1992 Vauxhall Calibra from UK and Ireland - Comments

Exhaust.

Head gasket.

Suspension.

Excessive tire wear.

Cambelt.

Still an attractive car even by today's standards, but the 8 valve is definitely not recommended. Sluggish off the mark and very poor when it comes to cornering. Mainly suitable for motorway or "A" road cruising at speed.

Recently the price of Calibra's has fallen through the floor making them accessible to boy racers which is why the insurance is very high.

Ignore what some say, this is not a Cavalier SRi. They are half the price and much faster, but if you want something different that still turns peoples heads get yourself a Calibra 16v. I intend to.

I own a 8V Calibra. They are certainly not sluggish and the suspension is the same as the 16V therefore the handling is the same!! The car does 0 - 60 in around 8.5 seconds and a top end of in excess of 130mph. This is more respectable than most "Hot hatches" like the GTI's, XR2i's and Celica's etc. The 8V even has more torque than the 16V. With a few choice mods the Calibra 8V is great value and fun and the insurance is reasonable.

I am also another confused 8v owner. The majority of these statements are pure nonsense. Reliability wise the 8v is superior due to nylon components within in the 16v lump which wear and are extremely expensive to replace. If both engines are modified (and even in standard form) there is little horses of difference.

My '93 K plate SE1 is also not slow by any means. I did a simple airflow mod which did not cost a penny and this provides me with a little extra torque/hp and breathability. Also to agree with the last comment about handling - the suspension/handling setup is identical on 8v & 16v models so that first comment was false.

Also Cavalier SRis are not faster. The drag co-efficient (this car being one of Vauxhalls most aerodynamic ever built) on the Calibra is considerably less which compensates for the very slight weight difference and as every educated Cav/Calibra owner would know the engine and transmissions are identical producing the same output.

So to summarise - I'm delighted with my 8v SE1 and wouldn't swap it for the world (except for the 2.5l V6 which is a different thing altogether)!

8v Calibras are nowhere near as torquey as the 16v, and are very sluggish in comparison to a decent c20xe fitted Calibra, the newer ecotec 16v engines are around the same power as the 8v (130bhp), the c20xe is 150bhp. The c20xe engine has won awards for its reliabilty, I have known these engines to cover 250,000 miles with ease. 8v's just can't hold the gears like a 16v and lose a lot of power after 5500 rpm, at this point a c20xe is just coming to its best...

Anyone who knows the basics about cars knows that 8v cars don't need to be revved as hard as their 16v equivalents. If you're revving an 8v car past 5500rpm, whether it be a Calibra or not, you aren't driving it properly and you won't get the best out of the engine.

OK, if U put two Calibras, one is 8V and the other is 16V side by side, and test them on 0-400m track, it is 16V that will be the winner.So, I think that any one would agree with this.even, if U tune 8V engine (racing cams etc.) and make it an 150HP engine, as 16V, and test them again. U will have the same score.16V will again be the winner. I had Calibra 8V (130HP),and now I have Vectra 2000 (that is same like Cavalier GSI in UK) wit c20xe "red top" 16v engine, performance of 16v is way better than 8v...

30-06-03 I've had two calibras a16v and a turbo and I'm busy looking for my next one any model will do 8v 16v v6 as long as it says calibra on the back I'm not bothered.

First I used to work for vauxhall and the 8v calibra is more reliable than the 16v, i own a 8v h reg and my car will keep up with any 16v calibra, my engine only has 1 mod, and no a vauxhall cavalier sri will not out pase a calibra 8v they are the same engine, but the shell is built that way for a reason to make it faster and more areodynamic.

I have a c20xe (red top 16.v 153 bhp) in a Nova and my little cousin has a 20seh (cav sri 130 bhp) engine in a Nova two identical cars in every aspect from paint, exhuast, to suspension.

The cars really turn some heads me and my cousin constantly racing and he is always last every time. He is well anoyed and growing firsty for more power, NOS is an option, but expensive as he would use a lot of it. I have a spare c20xe engine, but he cannot aford to insure it as he is only 17 years of age. There is a real problem brewing because one of the lads has spent silly money having a c25xe (red top 2.5 v6 180 bhp Approx) engine in a corsa-B he has a rich daddy. The corsa doesn't really pose a problem to me its 200 + kilos more than a nova and the engine is heavier aswell so I'm having £3000.00 worth of throttle bodies and ignition management. This will lead to a massive 220+bhp and a major torque figure on normal aspiration (no turbo). Can any one help with some cheap tricks to improve the 8-valve nova please. bad boy racer.

I had a vauxhall nova 2L 16i and it was the worse thing I ever did. six months after we transplanted the engine the sub frame snapped. I now have a calibra and unlike the nova the frame and chassis can handle the weight and power.

Right let me set the record straight now about calibras coz I realy don't no where you people are getting these bhp from, lets start with the 8v, the 8v is at standard 115 bhp that's right its not the same as a cav sri, a cav sri is 130 bhp, the sri has 2 different things than the 8v, theses things are the sri has a different head and ecu system, if you think I'm wrong call vauxhall they will tell you the same thing, but its not all bad coz the 8v is more reliable than the 16v

right the 16v is 150 bhp as standard, but yes the parts are more expensive than the 8v and the reliabilty is bad as the head is proun to go on them.

Some of the previous comments I read have nothing to do with reality. The facts are :

C20NE (2.0 8v) has 115hp@5200rpm and 170Nm@3800

C20XE (2.0 16v) has 150hp@6000rpm and 198Nm@4500.

As standard the Cossie headed is faster, but as modded I would certainly recommend the 8v. Not that it will be faster (they have identical performance), but I more reliable. I have 2 Cav's, and just sold the 3rd one a week ago. My 8v one will beat any standard 16, and will be close to a modded one, but in front of it. It is almost as fast as my 2.5. Yes, some people will say the 2.5 is in bad condition, but no, it's not. It's just with the right mods power goes from 115 lazy horses to 160 wild mustangs.

By the way, I love my 2.5 because not only is it fast, but also so easy to drive, pulling away at any rpm.

Boys...boys...boys were are you coming from, as a proud owner of a calibra c20xe coss cast...your comments about the 8v amuse me through and through. the stats that are listed seem to be somewhat misguided in my experience with my superior 16v..yes 16v..not 8v..i said 16v c20xe engine.

For eg. the 8v has 115 (bhp) @ 5500rpm

the 16v has 150 (bhp) @ 5500rpm not 6000rpm.

So all you 8v people, one last comment for you to dwell over:

how is it that the 16v is chosen to be used in mod cars for rallying even in fords, over the 8v in your opinion better engine...

Hi I own a 8v calibra can anyone tell me some good engine mods I could do to increse bhp please.

Just to add a further detail on Calibras: there are two 16V 2.0L versions:

1. 150 bhp c20xe engine; generally very reliable except for some head problems on earlier models. The extra power on this model is attributed to the Cosworth-cast head and the sequential fuel injection. Note that most 2.0L engines of other makes reach at max 140 bhp as standard.

2. 138 bhp x20xe ecotec engine; replaced the above after 1993. Has better emission figures, same acceleration, slightly lower top speed. Some breathing problems may effect reliability.

Also, note that acceleration of the 2.5 V6 model is no better than for the above! It is in torque, top speed and comfy gear ratios where the V6 model wins.

The top of the range was however the 2.0L turbo (same engine as 150bhp type above, but with turbo) with four wheel drive and 210bhp.

One final comment: the Calibra was the first production car ever to have a drag coefficient of only 0.26, a figure which is still the envy of other makes even today!

As a owner of the 16v 20xe calibra I can say the 8v calibra is nowhere near as fast as the 16v if you don't believe me buy yourself a copy of performance vauxhall it clearly states the 8v does 60 in 10secs as the 16v does it in 8.5 seconds. Also 16v top end is 139 as the 8v does a respectable 127 so there.