anyone seen a calibra turbo lately

cabbott · 09-09-2008 8:57pm #1

howdy all,
im trying to get an idea of how many calibra turbos are left on the road.here are some telltale signs, if the turbo badge is not on the car, one giveaway is it will have 5 wheelstuds not 4, v6 has 5 also though. if you can check the gearstick it will be 6 speed. also turbo will be on the dash.

thanks for reading this,

happy spotting.

p.s. if you could note the year this would be great.:)

thanks.;)

c.a.

crosstownk · 09-09-2008 9:04pm

I haven't seen one of these in years. I'd say they're hard enough to come by now. I'll keep an eye out though!

Kimbot · 09-09-2008 9:07pm

There are lots of them up north and in the uk, I have seen a few around the midlands aswell.

L1011 · 09-09-2008 9:16pm

Last place I saw a Calibra was in "Veronia Guerin" I think! Not seen any around for ages at this stage.

Gary ITR · 09-09-2008 9:28pm

A lot of them ended up on the wrong side of hedges. I toyed with the idea of one a while back. They were going for silly money too

cabbott · 09-09-2008 10:23pm

thanks for the quick responses, keep them coming.

the reason i asked is because i have one. and only knew of one other in the area mine is 93 KK the other was 94 D. the turbo ones are getting rare.
i passed through holyhead the other day and the customs pulled me in and the man said "thats a rare one now" we chatted about the car for a while, it made my day.:)

boomboombazza · 09-09-2008 10:26pm

how many BHP are they? i never see calibras never mind turbos

cabbott · 09-09-2008 10:29pm

oh i forgot to say, i only say 2 calibras in england in 2 weeks, so they are disappearing. the amount of them being scraped on ebay is crazy, and for the smallest things.

Frankie Lee · 09-09-2008 10:30pm

I seen a black LHD one in Naas yesterday, didn't look at it closely but theres a good chance it could have been a turbo.

cabbott · 09-09-2008 10:31pm

204 as standard can be pushed to 300 easily but its playing with fire.

L-M · 09-09-2008 11:00pm

Saw a red one driven by a Polish fella, if i remember correctly it had a "V6" badge on it, althought the badge could of been Halfords finest. I don't know if they have a V6 badge, but if they do anyone know what it looks like?

cabbott · 09-09-2008 11:11pm

the v6 will be i small chrome like all the opel vauxhall badges. the v6 is 2.5 but only 2wd turbos 4wd.

VH · 09-09-2008 11:46pm

i haven't seen a calibra in maybe 4 or 5 years - i do remember being reading reviews that said the handling was dodgy on even the 4wd models which left the reviews a bit bewildered

Timmaay · 10-09-2008 12:13am

The turbos were known for having big gearbox/transfer box problems I think, probably why so many have got scrapped. Either that or they have been wrapped around a tree! I think they are a class looking car, and still look very good despite being so old now. Pity most of the ones you see on ebay are wrecks or have every scanger me banger halfords bolt on crap on them.

I dunno if this is possible, but I've heard of lads turning them into front wheel drive only when the transfer box gave trouble?

mantaraver · 10-09-2008 1:01am

I'd say a fair few of them yokes have been scrapped and there engines moved to a new home... like a Manta

I priced a complete engine and running gear a few years ago with a scrappie and he was looking close to a grand for it. Probably worth more than the car, which is a pitty cos I always thought they were a nice looking car. Would have been better if the engine was connected to the right pair of wheels though ie. the rear

:D

bazz26 · 10-09-2008 1:06am

mantaraver wrote: »

I'd say a fair few of them yokes have been scrapped and there engines moved to a new home... like a Manta I priced a complete engine and running gear a few years ago with a scrappie and he was looking close to a grand for it. Probably worth more than the car, which is a pitty cos I always thought they were a nice looking car. Would have been better if the engine was connected to the right pair of wheels though ie. the rear :D

Indeed, Opel Vectra/Vauxhall Cavalier underpinnings didn't help. Turbo version was a bit wild though.

BTW was it the turbo or the V6 that had 4wd?

Clare_Guy · 10-09-2008 1:24am

fyi...

http://www.pistonheads.com/SALES/694871.htm

cabbott · 10-09-2008 8:40am

only the turbos were 4wd, they could be converted to fwd if the transfer box went. but they only went if abused, you can remove the fuse and drive them in fwd if you live, this prolongs the life of the transfer box, but it doesnt drive so nice, tends to torque steer a bit. ive seen the turbo engines make over £1000 sterling on ebay, fairly steep for an old engine.

keepherlit · 10-09-2008 10:04am

there is a red one in malahide. dont think its a turbo. I believe ita 2 litre 16 valve but I could be wrong. they are a gorgeous looking yoke though

carchaeologist · 10-09-2008 7:17pm

Thet are a cheap source of good power and are scrapped for their engines,they're not the prettiest of cars anywayIMO,my astra GTE has a turbo engine from one in it,and so do a GTE and a GSI belonging to a friend of mine.

ShadowHearth · 10-09-2008 7:38pm

Timmaay wrote: »

The turbos were known for having big gearbox/transfer box problems I think, probably why so many have got scrapped. Either that or they have been wrapped around a tree! I think they are a class looking car, and still look very good despite being so old now. Pity most of the ones you see on ebay are wrecks or have every scanger me banger halfords bolt on crap on them.

I dunno if this is possible, but I've heard of lads turning them into front wheel drive only when the transfer box gave trouble?

you heard right m8, i am lithuanian myself, and 3 years ago ( last time i was in mine country) we had loads of them from germany. And people were doing that even before breakadge. It was even better on fuel after it.

I owned calibra here in ireland, mallow

. It was 2.0 Dohc redtop non turbo 150 bhp. It was Lithuanian registration so i had to get wrid of it

. But all in all it was the coolest car i owned. It was all black, with tinted windows, tinted black rear lights, huge bench on arse

.

Ah old good days

carchaeologist · 11-09-2008 9:58pm

Timmaay wrote: »

The turbos were known for having big gearbox/transfer box problems I think

I dunno if this is possible, but I've heard of lads turning them into front wheel drive only when the transfer box gave trouble?

The F28 six speed box should be well able to take the power of a standard turbo car,though a friend with a mega tuned turbo GSI keeps shredding F20s(the 5 speed).
The F28 can be converted to front wheel drive alright,the GSI above had one in it when he bought it.

cabbott · 11-09-2008 10:44pm

the 28 in f28 means it was designed to take 280nm torque, this is why the f20 keeps failing. f20 only can handle 200nm.

unkel · 11-09-2008 11:35pm

I saw one a while back on a baltic (LV or LT) plate. Hadn't seen one for years before. Were they ever sold here originally?

Back in the early 90s, several of my corporals and their mates bought them new for half price or so (no taxes) out of their pension lump sum

I've always felt the Calibra was a real looker. Best looking Opel since the Monza

klaus23 · 12-09-2008 7:17pm

Timmaay wrote: »

The turbos were known for having big gearbox/transfer box problems I think, probably why so many have got scrapped.

That's what I remember hearing years ago as well. IIRC the transfer box issues were avoidable by keeping all of the tyres within 2mm of each other and AFAIK a lot of the cars sold originally were used by the motorway Police. Buyers guides still warn about looking for drill holes in the dashboard that would have held cameras, radios or similar equipment, along with uprated wiring looms for running the whole lot.

IMO the car, once a looker is now badly dated, but the 4x4 Turbo always sounded pretty cool. But when you can get earlier model Imprezas for peanuts now, point-to-point travel doesn't really get any quicker for the money.

cabbott · 12-09-2008 9:03pm

your right about the tyres, mine has done over 170k and transfer box has never been done that i know about, i have tonnes of receipts that came with the car and no mention of it being done. mine used to pop out of 4wd in the mornings sometimes, then i changer the accumulator to the uprated one and its ok now.

astraboy · 12-09-2008 9:14pm

Been in London a week myself and have hardly seen one, I'm a big Opel/Vaux fan so would keep the eye out for them. They are rarer then before however. I used to see the odd one around Cork, always a 2L 16v though, never a turbo or V6.

mondeo · 12-09-2008 9:51pm

I have always loved calibres, engine sizes would kill me on tax though. Pitty

onemoredead · 20-09-2013 1:21am

hello,

the 94d black opel calibra turbo is mine!!

still have it..

only 3 owners,and 100k on it!!

that 93kk, "did buy fish in clara, outside kilkenny!!

regards

anyone seen a calibra turbo lately

Comments