Motor talk forum

[Telegram Sam]

I believe that http://www.motor-talk.de is the largest online car forum in Europe possibly world wide. It has a Vectra A section which I get alerts from occasionally. I was rather miffed to see that if you want to register with a Cavalier, tough, you have to pretend to be a Vectra A (I've done this). I've drawn this to their attention and they have now agreed to add the Cavalier range to their database - in return for the technical data which I think I can provide from the back of my 24 year old handbook for both the SRi 20SEH and other models. If what they need goes beyond this (post facelift / 16V / cat models) I'll be back on this forum looking for answers!

[Robsey]

Vectra A is simply the European Opel name for the same car.
I don't know why you would be miffed by a difference in name.

Do we need to concern ourselves with the names of GM USA / Brazil and Holden equivalent models?

Also - MotorTalk is a German site covering all makes and models sold in Germany and mainland Europe.
(Vauxhall is not a brand and Cavalier is not a model in mainland Europe.

Bear in mind also that there is a Chevrolet Cavalier in the U.S of A that was manufactured approx between 2003 and 2008 ish.
Obviously this is nothing like the Vauxhall Cavalier.

[humbucker]

Yup, what he says ^^^. Vauxhalls have long been more-or-less re-badged Opels with mods to make them RHD

[Telegram Sam]

I don't regard myself as clued up on this but I was under the impression that there were (some) differences. e.g. I didn't think that the SRi / 20SEH had an exact re-badged Vectra A equivalent, but that the GT was similar. I was guessing that the situation would be the same with some if not all other models.

[humbucker]

They read kph when measuring speed

[Telegram Sam]

No, just use higher gearing and keep mph

[Robsey]

There are some very minor differences, but nothing of enough magnitude to get into a pickle and lose your perm.

Sweden and it's daytime running lights and possibly some stricter euro emissions stuff are probably the main differences.

[Telegram Sam]

Does that mean that the Vectra GT = SRi = 20 SEH??

[Robsey]

Have you ever read a sales brochure?

SRi is just a trim level.
In my brochure you had a (small) range of engine options for the SRi model. Not just 2.0 litre 8 valve

You could say that the GT is an "equivalent" to our SRi.
but that doesn't necessarily mean that it would have to be an SEH..
and definitely not much after 1991 when cats were fitted as standard.

[Telegram Sam]

I can dimly remember seeing a sales brochure 25 years ago!

In my 1990/91 handbook there are specs for 10 engines listed and I have just noticed that the 20SEH is shown as an option for all 5 models but not for the CD. What I suppose is unique to the SRi would be the c/r gearbox (and SRi trim as you say). The SRi is shown with 3 engine options (as you point out) the other two lower spec than the 20SEH. Needs all putting into a matrix to make any sense. How this relates to the GT is anyone's guess.

After 25 years I now realize that the SRi (130) and the 20SEH are not exclusive to each other!

[Robsey]

Well the SRi "130" from that era would be the 20SEH.
As 130 is the power output from that specific engine.

But as you can see - not all SRi's were designated as 130's.

There were some "special" models that were almost always engine specific..
Such as the Diplomat model was predominantly a C20NE with autobox leather interior and air con.

But the generic brochure models always had multiple engine options.
Generic models being -
Envoy, Expression, L / LSi, GL / GLSi, SRi and CD / CDX.

[Envoy CDX]

There are some very minor differences, but nothing of enough magnitude to get into a pickle and lose your perm.

Sweden and it's daytime running lights and possibly some stricter euro emissions stuff are probably the main differences.

Mainly styling differences and the above Robsey listed.
Effectively, its the same running gear, and stuff underneath.