Nippy car, (Turbo pref) thats low on insurance,

[dazl1212]

So following on from my long term goal of a rwd jap turbo car, I need a new car at the moment, I have a diesel 307 1.4HDI that is just too slow and I kind of feel that my usuage of the car is unsuitable for the engine, short journeys etc.

So far on my list, ive check I can get insured on the following.

Fiat Bravo T-jet
Renault Clio TCe
Seat Leon Mk1 1.8t
VW Golf Mk4 1.8t GTI
Toyota Celica 1.8 VVT
Hyundai Coupe 2.0
Fiesta ST
Focus ST 170
Astra 2.0 Turbo


Budget of £1500 not a lot I know. Which do you guys think of the above I could get a decent one within budget that isnt going to be in the garage constantly?

[HustleRussell]

Keep the Peugeot until you can afford your RWD turbo jap ambition.

[J8 SVG]

How old are you? how many years no claims? Have you tried looking at something like this?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Otherwise, I had a clio mk3 1.4 dynamique S before my 197 and it was great fun down country roads, if a little tiring on the motorway. I'm sure the 1.6 or 2.0 non-renaultsport would be better

Just got rid of a 307 2.0HDi so I feel your pain. 90HP when it didn't have 180k miles on the clock!!! Ropey to say the least

[Christmassss]

dazl1212 said:

All IMO...Cant comment on the others as i have never owned/driven/been in them..

Seat Leon Mk1 1.8t...dull without a remap
VW Golf Mk4 1.8t GTI....even duller with out a remap. Nice recaro seats though
Toyota Celica 1.8 VVT...a friend seems to enjoy his 190bhp one. I wouldn't bother with the 140bhp.
Focus ST 170....not that fast and thirsty. Handle well though

I would be looking at a Clio 172. Or can you not get insured on one of these?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[designforlife]

changing cars now would amount to false economy...stick with the pug and keep saving. trust me, i've been there and done that, and lost out as a result.

Anything you buy in the meantime will require money putting into it that you could be pocketing for the rwd jap end goal.

[dazl1212]

Hi I'm 32, been driving 10 years and 2 years no claims (had a company car for a while) and for some reason a Leon 1.8t is the same price to insure as my pug, I have thought about keeping it until I can get something like 5k together.

[designforlife]

dazl1212 said:

Hi I'm 32, been driving 10 years and 2 years no claims (had a company car for a while) and for some reason a Leon 1.8t is the same price to insure as my pug, I have thought about keeping it until I can get something like 5k together.

your insurance on pretty "interesting" stuff should be fairly cheap, i'm the same age and same driving years, albeit with 8 years NCB, and my DC5 costs buttons to insure, £440ish a year.

Deffo worth keeping the pug, better the devil you know and all that, you could be buying into all sorts of upkeep and niggle-fixing if you change cars before buying the jap turbo one you actually want.

[dazl1212]

Yeah to be fair there are issue with the Pug, Indicators have a mind of their own, horn doesn't work and there's a knocking noise which I have a feeling is either the driveshaft or CV joint and a massive crack in the windscreen.

[designforlife]

dazl1212 said:

Yeah to be fair there are issue with the Pug, Indicators have a mind of their own, horn doesn't work and there's a knocking noise which I have a feeling is either the driveshaft or CV joint and a massive crack in the windscreen.

sounds worth spending a year or two driving it into the ground aside from essential maintenance and MOTs! economy motoring at its finest.

[dazl1212]

I can certainly see where you are coming from. I have a tuning box for it but its an absolute pain to fit.

[Ian Geary]

From the ones on that list I've driven, i'd be tempted to remove the hyundai 2.0. Ours was a series 3, and whilst being a nice enough place to be, the engine was a let down. Slow revving, rough sounding, thirsty, high tax and no real power band.

I recall trying to overtake an Astra 1.6sxi astra on the a90 once, the hyundai couldn't make any ground on it...

[zedx19]

I'd buy nothing on that list, instead I'd be looking at Clio 172s or 306 GTI-6. Lot of stuff on that list is dull rubbish, Clio or GTI-6 might not be turbo but both will deliver fun by the bucket load.

[dazl1212]

Oh the Hyundai that bad? I dunno what to do really, I suppose I could get the tuning box fitted on the Pug and just run it into the ground as suggested.


I'm thinking in twelve months with hopefully a years no claims I'll be able to afford something I want, I'm thinking it may not be necessarily be a Jap or RWD but I definitely want a turbo.

In order its
Turbo
Jap
RWD

[J8 SVG]

I had the same horn & Indicator issues - replaced the whole indicator stalk system behind the steering wheel and it fixed both but if you're handy with a soldering iron, it's just some wonky/degraded contacts in there somewhere that are going wrong. think I spent £50 on parts & labour for that but had track rod ends done at the same time so that's not exact

Also had a knock but it passed MoT so never looked into fixing it, got better with the new track rod ends, tyres, wheel balance and alignment though

Car was free so I didn't mind spending £300 for a road worthy car for a year, did 10k miles and scrapped it because rear tyres and windscreen had gone and the knock had got worse again

Why is turbo so important? A lot of the turbo engined cars you listed aren't fun turbo cars, they're tiny engines that need a turbo just to be acceptable in every day traffic..

[dazl1212]

Thanks for the info I'll look into the indicator stalk and see if I can fix it, I used to do soldering for a living about 15 years ago, no idea how good I'd be now.

I love turbos ever since I had my Octy VRS, even though that car was a dog. Love the feeling when it kicks in and the sound.

My opnly other thing I can thing of is getting a knackered 200SX or something and doing it up over the next year as a project. Ive not really got any mechanical experience but Im sure i'd learn. No idea how complex an early late 80s early 90s car would be to work on. Im a fairly quick learner but no idea if Id be up to the job. Kinda just thinking out loud really.

[ZX10R NIN]

You missed the Punto Sporting T Jet:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

It doesn't have a turbo but the Peugeot GTI180 represents good value for money:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-206-GTI-180-80k-...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


ST170 Estate

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Celica T Sport 190bhp version

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[dazl1212]

Looked at the Fiats and read the T-jets are fairly reliable. Just have that nagging feeling with them being a Fiat though.

[ZX10R NIN]

They are very reliable don't forget this is a detuned Fiat 500 Abarth engine.

[dazl1212]

Ive fancied one for a while, either a Bravo or Punto. I do love boost!

Maybe irrational but I always have

[pitchfork]

You might find a Saab cheap to insure. They're (generally) driven by enthusiasts/the more mature.