RE: Nissan Almera GTI: Spotted
Discussion
Great car - had one for a couple of years, same black exterior with crazing of the arches as time went on.
Rock hard ride bordering on the unacceptable, but good in the corners, and a rather nice engine that seemed unburstable. Even fitted my MTB in the boot around the brace. Did lose one grand prix off the roundabout to a brand new Cooper S, but what the hey?
Those adverts - referencing the Professionals and Sweeney - unlike anything you see now (Phil Cornwell in his prime), and sooo much better than 'the car they don't want you to see'.
Replaced it with a 325ti which in M-sport guise was nearly as crashy over potholes, but had better sound deadening. But somehow the Almera is the one I think of more fondly.
Rock hard ride bordering on the unacceptable, but good in the corners, and a rather nice engine that seemed unburstable. Even fitted my MTB in the boot around the brace. Did lose one grand prix off the roundabout to a brand new Cooper S, but what the hey?
Those adverts - referencing the Professionals and Sweeney - unlike anything you see now (Phil Cornwell in his prime), and sooo much better than 'the car they don't want you to see'.
Replaced it with a 325ti which in M-sport guise was nearly as crashy over potholes, but had better sound deadening. But somehow the Almera is the one I think of more fondly.
Lotusgone said:
One of my son's mates bought an Almera, being the "best" he could afford having written off his first car. He wasn't the brightest, and we convinced him that Almera was Spanish for "old woman".
I think the name was actually chosen because it meant nothing in any language, and was pronounced more or less the same anywhere.
Unlike Japanese naming conventions of old: Mazda Bongo Friendee, anyone? Nissan Fairlady?
Jamescrs said:
Wow brings back memories of me as an 18 year old fresh out of college and working as an office junior at an estate agents (how times change).
One of the guys in the same office as me on the level above me had an Almera Si (I think the model was) in the same shape and I used to drive it regularly, I remember being very impressed with the way it drove, the handling was really very good, the acceleration seemed very impressive at the time too.
If this GTi was a more sensible price I'd be tempted myself for a bit of nostalga
I had a 1.4 3 door loan car for a while and would agree they drive surprisingly well.One of the guys in the same office as me on the level above me had an Almera Si (I think the model was) in the same shape and I used to drive it regularly, I remember being very impressed with the way it drove, the handling was really very good, the acceleration seemed very impressive at the time too.
If this GTi was a more sensible price I'd be tempted myself for a bit of nostalga
"Nissan didn't have a lot of kudos - Skylines aside - for making fast cars"
Ahh of course.
Except the 200SX.
And the 300ZX.
And the Pulsar GTiR.
Oh, and the various JDM ones that filtered over here through the grey market, like Cefiros, Laurels, VZR Pulsars, etc. And their various successes and entrees in motorsport, including BTCC, Le Mans, Group A touring cars, rallying, etc.
I can't think of another manufacture that had a more diverse range of fast cars during the 90s than Nissan, who at any given point during the 90s had 6+ models on offer with more than 250bhp. Certainly pissed all over what Ford had on offer at the time...
Ahh of course.
Except the 200SX.
And the 300ZX.
And the Pulsar GTiR.
Oh, and the various JDM ones that filtered over here through the grey market, like Cefiros, Laurels, VZR Pulsars, etc. And their various successes and entrees in motorsport, including BTCC, Le Mans, Group A touring cars, rallying, etc.
I can't think of another manufacture that had a more diverse range of fast cars during the 90s than Nissan, who at any given point during the 90s had 6+ models on offer with more than 250bhp. Certainly pissed all over what Ford had on offer at the time...
I have two of these, one black and one red. I wrote off the first one because I was young, dumb and didn't know how to drive. I then got another (the red) which was great and I learned to drive it properly and keep the tyres legal!
That was then replaced with a Honda Accord Type R, my favourite car, to this day.
That was then replaced with a Honda Accord Type R, my favourite car, to this day.
This is quite expensive, but I wouldn't call it crazy money. As others have said, try and find another one. A decent car in the period and one I always fancied. The mad, wide-arch kit car rally version looked pretty cool.
A friend had a couple of Primera GTs with the same engine and they were pretty indestructible and drove well enough.
A friend had a couple of Primera GTs with the same engine and they were pretty indestructible and drove well enough.
davey83 said:
Had a red ph2 for 8 years and loved it. Rare cars, strong SR20DE engine, handle well, sound good, N/A throttle response, ultra reliable, easy to work on and never let me down once unless it was something I messed with.
Full bolt on ASP equal length full merged header, Tomei cams, Ur pulleys, decat, 2.5' stainless cat back, piperX carbon enclosed air filter, afpr - rolling tune of fuel/ignition timing 196bhp and went well weighing less than1135kg.
Is this the one that got stolen?Full bolt on ASP equal length full merged header, Tomei cams, Ur pulleys, decat, 2.5' stainless cat back, piperX carbon enclosed air filter, afpr - rolling tune of fuel/ignition timing 196bhp and went well weighing less than1135kg.
Edited by davey83 on Wednesday 24th April 08:18
I had a Sunny GTi followed by an Almera GTi. Have fondest memories of the Sunny.
We bought one that was about 2 years old - it was a trade in at the local Renault dealership and it was priced well below market. I don't think they really knew what to do with it.
I liked it a lot, but that was with the view that it was also a very good value purchase compared to say a 306 GTI-6 or similar. I recall very good reviews from the motoring press and it was a decent, fun car that was cheap to run and incredibly reliable. I had a Fiat Tipo 16v before it and preferred the Almera overall, although the Fiat's engine was far superior.
It folded up like an old crisp packet when my wife overcooked a corner and hit a Hilux head on. Mind you, she got out unscathed and was six months pregnant at the time, so what little crash protection it had did its job.
However, would I pay that sum for it now? No thanks. I'd like a quick thrash for old times sake though.
I liked it a lot, but that was with the view that it was also a very good value purchase compared to say a 306 GTI-6 or similar. I recall very good reviews from the motoring press and it was a decent, fun car that was cheap to run and incredibly reliable. I had a Fiat Tipo 16v before it and preferred the Almera overall, although the Fiat's engine was far superior.
It folded up like an old crisp packet when my wife overcooked a corner and hit a Hilux head on. Mind you, she got out unscathed and was six months pregnant at the time, so what little crash protection it had did its job.
However, would I pay that sum for it now? No thanks. I'd like a quick thrash for old times sake though.
GibsonSG said:
We bought one that was about 2 years old - it was a trade in at the local Renault dealership and it was priced well below market. I don't think they really knew what to do with it.
I liked it a lot, but that was with the view that it was also a very good value purchase compared to say a 306 GTI-6 or similar. I recall very good reviews from the motoring press and it was a decent, fun car that was cheap to run and incredibly reliable. I had a Fiat Tipo 16v before it and preferred the Almera overall, although the Fiat's engine was far superior.
It folded up like an old crisp packet when my wife overcooked a corner and hit a Hilux head on. Mind you, she got out unscathed and was six months pregnant at the time, so what little crash protection it had did its job.
However, would I pay that sum for it now? No thanks. I'd like a quick thrash for old times sake though.
You had a tough benchmark to judge your Almera Gti against, the Tipo 16v was pretty much the journo/mag favourite in all the hot hatch tests of the early 90s. The Tipo ( and RS2000 mentioned ) were at the end of their lives when the Almera arrived in 96 so were seldom ever compared directly as new cars - the 306GTI-6 was very much in the sights though.I liked it a lot, but that was with the view that it was also a very good value purchase compared to say a 306 GTI-6 or similar. I recall very good reviews from the motoring press and it was a decent, fun car that was cheap to run and incredibly reliable. I had a Fiat Tipo 16v before it and preferred the Almera overall, although the Fiat's engine was far superior.
It folded up like an old crisp packet when my wife overcooked a corner and hit a Hilux head on. Mind you, she got out unscathed and was six months pregnant at the time, so what little crash protection it had did its job.
However, would I pay that sum for it now? No thanks. I'd like a quick thrash for old times sake though.
Performance Car rated their Almera very highly, placing it 3rd in the magazine's swansong hot hatch test, just behind the 106 and 306 GTIs, which included all the usual suspects.
The Almera even pipped the 306 in the slalom and lateral g tests but a poor stop from 100mph in 0-100-0 trial notched the Nissan down overall
I got invited to a sporty Nissan P.R. Day at Donington in the late 90s in the company of Mr Tiff Needell, David Leslie and GT driver Chris and got to try the Almera GTI , Primera Sri and GT, 200SX ( plus the R33 Skyline GT-R as a passenger ).
All great cars on the track and I liked the Primera GT enough to get one as a cheap runaround a few years later. Can't remember the Almera being any quicker on the track in the hands of various attendees but we all had to watch out for the 200SXs and of course the 'flying' Skyline in the hands of a proper race driver!
The engine was rated at 7bhp more in the Primera ( supposedly down to the exhaust run ) and it was very reliable until it got written off by a lack of brakes on the car behind at a traffic light stop.
This example looks a nice one - something a bit different than the usual Peugeot, Honda or Ford for someone out there
Edited by s m on Wednesday 24th April 22:20
Gooly said:
"Nissan didn't have a lot of kudos - Skylines aside - for making fast cars"
Ahh of course.
Except the 200SX.
And the 300ZX.
And the Pulsar GTiR.
Oh, and the various JDM ones that filtered over here through the grey market, like Cefiros, Laurels, VZR Pulsars, etc. And their various successes and entrees in motorsport, including BTCC, Le Mans, Group A touring cars, rallying, etc.
I can't think of another manufacture that had a more diverse range of fast cars during the 90s than Nissan, who at any given point during the 90s had 6+ models on offer with more than 250bhp. Certainly pissed all over what Ford had on offer at the time...
which is probably why they nearly went bankrupt.Ahh of course.
Except the 200SX.
And the 300ZX.
And the Pulsar GTiR.
Oh, and the various JDM ones that filtered over here through the grey market, like Cefiros, Laurels, VZR Pulsars, etc. And their various successes and entrees in motorsport, including BTCC, Le Mans, Group A touring cars, rallying, etc.
I can't think of another manufacture that had a more diverse range of fast cars during the 90s than Nissan, who at any given point during the 90s had 6+ models on offer with more than 250bhp. Certainly pissed all over what Ford had on offer at the time...
Having said that I have an urge to import a Nismo Note S.....
Ridiculous price, ridiculous. You would need your head reading to pay that much and I couldn't care less how apparently rare that is.
Here's a more basic model with a claimed 17k from new for a grand. A grand.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-17k...
And if you want a middling one, here is an SRi that's barried but the sort of person who'd buy it would probably like that, and it's 2k.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-sri...
6.5k??? Shove it up your ARSE.
Here's a more basic model with a claimed 17k from new for a grand. A grand.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-17k...
And if you want a middling one, here is an SRi that's barried but the sort of person who'd buy it would probably like that, and it's 2k.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-sri...
6.5k??? Shove it up your ARSE.
J4CKO said:
Funny how the 0-40 times for the 90s stuff is not that far off 0-60 for hot hatches nowadays.
No-one would get too excited about 150-ish bhp in a hot hatch now. Even the winning 306 only has 167bhp!The cars might weigh 20% or even 30% more than 20 years ago but they have nearly 100% more power ( plus 4wd traction off the mark in many cases )
Croutons said:
Ridiculous price, ridiculous. You would need your head reading to pay that much and I couldn't care less how apparently rare that is.
Here's a more basic model with a claimed 17k from new for a grand. A grand.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-17k...
And if you want a middling one, here is an SRi that's barried but the sort of person who'd buy it would probably like that, and it's 2k.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-sri...
6.5k??? Shove it up your ARSE.
Compare apples with apples are there any GTI's for sale?Here's a more basic model with a claimed 17k from new for a grand. A grand.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-17k...
And if you want a middling one, here is an SRi that's barried but the sort of person who'd buy it would probably like that, and it's 2k.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/nissan/nissan-almera-sri...
6.5k??? Shove it up your ARSE.
The concept of worth is fascinating as it’s so subjective. Looking at KGF’s current offerings, I think the Almera’s asking price is fair, at least if you could haggle it down to five-something. The RS Turbo at £33K is to me absurd, but presumably someone will fall for its charms. The 380SE however...bring me that bad boy 
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