# Nova... Killed me... ???



## PaulR33 (Oct 5, 2004)

I was on my way home from work lastnight, it was fairly dark and I could see some lights approaching pretty quickly, I left it for a minute or so and looked again and they were right up behind me. I could make out that it was a nova, looked standard and sounded loud. Max Power wannabes, I thought to myself and carried on.

I went another 5 miles and they were still behind me, it became obvious that they were pushing me for a race and me not liking to have people tailgating me and pushing just put my foot down and expected them to go away. How wrong was I? With my foot to the floor and heavily accelerating along the empty stretch of motorway the Nova was still there, not only was he there but he was easing off every now and then, I couldn't shake him so I continued accelerating, and he stuck there every step of the way, 120... Still there, 140... Damn it's still there! Not only was it there, but it was backing off alot to stay behind me. Just then, it went past like I was going backwards and continued to what must have been the better side of 160  

I couldn't believe it, as it went past I heard wastegate chatter and it occured to me that it wasn't an ordinary Nova, but a totally standard looking Nova with heavy tuning, impressed by their show I flashed my lights and continued on my journey. 

I couldn't find a vauxhall forum to post this question on, but what the hell was likely done to it? It really did make me feel, for the first time, that my car was slow! What turbo's do they have, are they RWD or 4WD? I'd appreciate any help in figuring out just what was done to this nova, as it was really amazing.


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## Lee_Pendlebury (Nov 18, 2001)

Had similar happen when I had a GTiR. Tuned Calibra lumps normally. I later managed to pass it on a different day and they were not very friendly then. 

Still a Nova though


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## ADUS (Mar 10, 2004)

anything with a turbo in it and weighs as much as a *** packet will be very quick


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

probably just got a calbra turbo lump in it.

if he's spent mega bucks it could be 4x4 also

either way you should be ashamed at even bothering


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## gtr mart (Mar 29, 2004)

mookistar said:


> either way you should be ashamed at even bothering


Hell, when the buggers go by when your going straight and totally flat out, that statement isnt really true now is it...  

The typical engine conversion is the cavalier or calibra turbo engine. Standard trim this will be approx 200bhp. Moderatley easy to tun to approx 300bhp. Novas must weigh about 6 or 700 KG's.

I went in a nova with a 2Litre 8V engine (130bhp) - it was remarkably quick...

Unlucky though. Thats the problem with driving a car like a skyline. There is always going to be a Nova, or an old golf (like the one at TOTB3) thats faster than yours.


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

I know a local guy here who services a Nova with a Calibra engine running at around 330bhp - wheel spin in every gear but very fast


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Mookistar said:


> either way you should be ashamed at even bothering


WHY?


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## skymania (May 28, 2004)

*Street Sleeper*

NEVER underestimate the sheer power of the Nova


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

SteveN said:


> WHY?



It was a nova


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## mad mark (Nov 12, 2003)

*where were you ??*

on the M5?? going south??

for those of you that went to Billing and got ****ed around our stand, will know that i too have been Done by this little beast..
try twin engine turbo.....
so i was told, we got up to 158mph on (our Private road of course) the way.
It is rapid...


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Mookistar said:


> It was a nova


So what, it was faster, who cares if it was a mini, a skoda, a ferrari, fast is fast.

The twin engined Nova is Matt Black with huge rims and hugely flared arches.

But most tuned 2litre 16v and 2litre 16v Turbo Novas will kick the crap out of lightly tuned Skylines from a rolling start.


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## Pikey (Feb 19, 2004)

A guy on the noswizard forum is partial to a Nova or two. He ran one of his cars at Santa Pod which was a C reg Nova with a (in his own words) 'half-knackered' 2 litre Cavalier NA lump and 125 shot of nitrous...

...13.3 quarter mile  

:smokin:


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

SteveN said:


> So what, it was faster, who cares if it was a mini, a skoda, a ferrari, fast is fast.
> 
> The twin engined Nova is Matt Black with huge rims and hugely flared arches.
> 
> But most tuned 2litre 16v and 2litre 16v Turbo Novas will kick the crap out of lightly tuned Skylines from a rolling start.



i don't disagree.

my brother drives a 2 litre turbo charged Punto

different outlooks steve 

mook


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## Kez (Sep 14, 2004)

were talking about highly tuned cars here against mildly tuned skylines we all know what happens when they go against highly tuned skylines!!!


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## stealth (Jul 6, 2004)

Kez said:


> were talking about highly tuned cars here against mildly tuned skylines we all know what happens when they go against highly tuned skylines!!!


Yes but at what cost in dosh to get a highly tuned skyline against something that weighs b.ugger all and costs b.ugger all .Power to weight ratio against bhp.  hmmm ?


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

They are out there, I know of a NA 205 that runs 13.5 1/4's  Just hope I don't meet them


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

PaulR33 said:


> I was on my way home from work lastnight, it was fairly dark and I could see some lights approaching pretty quickly, I left it for a minute or so and looked again and they were right up behind me. I could make out that it was a nova, looked standard and sounded loud. Max Power wannabes, I thought to myself and carried on.
> 
> I went another 5 miles and they were still behind me, it became obvious that they were pushing me for a race and me not liking to have people tailgating me and pushing just put my foot down and expected them to go away. How wrong was I? With my foot to the floor and heavily accelerating along the empty stretch of motorway the Nova was still there, not only was he there but he was easing off every now and then, I couldn't shake him so I continued accelerating, and he stuck there every step of the way, 120... Still there, 140... Damn it's still there! Not only was it there, but it was backing off alot to stay behind me. Just then, it went past like I was going backwards and continued to what must have been the better side of 160
> 
> ...


Nova rus Not Impedus You are Forgiven My Son Go Fourth and Tune!


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## Tefal (Oct 6, 2004)

http://www.migweb.co.uk

the guy that killed you is probably a member over there.

The bloke on the won forum would be chip, hes a friend of mine we are currently putting a turbo lump in his mid engine rwd nova and with the help of nitrous are hoping for 500bhp


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## Baby Nissan (Sep 25, 2004)

http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=152154&highlight=nova+turbo


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Respect to the driver of the Nova...fast, is fast :smokin:

All to often we tarnish drivers of a particular car with the same brush: Ohh it's a Nova, so there's got to be a spotty-faced teenager behind the wheel and the car is nothing but a max flower wannabe - neon, big wheels, oversized kit and a bog standard 1L engine under the bonnet.

This is not always true.

And the same can be said of Skylines - as in the other thread, not all skylines are 1000bhp, all dominating, flame spitting monsters either


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## Tefal (Oct 6, 2004)

lol just read that post actually,
im thinking of going jap myself, looking at toyota soarers for the time being (ur all gonna hate me now) but also been offered an rx7 but would ideally like a r33 gtr, just too pricey and the r32 doesnt really do anything for me looks wise, OH the choice, skyline would be my slow car anyway. Hopefully will be transplanting an audi straight 5 20v turbo from an rs2 into the corrado with the running gear and pushing that up the bhp scale


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## moleman (Jun 3, 2002)

Courtenay Turbo in Norfolk - I used to take my Cavalier Turbo there for tuning and servicing. One of the blokes there - John Shields I think his name was - had a 300 odd bhp nova. I believe they detuned it because of the ridiculous torque steer and wheelspin


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

Was at castle coombe the other month and there was a VW passet there with the BI turbo from the RS6 running round the 500BHP mare. It loked like a rep mobile but went like a rocket, just can't be to carefull !!!


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## Durzel (Dec 5, 2001)

ADUS said:


> anything with a turbo in it and weighs as much as a *** packet will be very quick


Amen.

Power to weight and all that. A 300bhp Nova would shame a Skyline with 500bhp+ I reckon.. it would come down to which car fell apart first, and I know which my money would be on. 

Respect where respect is due - but I personally wouldn't let anyone goad me into a race in the first place. Keep it on the track, etc...


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## Jim27 (Jul 1, 2004)

How about a 200bhp Cossie V6 with 4x4 running gear in a Mini?

http://www.v64x4miniracing.co.uk/build.htm

Now, have a look at what this chap is doing with the Cossie V6 lump:

http://www.maddoldbugger.supanet.com/blower.html

Put the two together and you'll have a nice torquey Cossie V6 with upwards of 300bhp and 4x4 running gear. In a Mini. That weighs LESS than an empty packet of ****!!!


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## Kez (Sep 14, 2004)

ok but the skyline is a far cooler car to own than any of the pre mentioned!!


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## Jim27 (Jul 1, 2004)

Oh come one. Classic Mini all the way 

I love 'em! Apart from being a death trap for the slightest accident, a pig to work on, far too slow and prone to rust into a pile of dust in the first 3 years of their life, they're brilliant cars!


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## johnnyd (Oct 6, 2004)

hi,

i saw a link to here on migweb.

i drive a nova with an astra GSi engine in (2.0 16v) which has been rolling roaded at 163bhp. it will beat the vast majority of cars on the road and only cost me the grand sum of £1000. it gives me a lot of pleasure when i get someone in a big jap car try it on and i beat them in my nova which cost about 1/20th of the price of their car.

for me it makes so much sense taking the smallest lightest car vauxhall ever made, and then dropping in the 2nd most powerful normally aspirated engine they ever made.

i would never pay over 2-3k on any car because i know the amount of fun that can be had with only a grands worth of car. to me the idea of spending 15-20k on a car is obsurd, seeing as all it takes is one lapse of concentration and it could all be destroyed in a split second.

ps - i'm not a spotty teenager with a burbury baseball cap either! pretty much exactly the opposite. im just someone who likes driving fast but who doesn't have loads of money.


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## tonigmr2 (Sep 12, 2002)

LOL horses for courses  

Personally have been in the sub £1K bracket a lot, and on the side of the road a lot too, hence try not to go back there!  

It's not just about speed and fun, for me I want a car I can walk up to and think 'wow, I've worked hard and earned that' and to watch myself in shop windows, heh heh. It's about aesthetic appreciation as well as the brute strength and speed...but then I'm a girl what do I know  

What you should've done mate is just sail serenely on like you were only playing, works for me! :smokin: 

T
edit: I should add I've 'killed' some pretty hefty opposition in a MK1 MR2, mind you it was a supercharger. Half the battle is catching someone else out though and challenging their expectations of your car!


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

johnnyd, I'v got a 205 with the MI16 conversion on the way. They are quick the little cars but a Skyline is a different matter over 100. Like you say though value for money the little cars with teh conversions win

By the way what do yor vax boys do about the traction problems ?? you running diff's if so which ones ???


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## Kez (Sep 14, 2004)

yeah looking in shop windows and nearly crashing into the car in front, fav pastime lol


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## Durzel (Dec 5, 2001)

johnnyd said:


> hi,
> 
> i saw a link to here on migweb.
> 
> ...


Surely the C20LET would've made more sense.. more power certainly.

Incidentally a 163bhp Nova isn't going to beat a reasonably high powered Skyline, it's not Elise light. And above 100, when it starts getting interesting, it's going to fall rapidly back 

But fair play, if that's all you can afford more (Max) power to you.


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## Kez (Sep 14, 2004)

lol


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

The free DVD in the most recent Redline mag has a mk.1 golf with Audi quattro mechanicals and drive train and it is rocket fast off the line, amazing vehicle. 
Wouldnt want a small rocket myself but credit to those that spend the time, money & energy on creating these things, dont forget its people like that who feed into the F1 scene and make our country the worlds best at designing and building the top cars and engines.


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## johnnyd (Oct 6, 2004)

kenan said:


> johnnyd, I'v got a 205 with the MI16 conversion on the way. They are quick the little cars but a Skyline is a different matter over 100. Like you say though value for money the little cars with teh conversions win
> 
> By the way what do yor vax boys do about the traction problems ?? you running diff's if so which ones ???


yeah two of my friends have 205 mi16's, one friend has two of them. they are fecking quick cars definately but you have to rev the nuts off them to get where the power is. and both of them have had con-rods break at about 110mph! apparently the Mi16 bottom end is notorious for this happening. i much prefer the torque curve of the vaux XE engine. it picks up from lower revs and just pulls and pulls and then some right up to the redline. but the 205 handles a lot better than my nova, i think an XE in a 205 would be a truly awesome car.

Durzel - I can't really say as i've never driven a LET nova. but the difference in price between the C20XE and C20LET is quite substantial. a decent XE and F20 box can be had for around £300-£400 whereas a LET plus F28 box can go from anywhere between £800-£1500. plus with the F28 you have to get it converted to 2WD. and LETs are far more unreliable than XEs. I imagine with a LET nova the wheelspin would be pretty insane too. its not too bad with the XE. in the dry i can only really spin the wheels in 1st and sometimes second. in the wet they'll spin pretty easily in 3rd. I heard you can fit a quaiffe LSD but they're about £500. So i'd say a LSD would be pretty essential in a LET nova. oh yeah, and there's the fuel consumption to consider also, the XE will do well over 100 miles to a tenner but i had a friend with a LET in a mk3 astra who's best mpg was about 19mpg!

personally i couldn't give a stuff what my car looks like. i mean, it looks like a nice tidy nova and i'm quite pleased with it, but i'd never buy a car purely because it looked good. i made that mistake with my first astra and i ended up spending far too much (which i'm still paying back loans, etc.. for) on the looks of it, and by the time i'd finished making it look like a GSi, i could've bought about 2 proper GSi's. my first consideration now is the engine and handling as 95% of my driving is done on twisty narrow b-roads at night.

but i totally respect anyones decision to buy whatever the hell car they like, i'm just saying my nova is perfect for me.

and i never have bought and never will buy a copy of max poo magazine


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## johnnyd (Oct 6, 2004)

ps - durzel, just noticed you're from wiltshire. whereabouts? I work in salisbury and i live near blandford.


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## Kez (Sep 14, 2004)

a twin engined skyline would be interesting


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## gertmuppet (Oct 17, 2003)

Jim27 said:


> Oh come one. Classic Mini all the way
> 
> I love 'em! Apart from being a death trap for the slightest accident, a pig to work on, far too slow and prone to rust into a pile of dust in the first 3 years of their life, they're brilliant cars!



yup, 3 cooper 's' s and one 32gtr, guess which is a daily driver and which get unleashed for fun?


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## JB. (Jul 4, 2004)

3 cooper s's!! In Red White and Blue I hope :smokin:


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

There is a little black B*gger with two engines reputedly at 300bhp each, Now that would make anything look "slow", unless it's Henry's old R33 at around 600bhp !!! GOODWOOD what a day out !!!! 

Shame a good man like @enry gone to the other side !!!! (yes, the P*sche cloud !!)
dunno if you ever get on here mate, but give uis a shout, going to Pod on Sunday and wld b gud 2 show you wot ya missin !!!!! (all JAP cars !)


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## Mully (Jun 26, 2004)

Anybody can buy an old tin bath and spend hundreds if not thousands (as is your want) putting bigger engines in to make it go like stink. But at the end of the day it's still a tin bath and it still stinks! 

If money wasn't a problem there wouldn't be such a thing as a "Nova boy" they'd all be driving Skyline's.

What does that say about us?  

Are we just older richer "Nova Boys"? 

I wish I hadn't started writting this now.  

Mully.


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## GSB (Mar 13, 2004)

Reminds of the story of a highly tuned scooby running close to 400bhp, went to Pod for a race for cash, came up against a metro!!!!

When the scooby got completely whipped he went over to see what the hell was going on!!! found the metro running a 500hp cosworth engine!!!

Dont ask me the details just telling you what the scooby tuner told me.


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

was probably a 6R4?


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## 8pot (Dec 29, 2002)

I would say that most people buy skylines because of the performance and tunability. The are not bad looking but are not as nice inside as most modern cars, not as comfortable, and terribly thirsty. It is mainly accelaration. If you get whupped by a nova or anything else that has no right to go fast it is well funny particularly if you are in the underdog. Years ago, fast car magazine did a feature Street sleepers which would be good to see today as most people are only interested in plastic shit and neons.


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## nismoman (Jul 13, 2004)

AT THE END OF THE DAY SURELY MAKING COMPARISONS IS VERY DIFFICULT A STANDARD NOVA IS NO MATCH FOR A STANDARD SKYLINE, AS IS A MODED NOVA NO MATCH FOR A MODED SKYLINE. DIDNT SEE ANY FAST NOVAS AT TOTB . SOME OF THE FASTEST LIGHTWHEIGHT CARS ON THE ROADS I HAVE SEEN ARE CARS FITTED WITH BIKE ENGINES. A MATE OF MINE IS RUNNING A RELIANT KITTEN WITH A ZZR ENGINE NOW THATS FICKING FAST IF YOUR A BRAVE MAN


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Ive seen a Reliant Kitten with a Rover V8...


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

not to mention the two Fiat 126's with small block V8's in them


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Yall might be in for a BIG suprise when you try taking on a lil blue ford fiesta this sunday at santapod  lol... 

Also check out this lovely 1.3L escort...


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## ADUS (Mar 10, 2004)

personally i think the biggest nutters are fookers who stick turbo's on bikes like this fooker with 500+bhp..oh and nos..


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

Damn - I bet that Escort is real quick...and one hell of a sleeper too :smokin: Looks bog standard from the outside, about the only hint at performance is the tailpipe...


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

He did have a standard looking exhaust too but was seriously restricting the power


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## Demon Dave (Sep 15, 2002)

sounds like he could have done with one of those adjustable exhaust systems fitted to some R34 (and maybe R33?) skylines...perhaps a custom system with an extra, hidden, big bore exhaust?

That escort looks a lot like my brothers...though his _was_ bog standard


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

My parents had an excort like that was I were young (Now I'm an old 26) and wasen't like that one. It looks standard but those wheels fill the arches very well and I'd a little sus about it. Will be good to see it run on Sunday . .


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## JB. (Jul 4, 2004)

8pot said:


> I would say that most people buy skylines because of the performance and tunability. The are not bad looking but are not as nice inside as most modern cars, not as comfortable, and terribly thirsty. It is mainly accelaration. If you get whupped by a nova or anything else that has no right to go fast it is well funny particularly if you are in the underdog. Years ago, fast car magazine did a feature Street sleepers which would be good to see today as most people are only interested in plastic shit and neons.


Couldn't agree more, sleepers rock and i LMAO at how upset people get by them and start cussing them. Ummmmm, imagination is thinking of RB26 Transplants!!!!


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

kenan said:


> It looks standard but those wheels fill the arches very well and I'd a little sus about it. Will be good to see it run on Sunday . .


I dont think if i didnt tell you what that cars about would you think for one second that its anything but a shed if you saw it on the road, dont think some steel wheels filling the arches a lil bit better than std is gonna make you think "ooh, monster" 

That car WONT be there on Sunday, read my post 

My friends car will, and that doesnt look like a sleeper as such, it just looks like a boyracer FWD fiesta, but not, its far far bigger spec than that escort i posted pics of...

And i agree, sleepers kick ass, great fun, and LOL at people when they get all defensive jus cause summat that cost 1/20 what their car did and looks like a crock of crap totaly creamed em...

Somtimes i think id much prefer a mega fast sleeper to go make fools of people and a slow but posh/comfy/cool car as well, rather than the GTR which is far from a sleeper and a boring mondeo daily drive, doubt it cost any more either...


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

SteveN said:


> I dont think if i didnt tell you what that cars about would you think for one second that its anything but a shed if you saw it on the road, dont think some steel wheels filling the arches a lil bit better than std is gonna make you think "ooh, monster"
> 
> That car WONT be there on Sunday, read my post
> 
> ...


I really should get me eyes checked out  Will look out for the Festa either way. 

I wondered what I could fit the RB26 into . . . .


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## skinny (Oct 3, 2004)

Paul, where were you, cos i've heard of a Nova with twin 300bhp Calibra turbo motors terrorising the South-Wales area.


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Theres only 1 twin calibra turbod engined Nova in the UK, the widearch matt black one, cant miss it. 
And lots of rumours and buillshit (often made up by people who just got caned by a Nova--- "Yea mate, twin engined, 600bhp, and i only JUST lost" etc etc etc).


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## Daz (Aug 14, 2001)

I've got video of the first time I made the 100+ mile journey to Southend for a GTI-R meet. There was an escort of the same shape with a Griff 500 TVR lump. The dashboard was pushed right back into the car. On the back it had a badge that read something along the lines of ... "TVR Griff 500 powered".

Got a quick video of him doing a rolling burnout and launch. Went like an absolute rocket ... and sounded gorgeous with the V8 thumping away.

Unfortunately, I can't get the video on line but i can try and and take some photo's from the video at some point.


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

Hi, i ran a 13.3 @ 109.8mph in my nova, compeltely standard looking car, it does surprise a few people, not a bad power to weight ratio really, 800kg or so and upwards of 250bhp, but the mini im half way through building at the moment should be 600kg and 500bhp when finished (its a 20xe based engine but with a steel crank and steel rods, low compression pistons, programmable management and a rotrex charger with a wizards of nos progressive kit) that makes for a better power to weight ratio than a 1000bhp skyline, but obviously i dont have the grip so would never keep with a 1000bhp skyline other than perhaps from about 70-100 where power to wieght is more important than grip or aerodynamics.
Ive also got another nova with a calibra turbo engine in the rear, thats only running mild power at the moment but will be 450bhp or so by next year when ive had the time to fit some new rods to it (standard ones dont seem to like much over 350bhp)

Chip


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

chip said:


> Hi, i ran a 13.3 @ 109.8mph in my nova, compeltely standard looking car, it does surprise a few people, not a bad power to weight ratio really, 800kg or so and upwards of 250bhp, but the mini im half way through building at the moment should be 600kg and 500bhp when finished (its a 20xe based engine but with a steel crank and steel rods, low compression pistons, programmable management and a rotrex charger with a wizards of nos progressive kit) that makes for a better power to weight ratio than a 1000bhp skyline, but obviously i dont have the grip so would never keep with a 1000bhp skyline other than perhaps from about 70-100 where power to wieght is more important than grip or aerodynamics.
> Ive also got another nova with a calibra turbo engine in the rear, thats only running mild power at the moment but will be 450bhp or so by next year when ive had the time to fit some new rods to it (standard ones dont seem to like much over 350bhp)
> 
> Chip


Good job, bet they feel really quick to with the cars being small. My 205 always "feels" quicker than the Skyline even though I know it isn't


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

I like big cars with big power, but good on you guys, innovation and imagination plus a fair dash of lunacy and bravery, what keeps it all interesting and fun.


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## Durzel (Dec 5, 2001)

Slightly off-topic but does anyone else not think that the whole "sleeper" attitude is shared by those who are basically out to street race? 

I know that's a sweeping generalisation but it strikes me that people who spend vast sums of money on engine mods, and nothing on the outside are either a) totally happy with the way the car looks or b) out to lure/goad people to race them on the road?

Flamesuit on...


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

Durzel said:


> Slightly off-topic but does anyone else not think that the whole "sleeper" attitude is shared by those who are basically out to street race?
> 
> I know that's a sweeping generalisation but it strikes me that people who spend vast sums of money on engine mods, and nothing on the outside are either a) totally happy with the way the car looks or b) out to lure/goad people to race them on the road?
> 
> Flamesuit on...


The other reason is for people who want a car to go/handel well and aren't bother buy the way a car looks. Sorry Chip but a Nova don't look good no matter where you are standing, but that my view. Expect you don't like the look of 205's etc. I wanted my 205 to be faster (like most Skyline owners) and like the way it looked.

For a good body kit say £1000, fitting spraying etc £2000, wheels £800 others bits and bobs and you have spent loads without improving the car. Good engine conversion is cheaper and makes me smile more  

There are worse things that "sleepers", fakers. Hands up those with a GRT badge on their GTS-S etc (runs and hides)


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## blueskygtr (Mar 24, 2004)

SteveN said:


> Theres only 1 twin calibra turbod engined Nova in the UK, the widearch matt black one, cant miss it.


True mate but there is one single engined one down here in Norfolk built by Courtney sport boasting 300bhp
The conversion seems to need wide body kit as the front track is wider This one has Novadose wide arches and you can guess the look   

But

Extremely fast
Beat me last race we had and you can be sure he is on my "revenge" list when my girl is back  

JAY


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

blueskygtr said:


> True mate but there is one single engined one down here in Norfolk built by Courtney sport boasting 300bhp
> The conversion seems to need wide body kit as the front track is wider This one has Novadose wide arches and you can guess the look


You dont need a wide arch kit.
Theres loads of calibra turbo engined novas around, has been since the late 90s, almost none have widearch kits.

I mentioned the twin engined one has wide arches as someone was going on about one they raced was twin engined, and i bet it wasnt, as the only twin engined one in the UK has got very wide Rallycross arches on it.

BTW its not a Novadose kit, thats a shoddy late 90s bodykit that was just bumpers and side skirts, no arches 

This ones the Novadose kit--








And funnily enough i remember that car was featured in MaxPower in the late 90s and i raced it back then when i was 18y/o boyracer in my first Reno5Turbo, it and kicked its ass, lol.


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

I think sleepers are just out to rub unsupecting peoples noses in it, bit like Mike Tyson biting Holyfields ear off, havent got the real thing so cheating instead, but hell, why not?
Sometimes flash gits need to be brought down a peg or two.


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

In my EG9 VTi,i want to put in a complete Evo gearbox,engine diffs etc etc.

I've been told it can be done,well everything can be when it comes to modifing.

I'd have 300bhp standard in a 1060kg car.

Then add in some uprated parts,i'll be coming close to 400/450bhp.

Imagine that  .

Obviously i won't be able to do it as i have no way near enough money and insurance would eat me up,excrete me out and then eat me again.


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

Re: Sleepers
Yes i build my cars to race people with without them knowing what hit them, i do this legally at santa pod and also illegally on a local bit of dual carraigeway from time to time, had a local subaru driver for example the last time i was out, didnt actually speed by much though, by the time i got to 90mph on a 70mph bit of road he was so far behind that he had got the message and i didnt feel the need to then go on to do unsafe speeds to prove the point.

Re: 205s
I love the look of 205s, i used to have an Mi16 one myself in fact and would happily have another one, fantastic little cars, just a bit heavier and not such good choice of readily available engines as the nova.



I went to buy an R33GTR about 5 or 6 years ago, was dead set on one from reading the specs etc, but then i test drove a few and decided that it was the most boring road car i had ever driven, for the simple reason that at the speeds i was prepared to take it to it just wasnt possible to feel you were actually moving, they are just TOO good, as a driver i felt like an optional extra, so instead i bought myself a honda vtec for boringly chomping up motorway miles and bought a mini shell and built myself a trackday car to have fun in, i still respect skylines for what they are though and certainly view them as one of the cars that i aim to beat.


Chip


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

Why bother when you can get so much power from the vtec lump anyway?
300bhp from even the 1600 is a piece of cake, and 500 is certainly possible, the yanks do it quite often in road going civics




JapFreak786 said:


> In my EG9 VTi,i want to put in a complete Evo gearbox,engine diffs etc etc.
> 
> I've been told it can be done,well everything can be when it comes to modifing.
> 
> ...


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

SteveN said:


> You dont need a wide arch kit.
> I mentioned the twin engined one has wide arches as someone was going on about one they raced was twin engined, and i bet it wasnt, as the only twin engined one in the UK has got very wide Rallycross arches on it.



That has to have widearchs for the same reason that my mid engined RWD one does, to cover the calibra front track that it has now got in the back, as it uses calibra driveshafts etc.


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

JapFreak786 said:


> In my EG9 VTi,i want to put in a complete Evo gearbox,engine diffs etc etc.
> 
> I've been told it can be done,well everything can be when it comes to modifing.
> 
> I'd have 300bhp standard in a 1060kg car.


Mate, you ever wondered why EVOs dont weigh 1060kg? The same reason your Civic wouldnt, cause of the extra weight of the 4wd system 

If you wanted EVO power, flog the Civic n buy a Mitzi Colt or Proton as the engine fits pretty much straight in.

FWD isnt ideal, but mega power FWDs can be made to drive right if you know what you doing.


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## blueskygtr (Mar 24, 2004)

SteveN said:


> BTW its not a Novadose kit, thats a shoddy late 90s bodykit that was just bumpers and side skirts, no arches
> And funnily enough i remember that car was featured in MaxPower in the late 90s and i raced it back then when i was 18y/o boyracer in my first Reno5Turbo, it and kicked its ass, lol.


Thats the kit !!!!!

Looks better on that one than it does on the one down here  

Been chatting to the guys round here and the one that kicked my ass has (apparently) had the arches flared by cut and shut methods  

I think most of the conversions use astra driveshafts but if you use the std calibra set up then the cut&shut seems a must according to these guys!

Oh well it will be cut up and shut up when i get the blue beastie back     

Just found this thread and it,s case in point i believe lol
http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/showthread.php?t=28853

JAY


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## MarkFTO (Jun 22, 2002)

JapFreak786 said:


> In my EG9 VTi,i want to put in a complete Evo gearbox,engine diffs etc etc.
> 
> I've been told it can be done,well everything can be when it comes to modifing.
> 
> ...


Im running an evo engine in one of my FTO's its great when it works but a whole load of problems when it doesn't. Just had to sort out a twin plate clutch to hold the power and general thoughts are it wont cope when im finihsed with my rebuild 

Only aiming for a target weight of 1200kgs and 400bhp on my project though.


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## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

My Brothers Coupe 16v Turbo lumped *Punto* is knocking on the door of 300bhp... and weight 1000kg 

i won't EVER race him

mook


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## emicen (Sep 4, 2003)

Sleepers: Yes and no. I loved it in my Glanza when people didnt know what it was or just took it for a starlet with a subtle bodykit then got pasted. For me I just dont see the point in modding the outside of a car. My celica is a bad example because I view it as perfect in the bodystyling dept, but my Glanza could have had umpteen boyracerish bits fitted, but at the end of the day, arent you basically just admitting, "I have an ugly @ss car, lets try and polish the turd"?! Buy a car you like the looks of and then make it go fast, for me speed is the most fun you can get out a car.

I think its just the devision of mind sets, some people love to pose hence they spend thousands on fibreglass and paint, others love to blast, hence they spend shed loads on engine tuning. Those stuck in the middle often have a mixture or both, with some subtler body mods and an attempt at reasonable power. The smallest demographic being your Mr Barnes type who want a mega quick car and a mega styled car, but in most cases these vehicles are done for the same reason as his, its the best marketing tool your company could ever have.

Power to weight: The guy that just bought my Glanza took it to a rolling road day at Dastek nr Edinburgh. 167bhp & 155 lbs/ft  Or in the words of the operator, "fcuk me that things a pocket rocket!"


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## emicen (Sep 4, 2003)

Can I also just say, wow! This is a 6 page thread about Nova's and the like being fast on a Skyline forum and there hasnt been any slagging of the smaller cars!


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

emicen, yeah i noticed that, just goes to show that skyline owners dont need an attititude cause their cars do it for them 


With regards to the post above about astra drive shafts, most big engine novas use either custom shafts or they use nova gte ones with mk2 cavalier inner cv joints, it all fits together very easily then inside the standard track.
Its only when you start putting a whole calibra front end into the back of a nova that you start getting the issues with wider track.
When people do have wide arches on a nova its either for handling or just for the looks , its not cause there is any mechanical need to.


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## Pikey (Feb 19, 2004)

JapFreak786 said:


> In my EG9 VTi,i want to put in a complete Evo gearbox,engine diffs etc etc.


Blasphemy!!


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

The 4WD doesn't weigh to much does it,i was guessing taking out the B16A2 would make the car weigh about 950kg,then adding in the rest,the car's weight would be about 1200kg or somethung similar.


300bhp from the B16A2 isn't that hard,just bloody expensive.
To get 300bhp,i'd have to up rate everything inside,and also get a turbo.

500bhp from the B16A2 is again possible,but again shed loads have to be spent on making the engine strong enough to take the high boost from the turbo/super charger.

A good set-up for the turbo costs £5k alone,then add in parts to make internals stronger,atleast another £3k,and the total bill comes to a minimum of £8k.

With that kind of money,i could have the evo engine/drive train put in and have 300bhp standard,and have loads of tuning potential.
A lot easier to get 500bhp out of an 4G63 than is in a civic.
Take thee R/C developments car for example,it's got 900bhp and does 10sec 1/4 mile's.


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

I allways thought the FTO deserved a better engine, I had one for 5 years before getting my Skyline and it was a really nicely balanced car. If I could have afforded the time and money I'd have loved to have put an Evo engine and drivetrain in it then it would have lived up to its looks, they are a bit common now but when I originally bought mine there were hardly any around and they were a bit sleeperish but without the goods to deliver.
The time when I decided to go for the Skyline which I'd fantasised about for ages was when I was driving up a well known long hill in Devon called 'Telegraph Hill' on the A38, half way along it and a bog standard looking red Nova appeared in my rear view mirror, I was only going at around 70'ish so thought no problem and put my foot down, which doesnt mean blistering accelleration but it should have dealt with the Nova, but it stayed there and I pulled over to let him go and he booted it and it shot past me leaving me for dust at 100mph, the driver looked over with a huge grin and all I could think was what is that?


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## djdna2000 (Nov 14, 2003)

liquidculture said:


> The time when I decided to go for the Skyline which I'd fantasised about for ages was when I was driving up a well known long hill in Devon called 'Telegraph Hill' on the A38, half way along it and a bog standard looking red Nova appeared in my rear view mirror, I was only going at around 70'ish so thought no problem and put my foot down, which doesnt mean blistering accelleration but it should have dealt with the Nova, but it stayed there and I pulled over to let him go and he booted it and it shot past me leaving me for dust at 100mph, the driver looked over with a huge grin and all I could think was what is that?


Telegraph Hill is a true test of a car's power and weight characteristics. My parents live in Torquay, and when I go to visit it's always good to laugh at the repmobiles (mondeo/laguna etc) who have been up your **** and annoying you for miles suddenly dropping back and giving up


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

djdna2000 said:


> Telegraph Hill is a true test of a car's power and weight characteristics. My parents live in Torquay, and when I go to visit it's always good to laugh at the repmobiles (mondeo/laguna etc) who have been up your **** and annoying you for miles suddenly dropping back and giving up


Yeah I like that bit of road. got a mate with a quick Skyline who realy upset a local Scooby who thought he was quick


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

True, I go back a few years and before it was properly dualled the summer holiday traffic would struggle up there loaded up with kids and luggage and the ammount of cars stopped with steam pouring out was amazing. 
My first car was a Ford Popular with a side valve engine and if it didnt boil over I could just crest the top of the hill in first at about 1 mph (for those that dont know it the hill its fairly steep but goes on for a about couple of miles altogether, its the main road down to the S.West from Exeter onwards)
Nowadays even repmobiles crack on fairly fast but I have to slow down for the bend at the top in the Skyline - hard to imagine 'the old days' now.


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## Pikey (Feb 19, 2004)

JapFreak786 said:


> 300bhp from the B16A2 isn't that hard,just bloody expensive.
> To get 300bhp,i'd have to up rate everything inside,and also get a turbo.
> 
> A good set-up for the turbo costs £5k alone,then add in parts to make internals stronger,atleast another £3k,and the total bill comes to a minimum of £8k.
> ...


You reckon?  

For a start I dont reckon 8 grand would get you anywhere near the installation of an Evo engine and drivetrain into your car, and I also think you could have 300bhp out of a B16 for a lot less than that!

Get the engine out, put in some low compressions pistons and have done with it. Turbo kit from the USA should come in well under 3k, fit it yourself, Unichip, and away you go  

500bhp is, of course, a different matter, but do you honestly think you're going to get a reliable 500bhp out of an Evo engine cheaply?


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## MarkFTO (Jun 22, 2002)

liquidculture said:


> I allways thought the FTO deserved a better engine, I had one for 5 years before getting my Skyline and it was a really nicely balanced car. If I could have afforded the time and money I'd have loved to have put an Evo engine and drivetrain in it then it would have lived up to its looks, they are a bit common now but when I originally bought mine there were hardly any around and they were a bit sleeperish but without the goods to deliver.


I have an evo engine in mine, well not at the moment but usually i do... makes the fto go as well as it looks imho.



Pickey said:


> You reckon?
> 
> For a start I dont reckon 8 grand would get you anywhere near the installation of an Evo engine and drivetrain into your car, and I also think you could have 300bhp out of a B16 for a lot less than that!


Totally agree ive spent more than that on mine and im just running fwd for now!


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## liquidculture (Apr 19, 2004)

Sounds pretty amazing, shame your so far away I'd love to see it. Do you have the Evo drivetrain also?


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## MarkFTO (Jun 22, 2002)

must admit when its running i really like it, seems to handle the power well. Engine is out for a rebuild at the moment so hopefully some more power when its back in. The drivetrain in a bit a a hybrid blend of evo and fto parts. One day i plan to make it 4wd but sadly thats a long way off yet.


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## sweeps (Sep 14, 2002)

Here's another sleeper. love the 1.3L badge


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

Well i've been quoted by Jakan £20k for the work,only an estimate,but said i'd have around 600bhp and 4wd.
Considering they charge £65 p/h,the work would take about 3/4 weeks,theres about £5k saved there by doing it my self,and then source the parts from here and there,bring price down a bit.

Anyway,even if it was about £10k,i reckon a 4wd,300bhp civic would be great.


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

Sweeeps.... Mate..... Check the page before...... Ive already posted the pics of that escort....


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## sweeps (Sep 14, 2002)

Sweeps says to his self " Must read whole threads, must read whole threads.... "


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## chip (Oct 18, 2004)

I cant see what the civic shell brings to the party, you would be better off just having an EVO, you can easily lighten the EVO shell to the same weight as the civic would be pretty much, and i suspect you will struggle to ever get the civic to handle the same, there is a lot of elecontronics linked that is all calibrated for the evo size shell, throwing the wheelbase out may make all that work incorrectly.

If you really wanted to do it just cause you particuarly like the civic, then i would recomend using cossie running gear instead, loads of parts avaialble, its a lot simpler, no complicated electronics, and plenty of places that can tune it, i know a few people who have had cars with cossie running gear and its fairly straightforward to do.

just my 2p


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

Well maybe,but i still haven't decided,and won't for a good 2/3 years.
No way would i be able to forward it as i'm still a student.

I could just buy an R32/34 GTR with the money.(Remember,in a few years)

I personally don't like the looks of the R33,its great,but just prefer R32/34 better.


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## Zoidberg (Sep 26, 2004)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10410&item=2496430184&rd=1 < a good sleeper


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## emicen (Sep 4, 2003)

JapFreak786 said:


> Well i've been quoted by Jakan £20k for the work,only an estimate,but said i'd have around 600bhp and 4wd.
> Considering they charge £65 p/h,the work would take about 3/4 weeks,theres about £5k saved there by doing it my self,and then source the parts from here and there,bring price down a bit.
> 
> Anyway,even if it was about £10k,i reckon a 4wd,300bhp civic would be great.


Why not import a 4WD civic from Japan and drop a 300hp B16 turbo in to it. The Fensport Corolla was born a 1.5 auto 4wd in Japan and then had the ST205 GT4 running gear dropped in. Starting with a 4wd base will reduce the cost hugely due to having things like the transmission tunnel already there.

Then you should consider, why are you starting with a VTi? There's going to be bugger all VTi bits left in it at the end of the work, I'd chose a complete dud (even a blown engined one) to start with, most of the stuff will be junked anyways.


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

Could do,but i've aleady got my VTi.

Maybe if i can find a blown engine'd ferio somewhere next year,then i might aswell do that.


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## PaulR33 (Oct 5, 2004)

Years old and sorry to bump this.

About three weeks ago I happened to bump in to said Nova in M&S car park. I waited until the owner came out and we stood about for the best part of two hours chatting about cars, refreshed to see that the owner was mid 30's and a true petrol-head.

Turns out when he raced me it was running a Calibra Turbo engine fitted with a large FMIC and I think he said phase 2 chips? Somewhere around 280bhp, however he now runs a few more mods, Megasquirt and the better part of 380bhp, I went for a 5 minute passenger ride with him and MY GOD! 

Fast isnt the word, don't under-estimate these little buggers!


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## beaumackenzie (Jan 21, 2008)

i have to agree, power to wieght is more important then out right power, 

i regret selling my sr20det 4wd nissan primera as it was quiker then my skyline is now and i still will have to spend mega dollars getting it to where my primera was then more to improve on that,

sure the p10 only had 4 cylinders but could rev to 9000 all day and peak 10, 000rpm with a top speed of 290 kph and a qauter mile time of 9.1

Photo Album


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## Wanabee Kiwi (Mar 31, 2007)

9.1?!?!?! have you been smoking crack mate? 

Maybe from a 120mph rolling start but if you had done a 9.1 1/4 mile then you would be in the NZPC 9 Second club. Which you don't appear to be.....


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## beaumackenzie (Jan 21, 2008)

who said it was in new zealand? ya muppet, its a ex japan hks car. look before you leap.


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## Adam Kindness (Jun 22, 2002)

yup.... i've had a few Corsa's down the line..... 

Eventually split my 200+ bhp 190lbft NA 2.0 16v just after i got the R32 GTR.

Great fun, but the engine just kept buggering up...  prob rev'd it to around 9000rpm though LOL

altered bulkhead with ITB's poking through.... when dark all you would see is flames in the cabin :\ never mind the ear splitting noise and fumes

There are lots of very fast ones out there now.... 400+ bhp etc

Vids on track, with a stage1 R32 GTR
http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/vid/corsa/KH_corsa_hm3.avi

http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/vid/corsa/KH_corsa_hm2.avi

http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/vid/corsa/KH_corsa_hm1.avi


hehehe


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## RavenHeart (Feb 12, 2006)

Take it this was on a track day?

Don't underestimate the Nova (my first car, loved it), top of the range models are quick, tuned or not.


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## Lith (Oct 5, 2006)

beaumackenzie said:


> i regret selling my sr20det 4wd nissan primera as it was quiker then my skyline is now and i still will have to spend mega dollars getting it to where my primera was then more to improve on that,


Would be interesting to check out one of these beasts you have, I see you are in PN as well! Surprised I hadn't heard anything about them to be honest.


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## beaumackenzie (Jan 21, 2008)

Lith said:


> Would be interesting to check out one of these beasts you have, I see you are in PN as well! Surprised I hadn't heard anything about them to be honest.



PM me your phone number and we'll catch up.


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## kenan (Apr 29, 2003)

:blahblah: 

get a 205 :bowdown1:


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## Wanabee Kiwi (Mar 31, 2007)

beaumackenzie said:


> who said it was in new zealand? ya muppet, its a ex japan hks car. look before you leap.


Sorry mate, didn't even think about that lol


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## Ian.W (Mar 30, 2007)

PaulR33 said:


> I was on my way home from work lastnight, it was fairly dark and I could see some lights approaching pretty quickly, I left it for a minute or so and looked again and they were right up behind me. I could make out that it was a nova, looked standard and sounded loud. Max Power wannabes, I thought to myself and carried on.
> 
> I went another 5 miles and they were still behind me, it became obvious that they were pushing me for a race and me not liking to have people tailgating me and pushing just put my foot down and expected them to go away. How wrong was I? With my foot to the floor and heavily accelerating along the empty stretch of motorway the Nova was still there, not only was he there but he was easing off every now and then, I couldn't shake him so I continued accelerating, and he stuck there every step of the way, 120... Still there, 140... Damn it's still there! Not only was it there, but it was backing off alot to stay behind me. Just then, it went past like I was going backwards and continued to what must have been the better side of 160
> 
> ...


<a href="http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa256/ianW_2007/?action=view&current=DSC00155.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa256/ianW_2007/DSC00155.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

you think calibra injected novas are fast, no skyline would be faster than this twin jet saxo :chuckle:


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## TheD (Aug 25, 2008)

liquidculture said:


> I know a local guy here who services a Nova with a Calibra engine running at around 330bhp - wheel spin in every gear but very fast


My first car was a 1 litre A-reg Nova years ago! Lol, It used to wheel spin in every gear hehehehe. :chairshot

I remember going to a 'Fast Car' event at Santapod many years ago and there were loads of Novas running 2.2ltr Calibra turbo lumps in them. On the strip they proved much more reliable than the Renault 5 GT Turbos, most of them ended up leaving a cloud of white smoke a quarter of the way down and never reaching the end. Lol.


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

RavenHeart said:


> Don't underestimate the Nova (my first car, loved it), top of the range models are quick, tuned or not.


no they arent

60 was in the 9s, a r5gtt was 2sec qicker to 60


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## TheD (Aug 25, 2008)

Was the top of the line one the GTE or the SR? Can't remember.


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## SteveN (Aug 6, 2002)

GTE or GSI in later years. 1.6 8 valve injection.

SR and SRI later on were the next step down.

I presume you was joking about your 1litre nova and the wheelspin


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

SteveN said:


> I presume you was joking about your 1litre nova and the wheelspin




Dont think the tyres had any tread-lol


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## sp1 (Apr 21, 2008)

Regarding sleeper cars, i honestly do love the concept of having a car that to look at from the outside is standard but will leave people in a state of confusion as to asking themselves ''did that nova/mini/micra etc just leave me for dust''.

I use to own two renault 5gtt's before,although they didnt 'look' like sleepers they would surprise alot of rep mobiles and the sort,thinking it was just another max motor.

My car was looked after by an ex renault 5 coupe (cup) mechanic who lives and breathes renault 5's (although when i took him for a quick spin in the R32 he was quoted saying ''hmmm i could live with this''

There are a couple of videos on you tube of him (colin cook) on you tube in his renault 5 'campus' 13.1 qtr mile at shakespeare. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9qpbOh-_NY) The RTOC members do regard him as a legend because he has vast amount of knowledge on renault 5's and is a master of budget idea's,lol that actually work.

All in all the bottom line is that you shouldnt judge a book by its cover unless its top shelf and i think us skyline owners are looked upon as top shelf material. back on the RTOC forum when some one had there engine tuned to near 200bhp mark, alot of the guys would go scooby hunting,not because their boy racers but to see what they had acheived on a very small budget and cars like ours will always be classed as those benchmark brands to go and test with.


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## TheD (Aug 25, 2008)

SteveN said:


> GTE or GSI in later years. 1.6 8 valve injection.
> 
> SR and SRI later on were the next step down.
> 
> I presume you was joking about your 1litre nova and the wheelspin


:chuckle: Had to be careful not to blister the pram whee, I mean tires.


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## Hacker (Dec 21, 2006)

I love it when you get a "hot hatch" along side at the lights desperate to race off the lights.

I never give them the satisfaction.
Whether they win or loose (eather way they will be chuffed to have tried).
Ive still caned a load of fuel.

Maybe I have no balls??


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## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Hacker 

You still alive then ??


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## Hacker (Dec 21, 2006)

Steve said:


> Hacker
> 
> You still alive then ??


oh yes still here, may see you on the 2nd Nov.:wavey:


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

I drag raced a lovely orange nova on saturday, weighed 750kg and had a 280bhp tuned turbo lump.

My car was only operating in rwd and he had MT drag tyres.....absolutely killed me on 2 runs...1 run I managed to beat him by .1 of a second...

a picture of the first 60ft shorlty after the launch.....bit embarassing....


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## BIG.SMOKE (Apr 2, 2009)

Has Shin Inoue taught you guys nothing !! 
People always going on about hp figures and 0-60 the skylines handling is what its all about :chuckle:


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

agreed...1700kg versas 750kg... he had the power to weight advantage by far...
if my 4wd was working I woulda smoked him for sure...but I am running 511bhp... and my reaction times were much better.....though my tyres were [email protected]


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

how about this plain looking fella.....1.6 engine, running 2.1bar 516bhp.. and the owner told me running stock internals...so probably won't be running for long...


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## R34Nismo (Oct 3, 2002)

I have been through some cars in my time, I believe we all have in truth.

Myself from Cortina Cruisader to Mk2 golf(s) with loads of modifications and friends cars ie Nova with Regal conversions etc etc. 

Two things now stick in my mind, all the cars were designed to go quick off the mark or acceleration. However none of them were designed to stop or handle. In truth most of the time people I knew were faster because they were prepared to take risks when other people were not.

Later braking, riskier driving etc.

All of this makes for a faster driver on a track but it does involve tuning the nut behind the wheel. Most people dont have a passion to win that much and leave it down to the car to do the work, not with added risk.

Some people on a track are a liability just because of this fact.

Secondly, they were all built on a lower budget and as such things like brakes etc were left out, or if there was an issue it would be a work around rather than a fix.

There is an argument that ways build cheap build quick and scrap it and start again with minimal loss if it all goes belly up.

I have on video the Nova which beat Henry's car first time, think it suprised him. Reality was when they tried a second time, he launched off the line just like the Nova and won.
Am sure this is already on YouTube somewhere, if not I can dig it out.

I always have and always will love Sleeper cars.

No one would notice my car coming down the road........


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## RSVFOUR (May 1, 2006)

Agreed 100 % mine surprises everyone

Rule number one :- 
Just because its looks like a duck and quacks like a duck does not mean it is a duck.

Actually Nova drivers can get caught out too.

I had a very amusing "jaunt" on the way to the bhp meet at lydden a few weeks ago .
A guy in a Nova "hiding" a turbo calibra engine decided to take the mick out of my stagea but he forgot the above applies to other cars as well as his.

To be fair when we reached lydden we did have a long extremely good natured chat along the lines of WTF..........


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## bigchris350 (Mar 9, 2009)

tonigmr2 said:


> LOL horses for courses
> 
> 
> It's not just about speed and fun, for me I want a car I can walk up to and think 'wow, I've worked hard and earned that' and to watch myself in shop windows, heh heh. It's about aesthetic appreciation as well as the brute strength and speed...
> ...


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

BIG.SMOKE said:


> Has Shin Inoue taught you guys nothing !!
> People always going on about hp figures and 0-60 the skylines handling is what its all about :chuckle:




Yes but if someones spent x amount of money putting a powerfull engine into a smaller car, the chances are they have also spent money on the suspension and handling of the car.

At the end of the day I would sooner the Skyline even if the Nova was faster


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

looking at the cars I saw.....zero money was put into the handling...straight line was all they were interested in..


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## R34Nismo (Oct 3, 2002)

exactly, in reality limited budget gets them limited project and its usually on the engine and associated ancillaries only.

There are exceptions but they are usually the true class sleeper where people with larger budgets want to do it properly but have the true sleeper.

I think there are two reasons for doing a sleeper.

1) cant afford to do much else other than quick bits
2) can afford to do it and thought would be fun to do it properly and right.


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

Chaps,

Any chav who thought it was a good idea to spend alot of cash and time on a death trap eurobox such as Nova wouldn't even begin to understand how suspension or brakes work.

Their knowledge circles around the neanderthal logic of power-to-weight yet they dont understand that to make power to weight effective, you'll need a considerable amount of power to begin with, and a transmission and chassis to put the power down, you're not going to get that in a damn Vauxhall 4 banger FWD 80's chassis are you? 

Regards,

Sid


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

Sidious said:


> Chaps,
> 
> Any chav who thought it was a good idea to spend alot of cash and time on a death trap eurobox such as Nova wouldn't even begin to understand how suspension or brakes work.
> 
> ...


from what I saw...you are !


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

cleethorpes said:


> from what I saw...you are !




If you are talking about what you saw on the drag strip, they are likely to be people who know what they are doing and who know what they are looking for within a controlled environment.

I'm really just talking about the plebs with their re-sprayed FWD death traps you see dumping their valve at the local car meet. 

Regards,

Sid


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## RSVFOUR (May 1, 2006)

well the guy i spoke to really new his stuff and the turbo calibra engine looked like it was an original fitment. 

he had done the conversion himself and the car was uprated with wheels ,brakes , suspension, roll cage etc 

it was in short a really nice car..........................................................but not my cup of tea as it was of course still a Nova


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

will stick a pic up of the engine bay and you will have to agree that it is superb..


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## bigkev (Mar 2, 2008)

Sidious said:


> Chaps,
> 
> Any chav who thought it was a good idea to spend alot of cash and time on a death trap eurobox such as Nova wouldn't even begin to understand how suspension or brakes work.
> 
> ...


if this is your sole opinion on the matter then you sir are a narrow minded idiot.

have you even read the rest of the thread?

kev


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## G40tee (Feb 25, 2008)

have seen some silly fast novas, raced some in my (pretty spritely) 220hpish polo g40 when i had it, i mean i only weighed 750odd kilos but and had that power but some would outstrip me hardcore!

The ones i saw though were just as above all big engine and that was about it, when it got to corners my big brakes, subframes, coilovers and wide ass wheels would me id handle and they just wouldnt.

Did see one mental sleeper though with the works.

Black nova, badged up as 1.4 with blacked out windows hiding a full cage etc, full race stripped, big brakes and 350hp of turbo lump! that thing shifted!


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## cleethorpes (Sep 30, 2008)

very tidy


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

RSVFOUR said:


> well the guy i spoke to really new his stuff and the turbo calibra engine looked like it was an original fitment.
> 
> he had done the conversion himself and the car was uprated with wheels ,brakes , suspension, roll cage etc
> 
> it was in short a really nice car..........................................................but not my cup of tea as it was of course still a Nova




Thats right mate-The cars I seen have had alot more than just a big engine dropped in.More often tha than not suspension, roll cages have been added which help the car hold well


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## Sidious (Jul 14, 2006)

bigkev said:


> if this is your sole opinion on the matter then you sir are a narrow minded idiot.
> 
> have you even read the rest of the thread?
> 
> kev


Kev,

I have driven many cars, and unfortunately Vauxhalls (especially modified Novas) are not even in the top 30. 

There are many small FWD cars that are whole lot more accomplished than what Vauxhalls and Fords have to offer. A narrowminded idiot would carry on ignoring this and continue spending his benefit money on 2 litre conversion to spank dem skylines wit me powa to weight ye get me.

Unfortunately there are still plenty of people like this about - judging by your stroppy post I guess you was one of them aswell, but atleast you learned your lesson and moved on so stop whinging.

Regards,

Sid


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## furrywoolyhatuk (Apr 16, 2009)

I cant believe the length of this thread, its certainly been an eye opener, but I still think i would rather stick to my skyline thanks very much!


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## bigkev (Mar 2, 2008)

Sidious said:


> Kev,
> 
> I have driven many cars, and unfortunately Vauxhalls (especially modified Novas) are not even in the top 30.
> 
> ...



ive had a few cars and driven many but i have never modified ANY except my skylines. So, sorry but i was not 'one of them'.

if all someone wants to do is win in a straight line drag race with a big tuned engine in a small light car and nothing else then good for them, do what makes you happy i say.
The rest of this thread largely suggests that some of the people doing these conversions are not young, benefit seeking morons, and actually are intelligent, highly skilled mechanics doing something different. it isnt as easy as people think to convert a nova to a mid-engined 4wd 300hp machine.

im not suggesting i want to do this, its not for me, im just always interested in whatever people spend their time doing.

stoppyness over.

kev


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## Jamerio (Aug 21, 2006)

I recall 6 years ago a friend of mine paid £100 for a nova saloon and a further 400 pound for a 2 ltr 8v engine + fitting.

I must admit, for 500 pound all in he had a car that was about as fast as the new Super Charged Mini Cooppers and I drove the tits off that thing for 3 months solid and it never went wrong once. Not once and this was on a standard 8 valve engine.
It was designed to be a cheap street sleeper and it did that ok.

It works the other way too, I can't tell you how many boy racers that thing did over, you know the Fiesta Zetec,s, novas etc.

At the end of the day, its all about power to weight, it don't matter what car it is, if you got a 2 ltr turbo in a car which weighs about 850 kilos, it don't take a genius to work out that a 4 WD evo or skyline weighing in about 1400-1500 kilos is going to need some serious power.

Those vauxhall redtops are seriously good engines and because they are so cheap and plenty of mechanics know what to do with them its not surprising.

Shite handling though because of the extra front end weight.


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## richardr33 (Oct 30, 2007)

I have just bought a Nova with a 2.0 Turbo 16v in, its for the track, its for some fun, I did'nt want to track my Skyline its to mint for that, should p##s people off when I go on the track.:thumbsup:


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