Vauxhall Nova 1.6 GTE Review

Overall Rating

None

its a piece of poo

nova = a granny pop down the road to tesco shopper. if u want decent handling and performance from a 70s/80s car theres so much better - Golfs, 205GTIs, any ford (especially rear wheel drive - handbrake turns are rubbish, powersliding is so much more fun :P ;)

10/10 for practicability - easy to get shopping bags in.

10/10 value for money - change from a fiver? not bad, you can always turn it into scrap metal.

Members' Comments onDeca.'s Review

• Dave. on 21st May 2003

  Your an aXX!! Novas are ledgends!!

• Dave. on 4th Jun 2003

  You're talking rubbish! When was the last time you saw a granny doing 130mph in a GTE!!!

• DeXx on 8th Aug 2003

  Yeah, standard Novas are old ladies shopping trolleys, but i aint seen an old lady doing her shopping in a GTE. By the way, 205 GTIs aint that quick, I test drove one and was less than impressed when i compared it to the GTE i had at the time. Steering is too twitchy, panel work is way too thin, and rev limiter cuts in too early (I found that out when trying to get it to 7k). Performance was similar, but not quite as good. Whats the point in having 8k on the rev gauge if it cant go anywhere near it? It was a 1.6GTI i test drove btw. And no it wasnt a knackered example either b4 u say.
  I managed to keep up with my mates VR6 in my GTE when he put his foot down, he never got any further away from me. Mine was making close to 120bhp tho.

• revanlow on 22nd Sep 2003

  you should be shot for saying that.i bet you crashed one cuz u couldnt handle the power.go back to you fiat panda,looser

• turboJOE on 23rd Nov 2003

  To all nova GTE lovers, get rid of it get yourself an RST once you've driven a turbo you wont want nothin else

• DeXx on 24th Nov 2003

  I do drive a turbo, and its in my nova ;) 2L 16V turbo power, not 1.6 8v CVH rubbish :P Get yourself a zetec bottom end conversion or in fact, scrap the CVH all together and fit a turbo'ed zetec. Much better :)

• stevesri on 2nd Dec 2003

  sorry ford boyz but these guys are right, their novas have class and yes the 2.0 turbo will kick your butt!!!

• turboJOE on 15th Feb 2004

  The fist time "nova" and "class" have been used in the same sentence. im talking about standard cars kiddo, not cars with 2.0 turbo lumps shoehorned in. a beast, by all means, but only for the suicidal. there has been a mk3 fiesta with a 330bhp cossie engine (a REAL cossie engine, not just the head) and saff 4x4 running gear that would obliterate any nova, but obviusly thats stupid money.

• DeXx on 16th Feb 2004

  I know the fiesta your on about, blue in colour with big white alloys and wide arch kit. I know a nova that would beat it ;) Twin engined Regal/EDS motorsport Nova making about 686bhp I think :P 0-60 in 2.83secs? SQM 11.14? Beat that ford boy :D But as standard there ain't a great deal in difference between an RST and a GTE (0-60 8.3 vs 9.1) sayin that there is a 36bhp difference in the Fords favour.

• turboJOE on 2nd Mar 2004

  ok that shut me up. there has been a twin engined escort (green, two rst lumps, converted to a pickup!) but that only developed a \"puny\" 450-odd bhp.

• DeXx on 3rd Mar 2004

  lol, thought it might. That RST was done by a guy called squint I think, built a rear engined 106 too.

• samm on 11th Mar 2004

  Im sorry but having test driven a standard Nova Gte I thought it was rubbish, it certainly doesn\'t handle well, acceleration is average.
  If we are just talking about stock cars, there are so many old school cars that will beat a Nova, my 205 1.9 will. Ive driven both, as will an rst or crx or golf mk 2 16v or r5 gtt.
  The only thing I like about this car is that it is cheap and very moddable like the other cars I mentioned.

• RuffRiderz on 10th Sep 2005

  Nova's are just as powerful if not more, and about 50 times more reliable buy an RST and you will be spending so much money down the garage you wont be able to drive the thing!