# It's FINALLY stopped raining - washed, waxed, and pics



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

As the title says, it's finally stopped raining here in Bristol, so after going out for a drive this morning, I seized the chance and gave her a good clean, wax, treated the leather and treated the roof. A few hours later and here's the results. She's now tucked away in the garage all shielded from the inevitable Bank Holiday rain tommorow! 

Having now been out in it this week a few times and given her a proper drive, I really am not regretting my decision one bit! It is so planted and loves to be thrown into corners. The acceleration is epileptic pulling in EVERY gear, and given that only about 1000 were ever made it has an air of exclusivity & q car about it (as much as you can in a Vauxhall  ), 'cos your everyday non-enthusiast simply doesn't know what it is (ask the guy in the BMW 330 cab who tried to take me on at the lights this morning!  )


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## David_A (May 7, 2002)

What did you treat the roof with - is it a cloth roof ???

Thinking I should probably be doing something to mine :?

Cheers


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

Looks good Kev.

I thought you'd taken it to The Ring with Stu & Rob, but i guess not.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

David_A said:


> What did you treat the roof with - is it a cloth roof ???


David,

I bought the Autoglym 'Cabriolet Fabric Hood Maintenance Kit', way back when I had my TTR. It is wonderful stuff for cars with 'fabric' hoods and was recommended to me by my ex girlfreinds dad who owns a car trimming company. It consists of 2 bottles which are a cleaner and a protector. Once every 12 months I treated and cleaned my TTR, the S2000 and now i'll be doing the VX. The most important bit about the treatment is the water resistant it gives the roof.

Hope this helps. 



W7 PMC said:


> I thought you'd taken it to The Ring with Stu & Rob, but i guess not.


Unfortunately funds and the 'in the air' situation with my car ownership, didn't allow me to go this year.


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## David_A (May 7, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> David_A said:
> 
> 
> > What did you treat the roof with - is it a cloth roof ???
> ...


Cool - ta, is Halfrauds open on a BH monday?

As my roof goes down virtually every journey there are a couple of crease marks appearing where it might not have been as dry as it should have been when I put it down - nothing unless you go looking for them though. I reckon out of the 7K I've done <200miles has been with the roof up (and that was mostly due to torrential rain or having whingy passengers - with hair ! )


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

Very nice, my Bro had a blue one (black and red is much better, not that im biased hehe) but modified it using a heavy right foot, a lack of talent and a lampost, hes got an Elise now and IMO the VX was much, much nicer. Not least of all because the bl00dy elise is about as waterproof as a mesh umbrella and u cant hear ure passenger speak above 80!

My sig still aint working, blasted thing.


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

Nice pics, Mr P. Really like the car.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

The Silver Surfer said:


> Nice pics, Mr P. Really like the car.


Cheers 



David_A said:


> Cool - ta, is Halfrauds open on a BH monday?
> 
> As my roof goes down virtually every journey there are a couple of crease marks appearing where it might not have been as dry as it should have been when I put it down - nothing unless you go looking for them though. I reckon out of the 7K I've done <200miles has been with the roof up (and that was mostly due to torrential rain or having whingy passengers - with hair ! )


David, one thing to note before you treat your roof. Make sure your roof is 100% fabric and not vinyl. The treatment has a special bonding formula in it that when applied to vinyl makes it rigid and will make it brittle and snap. For vinyl hoods Autoglym recommend Interior Shampoo to clean and Autoglym Bumper Care or Vinyl and Rubber Care to protect. 



Leg said:


> black and red is much better, not that im biased hehe


My S2000 was black with red leather, so the combo is defo a favourite of mine.


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## David_A (May 7, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> David_A said:
> 
> 
> > Cool - ta, is Halfrauds open on a BH monday?
> ...


Vinyl in an italian !!! not a chance matey, cheers for the tip though


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Looking very nice  
Also another vote for the Autoglum hood treatment


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## gcp (Aug 8, 2002)

Stunning car Kev.


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

V nice indeed Kev, I've always wanted a black car somthing to do with KITT i think 

How does it compare to your Trev in a straight line ?


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## Mrs Wallsendmag (Dec 13, 2005)

Looks really good


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## stephengreen (May 6, 2002)

Mr Powell, a very nice car/colour combination. [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Have considered a VX myself on many occasions. However it would mean running three cars which i cant justify, or afford. It may only be a "vauxhall" but i think from a "drivers" point of view there is nothing else to touch them for non electronic driving pleasure for the money. And, they don't come with a K series engine, which is the biggest reason not to have an older Lotus Elise IMO.
Was down in Bristol last month to pick my mates CSL up...it was raining then too!


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## ronin (Sep 6, 2003)

Kev, were you perchance in Green ST Green Kent last week?
Saw a black turbo, the same as the ones in the photos with a young guy driving.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

BAMTT said:


> How does it compare to your Trev in a straight line ?


On paper the VX is about the same to 60 (albeit a few tenths slower), but to be honest 'off the mark' it feels faster than the Tiv. I think that may be down to the VX being a turbo therefore giving the kick and epileptic feel to it! The VX is defo more raw though, so you can hear the gears clunking, wind noise etc, therefore does feel faster when you are 'in the cabin' at speed (especially with the roof off), however the T350 was effortless for getting silly speeds quickly. Swings and roundabouts really I think. 

My mate summed it up nicely for me the other day when he said the TVR was 'point & pray', where as the VX is 'point & play'. 



stephengreen said:


> Mr Powell, a very nice car/colour combination. [smiley=thumbsup.gif] Have considered a VX myself on many occasions. However it would mean running three cars which i cant justify, or afford. It may only be a "vauxhall" but i think from a "drivers" point of view there is nothing else to touch them for non electronic driving pleasure for the money. And, they don't come with a K series engine, which is the biggest reason not to have an older Lotus Elise IMO.
> Was down in Bristol last month to pick my mates CSL up...it was raining then too!


SG, cheers for the comments. I hear what you are saying, all the reviews I read rave about it and say that if you put the badge to one side, it is as good, and some say better(what car and Top Gear) car than the Elise. I looked at an S2 Exige and Elise 111R(Toyota engine), but they were substantially the wrong side of Â£20k, and an Elise the right side of Â£20k would have the Rover K Series engine, which as you say, is prone to unreliability(head gasket failure, mainly), so the decision for the bullet proof GM engined VX Turbo was taken and I got my 04 car for a whisker under Â£19k, with just 7600 miles on the clock. 



ronin said:


> Kev, were you perchance in Green ST Green Kent last week?
> Saw a black turbo, the same as the ones in the photos with a young guy driving.


'twasn't me mate i'm afraid. Been a bit under the weather this week, so not ventured out of Bristol in it yet.


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## NaughTTy (Jul 9, 2003)

Very nice Kev - always liked the VX. Not a car you see very often and usually in lurid colours!! Black and red is a great combo.



ronin said:


> Kev, were you perchance in Green ST Green Kent last week?
> Saw a black turbo, the same as the ones in the photos with a young guy driving.


Think I saw this one yesterday Gav - going through Otford towards Sevenoaks. Could have done with a clean though :roll:


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## scoTTy (May 6, 2002)

Looking good! 8)

I take it this is your one and only car? Do you not need an everyday one or will you be living with the VX?

Excellant car for fun. Not sure I could survive day to day with one though.


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## sssgucci (Nov 20, 2004)

The rain isn't helping here either. The best colour combo. Mighty impressive-well done.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

scoTTy said:


> I take it this is your one and only car? Do you not need an everyday one or will you be living with the VX?


Yep it's my only car Paul. I can't afford to run 2 cars, have no space for 2 cars, walk to work everyday, don't have any kids(that i know of!) so the need for 'family space' isn't required. 

Having passengered Rob across Europe last year (Nurburgring, then to Le Man) in his Exige, I personally think that these cars are misunderstood in terms of space etc. Putting to one side the 'rawness' of the car (the bare footwells etc), a VX/Elise/Exige has a boot that goes all the way to the sides of the car (I admit the boot entrance is small though), so is big enough to carry camping equipment, bags, clothes etc to cater 2 people for a week, so you can easily get a weeks shopping for 1 person (maybe 2 at a squeeze!) in it, and if you are out on your own you have the passenger seat/footwell to store stuff in as well. Granted it is by no means luxurious and it is a tight fit and I think it's defo more feasable than some may think, but I will be able to comment better after a few months or so living with it.


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## TeeTees (Mar 9, 2006)

Very nice looking car......I'm just wondering what the front would look like if that Vauxhall V was dropped ? Maybe a replacement front grille perhaps ?......this is just me thinking aloud BTW......still a beautiful car :wink:


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

Absolutely stunning 8)


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> scoTTy said:
> 
> 
> > I take it this is your one and only car? Do you not need an everyday one or will you be living with the VX?
> ...


Nice car.

You're correct on the luggage front - when I had my Elise I manged to cram enough in for 10 days in France - a little creative packing (filling shoes with small items etc.) but did not need to leave anything behind - even managed to fit the missus in as well!


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