vauxhall nova 1.4 sr review

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Picture courtesy of DJ Pete.

Average Ratings
Performance8.3/10 Based on 14 ratings
Practicality7.8/10 Based on 14 ratings
Reliability8.5/10 Based on 14 ratings
Value for Money8.4/10
Reviewer Rating8.7/10
Overall Rating8.8/10 Based on 29 ratings
75% Recommended12 out of 16 Reviews

Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR

By a on 13th Nov 2003

a's Ratings
Performance9/10
Practicality9/10
Reliability10/10
Value for money10/10
Overall value9/10
yes a's recommendation

Good Points

fast, nearly pulls off the clock
revs off the clock
does over fortie in first

Bad Points

none

General Comments

hello fellow boy racers, i currently own a punto gt turbo and an xr2i, my first car was a standard Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR, the registration was j459 bse, it used to rev off the clock and hit the pin at the other side, ill tell you something, and i aint lieing! my nova sr was faster than my xr2i, my sr did 125mph and i have wittnesses to prove it, my xr2i tops out at 122mph which is also standard, but yet my turbo pulls past 130 nae bother, but all i can say is that i loved my nova, it was fast, i used to thrash it when it was cold, and yes i smoked an xr3i with mine!
i would rather have another nova sr than my xr2i

Respect given for a's review.
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2 4 1 4

Total Respect: -5

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26 Comments on Review by a for Vauxhall Nova 1.4 SR

  1. Davea on 17th Nov 2003

    hmmm can we really take you seriously, smoked an xr3i?!. ooh and i spose you do know about the vauxhall speedos being totally inacurate. The gearing alone wouldnt let you do that speed

  2. stevesri Rank: Lance Corporal on 2nd Dec 2003

    with the digi dash from the astra gte/gsi the speedo is to within 3mph so you can shove that comment!

  3. nickssss Rank: Lance Corporal on 16th Dec 2003

    iv looked at a mk1 1.3sr which has an induction kit, bolt on air filter and a straight through exhaust system an it absolutley blitzes the xr2is. It also rips 205 gtis, 5 gt turbos and escort rs turbos (egg boxes, haha losers rst drivers). So wot have u got to say about that u ford lovers(vauxhall haters)?

  4. 205gti Rank: Lance Corporal on 5th Jan 2004

    Yeah i'm sorry mate but its about time boyracers stopped talking out there back sides. There is no way you could do 125 in a 1.4 nova the engine and gearbox would not be able to do no where near those speeds. If you actually knew anything at all about cars and I dont mean neon washer jets but engines you would know your making a fool of yourself.

  5. 205gti Rank: Lance Corporal on 5th Jan 2004

    I would like to comment on Nickssssssss review. When I read it, It made me laugh! Im sorry but I would bet any amount of money that any of the cars mentioned would slaughter a nova 1.3sr. Do you actually know a bhp figure for 1? Ok a 205 1.9 gti 128bhp R5T 115bhp. You would get slaughtered. Name a time and ill race you at santa pod.

  6. Simmy Rank: Corporal on 5th Jan 2004

    "absolutley blitzes the xr2is. It also rips 205 gtis, 5 gt turbos and escort rs turbos"

    This couldn't be further from the truth. I'm afraid your love of nova's doesn't actually make them as fast as you want them to be.

    I would be more than happy to arrange a meeting between a 205 gti (1.6 OR 1.9 gti) and a nova 1.3 sr.. and sri or even a Gsi/Gte and i remain happy in the knowledge that the 205 will win either round a track or on a drag strip... you only need to look at the papers for that!!!

    Also... how did that Nova rev off the clock??? This would only be possible with a faulty gauge as the engine would simply not be able to rev that high!!! Common Sense PLEASE!!!

  7. Simmy Rank: Corporal on 6th Jan 2004

    steve sri....

    i hate to put a downer on things put this car didn't have a digi dash fitted. It's also evident that things certianly weren't working right on this dash seeing as the rev counter could rev all the way round the counter and back to the pin??? what's that like well over 10,000rpm?? Come on lads, this is a Nova, not a Yamaha R1!!

    the 1.3SR has approx 70bhp if i'm not mistaken... for god sake lads my mum could beat u in her Polo with a boot full of shopping!!

    I think you need to wake up to the fact that the Nova 1.3 SR IS NOT A SPORTY CAR!!! The most pwerful engine Vauxhall Put it in was a 1.6l 100bhp engine. Okay so some of you put 2.0l 16v Red Tops in but the car just falls apart around it. AND THAT'S NO JOKE. The Vauxhall Nova was never meant to be a performance car!

  8. BIG G 1979 Rank: Lance Corporal on 10th Jan 2004

    I've got a standard 1.4 SR on a H plate and i've only managed 118mph tops. Its a great car for what it is, cheap to insure, cheap petrol and fairley quick. I belive that a 205 or an XR2 would fly over mine so ok you like em, so do I but come on don't talk rubbish.

  9. NOVA TDi on 22nd Feb 2004

    People are going to read this and i'm gonna get comments like what everyone else go but this is all true......

    Ive got a k reg Nova 1.5 TD (75bhp). its got a jamex air filter (same as a gte standard type.)and a DE-cat exhaust.. it eats the nova 1.3/1.4sr all the way to 70mph and then on to 120 mph.... and thats with an astra digi dash.... and still returns 40 to 45mpg!!!!

  10. Simmy Rank: Corporal on 24th Feb 2004

    That is understandable!!!

    your car has 75 bhp standard. a 1.3 sri has 70bhp... the diesel also has a lot more torque... the sr/sri boys will curse you and say its rubbish when really they need to wake up and realise their cars aren't fast.. they're good first cars... but not fast. top speed is dependant on the gearing.. would still be tempted to say 120mph is a tad optimistic... different wheels perhaps?? not calling you a liar... just seems very impressive for a diesel!!

  11. turboJOE Rank: Staff Sergeant on 2nd Mar 2004

    Nicksssss: you are insane. Just accept it. sr novas are cack. do you know what i would do if you tried to race your nova against my rs turbo? i would laugh. then i would obliterate you, pulling away in second, without using the fifth injector. Novas srs are alright i suppose if your young or looking for a cheap car, but where I live we know exactly what they\'re capbable of, which aint much, so we dont bother with them. xr2s do \'em, xr3is cane \'em, rs turbos laugh at them.

  12. cottrellb Rank: Corporal on 11th Mar 2004

    Chaps do you know that speedo\'s over read? like the guy who did 144 in his RST where the needle was pointing at the p in mph!!! There is no way any standard nova could get any where near a true 120 mph!

    Why are you guys so proud to own a rustl old womans shopping car with puny 100 bhp engines??? save up and buy a proper nice car kevins and garys, make tracy proud to sit in your kev wagon ;)

  13. lameboy on 21st Mar 2004

    Sorry boys but my 1.4 sr is running with a 4 branch manifold with a twin choke webber with a K&N bolt on with a full powerflow system and I know it will do 120 on the flat maybe everything shakes but who cares, you go to start somewhere, 2ltr 16v is the only way foward!!!!

  14. nickssss Rank: Lance Corporal on 22nd Mar 2004

    The Nova Is one of the best small old cars around. It beats all the competition. AX- tin can, Fiesta- rust bucket, 205 are rubbish. Basically the Nova is the best looking easy car to mod.
    Also RS Turbos look like egg boxes.

  15. Simmy Rank: Corporal on 22nd Mar 2004

    On what evidence do you base the fact that 205's are rubbish??? They are faster, handle better, look far more modern and don't rust to pieces. Look at the FACTS rather than your own personal opinion.

    Agreed the Nova is a decent small old hatchback (or even the saloon), but a performance car or 'HOT HATCH' it certainly was not.

    RE Lameboy:
    Note earlier statements that the speedo does not read correctly at those sort of speeds. thats a fact.

  16. cottrellb Rank: Corporal on 23rd Mar 2004

    With old engine technology the holy grail was 100 bhp per litre. If you tuned your 1.4 with about 5 grand you might get 140 bhp. With your K and N and powerflow you will lose power unless its rolling road tuned. It might sound faster but in truth its not.

    Look at areodynamics too. The Nova is a brick just like the series one RS Turbo. That car needs a good 135 bhp to hit 12omph! With a following wind too!

    If you had the 16 valve 2 litre then I might believe that your car would do 120... And in that case the speedo would be about 150 mph and you would start to say your Nova is faster than a TVR... hehe

  17. mk2escortman on 25th Mar 2004

    At the end of the day, it is a proven fact that front wheel drive cars are not supposed to have more than 200bhp. Which is quite good for a little cars such as Novas Metros fiestas etc. and it will do a half decent quarter mile. But put a 200 bhp Fiesta or Nova, against my 200bhp mk2 Escort where it matters, on a track, or on the road. Then see who comes off in front. Im not claiming I can get 140 out of a 200bhp car, brcause I can't, so if I cant do that, then how is it possible that you can get it out af a 70bhp tin can? at the end of the days, Fords are better than vauxhalls, and old Fords are better than new Fords.

  18. madscientist Rank: Lance Corporal on 14th Apr 2004

    Lets Clear up a few little comments, Digi dashes use the same sensors/drives as analogue dials. As a result about 15% out at top 125mph = 106.25mph.

    Second, The peugeot is more aero efficient than the nova and so the torque v's drag ratio would probably never let it get near that.

    Third, Handling wise novas are flawed, even with help from mr proflex/spax and friends they are not a touch on a pug at the the limit, notice I said limit, not being flug with gay abandon down a country lane at stupid speeds (even then the peugeot would be past you and coping better). You see the french have this ability to look at weight distribrution, key to handling, whereas the nova was design for commuting.

    I agree that they can become fun and chuckale and have had their own motorsport sucess. But realism really should hit home.

    p.s. I owned an SR
    p.s.s I owned a skoda felicia 1.3 (55bhp) I was able to cover B roads quicker in that than the sr.

  19. CorradoVR6T Rank: Staff Sergeant on 19th May 2004

    Darn it I guess your Nova would destroy my Corrado VR6 since you are able to cane everyone else ;o(

  20. Fibermide on 22nd May 2004

    Damn, what the hell are you Nova boys talking about, the Nova sr is an ok boy racer car, but in the real world it`s not very fast, i`ve driven about 70 cars since I passed my test from an 850 mini to a Sierra Cosworth and to be fair, there are loads of normal family cars, even turbo diesels that can eat a Nova SR or GSi for breakfast.
    These cars are for young boys who have never driven anything fast, I mean sr 0-60 in 10.5,lol, whats the 0-100, does it even get that far,lol.

  21. stevesri Rank: Lance Corporal on 8th Jun 2004

    Rite boyz, handbags at 5 please.

    Me and my bro built a 1.7 turbo diesel Nova, transplanted the engine from the cav td.
    Turned the boost up to 22psi, matched the fueling to the boost, full 3" straight through system from the turbo back, no boxes!, flashing marks in head removed, steel head gasket, raised the comp ration (head skimmed 7 thou!) 1.5d flywheel (considerably lighter than the 1.7 one)(allows it to rev faster and harder).
    When this car was dyno'd it had a bad overheating problem (later sourced to a cylinder head that was split in at least 5 places, boost related).
    It hit 110bhp and 130lbs torque, max power was hit at 97mph in 4th on the dyno (no realistic rpm figures because rr was not capable of giving the diesel a rev counter that worked) but was well over the 6000rpm red line on the car!
    this car kept with std rst's and some 205 gti's but it never handled well! too heavy on the front!.

    We hit 120mph along side my mates rst and also a few more times playing with things like 2.0l vtec preludes, r5gtt's, etc etc.
    With the new head it was considerably faster, but now its sold so no power figures sorry.
    But saying Nova 1.4 sr's are quicker than 1.9 205 gti's! get real, my bros td only just kept with them!
    Oh and the 0-60 time of the nova was high 7's.

  22. madscientist Rank: Lance Corporal on 9th Jun 2004

    130LB/ft!!! try running 2" from the turbo for at least 100cm pipe length then a simple small box then do 3"for the rest, watch the torque go through the roof and use that, might mean you have to learn to drive on torque rather than off the red line but you'll be quicker.

  23. Fibermide on 12th Sep 2004

    I`ve got a nova with the engine out of a bugatti veyron (8.0 W16),it`s not very quick to 60 at the moment though as i`ve got five tonnes of audio equipment in it.

    1001 bhp,0-60 10.5 seconds

    kerb weight 7000 kg

    and mine really does rev off the clock,i`ve broken the needle.

  24. Simmy Rank: Corporal on 13th Sep 2004

    HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

    LMAO!

  25. Corsa1400Sport16v on 8th Jun 2006

    I own a Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 16v Sport (V reg). It does 0-60 in 10.5 secs. Thats whats published figures are and thats what it does! Have done it myself with one other in the car. My corsa is completely standard. My point is that a 1.4 SR Nova with mods can easily do 0-60 mph in 10.5 Fibermide clearly don't know what he's talking about.

  26. Corsa1400Sport16v on 9th Jun 2006

    0-60 in 10.5 secs is easily achievable for a Nova 1.4 SR



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