Astra H VXR Sprint

Courtesy of Pro Alloy Motorsport, I have a gearbox breather tank to add to the gearbox. Fitting one allows about an extra half litre of gearbox oil to be run in the gearbox, allowing for better lubrication and a larger volume of oil will dissipate more heat.

First the batter, and battery tray have to be removed. This give access to the top of the gearbox. The fill plug is removed and replaced with the supplied fitting to convert the fill plug into a breather point. Here it is fitted into the top of the gearbox. The second breather point can be seen top left of the picture:

8mm Fitting for Gearbox Breather

The breather tank is to be bolted to the bulkhead, so an M6 jack nut was installed into the bulkhead and tightened securely:

M6 Jack Nut Mounting

A hole was then made in the bulkhead sound deadening with a soldering iron to allow the bolt to pass through and into the captive nut:

Mounting Hole Through Sound Deadening

Both lengths of hose (one 10mm and one 8mm) were then measured and cut and then fitted to the two breather points with hose clips and then onto the breather tank on the bulkhead:

Gearbox Breather Points

And here is the breather tank bolted to the bulkhead:

Black Breather Tank Fitted

After the remaining modifications were carried out during August and September, November was the ideal opportunity to get back out on track; Saturday 3rd.

The changes for the latter half of the year consisted interior improvement, suspension alteration and rear brake improvement. The interior changes have seen the addition of the Safety Devices rear half cage, Sabelt 4-point harnesses and Recaro Pole Position seats to help with stiffening the vehicle’s shell and improving driver comfort. The extra suspension improvements include a damper change to Bilstein B8 spec which were fitted with new DAP lower, stiffer ‘Race’ spec springs and the rear brakes have been replaced with a vented and grooved 292mm kit, which will help with preventing the rear end going light under extreme braking.

A cool, and on occasion wet November day was the ideal chance to test out the car again and see what a difference the changes have made. The most noticeable changes to the chassis have come from the new dampers and springs improving the handling and road holding, but matched to this is the reduction in flex in the chassis due to the roll cage; the chassis is much stiffer which has helped with turn-in and the new seats and harnesses are not only more comfortable but as a driver you are held more securely with no movement, unlike factory seats and 3 point road seat belts.

Garage @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

Garage @ Snetterton

Garage @ Snetterton

Pit Lane Snetterton

Pit Lane Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

Pit Lane Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

Paddock @ Snetterton

Garage @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

On Track @ Snetterton

Garage @ Snetterton

Pit Lane Snetterton

Track Day organised by OpenTrack www.OpenTrack.co.uk
Thanks to Tony Harrison for the on track shots © Copyright Terms: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

The boot area has been painted in Satin Black to finish off the area.

During painting:

Boot Area Being Painted

Boot area painted:

Boot Area Painted

To cover the spare wheel well I sourced a pre-cut perspex panel, with a central hole cut in it allowing it to be secured by the original locking piece. The panel is to stop things crushing the boot carpet into the spare wheel well when the car is loaded up en-route to track days:

Perspex Spare Wheel Well Cover

And here it is fitted. A few pre-cut self adhesive felt pads have been stuck to the underside around the edge to prevent rattling:

Perspex Spare Wheel Well Cover Fitted

Here is the roll of interior carpet I sourced for the boot and rear area. Not cheap at £60 for the roll, but it is of a very high quality and all but matches the factory interior trim:

2m Sq Interior Carpet

Laid out ready for initial cutting, which was quite nerve-racking when you start to cut given the cost of the carpet!

Boot Carpet Ready for Cutting

Boot Area Carpeted, with the carpet being cut around the roll cage and the other rear trim:

Boot Carper Being Fitted

And finished; fully carpeted boot and rear area:

Boot and Rear Area Fully Carpeted

Having previously fitted a pair of new factory drop links when I changed all the front suspension bushes over to polyurethane bushes, I had a pair of adjustable motorsport aluminium drop links sent to me by Whiteline so decided it would be rude not to fit them. The nearly new factory drop links will get swapped across onto my other road-going Astra H VXR, so they will not go to waste.

Whiteline Motorsport Drop Links

To make the car stand out a little from most other Astra VXRs I have decided to finish off the exterior with some carbon fibre components; a V Grille, Front Lower Spoiler and Rear Diffuser.

Carbon Fibre V Grille:

Carbon Fibre V Grille

Front Lower Spoiler:

Carbon Fibre Front Lower Spoiler

Carbon Fibre Rear Diffuser:

Carbon Fibre Rear Diffuser

OE foglight surrounds, prepared for the carbon fibre covers:

Foglight Surrounds

OE surrounds with Sikaflex bonding agent:

Front Foglight Surrounds with Sikaflex

Foglight Surround Prepped

Foglight Surround Prepped

The carbon fibre covers have been fitted to the OE surrounds and all the edges have been stuck down with masking tape to ensure all the edges are stuck down properly as the bonder ‘goes off’:

Carbon Fibre Covers During Fitting

And the finished surrounds:

Carbon Fibre Surrounds Fitted

Carbon Fibre surrounds fitted into the front bumper with the extra large foglight delete brake cooling ducts:

Carbon Fibre Surrounds Fitted to the Front Bumper

Carbon Fibre Surrounds Fitted to the Front Bumper

Front end with carbon fibre detailing:

Carbon Fibre Front Splitter and V Grille

Front View:

Front End V Grille and Splitter Fitted

Rear View:

Carbon Fibre Rear Diffuser

Just needs a Carbon Fibre Boot Strip to finish it off.

Replacing the factory front seats for the Recaro Pole Position seats also means the factory seat belts and pre-tensioners are being removed (although for road use the Recaro Pole Position seats are approved for used with the factory seat belts and pre-tensioners) and 4 point Sablet harnesses are being used.

I have chosen Sabelt harnesses, with pull down straps and are supplied complete with snap hooks to attach the straps to the eye bolts.

The shoulder straps are simple to fix into the car, one of the reasons a rear cage is being fitted. The rear cage was manufactured with captive threads in the harness bars and the eye bolts are screwed in ready for the shoulder straps to clip on;

Roll Cage showing Eyelets

The outer lap straps are also pretty straightforward to fix in, because an eye bolt can simply be screwed into the captive thread originally used for the lower seat belt retainers at the base of the ‘B’ pillar, once they are removed from the car. The eye bolt screws in (right) but removing the OE bracket also leaves a hole in the trim (left);

Outer Eyelet Fitted

Which can be blanked by an OE looking blanking piece;

Outer Eyelet and Blank

The inner eye bolt provision is a little harder to do as there is a fair degree of work involved and they will need to screw into the centre tunnel. First the front seats have to be removed, along with the front centre console and the front carpets need to be moved out of the way. Then underneath the car the heatshield around the exhaust centre section also has to be dropped off the car.

The inner eye bolt is fitted opposite the outer eye bolt, so the mounting location into the centre tunnel is measured and marked and then a suitable size hole is drilled in the tunnel. From underneath a pair of eye bolt backing plates 65mm x 65mm with a 7/16 UNF captive nut on them need to be welded to the underside of the tunnel. Also another plate was fitted on the inside of the tunnel. These are a strengthening plate and are essential for safety reasons. The eye bolts were temporarily screwed in to allow the plates underneath to be held securely in place while they were welded to the tunnel. The welds were then seam sealed.  The exhaust heatshield was then refitted. The eye bolts were then removed and then refitted after a small slit was cut in the carpet to allow the eye bolt to be screwed in through the carpet once it is refitted.

Eye Bolt Backing Plate

Inner Eyebolt Fitted (before carpet is refitted)

Continuing on with the track day theme for the car I decided that a roll cage was in order. The roll cage was required to not only add to the track day theme of the car but also to compliment the Recaro Pole Position seats and Sabelt harnesses, because I needed somewhere to safely secure the shoulder straps to but also to help stiffen the shell for track use. With regards to safely fitting harnesses, I certainly wasn’t prepared to risk mounting harnesses to the original seatbelt mounting points as is often the case for road cars, as this is highly dangerous especially if the harnesses are called into use (which I obviously hope they aren’t!)

After looking around I felt a rear 4 point or half cage was in keeping with a track day car, rather than a full 6 point cage. The cage bolts into the car at 4 points, at the base of the B pillars and into the suspension turrets. Brackets which are supplied with the cage are welded into the vehicle’s floorpan and then the cage is bolted in securely. The Safety Devices Rear Roll Cage ticked all the boxes for what I needed.

So the cage arrived direct from Safety Devices:

Roll Cage Arrives

And was quickly unwrapped!

Being Unpacked

As this was a track day car, and not a fully stripped out race car, I was fitting the cage into the car and retaining the factory interior trim. However to fit the cage all the interior trim had to be removed from both sides and also the centre console. This has to be done to get all the interior time out of the way for welding. It allowed the brackets to be offered up into the car along with the roll cage. Once the cage was strapped down the required holes were drilled. Once sure on the fitment the cage was removed and then the brackets were tacked into place into the car.

Roll Cage Mounting Brackets

The cage was then be offered up and checked for fit to be 100% sure.

Once the fit was established as good, the cage was then removed and the mounting brackets were then fully welded into the car, and then seam sealed and painted.

The interior side trim panels were then put back into the car

The cage was then put back into the car and then bolted home:

Roll Cage Trial Fit

Then the protective plastic was removed.

Roll Cage

Roll Cage

Roll Cage

Roll Cage

Roll Cage fitted with Recaro Seats and Sabelt Harnesses:

Roll Cage Fitted with Seats and Harnesses

Roll Cage Fitted with Seats and Harnesses

With the front factory Recaro seats being removed as they are not ideal for track day use, I chose Recaro Pole Position seats as a fitting replacement. They are finished in Nardo/Artista Black fabric, and are, in my opinion, one of the best seats on the market. Very comfortable, very supportive on road and track and they look fantastic from every angle. They also offer a huge weight saving, with the factory seats weighing in at nearly 25kgs each, these Recaro Pole Position seats weigh in at around 7kgs. When fitted the Recaro Pole Position seats also sit much lower making for a better driving position.

I have had them supplied with the vehicle specific Recaro subframes (which have also on occasion been fitted os Original Equipment (OE) into certain factory Opel/Vauxhall vehicles), which mount directly into the vehicle’s original floor fixings so they really are a truly OE fit with no cutting, welding or creating your own floor mounts saving time, hassle and making for very simple straightforward fitment. The Recaro subframes also retain the sliding mechanism making access into the car and the seating position easier to set and I have also specified the aluminium side plates for mounting the seats to the subframes. There was a steel side mount option but this is heavier, albeit slightly cheaper option.

To compliment the Recaro seats, I have chosen Red Sabelt 4 Point track day pull down harnesses. They feature a push button buckle, similar to a road seat belt buckle, making them acceptable for road use and an MOT pass and are secured into the car via 4 snap-hook fixings; 1 at each side and 2 onto the harness bar of the roll cage for the shoulder straps.

Here is one of the Recaro Pole Position Seats:

Recaro Pole Position Seat

This is one of the supplied subframe kits ready to be built up:

Recaro Seat Subframe

And these are the alloy side mounts:

Recaro Alloy Side Mounts

Seat Built Up onto Subframe with Side Mounts:

Seat Built Up onto Subframe with Side Mounts

Recaro Floor Mounts fitted into the car:

Recaro Floor Mounts Fitted

Recaro Pole Position Seats fitted with Sabelt Harnesses:

Fitted with Sabelt Harnesses

Fitted with Sabelt Harnesses

After the car’s first outing on track, at the end of July, on its original suspension which comprised DAP Road Springs and factory VXR dampers, I decided it was time for an upgrade to something more track biased. The original suspension is very capable for fast road use, but I wanted something more track orientated. So DAP Race Spec springs and Bilstein B8 dampers are being fitted. A massive thank you to Bilstein UK for the supply of the fantastic B8 dampers.

The DAP Race Spec springs are further uprated and slightly lower than their road spec siblings and work exceptionally well on the uprated Bilstein B8 dampers. Due to the removal of the rear seats, reducing the weight of the rear of the car, a slightly lower spec rear spring was chosen to reduce the rear ride height slightly.

Original Front DAP Road Springs and VXR Factory Dampers:

Original Front Springs and Dampers

Original Rear DAP Road Springs and VXR Factory Dampers:

Original Rear Springs and Dampers

DAP Race Spec Front Springs:

DAP Race Spec Front Springs

DAP Race Spec Rear Springs:

DAP Race Spec Rear Springs

Bilstein B8 Front Dampers, which have much thicker struts compared to the factory dampers:

Bilstein B8 Front Dampers

Bilstein B8 Rear Dampers:

Bilstein B8 Rear Dampers

New Top Mount (Upper Spring Support), Bearing and Rubber Gaitor for the front assembly:

Top Mount, Bearing and Gaiter

Front Spring and Damper assembly built up ready to go onto the car, making fitting a simple straight swap:

Front Damper Built Up

Rear Springs and Dampers fitted:

Rears Fitted

Rears Fitted

Rears Fitted

Front Struts fitted:

Front Strut Fitted

Front Strut Fitted

Front Strut Fitted

Front Eibach Camber Bolts (top), adding some additional negative camber for improved turn in for track use:

Camber Bolt

Damper Retaining Clips and new rubber cover:

Strut Top Clips and Cover

Original plastic covers (top) and new replacement rubber covers (bottom) which seal better:

Damper Covers

Retaining clips fitted, securing the damper into the suspension turret (covers to be fitted):

Strut Retaining Clips Fitted

With the factory seats removed (they are being replaced with Recaro Pole Position Seats) the side airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners have also been removed (they are part of seat assembly),and so have the curtain airbags. This puts the airbag light on indicating a fault. This requires suitable resistors to be fitted to turn off the airbag warning light on the instrument panel, which would otherwise be an MOT fail.

To turn off the airbag light the circuits in the seat looms need to be bridged. This can either be done by cutting the relevant wires in the looms behind the seat multi plugs and soldering in resistors, or bridge the relevant terminals in the multi plugs. I decided that in case the car is ever returned to standard with the original seats it would be easier to bridge the terminals in the seat multi plugs as they can then simply be removed and the multi plugs reconnected if needed.

Both front seat multi plugs have had the circuits bridged with resistors (the legs have been shaped to push into the terminals securely) and they are sealed in place with a little RTV (which is easily removable should the need arise):

Front Seat Airbag Delete Resistors

And then the multi plug is sealed and secured out of the way under the seats:

Seat Multiplug Sealed

The same has to be done with the curtain airbag plugs. The airbag plug for the curtain airbags is usually located above the B pillar and quite inaccessible, so to make access easier should there be a problem, the loom with the plug has been brought down to the C pillar at the rear and cable tied securely which makes access easier if required:

Curtain Airbag Delete

And heat shrunk neatly, then hidden out of the way behind the C pillar trim:

Curtain Airbag Plug Sealed

And when checked on Tech2 (Vauxhall Diagnostic Equipment) the airbag circuit shows no faults (0 DTCs). Job done and an MOT Pass:

No Trouble Codes