17th Dec 2000, 11:52
I had a 12 valve GSi for 20k miles and spent quite a lot on it.
Exhausts are expensive and I had a cooling fan (viscous) replaced and offside front wheel bearing (£100 - you have to change the hub assembly]).
I also had rust problems - make sure the chassis number corresponds to the date of registration as near as possible.
It is a great driver and handles very well; much tighter than the 2.0 CDXi I have now.
The trip is about 8% optimistic on fuel. If you stoke the throttle and allow the engine to warm up from cold at low throttle openings you should get 21-23 around town and 26-28 on a decent run.
I would like a 24v GSi but am concerned about the twin cats; they are £200 each and rising.
Also it takes Z rated tyres which are £100 each! If you fit V rated as on a 12 valve car and have a serious accident your insurance could be invalidated.
All the best everybody,
Gordon
27th Jan 2001, 06:13
Purchased a 3.0 GSI (12v) auto about 3 months ago. Very happy with the car in general, and despite having completed over 134,000 miles, it runs extremely well averaging 24mpg around town, and 33mpg on longer trips (from the on-board computer).
Am however getting white smoke from the exhaust occasionally, although not using water and not getting variations in oil levels - any advice?
Regards,
Stuart
28th May 2001, 13:36
I own a 90 GSi 24v. The car has done 218k now, and although I have a second engine, they will keep performance and live to 300k if serviced regularly.
The only main concern of the 24v (both Senator, and GSi) is the timing chains. They are known to snap from anywhere up from 70k. The main reasons are because the chains aren't strong enough, and the chain tensioner is crap.
There is a club called the Autobahnstormers (http://www.autobahnstormers.org/) which is for Vauxhalls with the straight 6 engines. They know more than Vauxhall about these cars, and it's well worth joining. They can even tell you how to cure known faults, and sort out the timing chain problem!
Hope this helps.
K.
25th Feb 2010, 15:50
Hello, I'm Matthew. I've just bought a Vauxhall Carlton GSi 3000 12v. It runs, fine but the oil pressure is at 2 bars. It's done 20000k. Can anyone help with my question please, it's not running hot, it runs fine.
11th Dec 2000, 20:01
Hi Andy
Yes unleaded is no problem. I sometimes think of taking super premium (the expensive one) to see if the GSI likes it, but so far I haven't tried.
Best
Moritz
momo@momomo.net