Fast Coupes Of The Eighties And Nineties

[cerb4.5lee]

s m said:

cerb4.5lee said:

A chap I used to work with had a Calibra 16v, and he always fancied a race with me in the XR4x4 that I had at the time. The opportunity never arose, however...even though both cars had the same 150bhp, I don't think that I would've stood a chance to be honest.

Was it the 4x4 Calibra 16v Lee or just the 2wd version? I don’t think there’d have been a lot in it between your XR4x4 and a 4x4 16v Calibra - similar weight, similar power. The Calibra was a chunk with the 4wd running gear
Same as with the front wheel drive Calibra 16v and the XR4i - similar power and weight - Calibra edged it on top speed …… but that’s over 130-ish

He had the 2wd version s m, and I think that I would've stood a good chance at the traffic light GP in the XR4x4 against it. But he wanted a blast down the motorway against me in it though, and I reckon he would've definitely come out on top in that scenario. An interesting match up though I think.

Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 29th June 08:50

[cerb4.5lee]

Terminator X said:

cerb4.5lee said:

A chap I used to work with had a Calibra 16v, and he always fancied a race with me in the XR4x4 that I had at the time. The opportunity never arose, however...even though both cars had the same 150bhp, I don't think that I would've stood a chance to be honest.

My Uncle had a XR4i when I was a kid and I remember it as being the most exotic car I had ever seen at that time. 2.8 engine afaik which was big for back then.

TX.

My uncle had an XR4i too!

He always let me drive it as well, and I was a big fan of it at the time. Both my XR4x4's had the 2.9 V6 in them though, and I do have a real soft spot for the Ford Cologne engine for sure.

[Puddenchucker]

I can't remember the last time I saw one of these on the road:

[s m]

cerb4.5lee said:

He had the 2wd version s m, and I think that I would've stood a good chance at the traffic light GP in the XR4x4 against it. But he wanted a blast down the motorway against me in it though, and I reckon he would've definitely come out on top in that scenario. An interesting match up though I think.

Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 29th June 08:50

There you go Lee - you can look and imagine how close

4wd 16v Calibra




4wd 2.9 XR4




2wd 16v Calibra





2wd 2.8 XR4

[cerb4.5lee]

s m said:

cerb4.5lee said:

He had the 2wd version s m, and I think that I would've stood a good chance at the traffic light GP in the XR4x4 against it. But he wanted a blast down the motorway against me in it though, and I reckon he would've definitely come out on top in that scenario. An interesting match up though I think.

Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 29th June 08:50

There you go Lee - you can look and imagine how close

4wd 16v Calibra




4wd 2.9 XR4




2wd 16v Calibra





2wd 2.8 XR4

Thanks a lot s m.

I really appreciate those tests for sure.

[Dapster]

Mr Tidy said:

Getting back onto Coupes at the time I had the Cavalier my sister had an 8V Calibra which looked great, but wasn't as quick as my Cavalier. But a 16V Calibra would have been pretty quick back in the 90s.

Forget about the humdrum underpinnings, they looked fantastic.

I'd imagine that turning up to the 1990 Salesman of the Year awards at the Daventry Travel Lodge in this, you'd be beating the telesales girls off with a stty stick!

[Mr Tidy]

Dapster said:

Mr Tidy said:

Getting back onto Coupes at the time I had the Cavalier my sister had an 8V Calibra which looked great, but wasn't as quick as my Cavalier. But a 16V Calibra would have been pretty quick back in the 90s.

Forget about the humdrum underpinnings, they looked fantastic.

I'd imagine that turning up to the 1990 Salesman of the Year awards at the Daventry Travel Lodge in this, you'd be beating the telesales girls off with a stty stick!

Love that story. Back in the early 90s my uncle was a Sales Manager and chose a Calibra as his company car - the salesmen only got a Cavalier!

[LuS1fer]

Dapster said:

Mr Tidy said:

Getting back onto Coupes at the time I had the Cavalier my sister had an 8V Calibra which looked great, but wasn't as quick as my Cavalier. But a 16V Calibra would have been pretty quick back in the 90s.

Forget about the humdrum underpinnings, they looked fantastic.

I'd imagine that turning up to the 1990 Salesman of the Year awards at the Daventry Travel Lodge in this, you'd be beating the telesales girls off with a stty stick!

Personally, I always loved the Cavalier and thought the Calibra inelegant and largely driven by greasy slick weasels.

[Rob 131 Sport]

LuS1fer said:

Dapster said:

Mr Tidy said:

Getting back onto Coupes at the time I had the Cavalier my sister had an 8V Calibra which looked great, but wasn't as quick as my Cavalier. But a 16V Calibra would have been pretty quick back in the 90s.

Forget about the humdrum underpinnings, they looked fantastic.

I'd imagine that turning up to the 1990 Salesman of the Year awards at the Daventry Travel Lodge in this, you'd be beating the telesales girls off with a stty stick!

Personally, I always loved the Cavalier and thought the Calibra inelegant and largely driven by greasy slick weasels.

I had a 94 Cavalier 2.0i GLS for a year back in 97, that I did 30,000 miles in. Whilst dependable, I was not overly impressed and didn’t see much of an improvement over the Mk2 Cavalier that I’d owned years earlier as my first car.
I thought the 2.0 CDX Vectra that replaced it to be a vastly superior car.

[sidewinder500]

Puddenchucker said:

I can't remember the last time I saw one of these on the road:

Thought the same last week, parked near my house, in classic faded red.

[B'stard Child]

sidewinder500 said:

Puddenchucker said:

I can't remember the last time I saw one of these on the road:

Thought the same last week, parked near my house, in classic faded red.

In Vauxhall circles it’s called Flame Red Pink

[Yertis]

IIRC the problem with the Tigra was that the rear glass cracked easily, and VX wouldn’t/couldn’t replace it. So I heard anyway.

[dr_gn]

I had a couple of Preludes in the '90s / early '00s.

First was a 2.3i, which was a great car - ace chassis with 4WS, very smooth engine (tried to start it while it was already running quite a few times). Surprisingly, the cylinder head cracked at around 100,000 miles. Common fault apparently:



Then bought a 2.2 VTEC, with leather interior and air conditioning. I didn't like it as much, and it eventually rusted away. The leather was not as comfortable as the cloth seats in the 2.3. The VTEC engine had to be revved to get anywhere, and the VTEC 'kick' was really nothing like people made out, more of a change on engine note with a slight change of pace. I didn't think it was much faster than the 2.3, and not as smooth:



I'd have another 2.3i today as a daily driver if there was a mint one with zero miles available.

[GTRene]

Today on a yearly buy sunday combined with a classic cars on the streets parked there, I saw a lovely Toyota Celica GT.

[Turbobanana]

Rob 131 Sport said:

I had a 94 Cavalier 2.0i GLS for a year back in 97, that I did 30,000 miles in. Whilst dependable, I was not overly impressed and didn’t see much of an improvement over the Mk2 Cavalier that I’d owned years earlier as my first car.
I thought the 2.0 CDX Vectra that replaced it to be a vastly superior car.

I accidentally acquired a very cheap, purple Vectra GLS V6 as part of a deal. Not quite sure what to do with it I ran it for a while and was impressed by its ability to eat up motorway miles, even if its handling left a little to be desired. I ended up giving to my then-girlfriend (now Mrs Banana) when she was at university, where it stood out somewhat among all the usual student cars.

I don't recall what happened to it, so I assume it passed an MoT and was sold.

[Yertis]

GTRene said:

Today on a yearly buy sunday combined with a classic cars on the streets parked there, I saw a lovely Toyota Celica GT.

There’s one of those for sale not far from me - £40,000

[GTRene]

Yertis said:

GTRene said:

Today on a yearly buy sunday combined with a classic cars on the streets parked there, I saw a lovely Toyota Celica GT.

There’s one of those for sale not far from me - £40,000

yeah, those 2.0 GT seems to go for good money, seem to be reasonable rare cars?

the best I've owned back then was a 1600 ST liftback, that was my second car ever, got a tip from a brother in law that a friend of his wanted to sell his because he could not drive it anymore.

was a nice car back then, but not a very sporty one, it was more soft indeed a soft GT car not GT like GT3 or so lol, so I never bought another, although back then I looked also at the 2.0 GT cars, but even then, no Internet and so on, difficult to find and also expensive for me back then.

[McGee_22]

Here's one of mine...

[Turbobanana]

McGee_22 said:

Here's one of mine...

Normally I can't stand BMWs, but that's bloody gorgeous!

[McGee_22]

Turbobanana said:

McGee_22 said:

Here's one of mine...

Normally I can't stand BMWs, but that's bloody gorgeous!

I have this one too...