All hail the power of the mighty Cavalier (Vauxhall Cavalier)

Member Name: tempest_pilot

Product:	Vauxhall Cavalier
Date:	26/10/06 (1492 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheapness, ease of maintenance, sporty fun with family practicality

Disadvantages: Tin worm

I currently own two 2.0 16v SRis;
One is the mighty C20XE redtop version and the other is the X20XEV ecotec version.
The redtop has the most of everything but it's all at the top of the rev range, meaning you have to be going fast to get the best out of it - whilst fun at speed, it doesn't really appreciate being pootled around town.
The ecotec has the better torque spread and is more useable in an everyday sense; a good 4-2-1 manifold puts it on a level playing field with the redtop, with this it will compete competently with it from standstill all the way up to the top of mid-range; from here the redtop's lumpier cams will edge it away from the ecotec. The milder cams do however make the ecotec more useable and unlike the redtop it will glide you around town.
Both cars have been lowered 40mm to rid them of that awful high, floaty production suspension setup and service/maintenance-wise they both get the same of everything, from tyres and brakes to fluids and fuel type. Both are driven the same way without any preference but as stated, the single biggest factor to level the playing field between the two units was the removal of the asthmatic lump of ironmongery that Vauxhall call an exhaust system from the ecotec - it truly strangled it's potential; whereas the redtop pulled you, you had to push the ecotec to get anything out of it. Both cars now have comparable manifolds feeding LongLife sports cats and free-flow systems.
Maintenance-wise, they both have their strengths and weaknesses; the redtop can suffer from 'porous head' whereby oil can migrate through too-thin gallery partitions and contaminate the coolant. This is a known problem, well documented and I believe there are companies out there who can now deal with the problem with the head in place. Older engines can be a bit tappetty on start-up whilst oil reaches the valve lifters although this usually disappears once the engine is warm. Other than that, the redtop really is an animal and will - with good servicing and care - take a beating completely in it's stride every time. You'll smile as you make a mental note of how many times modern sports-hatch pilots underestimate the redtop...
The early ecotec was plagued with sensor problems, the principal culprit being the cam sensor. This has been rectified by Vauxhall with a newer, more robust unit but it needs to be wired into the existing loom. The crank sensor can also go but really isn't any worse than any other manufacturers' crank sensors. Another worry is the tendency of the head gasket to fail between 70 and 100,000 miles, fortunately these engines are pretty easy to work on and a head gasket should be within the expertise of a reasonably competent DIY'er.
Having removed the external differences, it's interesting to note the way the engine differences have been highlighted; the redtop now surges relentlessly to it's formidable top end whilst the ecotec has a sparkling mid-range performance, a real firecracker.
Bang-for-buck, these cars are difficult to beat. I've owned both over a year now, and it's still special getting into them, even just for work, where they roster on a week on/week off basis. Build quality already mentioned, but when you consider they're now cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, easy to maintain (mostly), huge fun when you're out on your own and extremely practical if you're carting the family around it's hard to find anything better for the money.
Immensely tuneable, they can be worked to really annoy Impreza and Evo pilots.
Late-build cavs enjoy better build quality than early-build, go for something unmolested with the all-too-familiar rear arches intact and brace yourself for high-octane, cheap fun - these cars didn't dominate BTCC for half of the 1990s for nothing...

Summary: High-octane fun, even by today's standards, for bargain-basement costs

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