SteveV-WRX

Just wondering if anyone has owned or had past experience with these cars.

I understand that the transfer box is prone to going t!ts up and the arches are very prone to rust, but what are they like as a cheepy run around?

Steve

what would scooby do

1) It's a poxhall
2) it's ****

say-no-more

Dazza01

correct mate, i owned the 4x4 non turbo version was on my 2nd box by the time i got rid........fooking ****e m8 IMO anyway, arches were good tho, i find that they were way too near the floor for me and those doors were massive, parking in a tight spot total bummer, didn't have it for long about a year i think, went and got a Vectra Sri far better

Rich D

iTrader: (12)

Oh yes...

I know 2 people that had Calibra Turbo's and one of my best mates had the Cavalier, but the Cav and one Calibra both went 2wd!

Wasn't cheap to fix back then, but I believe it's nowhere near as pricey now?!


They're not that bad though, reasonably quick, easily tuned, well trimmed up and the Cav is such a sleeper. Standard handling aint the best, but can be sorted. Brakes are superb though!

what would scooby do

Buy a corrado

Comper100

We had 3 Calibra turbos and they were all brilliant, the first one was the best in terms of raw speed, but they were all lush and great to drive. Nowadays they have probs with transfer boxes etc, but we always replaced the tyres in one go all round and we never had trouble.

Some people convert them to 2wd to avoid this but they were a great car and still look modern today, which takes some doing!

Comper100

Dave uk blue mica

had a cavalier turbo and it was a fantastic car, best bet is to ditch the transfer box though and put a blanking plate there, makes the car loads quicker then since it hasn't got the drag of 4 wheel drive, for the money their fantastic but don't run it in 4 wheel drive or you'll end up in tears cos the transfer box is very weak and costs about £1300 to replace.

Carl Davey

iTrader: (3)

I had the Cavalier Turbo and got so enthusiastic about them i even built a (crap) site for them...

If looked after the transfer box will last for years, however, the cars are mostly that old now that the majority have been used and abused. Shame really, i'd love to own another as a second car. The sleeper looks, leather and 6 speed are starting to appeal again.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

I heard mention of this thread and thought it would be useful to post a reply...

I presently own a Calibra 4x4 Turbo ('95 N-plate) with 112,000 miles on the clock and the original Transfer Box still in use, so I think it is safe to say that the comments on it being made of porcelain are a little exaggerated.

You DO have to take care of the TX it is true - you need to rotate the tyres to keep the tread depth between axles at 2mm difference or less. You also have to make sure that the tread depth on the same axle is as near as damn' the same. This is just taking care of the car... nothing special.

Without wishing to sound rude, the TX box only blows because of owner ignorance... but then there are lots of things that a comment like that can be aimed at... performance cars need taking care of.

You can get a complete replacement TX box for the Cally for £1075 all in from VTS in Kegworth.

Oh, and I REALLY don't agree with the comments of it being better in FWD only - you lose all the traction advantages of 4WD, and with 200+ bhp available, the handling is insane.

As to the rusty arches... this is on the pre-galvanised models, later models do not suffer from this problem - mine is still rust free, not DENT free... I bloody hate car-parks , and yeah the doors are huge and heavy! (the side impact protection doesn't help here)

The stock figures for a Turbo are 0-60 in 6.4 secs, Top Speed of 154mph, 204bhp and (I think) 210 ft/lbs torque.

However there aren't that many that are stock any more

Mine was last dyno'd at 240bhp / 260ft/lbs with the boost turning down to 10psi - It should be running (and now is) at 15psi held, 22psi overboost and it is swift!

There are examples of Cally Turbos running well in excess of 300bhp (one nutter is aiming for 400+ at the moment!!!) It is an EXCELLENT car, VERY easily tuneable with a realible 4-wheel drive system when it is taken care of, and in my opinion still one of the best looking cars on the road.

You get a full leather interior, heated seats, air-con, 6-speed gearbox, 4 wheel drive, plenty of power and oodles of torque... electric sun-roof, mirrors, good size boot, the ability to mod to your hearts content, and a damn' fine looking car (yeah okay I'm biased, so what )

If you want to find out more facts about the Calibra from owners, and not hearsay, pop over to www.clubcalibra.net - the official ClubCalibra site (I'm a site moderator on there), there is an active community, and a LOT of information available.

Falkirk.scoob

standard ones are very similar performance in a straight line to an early uk turbo (as i found out to my dissapointment a few years ago!)












)

SteveV-WRX

Keiran

cheers buddy, just registered.

sold the scoob, sick and tired of soaring costs.

put some dosh in the bank and brought a 2.5 V6 calibra, full heated leather, AC, etc for a grand and a half. bargan.

Steve

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Hey Steve and welcome - you're not too far from our regular Southern meet at Hook (nr Basingstoke) if you want, pop over for the next one...

(or the one after that as I think Billing gets in the way of the August one)

K.

oh, and yup the turbo cally is swift - I like to have the odd tussle with a scooby... I didn't say WIN, but it can be a laugh!

mn_angrybeats

LOL must be modified then as I have driven a couple and they have been horiffic

IanT

I owned a Cavalier Turbo for nearly 2 years/30k miles. When I sold it I'd modified it a tad ... it had new damper&springs and brakes that actually worked. Power was in-car adjustable from less-than-standard 180bhp to around 270bhp. I believe that 276bhp is the most the standard fuel injectors with deal with. I didn't touch the exterior, wheels or exhaust.

The engine is a classic, even as standard. Turbo-lag was virtually non-existent for its day (the turbo was built into the exhaust manifold ... don't know of any other manufacturer that's repeated this to-date and it certainly helped to reduce lag).

No problems with transfer box and I always replaced all 4 tyres together religiously. Handling went from crap (as standard) to not-bad (as modified).

Since then I've owned some "proper" performance cars (E34 M5, E36 M3, E46 M3, Caterham Blackbird) but I still look back on the Cavalier with very fond memories. It was my very first "very fast" car and I kept it for longer than most.

The only problem I had in 2 years' ownership was a blown head gasket which only cost around £280 to fix at the time. I think if I'd fitted the adjustable boost control earlier this wouldn't have been a problem.

Ian.

Dave uk blue mica

i know of a white N reg calibra turbo thats for sale if anyones interested???