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Well, I'm back to submit my own review of a Viva that I now own one. I reviewed the Viva back in 2002 here on this site, when I did not own one. I have had one for the last year or so, and it has proven to be very reliable. It was offered to me cheaply($200! - about 66 pounds), as it had sat in a garage, and the registration and warrent-of-fitness had expired. I took it home, cleaned it inside and out, registered and warrented it, and put it back on the road. The suspension is quite nice really, somewhat spongy feel to it, and that is cosy - I like the ride better then the Mitsubishi I had before the Viva. No anti-roll bars fitted to the Viva for some reason, making the car lean like crazy in tight corners, if you approach the corner with too much speed. In fact, this is probably the Viva's one major flaw in design, as it makes them relitively easy to roll over!(compared to another car WITH anti-roll bars). My previous comments about the gearbox back in 2002, don't appear to be justified, as I have tortured the box on this Viva for about a year, and the thing never misses a beat - perhaps the one I reveiwed before was in worse shape, but all in all, the box seems O.K. to me now, with the benefit of some experience. Engine is gutless. Mine is a 1256 HC Viva(1975), and the engine is sounding a little tired. I have a spare engine I have stripped, and will plonk that in. The stroke of the 1256 engine is only about 60mm, so it makes a good high-rev engine rebuild.(i've done this since 2002 review, and it works extremely well - must use racing pistons, bearings, etc...) Exhaust manifold is right below the intake manifold, and this is not really a layout that I like. In the pep'ed up versions of these engines, I generally install heat sheilding wrap over the whole exhaust manifold, to help sheild the heat from the exhaust manifold off the the carb and fuel lines. Exhaust pipe system tends to strangle the standard 1256 engine, and it is better to replace it with something better.
I use 2-inch pipe, and a rally-cross muffler. This replaces the twin muffler arrangement of the factory Viva, and yeilds a surprising performance increase in the standard engine. Clutch is heavy(like most early Vauxhall's!), and the pedal travel to the floor is quite long. In the pep'ed versions, I replace the clutch plate and diaphragm spring with a lighter one, and adjust the pedal travel to allow faster gear changes. Brakes are O.K. - about what I would expect from a car of this age. No complaints about brake performance or operation. All in all, worth the money, and even a standard Viva, though it won't win you any street races, and will be passed by busses and trucks on the hills, still represents good fuel economy and value for money - cheap and econimical to run. Not for the boy-racer, unless you are prepared to pep the engine, or plop a 2300 in it, but these slant-four's are very hard to find these days...
(the 1256's are everywhere, and can be rebuilt into quite a racey engine, yet still keep the fuel economy compared to a 2000 or 2300) |
