Nice New Vauxhalls

To many mechanics it is well known that Vauxhall’s smaller ‘Economical’ car engines often are restricted and don’t fulfill their best performance. To the average Joe this means nothing but to everyone else it matters and so this article is on the modifying the car engine and several car parts to improve performance.

So what can you do, well firstly you can buy another car engine, both expensive and takes time. Secondly you could not buy an ‘ECOTEC’ car engine and hopefully you will get the full horsepower you deserve, or thirdly you can modify it by adding some other car parts and modifying current ones.

We like the latter and so which vauxhall part can be used. Well it’s not a vauxhall part but a Dbilas inlet manifold to enable binning of the restrictive inlet pipe work, but if vauxhall made one then we would buy it. As well as being cost effective you can also do it in an afternoon as long as you know about a car engine and have some good tools and are not afraid to dismantle you car engine.

The kit costs over £800 (including software) but if you’re going to use the car for a while it’s a good investment. My suggestion is to do on older cars with many miles on the clock because it will see the best benefit and could also use the new car parts which you are going to add.

Right so how can you fit the kit onto you car engine, well firstly several vauxhall parts must come off the engine to gain access to the original manifold before replacing the manifold, putting some extra vauxhall parts in (such as a MAP sensor and a new vauxhall alternator) and securing the vauxhall parts back up again before installing software on your ECU. Also some original car parts must be shortened or modified to accommodate the inlet manifold such as fuel tank breather.

In-depth steps of how to do this are in the February (2007) issue 67 of TOTAL VAUXHALL magazine with detailed instructions and pictures (and is where the inspiration for this article came from). Once the inlet is installed and the vauxhall parts secured you need to install the software on the ECU, which can be done in 2 ways.

Firstly after the ECU has been fitted and all the vauxhall parts secured you can drive the car down to Regal for the software to be installed. Secondly you could send your ECU to them and they will install the software for you (you do this before fixing the car parts back into place). Note this is included in the original price and no extra cost is needed, just time.

Once the conversion is complete you should feel an increased performance such as more responsive car and an increase of rpm (around 2000) and an extra 28bhp (according to TOTAL VAUXHALL magazine, issue 67) and other factors such as fuel efficiency and braking times should be unaffected. Basically your gaining free horsepower which was their in the first place you just did not know it and all by adding and modifying vauxhall parts and an afternoon of free time.

Car Sparefinder

One of the most notable and best features of a Vauxhall Astra is the fact that the vehicle is quite spacious. Many Astras may to you look a little dated these days, but the most interesting thing about it is the fact that its less expensive then models of the same brand. This is in the sense that a used Vauxhall Astra will be less consuming when it comes to fuel intake, given the fact that the engine is already used. Of importance here is also the fact that you could as well come across a top of the range vehicle, with all the features of a high quality car at an unbelievably low price.

It is usually always a requirement that a vehicle owner makes sure that his vehicle is well covered by a reputable insurance company. It may come as a surprise but for an Astra the value of insurance that you will be required to pay will be relatively low. This is due to the fact that the vehicle’s price is generally low. When it comes to maintenance, there are some Vauxhall Astra schemes which will see to it that as soon as you purchase a used Vauxhall Astra, all you will need to do is remit some little amount of money with them so that whenever there are any maintenance problems, the scheme will always take care of them.

Most of you might be tempted to think that a used Astra may not have some electronic elements that you might find in a new car these days, but the truth of the matter is that it is no different from a new one, and it will come complete with even an air conditioning system. Interestingly enough, you might even be surprised to come across one fitted with anti lock braking. Buying a used one can be a great way to save money in the long run as the depreciation of the car will be far less than that of a new one.

Of course one must be careful when buying a used car especially if the car is particularly old. The really old cars can have multiple problems simply due to their age as the components in the car start to fail one buy one. In these situations you might find yourself paying more to repair the car than how much you paid for the car. To avoid this, try buying cars that are less than 10 years old as this should provide you with a few more years of life before your car starts falling to bits.

To find a used Vauxhall Astra visit carsource.co.uk and search through thousands of used Vauxhall Astra cars all over the UK.