Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR Review

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Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR
4.3 stars
Average rating for this product is: 4.3 out of 5

From 14 ratings and 17 reviews

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Novaspec's Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR

18th Feb 2005

Overall Rating

5 stars
  • Value for money
    5 stars
  • Length of ownership
    14 Months
  • Practicality
    5 stars
  • Year Manufactured
    1991
  • Performance
    5 stars
  • Reliability
    5 stars
Good Points

Cheap!
Low Insurance!
easy To Mod!


Bad Points

The Dreaded Rust!!!


General Comments

I have a Mercedes Black Vauxhall Nova 1.4. GSI front bumper & spoiler with GTE rear bumper & side skirts. Eibach 55mm lowering kit & black 15" Mille Miglia 'Spider' alloys. The engine had a complete re-build with a Kent AST22 hi-lift cam added. The inlet manifold was modded to take a Weber 32/34 TLDE twin-choke carb from a Fiat Tipo. A lightened flywheel & pulley were installed along with an F13 close-ratio gearbox. Calibra Turbo front calipers with Tarox grooved discs & uprated rear drums.
The result... 0-60MPH 8.92s; 1/4 mile 12.64s @ 113MPH. Top speed is 152MPH. It was kicking out 168BHP at the flywheel and 120BHP (approx) at the wheels. I've recently modded the ECU setup, re-jetted the carb and bored out the inlet/outlet manifolds. It's now rolling-roaded at approx 146BHP at the wheels with 180BHP at the flywheel. I'm going to re-test my 0-60 and 1/4 mile this weekend to see how much of an improvement there is.
OK, people may think this is bull or a waste of hard earned £££ but this car has cost me less than the price of a used cossie or VTS. My little nova kills most hot hatches with the exception of the Williams Clio. It obliterates XR2's, XR3's, VTR's, VTS's, Punto's, 5GTT's, 205GTI's and also most nova's I come across.

VERDICT: The car miles ahead.....IS MINE!!!

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Members' Comments onNovaspec's Review

  • MattHelb on 5th May 2005

    rejetted a carb and tweaked the ecu? if you have a carb you dont need an ecu.

  • whitevanman Rank: Lance Corporal on 15th Jun 2005

    Have you heard of a Website called 'Novaload'? It is a forum where most of the UK's Nova enthusiasts chat, and i can tell you that not one of them finds your little 'story' even slightly believable. Very sorry.

  • GsiFan Rank: 2nd Lieutenant on 15th Jun 2005

    well i just fitted some new spark plugs and now i can keep up with my dad in his Vectra GSI

  • alan330504 on 16th Jun 2005

    What a bunch of polony!!!!!

    A 1.4 could only manage about 15ish seconds.

  • guest2398 on 22nd Mar 2008

    you can use an ecu with a carb actually, if you are using stand-alone spark management. I had an nova sr with twin 40 carbs and a cavalier 1.6 ecu and wiring harness to manage the spark/advance.