1993 Vauxhall Cavalier SRi 16 valve from UK and Ireland - Comments

Cylinder head went porous. Most 1993 cars will go at some point as poor casting.£300.

Alternator-£10 from breakers.

Hydrolic Tappets- Not yet fixed, but very common fault.

Leaking sump. Common fault.

Fuel pipe split. Only cost £8.00 from Vauxhall.

The car is 150 bhp and it feels it. It does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. This makes it a class leader as it will bash mondeos etc all day long.

Lot of car for the money.

It is cheaper than the GSI and the insurance is cheaper. However it is a little faster as itis slightly lighter.

Parts are not that expensive.

If you buy one make sure it has the red top engine as the later echotech are less powerfull and less robust.

They don't handle great and wheel spin is a problem.

I've owned a Cavalier SRi 16v Ecotec for 3 years - it's just as quick as a GSi (which has the red top engine) and it's been very reliable.

How can you say the Ecotec is as fast as the GSi? Ecotec has 136bhp (I should know, I have one!) and the GSi has 150bhp!

LOL - 14bhp isn't a big difference... and the Ecotec SRi is newer, lighter and torquier than the GSi.

Can anyone can get me out of this one!! Any comments will be appreciated.

I own a 2.0 litre 16 valve (N reg) Ecotec engine, kept it well serviced, but have a little problem, which I cannot pin down.

Feel it's going to run out on fuel on me, almost dies and suddenly, picks up! (like the early cars with man/choke, drive a long then it dies, pull out for little, more choke, then it picks up fine there after). Bear this in mind, this has happened about four time in 12 months. The mixture is fine with nice golden colour plug tips. Would like to get to the bottom of it, would you all agree guys??

mike@mikeowen3.wanadoo.co.uk

Try asking on www.vxon.co.uk.

For the comment about the Ecotec being the same as the Redtop, whoever wrote that is very misguided.

C20XE (Redtop) 147bhp@6000 rpm & 144lb/ft@4600rpm.

X20XEV (Ecotec) 134bhp@5600 rpm & 138lb.ft@3200rpm.

C20XE 0 - 60 7.5 Seconds.

X20XEV 0 -60 8.4 Seconds.

Don't get me wrong, the Ecotec is a nice engine, but it's very shy and timid compared to the Redtop.

I had a GTE 16v with the 20xe engine, and a few modifications, and the thing used to scream (before it got stolen). Whereas the Ecotec is more of a loud humming sound in comparison.

I really enjoy driving the Cav I'm currently driving - a 1995 SRI 16v Ecotec, but the only this letting it down is the engine. As I don't want to buy an older car or go up in cc's, I think my best option is to ditch the Ecotec for a Redtop, and I know I'll be happy then.

final comment for the guy who said the Ecotec is equally as good as the Redtop - "don't be silly"

I've owned a few Vauxhalls 8v, 16v and although the XE redtop were king in their day, that was 12 years ago, things have moved on. Look at the astra VXR, nearly 240 bhp. The Calibra Turbo was only 204 bhp, that was a redtop (with turbo). And the Astra has to meet strict criteria on emissions. I agree the ECOTEC engines to replace the redtop were crap, but they're getting better at balancing power with emissions today. Look also at the new Corsa that's coming out, 200 bhp from a 1.6 turbo from the factory, usually the stuff of max power (well I'm pretty sure it's a 1.6).

I’m the guy who wrote the comment about the Ecotec being as quick as the Red Top, nearly 3 years ago now. Okay, in most circumstances the XE does have a slight edge over the Ecotec, but it certainly isn’t a big one.

In an Astra GTE, the Red Top is bound to feel livlier than a Cavalier SRi Ecotec due to the 250kg weight advantage, but in cars of equal weight there really isn’t that much in it (note: the 0-60 time quoted above is for the Cav SRi Red Top and is highly controversial in the world of the Vauxhall enthusiast). So, unless there’s something wrong with the Ecotec, swapping to a Red Top isn’t worth the hassle!

I've owned an immaculate red top SRi for the past year. It has never needed anything at all and has proved totaly reliable. When I was hunting for a good red top engined car I found that these went for roughly twice the price of cars fitted with the Ecotec engine. I have driven several ecotec engined cars including the Vectra SRi and find these very bland in comparison, they seem more refined, but very placid compared to the red top's manic and revy nature.

When I was deciding what I wanted I saw that a lot of people had problems with the engine management light coming on in cars fitted with the Ecotec engine and one of my friends had the same problem with his calibra, this put me off buying a car fitted with the Ecotec engine.

The red top engine is not without it's problems either, the worst of which seems to be head porosity! On my car this was solved by the fitting of a bypass pipe prior to me purchasing and the car has never lost any water at all and never overheats. This problem can also be overcome by the fitting of a Coscast head. Another problem seems to be noisy engines when cold, but mine has always been very quiet so I can't comment on this.

Looking back (and after driving both types of engines a good few times) it's not hard to see why red top engined cars fetch such good money, they really do bring out the hooligan in you (I should know better at my age) and are far more fun to drive that their Ecotec engined brothers. The ultimate fun has to be following beemers on the motoway at night... when they finally lose their bottle the look on their face to be passed by (surely not, shock horror)...a Vauxhall Cavalier is totaly priceless!

As a final note the red top engine is far far easier to tune than it's Ecotec brother and does not suffer from blocked breathers and plumbing. I have enjoyed mine so much that it has now been permanently garaged to preserve it's condition and another car has been bought as a daily driver.

Hi boys the red top engines are a lot better then the ecotec. the ecotec scream like baby's and the red tops scream with power. come on guys its only a engine.

I owned a calibra with an ecotec engine until my friend advised me to drop a redtop into it. well ill tell ya what that was the best thing my mate has ever advised me on. What a great difference in performance. Theres more pull in every gear including 5th and the sound is awesome. All I can say is I reccommend the redtop over the ecotec to anyone. what a great engine.

Is it possible to get a turbo for the corsa GSI 1.6 16valve?

Can it be taken from the cavalier SRI or are the pressures wrong?

It's possible to get a turbo for anything, the correct question is how much are you prepared to pay? DIY the job won't be easy, you may well have to use lower-compression rings and you'll have to tune the engine and turbo for the turbo's take-off point. Aftermarket kits are provided by Garrett and TurboTechnics; there's others too, but a good outlet to get consultation would be Courtenay Sport at:

http://www.courtenaysport.co.uk/default.htm.

They deal with specials and one-offs all the time.

Good luck.

Hi guys, 6 months ago I bought a 1993 Cavalier sri, which was also the year they introduced the ECOTEC (X20 XEV) engine. Luckily, and also the reason I did buy it, was it still had the (C20XE) or red top engine fitted, along with the updated Bosch m2.8 motronic ECU.

From the moment I drove the car, it was quick off the mark, and had a good top end to match.

Recently I decided to tweek the engine, and I would only recommend this if the mileage is low; mine has only 90,000 miles on the clock, and a full service history to show.

I started off with the normal low cost mods. I fitted an FSE and a 2.5 inch diameter stainless exhaust system, and straight away I noticed improved acceleration, and was pleased with the power increase.

Now I have spent a bit more, and have fitted a competition exhaust manifold, and had the ECU fitted with a power chip, followed by the air intake uprated.

Now the car produces an impressive 184.2 BHP, and does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, and maxes out at 144 mph. So it would seem the Red Top loves to be tuned, and I would always recommend this engine to you enthusiasts that want a fast naturally aspirated Vauxhall. Go for the Cavalier or Calibra, as it has less wind resistance. And also the mk3 Astra GSI is also a Redtop and is a little lighter.

Well happy playing people ;)

I have a ectoc vectra x20 xev and that at 185bhp kent cams decat manifold looking for turbo manifold.

ECTOC ALL THE WAY.