Formula Vauxhall is a racing championship for identical single-seater racing cars powered by 2 litre twin-cam engines as used in the Vauxhall Astra GTE. The championship was launched as Formula Vauxhall Lotus, together with its continental equivalent Formula Opel Lotus, in 1988. Reynard to a design produced in collaboration with Lotus built the cars in Bicester, Oxfordshire. The chassis consisted of two aluminium honeycomb "planks", joined at the front by a cast aluminium bulkhead and at the rear by the engine installation. The chassis was stiffened by the front and rear roll hoops, which also formed the driver safety cell. The suspension comprised upper rockers and lower wishbones all round, while the 2-litre engine was fitted with Weber carburettors and mated to a 5-speed Hewland gearbox. In 1992, production of the cars was moved to Schübel in Germany, who produced a new bodywork package and added a wooden floor. In 1993 the engines were fitted with Bosch Motronic fuel injection, while in 1995 new front wings and stiffer planks were introduced along with other detailed modifications.In addition to the British Formula Vauxhall Championship, both a European and a German Formula Opel series have run since the inception of the formula. From time to time there have also been series in the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe as well as a Formula Chevrolet Championship for the same cars in Brazil. The formula has been the most important route to stardom for young racing drivers in recent times. Many of today's Grand Prix stars, as well as several other well-known drivers, have come up from the ranks of Formula Vauxhall and Formula Vauxhall. Formula Vauxhall offers drivers close competition in identical cars (allowing driver skill to shine), a proven 'ladder of success', tremendous training both on and off track and the opportunity to race on Britain's best race circuits. Moreover, the Formula Opel Euro series allows additional opportunities to compete throughout Europe. There are 2 classes, A and B. Class A cars include modifications to the chassis introduced in 1995 (stiffer planks to improve mechanical grip) and wings (more down force and less drag) which combine to make the class A cars around a second a lap quicker than class B cars at most circuits, though, they can be a lot closer and a class B actually won one round in 1995! Both class A and B cars use the same engines - identical 2 litre Vauxhall 16 valve units generating 170bhp and delivering a top speed of 160mph. The engines are taken straight from the production line and then sealed and maintained by a specialist company. This prevents any modification by the individual teams and thus ensures virtually identical performance.