves,guides,small ends and a main bearing )
Is it worth the risk ?
I've had one or two big bills when running Tiv's and you do hear a lot of horror stories about reliability which no doubt as with everything are grossly exagerated. My Cerbera's both let me down at one time or another as did my Griff.So on the basis of these being weekend runabouts it not a very good track record.
Personally I would not buy a TVR without a good warranty and to that end would not buy privately either.When you look at servicing cost etc it is a bit of a horror story for the Tiv but that said I still think they are great cars.
If TVR's were as reliable and cheap to run as the VX I'd have one in my garage now and if the Tuscan didnt have the Sp6 engine in it (as does the Tamora and T350)I would have owned one of those by now as well.
i know lots of people like to keep their cars standard but have you noticed the mid range flat spot from the standard map??
just getting an ecu remap will give you a lot more driveability, and more power and the car will generally feel alot better.
ive got a full milltek on mine and the sound is awesome when booting it but its quite for normal driving.. not like the roaring engines at 1k rpm your used to.
in for stage 2 remap on monday so should be having maximum grin factor next week!
just getting an ecu remap will give you a lot more driveability, and more power and the car will generally feel alot better.
ive got a full milltek on mine and the sound is awesome when booting it but its quite for normal driving.. not like the roaring engines at 1k rpm your used to.
in for stage 2 remap on monday so should be having maximum grin factor next week!
I had a Griff 500 and I now have a VXT.
Noise and power delivery - no comparison, the Griff sounds lovely and has instant torque. The VXT still has residual lag though, since the car is so light, it's not that much of a big deal. The VXT feels much more like a Noble than a TVR though.
The handling and high-speed control of the Griff, while fun, was pretty pants IMO. The VXT handles so much better it has to be experienced to be believed. The car is very lightweight and you end up feeling like part of the car when driving it. I always felt like I was sitting 'on' the Griff and even though it was easy to drive sideways, it never really seemed that nailed to the road.
My Griff never leaked and was a practical, reliable car. My VXT is leaking even with a hard top, which pisses me off, but that's Lotus' piss poor quality for you. The Rover V8 TVRs aren't unreliable cars when properly looked after - there's none of that Speed 6 nonsense, so no real risk of multi-thousand-pound rebuilds. The RV8 in the Griff 500 does wear camshafts out if not used regularly, so low mileage cars are often well down on power. As a result, a VXT will be significantly quicker.
The VXT is pretty reliable because Vauxhall put the cars through an additional QA procedure after Lotus' so-called 'quality control'. However there are a few recalls that Vauxhall made that you'll have to ensure the car has been updated with (easy enough, any Vauxhall dealer can check), and there are a couple of regular failures (hoses pop off radiators in winter, for example, like mine did just before Christmas...) but nothing major. The cool thing about the VXT is that it's an Elise S2 with a decent engine - the Astra turbo engine is a bit heavier (iron block) but deals with the mid-engined cooling oddities that often turn the K-series into a head-gasket-eating mess. It's a reliable, strong, engine and feels very different to an Elise due to the torque.
In short, the VXT is a better driver's car even though it's missing the noise. The VXT's almost certainly faster in virtually all conditions, and I don't find I'm really missing the noise when driving hard...
However I found that the Griff was usable as an only car. My VXT is not - and I wouldn't advise trying to use one as a daily only car unless you're one of those heroes who think Caterhams are actually usable transport. 
Noise and power delivery - no comparison, the Griff sounds lovely and has instant torque. The VXT still has residual lag though, since the car is so light, it's not that much of a big deal. The VXT feels much more like a Noble than a TVR though.
The handling and high-speed control of the Griff, while fun, was pretty pants IMO. The VXT handles so much better it has to be experienced to be believed. The car is very lightweight and you end up feeling like part of the car when driving it. I always felt like I was sitting 'on' the Griff and even though it was easy to drive sideways, it never really seemed that nailed to the road.
My Griff never leaked and was a practical, reliable car. My VXT is leaking even with a hard top, which pisses me off, but that's Lotus' piss poor quality for you. The Rover V8 TVRs aren't unreliable cars when properly looked after - there's none of that Speed 6 nonsense, so no real risk of multi-thousand-pound rebuilds. The RV8 in the Griff 500 does wear camshafts out if not used regularly, so low mileage cars are often well down on power. As a result, a VXT will be significantly quicker.
The VXT is pretty reliable because Vauxhall put the cars through an additional QA procedure after Lotus' so-called 'quality control'. However there are a few recalls that Vauxhall made that you'll have to ensure the car has been updated with (easy enough, any Vauxhall dealer can check), and there are a couple of regular failures (hoses pop off radiators in winter, for example, like mine did just before Christmas...) but nothing major. The cool thing about the VXT is that it's an Elise S2 with a decent engine - the Astra turbo engine is a bit heavier (iron block) but deals with the mid-engined cooling oddities that often turn the K-series into a head-gasket-eating mess. It's a reliable, strong, engine and feels very different to an Elise due to the torque.
In short, the VXT is a better driver's car even though it's missing the noise. The VXT's almost certainly faster in virtually all conditions, and I don't find I'm really missing the noise when driving hard...
However I found that the Griff was usable as an only car. My VXT is not - and I wouldn't advise trying to use one as a daily only car unless you're one of those heroes who think Caterhams are actually usable transport. cyberface said:
I had a Griff 500 and I now have a VXT.
Noise and power delivery - no comparison, the Griff sounds lovely and has instant torque. The VXT still has residual lag though, since the car is so light, it's not that much of a big deal. The VXT feels much more like a Noble than a TVR though.
The handling and high-speed control of the Griff, while fun, was pretty pants IMO. The VXT handles so much better it has to be experienced to be believed. The car is very lightweight and you end up feeling like part of the car when driving it. I always felt like I was sitting 'on' the Griff and even though it was easy to drive sideways, it never really seemed that nailed to the road.
My Griff never leaked and was a practical, reliable car. My VXT is leaking even with a hard top, which pisses me off, but that's Lotus' piss poor quality for you. The Rover V8 TVRs aren't unreliable cars when properly looked after - there's none of that Speed 6 nonsense, so no real risk of multi-thousand-pound rebuilds. The RV8 in the Griff 500 does wear camshafts out if not used regularly, so low mileage cars are often well down on power. As a result, a VXT will be significantly quicker.
The VXT is pretty reliable because Vauxhall put the cars through an additional QA procedure after Lotus' so-called 'quality control'. However there are a few recalls that Vauxhall made that you'll have to ensure the car has been updated with (easy enough, any Vauxhall dealer can check), and there are a couple of regular failures (hoses pop off radiators in winter, for example, like mine did just before Christmas...) but nothing major. The cool thing about the VXT is that it's an Elise S2 with a decent engine - the Astra turbo engine is a bit heavier (iron block) but deals with the mid-engined cooling oddities that often turn the K-series into a head-gasket-eating mess. It's a reliable, strong, engine and feels very different to an Elise due to the torque.
In short, the VXT is a better driver's car even though it's missing the noise. The VXT's almost certainly faster in virtually all conditions, and I don't find I'm really missing the noise when driving hard... However I found that the Griff was usable as an only car. My VXT is not - and I wouldn't advise trying to use one as a daily only car unless you're one of those heroes who think Caterhams are actually usable transport.
Noise and power delivery - no comparison, the Griff sounds lovely and has instant torque. The VXT still has residual lag though, since the car is so light, it's not that much of a big deal. The VXT feels much more like a Noble than a TVR though.
The handling and high-speed control of the Griff, while fun, was pretty pants IMO. The VXT handles so much better it has to be experienced to be believed. The car is very lightweight and you end up feeling like part of the car when driving it. I always felt like I was sitting 'on' the Griff and even though it was easy to drive sideways, it never really seemed that nailed to the road.
My Griff never leaked and was a practical, reliable car. My VXT is leaking even with a hard top, which pisses me off, but that's Lotus' piss poor quality for you. The Rover V8 TVRs aren't unreliable cars when properly looked after - there's none of that Speed 6 nonsense, so no real risk of multi-thousand-pound rebuilds. The RV8 in the Griff 500 does wear camshafts out if not used regularly, so low mileage cars are often well down on power. As a result, a VXT will be significantly quicker.
The VXT is pretty reliable because Vauxhall put the cars through an additional QA procedure after Lotus' so-called 'quality control'. However there are a few recalls that Vauxhall made that you'll have to ensure the car has been updated with (easy enough, any Vauxhall dealer can check), and there are a couple of regular failures (hoses pop off radiators in winter, for example, like mine did just before Christmas...) but nothing major. The cool thing about the VXT is that it's an Elise S2 with a decent engine - the Astra turbo engine is a bit heavier (iron block) but deals with the mid-engined cooling oddities that often turn the K-series into a head-gasket-eating mess. It's a reliable, strong, engine and feels very different to an Elise due to the torque.
In short, the VXT is a better driver's car even though it's missing the noise. The VXT's almost certainly faster in virtually all conditions, and I don't find I'm really missing the noise when driving hard...
However I found that the Griff was usable as an only car. My VXT is not - and I wouldn't advise trying to use one as a daily only car unless you're one of those heroes who think Caterhams are actually usable transport. I would just echo the last part on practicality, I use mine as my only car and whilst 90% of the time its fine, the lack of space can be a pain.
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