i'm a mechanic and have owned my nova gte for over six years, in that time ive put a blydenstien B+ head, full magnex, lexmal manifold 4.2.1 ,powerboost valve,superchip and custmade air box which uses the top part of the original air box. to say this car is fast isnt enough, it has massive power at low revs and excellent mid range torque which is why novas feel so much faster than they should be. an un modified nova isnt anything special, (it gets the job done)but if you tune it up right it can become one of the fastetst hatchs for under 2k spent, i hate bodykitting novas they look good as they are, some alloys is all thats needed,plus most of these body kits slow your cars down, you dont want drag unless ur 250+ bhp which lets face it most of us aren't. bodykits look horrible on novas the only decent one is the nova dose kit,but even then modding a nova on the engine and suspension gives massive grins. my nova gives out 131 bhp. this is a true figure. its bloody fast 0-60 in 7.5 secs and goes off the clock ,the head made the biggest difference i'd recommened it to anyone. it can beat renalt 5 turbos let alone shitty xr2s which as a mechanic wouldnt touch with a barge pole, how does it beat renalt 5 s you ask, it generates so much power at low revs that before the turbo even begins to spin up ,your down the other end of the road, if you mod it like i did you will get an engine thats perfect for the twisty start/stop style roads, whatever you do, do not put cams on a gte/gsi as IT DESTROYS power at low revs where you want it, it also will drink fuel and idle rubbish, the cam on the gte/gsi is perfect do not mess with it unless ur going for big carbs,which yeah will make the nova sick fast but you might as well pour the petrol with a bucket in. my point is that the nova is very cheap to run and modifiy and if you tune the engine the way i did you can have 131 bhp and still get 35 mpg which with petrol prices the way they are is what we want too.for suspension get the spax vsx kit, its proven on track and is cheap for what you get, the brakes are crap on all models, what to do is you get cavalier/calibra breaks and fit them staite on (you need 15inch wheels to fit in the disks).Do not put disks on rear cos the nova is very light on the rear and it cause's the wheels to lock up and the back end come out!!!!!. Buy a strut brace to hold the front end stable. the greatest thing about this car is its weight which means that small power increases are felt, give a GTE 30 bhp more and it goes mental, my m8 has a 1.9 pug slightly moded (not as much as mine) and i leave him from first gear, he begins to go faster at top speeds but thats cos i got a standard gear box which wont alow the car to do more than 120/130 my m8s 1.9 does 140 mph(i tuned it for him. AS for metros and ax gt, come on they are terrible cars that have loads of design flaws which could kill you, the ax gt is made from cheap fibre glass which shatters on impact, metros in a crash are just as bad cos the doors fold back bringing the engine into the cabin !!!!Novas head on are quite good cos the long bonnets obsorb the impact well,though still not a safe car its safer than the rest built at the time, apart from a golf which no one doughts is the toughest car. bottom line is the nova overal has cost me £1000 ish to get my nova to where it is now, i get to drive every car and find most new cars =boring to drive=. the nova for so little money feels like a rally slag, you can dart it about , get it side ways and catch it back ,its the most fun car to cane around, all my m8s love it even ones who hate novas rate mine. buy one , tune it right and ur in for big grins.....
Timid shopping car which somehow has in later life turned itself into something allegedly desirable to the little uns. Quite why anyone spends so much money on flimsy body kits and paint jobs when it would be far cheaper to buy an early 1980's Ferrari or Aston Martin is beyond me - that way you get something that makes all the right noises and has the performance to back it up too. Let's face it, Novas were made in Spain and are not quality motors in the Swedish or German league. It makes me laugh hearing about little uns getting excited over a 1.2 litre car, or a "massive" 110hp. That is nothing. It's about time you put your Max Power magazines back with your comics and looked a little further afield into cars that were designed to perform - after all, I don't know of any sports cars that they made a van derivative of....
I had a Nova 1.2 in brown which was very cheaply made - the interior was very plasticky and creaked, it rusted away in next to no time and was not roomy or pleasant to drive. I know, I know - I should have put stickers down the bottom of the front wings with meaningless names and logos on, because that apparently makes a car "phatt". And also got a pointless 3000watt stereo that I'm too stupid to realise will weaken all the welds in my car. Silly me.
Maybe if you took your caps off and took a look into the big wide world you'll only laugh at yourselves and your piteous waste of money motors. Fair play to all the motor factors who sell overpriced bolt-ons to be snapped up by gullible types. Do you not realise that air dams and spoilers CAUSE drag and slow your car down? And that it makes no difference on downforce until you get up to speeds at which your car would most likely fall apart anyway?
If you have £1500 to spend, just buy an N or P reg Saab 2.3 Turbo - so you can see off all the teenies, travel at 150mph in silence, and be able to listen to your CD's at a nice quiet volume without the noise of your gearboxes and rattly 1960's derived engines intruding. And it won't need an engine rebuild for around 300,000 miles. WAKE UP!!!! And enjoy driving, as opposed to spend every hour with the bonnet up bolting on more meaningless add-ons.
Hi,I was reading coments about Nova-s so I could not stand not to join in. I hawe Opel Corsa A 1986 and I hawe 2000 16v inside.This is first ,let say Nova,with this engine in Serbia.I live in Belgrade and I am sorry if mi English is poor.So,the way I see,it is not about having car,it is about loving it.And I love something that I did not buy,but I love something that I made.You can put almost any part from Astra or Calibra to Nova.My car hawe about 180 hp and 800kg and it acelerate and break beter then VR6 or Integra TypeR.THE BEST THING IS THAT THE CAR AND EVERYTHING THAT I PUT ON IT COST LES THEN 4000 EUROS.Try that with Rover.
right, lets get one thing stright. novas are a great first car, i bought my nova 1.2(in great condition) for £40.the parts are cheap and u can get from anywhere, body kits are cheap, they dont rust if u look after them, they are nippy cars and have excellent handeling. i dont know why u are all dissing the nova?? there is no better car to have as ur first. and to the guy that said all nova drives where caps, do we fuck.i recomend the nova to anyone looking for a cheap first car.and if anyone has abetter idea of a cheap first car email me coz id love to know. NOVAS RULE!!!
an AX GT does NOT do 0-60 in 8.5 secs, try 9.5! i bet a rust bucket XR3i would whoop an AX GT haha, best hatch is a mk1 or mk2 Golf GTi. Ive seen these cars do 11 or 12 second 1/4 miles running 4wheel drive (0-60 3 secs!), and 13sec 1/4 miles with front wheel drive (0-60 5secs) when equipped with 1.8 20v turbo conversions. Standard Mk2 GTi 8v does 0-60 8.3, 16v is 7.9, standard 1/4 mile is late 15s/early 16s. AX GT would be 17 something. As for Nova...well LoL they belong on the scrap heap!
All you nova SR and GTE boys. What are you thinking? If you want a small engined car that blows off many cars try an AX GT. (standard 0-60 8.5 sec)They are the dogz b******s as i have seen one race and beet a golf mk1 gti with 110bhp in a 1/4 mile sprint and a golf gti mk2 8v from 0 to 60. If u r after an acceleration car then the nova is not for you. My AX GT now does 0 to 60 in 7.5sec using little modifications (no OTT 2.0 calibra turbo engine thrown under the bonnet). A lttle thought to leave you on - AX VTS!! (come on!)
personnally i luv nova s ive had 2, there gud value for money luk hot cheap parts, + wot can i say chicks luv a nova done up 2 the bollocks. i currently own a 1.4SR and i luv it.im lukin for a bodykit for it wheres a gud place 2 luk email me at [Log in to view email] cheers
I think all you nova owners should try out a well built car. VW G40 to be exact. Yes I have owned two novas in the past and they just fall to bits! Even though the ones I owned were quite new at the time. I think the trouble is that all your rings are twiching at the thought of driving a true hot hatch!!
The below comments do really amuse me, a 1.6i in a Nova isnt quick the 1.6GSI is 0-60 in 9secs a metro 1.4gti has a 1.4 and does 60 in 8.5 secs, so no Nova is quick, its not even in the same sentance!, XR3i's arent quick either take a Rover 200vi 0-60 = 7.5secs and what made my laugh the most was what happened yesterday a 1.3SR Nova tried racing me and i left him for dead, it was a boy-racer and he was trying! how do i know this, cos we both work at the same company and raced home! I Drive a 1.1i Rover 100 (Soon to be upgrading to a Rover 200 BRM LE :D ). its not modified to much on the engine side of things, just uprated ignition like HT leads and sparks with new parts like rotor arms and it always runs on optimax petrol!!:)
Just to say that in no way are nova's quick unless there is a V6 in the front! but you can put a V6 in a metro anyway so!! que Metro6R4!!!
just to let you all know about my little race anyway and too embarace Nova drivers everywhere!
if you want to check out my car its on the website underneath and its the Red Rover 100 at the bottom of the 'cars' section.
Unfortunately, I did not share my comments in a way which could be published. The NOVA is underpowered, has a substandard interior and can be beaten away from the lights by a granny in a LADA in third gear. That is all
ur missing the point, if you max it up that much then it could do that stick a V8 in a robin reliant and that will probably shift as well! but i dont think pauls got a 1.0 litre in the front has he.. case closed and yes im afraid Nova's are terrible cars... sorry.
All i'm going to say is "Paul Lomas's" nova turbo is da badest car on da planet, people say there s**t but try doing 0-60 in 5 seconds with out traction control. For gods sake he has to pull away in second gear. People under estimate his car - DO NOT! If u see a racing green Nova with Alessio alloys, on the 0-60 straight don't comment untill after it has done it. Go to Trax this year boys, listen to the dumpvalve!
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