V6 XP Estate

[Ben Chiles]

Diary Time!

This is the new ride, another Vectra C, this time it's a 3.0 v6 cdti XP elite estate. Had it around four weeks now and absolutely loving the space again, after an MG TF! Only by chance did i come across it and when i found out that insurance costs wheren't going to be much more on this than a 150 i decided it was well worth a view! Here are the pictures off autotrader,not the best pictures to sell a car by huh:









Upon viewing i decided it was too good to let it pass and a few days later a deposit was down, honestly don't think the seller knew what he had!

This is it, the day i brought it home, typically raining so no chance of many pictures.



Anyway being an elite, it's pretty much top of the spec:

Full leathers, heated fronts
Bi-xenon Adaptive Forward Lighting headlights
The boot is on a popper and motor so can fully open and close at the touch of a button
Dual climate control
Factory fitted satnav
Aux-in for the headunit
Electric windows all round
Parking sensors
Roof bars

Then all the usual stuff:
Cruise control
Traction control
Electric, heated mirrors
Auto dim rear view mirror and drivers wing mirror
Flip keys
Front fog lights

The car also has, a parrot hands free kit fitted and a witter tow bar lol

Then the XP extras:

Front bumper splitter
Rear bumper splitter
Side skirts
Roof spoiler
18" XP alloys

Parkers reckon, 185bhp, 300lbs of torque and around 40mpg. I'm getting around 100 miles extra per tank full than my old Vectra C 2ltr Turbo and the full efficiency was the only thing that let the 2ltr Turbo down.

Anyway here's a few pictures and a couple of mods, starting with the rear end and a debadge



I wasn't sure whether to take the griffin badge off or not, so it stayed on



Then for some chrome rear bulbs





And while i was out there i decided to get rid of the griffin badge and change the tow bar cover lol





I've got used to the rear end now, at first it did look a bit plain but now i'm really glad i did it.









I've also changed the aerial for a much shorter Richbrook one



And here's a few pictures of the beast at the West Mids mk3oc meet like two weeks ago:







Few pictures of the interior, i'm in need of a set of mats so that's the next thing to get.







The latest purchase, i know - i'm mad, a mat for the boot instead of mats for the people has come first lol





Changed the tax disc holder





Few more pictures:







Heated battery bag?!





My old preface Vectra C had a bonnet lifter strut, bit weird the facelifts dont?!



I've also replaced the side indicators, really not too sure on these atm, so might end up colour coding them...









Sorry the car is filthy, it's been cleaned now, i just did the photos and cleaning in the wrong order lol

Chrome door handles





Anyway, i've got a few bits an pieces on the way, panel filter - so will do the airbox mod at the same time, cabin filter, mats and i've got a few plans for it now...

Colour code the chrome V grille and replace the backing mesh with vxr trim. Also replace the lower grille meshing with vxr trim



And i'm also going to replace the fog light surrounds with the vxr mesh pieces and add the chrome fog light surrounds, as this is how they are atm:



So i'm assuming the vxr meshes/trim will fit on/into this bumper?

[chewy71]

VXR mesh will not fit my friend,.. you'll need the XP2 bumper for that, you have the SRI bumper and XP splitter on yours.
you could fit signum ones....

Loads of toys on her I gotta say... and you've sold me on some chrome bulbs now!!

[chewy71]

VXR mesh will not fit my friend,.. you'll need the XP2 bumper for that, you have the SRI bumper and XP splitter on yours.
you could fit signum ones....

Loads of toys on her I gotta say... and you've sold me on some chrome bulbs now!!

[Ben Chiles]

Ahh bit gutted about the mesh not fitting

So i'm looking at this then and those will fit fine?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-S...2#ht_758wt_952

Or can you just buy these and will they just clip over the top of what i've got or not?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2608892389...9#ht_747wt_952

Ohhh the chrome bulbs are the first thing i do on all my cars! Only thing with the facelift is the fronts look a bumper off job, so i'm waiting until i've got everything i want to do to the front end purchased then i'll do it all in one :P

Will the vxr mesh for the grille and lower part of the bumper fit?

[Ben Chiles]

Double

[chewy71]

thats the ones,.. they're a straight swap. only mesh from the VXR that will fit is the upper section. On XP2 and VXR the lower section is larger.

Here's a pic of my XP2 front end showing the fog surround and detail (deeper than SRI) and also the lower aperture - clearly shows the plastic between both upper and lower grilles to be narrower than on standard SRI bumper

[Penfold101]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's either been accident repaired at the front or someone has swapped the front bumpers in the past. The car is plainly an XP2 model with it being on 08 plate, having the 18" alloys and the rest of the body kit. However the front bumper is definitely an ordinary SRi with the XP1 spoiler on it, so someone has either swapped the original because they wanted it themselves or knew they could sell it for a lot more, or it's been accident repaired to the wrong standard...

It's also only got he normal cross-hatched front grill and not the Signum one with one bar like Chewy's above. Whether these differences are because it's an Elite and not an SRi I'm not sure...

[Vectralicker]

was thinking same
but is it not due to the fact it has AFL and sensors?.....
Im sure that has something to do with it

[Penfold101]

was thinking same
but is it not due to the fact it has AFL and sensors?.....
Im sure that has something to do with it

Here's mine mate - it's an SRi but I don't think that should make any difference. I could be wrong though...

[Vectralicker]

i had an experience with a VXR grille once....... which was infact and SRi Grille.... cant quite remeber what it was.......

reagrdless this lad has a stonking hot car with the all important AFL and i am now his sex slave.
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