Vauxhall Nova GTE 2.0 Turbo Review

Overall Rating

It's a car, well kind of !!!!

I hope there is a lot of room here. It is not a 2 litre turbo, it looks like a skip, handles like a boat on land, it's slow, practically anything with wheels including bikes look better and go faster, your mum would be ashamed to drive it to Netto, side impact protection includes a thin piece of tin and your rib cage, you will not pull apart from some dirty minga from the town centre whos called stella, if you want to get the best out of this car, do something fun like throw a petrol bomb on it.

see above for projective insults and basic slagging of the Vauxhall Nova gte.

Members' Comments onJames.'s Review

• gaz. on 18th Jun 2002

  Ace....couldnt have summed it up any better....:)

• chris. on 20th Jul 2002

  i couldnt agree with you more! the true king of the car parks!

• petrol head. on 12th Sep 2002

  ever heard of courtnay turbos !!! you can make them the fastest cars ever it just costs money. you can't just chuck a bigger engine in, the chassis needs a lot of reinforcing. if done properly you hit 0 - 60 in 5 .5 secs. expect to pay 6k - 9k it depends on how far you want to go. A slip diff is needed to get these times.

• gaz. on 17th Sep 2002

  Yeah man ..... lets spend 9,000 quid on a nova ....what a GREAT idea (",) ( I need to think of a joke in which ' nova', ' waste of money' and ' idiot' is mentioned in the same line. Please forward any suggestions to this review page. :) Gaz

• BIGGSY. on 19th Sep 2002

  THERES NOTHING ROUNG WITH A NOVA. VAUXHALL ENGINES GO FOREVER AND THERE PRETTY NIPPY TO IF YOU,VE EVER OWN,D ONE U WILL NO WHAT I"M ON ABOUT [GAZ]

• gaz. on 20th Sep 2002

  Great argument ...... novas are history...... even when they came out, they were outdated by the far more superior Golf. Vauxhall's are generally unreliable and slow. Who on earth would want to spend 1000 pounds upwards on a car like that when they can find better cars out? why people 'modify' basic small engined cars is beyond me .... there are so many powerful cars out there already!! Anyway - German cars have the last say on 'lasting'. British cars ( alas ) suffer badly.

• jim. on 10th Oct 2002

  who cares, novas are cheap & cheerful & an unsuspecting shopping trolly like this might leave you chewing on your steering wheel as they say bye bye hahaha!!!!!!!!!

• 3corsameal. on 11th Oct 2002

  This is why there r so many makes and models of cars. To cater for everyone, people like modifying there novas, why it should matter to any one else is beyond me.

• DeXx. on 28th Nov 2002

  Gaz is obviously a Veedub nut and has a biased view against anything else! I actually owned a VW golf Mk2 and have not been in a worse handling car yet! Only kept in until could manage to sell it and get myself another nova. I had always wanted a VW golf before I started to drive. They had the image every looks for, and the speed. But when I got one, it handled like a barge and was no where near as fast as the nova! The nova I've got now can go 20-30 MPH faster round corners without the back end coming out on me which the golf did one night and scared the cr@p out of me! So I hold an unbiased view of the 2 cars. My mate has a 200bhp Mk3 VR6 golf, and my 2l turbo Nova toasts it :P I'm planning to go jap next, 200sx S14 with a skyline engine anyone?

• biggsy. on 28th Nov 2002

  right then gaz mister know it all golfs are rubbish. The're not even run in until about 90'000miles

• gaz. on 29th Nov 2002

  Biggsy ...?????? Not run in until 90,000 ... is that it??? Is that supposed to be a good thing? Oh deary me ....even a maestro turbo diesel isnt run in until 150000!!! 90000 miles??? lmao ! oh ... 30 mph more faster around the corners ????? typical Boy Racer thinks his car is a porsche or Ferrari!!! its a flippin NOVA for gawds sake!!! Nanny owns one, Grandad has one in his shoebox...eke... zero street cred!!

• DeXx. on 2nd Dec 2002

  Ok so maybe i lied a bit on how much faster my car can get around corners. From memory can remember a sharp long corner going up hill, that in the golf could only get it to go round at 45-50 mph until the back end wanted to overtake me!!! But in the Nova I've got now, I can manage to get round it at 60-65 with only slight understeer. so that makes it about 10-15 mph faster round corners rather than 20-30mph (slight lie on my behalf ;) ). The golf I had was only a 1.3 55bhp model, which i could have pushed faster! It would only do about 68mph in 3rd!!! And topped out at about 95mph at a real push. Golf engines have problems with overheating too. Several times the thing lost oil pressure cause it got too hot. Besides Gaz, the golf is only a family run about itself. Its just they made a sporty model of it like everyone else does. I see plenty of older people driving golfs as many as I see dribblies driving novas. The nova is a good car for modifying. Cheap as chips and can do anything with them. Golfs are good too, but very hard to make look different and individual cause of the lines on the bodywork. Try to have an unbiased view about things Gaz. Instead of "Golfs are amazing! Everything else is rubbish" attitude towards other cars. By the way, I know my car isnt a Porche or a Ferrari, the badge on the boot gives it away :P When my car is tuned to the 250bhp I want, it will actually have more bhp per ton than a Farrari Testarossa. So will be faster in straight line, even though wont have the same street cred :( Then again, the car has cost me no where near as much as the Farrari costs! My car has got a Cally Turbo engine in it, so it is actually a Turbo Nova. Running it on an MBE management system which has to be setup properly yet.

• gaz. on 2nd Dec 2002

  Oh my DexX ... im so sorry ... when you said you drove a Golf ... I assumed it was a GTi model ... instead .. it was one of the lamest golfs you could get. Nova Sri's were supposed to be 'sporty cars' so they uprated various components. The Sadsack 1.3 Golf was aimed at Mr Normal - hardly a comparison between the two cars. True about the cost compared to a super car tho! But which one would you be seen in? :P Even still - there are so many other better reliable cars out there which can be brought cheap and you don't have to modify them to appreciate power ( not that I ever break the speed limits (",) !!!

• DeXx. on 4th Dec 2002

  Sorry bout forgetting to mention about bein a 1.3 golf earlier :P The comparison I made was between the 1.2 nova and 1.3 golf. My mate done up a 5 door 1.8 golf and that was pretty quick, but my GTE I USED to have before I got this turbo'd one still beat it. And I had only added a FSE valve, full stainless zorst and filter. The GTE was dyno'd at 117BHP (94BHP ATW). Veedub engines are engineered for longivity so produce less power than is easily possible from an engine of that size. I wouldn't mind having a Mk2 16v (139BHP) golf, always fancied having one of those or a G60 :D But I'm gonna be going jap next after had this car for a couple of years. Will either be getting a Pulsar, a 200sx S14 or a Skyline R33 GTS-t(2.5l twin turbo). Don't think I could live without a turbo now :P

• Rallyslag. on 23rd Dec 2002

  The age old argument...Nova's are rubbish...well I have to disagree. I admit I am an existing Nova owner and therefore have a tendancy to be biased but I think everyone has to accept that the Nova will always be remembered for it's racing merits (track or town centre). Colin McCrae himself was once a Nova driver and the car provided him with much success. Novas still feature in autocross and track races against Pug106's, Saxo's etc. and continue to be successful. I think the main prob with owning a Nova is the stigma of Boy Racer image and 1.2l merits with stick on plastic spoilers etc. The car itself provides fantastic performance/£ from the 1.3l engines and above (the 1.2l responds to tuning about as well as a deaf dog to the word fetch!) Great Go-Kart handling, I have never had any other FWD car sideways with so much control. With a bit of taste and style, rally slag looks. To sum up this will be remembered as a cult hot hatch of teh 80's and will go down in history regardless of what people think today!!

• Rallyslag. on 23rd Dec 2002

  May I add I can think of nothing more satisfying than sitting at the lights in a 80's shed next to a shiny new modern race chariot and leaving them for dust. If youre not careful it could be you. Each to there own!!

• DeXx. on 27th Dec 2002

  Your right, couldnt have summed it up better Rallyslag :D
  Novas do get there bad image form ppl who drive the lower engine models like absolute losers with really badly done body mods.
  Must admit im a bit guilty of that myself when took my hand to some DIY and messed it up! That car's getting scrapped soon so who cares! But never had anything sad like a "motorsport" sunstrip or go faster viper stripes or LED washer jets like some fools do. There are some really dodgy lookin cars about at the moment, mainly drivin by boys racers who have no clue what style is!
  The Nova is a good car, end of. Can think of a worse car, and thats the Citroen AX! Drove one of those as my learner car for 3-4 months and hated the rattly little french P.O.S.
  Saxo's are just a build upon the old AX floor panel, but somehow manage to improve by loads. What gives? P.S All saxos are a waste of time unless you have one of those lovely VTS's, engines are great :D

• rallyslag. on 31st Dec 2002

  Only one thing about Saxo's and Pug etc... to add. Undeniably they are good motors (today's modern equiv.) But they do have a tendancy to be paid for by Mummy and Daddy.

• crazy SRi. on 17th Jan 2003

  Novas, i've had two, both bought for £300 one G reg 1.2, one J reg white 1.2 (current one) both had engine conversions G reg became 13SR lowered 60mm gte lookalike, again what a car for the money new engines can be picked up for £60 parts are so available it's almost unreal! I've also had 2 peugout 205 1.4 XS twin webber carb, my white nova has been modified with a 1.4SRi engine GTE skirts front and back bumpers spoiler e.t.c and lowered 60mm it totally outperforms and outhandles my old 205XS both similarilly spec cars! I'ts great taffing round the country roads no car does it better! e.g my brothers got a really smart 1.8GTi mk2 golf it certainly isn't fast and handles cack despite stiffer springs, my car blitzs him in a straight line despite my measly 1.4 and a GSi would destroy it!

• Wrally Buoy. on 18th Jan 2003

  As soon as I read '2 novas' ..... I switched off ;)

• nova bird. on 4th Mar 2003

  i think novas are a great car and gona be around forever.

• Riccardo. on 6th Mar 2003

  Fair play mate the review was good, and i agree with most of your points, but everyone knows this already - it would be more satisfactory if you actually commented on the mods that can be added to the basic models!

• jay_man. on 27th Mar 2003

  Gaz,what are you going on about!Golfs are heavy tanks.There rubbish,my younger bro owned a standard 1.4sr and i put a set of twin weber carbs and an induction kit in it and it toasted 1.8gti golfs!I currently own a R5 GTT and I thought that was fast till i strapped myself into my mates nova 2.0 16v. That thing is 250bhp and slays scooby's. I dont think your ever gonna do that in a golf the germans could of done with in the war!

• Bob. on 5th Apr 2003

  I think that novas are alrite little cars, but only nova 2.0 litre 16v or 2.0 turbo's.if anyone wants a decent fast cheap little car then pick up a fiat uno turbo for bout £1.500 do few little pods to engine and u'l whoop all the nova's, R5's, and deffinately golf's.When dun up nicely they will do bout 147mph and will get there qwik.They'r only 1.3 litre but will shift and make you bean yourselfs boy's angd girls. : )

• fudgeass. on 22nd May 2003

  just face it,,,, novas are just rusty little boxes, no matter how much you spend trying to make a £37.50 1.1 nova look good - you cant!
  
  and why does every nova owning boy racer think thier 1.1 can have anything cos they are fastest cars in the world...........?
  
  its beyond me...
  
  just remeber boys and girls, you cant polish a poo!!!

• fudgeass. on 22nd May 2003

  oh, and nova bird, do you really think novas will be around forever???
  
  ill give you another, oooh, half an hour before it rusts away from existance! lol

• Bikerchris. on 28th May 2003

  Ahh, this is without doubt, the funniest page I have ever had the privilege of reading! Keep it up!

  
  

  
  As my "nickname" suggests, I'm a motorcyclist, so why you ask, am I interested in your little cars? Well, my good friend who's at Oxford and considerably more intelligent than me, is trying to sell his Nova. Having failed to find a taker (for £150), I thought I'd try the internet...and this is what I found...the cream of enthusiasm.
  

  
  Reading through the various comments for and against this little Vauxhall, from what seems to be a wide spectrum of illiterate and literate drivers - I can only observe one thing:

  
  

  
  It can't be THAT bad.

  
  

  
  OK, so it rusts, handles like a bag of nails when not maintained and well looked after...like any car I would have thought? Yes it has a stigma attached, boyracers love and inevitably crash them a few times. But it must be special for so many people to argue a point over it, whatever that may be, even if they've made up their minds and don't care what others think.

  
  

  
  Fact of the matter - people drive what they can afford, insurance costs are going up, for cars as well as for bikes (ZZR1100 - £300TPFT). We all just ride/drive what we can afford, for example, I would love a Ducati (with AA Cover!), but my current bikes always the best, because it's what I can afford.

  
  

  
  Hope I haven't bored the life out of too many people, and enjoy your life, two wheels or four. Oh, and if you pull up next to a fast'ish looking bike...race me :o) HA HA! Bet you thought I had no testosterone!

  
  

  
  Be good...and don't get nicked.

  
  

  
  Bikerchris

• Gaz. on 29th May 2003

  Dude bikerchris .....if you found the 'nova' section funny.....read this one..even funnier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
  http://www.reviewcentre.com/review8442.html

• Nemesis. on 2nd Jun 2003

  You guys are a freakin joke. You should listen to urselves...
  " My mates nova 16v has 250bhp"....er..no it dosent my friend.
  Not from a n/a..oops better simplify it 4 u, not from a naturally aspirated 1.6 or 2 litre it dosent...
  Got any idea how many turns on the rubber band youd have to do to get that kind of power? NO! Didnt think so!
  The other muppet has really made my day,..."My nova(giggles) can go around a corner 30 to 40 mph faster than a golf"....again..NO it cant!
  Something called friction, or rather the lack of it, will prevent that kind of star trekky performance.
  Get educated, get real and then get a friggin life.
  Compare like for like, and stop makin out with the BS claims. Its a NOVA not a F1 mclaren. WAKE UP DOZYBOLL*X!!!

• Bikerchris. on 3rd Jun 2003

  Hiya Gaz, nice one, really funny!

  
  
  Perhaps all of the writers on these two pages should get together and race their respective cars...Standing start for example; 0-150,000miles over two years :o)

  
  
  Cheers,

  
  
  Bikerchris

• gary. on 3rd Jun 2003

  Nemesis dude........ You said it perfectly then! Good 1 ;)

• Bikerchris. on 4th Jun 2003

  Hiya Gaz, nice one, really funny!

  
  
  Perhaps all of the writers on these two pages should get together and race their respective cars...Standing start for example; 0-150,000miles over two years :o)

  
  
  Cheers,

  
  
  Bikerchris

• Bikerchris. on 10th Jun 2003

  Cheers Gary, glad you agree.

  
  Just so ya'll know, it looks like I've re-entered a few comments, when I haven't, so not my fault, must be "reviewcentres".

  
  Keep the rubber side down!

  
  Chris

• JayMan. on 16th Jun 2003

  It always makes me laugh when you get someone that has no idea what he is talking about. Nemesis 250Bhp is very acheivable from a 2.0 16v NA engine.
  
  A good example would be the Honda Civic R-Type. A 2.0 NA engine which is 200Bhp standard (or 197Bhp to be precise.) My point is, if you know what you are doing then you can acheive a lot with the engine.
  
  And if you had the harder suspension on the Nova it would corner alot better than the golf because it is lighter (hence less body roll) so would keep a better line.

• Gaz. on 16th Jun 2003

  This whole forum is based on a car that didnt exist as standard (2 litre Nova). These reviews are for cars with bits and bobs off other rubbish vauxhalls.If you like the Nova so much,why have you scrapped the old engine? Not good enough? Why bother spending an awful amount of money only to find when you want a true performance car....your Boi Racer Nova is worth little more than a Lada?
  
  Look at you all drooling over a car which didnt have a big engine in it. 1.6 was your best, and those silly boy kits you have, you actually think they look good? you would sooner spend £2 - £3k on a £400 car? You could have had a great mid powered car for that money. Insurance shouldnt be a question because you have already told your insurers of the modifications on your nova's and that has pushed the premium up accordingly... You lot are nearly as bad as the VTR/VTS Clan.

• gsi chris. on 6th Jul 2003

  hey guys come on now it is after all only a car !! please bear in mind that when boy racers started sticking bigger engines in these cars and adding spoilers, bigger alloys and stuff vauxhall took note of all this and now they have involved performance tuners like irmscher into the designs and manufacturing, lets face it how many 1.2 cars have a twin stainless exhaust fitted from new !! i had 18 grand to spend on a car last may and after lots of test driving would u believe i am now the proud owner of a vauxhall astra GSi turbo 16 valve with all options fitted...it goes like the wind and attracts more attention than an audi TT or subaru impretza although it will depreciate like a fast i just love driving it ... just look out for the new vectra 300 bhp i32 and astra GSi ...all thanks to those (including myself) boy racers.

• $kratch. on 12th Jul 2003

  Nova's are bad they are raw you cant test a nova im on my second one and i got a 2ltr 16v and i can cane the GTI golfs and most other cars i keep up with the 325i and the z3's ya get geeza so dont test novas...

• Dan. on 30th Jul 2003

  I had a 1.2 Nova Wiv 80k on the clock n the only thing that went wrong wiv it wuz the altenator,i then sold it 4 wot i thought wuz a betta car (a WV golf MKIII)only 4 it 2 fail miserably,it has had the head gasket done twice new brakes all round a new clutch n then the latest wuz the whole top end of the engine needed replacing wiv only 75k on the clock.And it is startin 2 rust loads despite cleanin it every wk end.It has poor acceleration n fuel economy n it handles like a steam roller.I am now savin upt 4 a nova GSi-Long live the Nova.
  

• gluge2000 on 14th Nov 2003

  Did Vauxhall ever make a worst car than the Nova???? no i dont think they did. Actually have vauxhall ever made a decent car??? The nova is ugly, common and damn right annoying. why do all 17 year olds insist on putting bake bean cans on the end of their exhausts?

• Novapower on 18th Nov 2003

  well did vauxhall make such a bad car? didn't think so, have you been in a GSi before? novas are well equiped little cars, lights on the sun visors! The original 8v engine has to be one of the hardest motors built, across the range from 1.2 to 1.6, far superior to vauxhalls eco-tec pile of poo in todays cars. oh and has anyone ever heard of thatvery special NOVA the SPORT? 0-60 in 6.5 seconds out of a 1.3, bilstien suspension... yeh coz there wrere other cars to compete with that... like what? a 1.6GTi 205? hardly!

• gluge2000 on 21st Nov 2003

  i think that you are bulling about the 6.5 seconds. yes there is a small car as quick as that, my swift gti with gas. You will see 0-60 in 2.5 seconds when a nova falla off a cliff. Wow!!!!

• Bye Bye GTi on 24th Nov 2003

  I agree nova power, however the Nova sport that was available to buy only did it in 8.8, still rapid for an NA 1.3. I have GSi and used to own a Golf, my GSi is quicker than the MK1 and MK2 GTi's, it is better on petrol and parts are cheap. Golfs are nice looking cars, they are just unreliable, and slow and handle like a bag of spanners. And have major problems with snapped supsension arms (G60 any one)? If comparing like for like, age for age the Nova is a much better package and was quicker than the Golf which looks equally dated. END OF ARGUMENT

• Bye Bye GTi on 25th Nov 2003

  The Nova sport used for rallying did o-62 in 6.5 seconds as for falling off a cliff, ever seen a black twin engined nova??? does o-60 in 2.8 seconds n pushes out 556bhp. ha ha weed on your bonfire.

• dave hitchen on 6th Apr 2004

  The performance is acceptable it's practical cheap and reliable the potential for tuning and performance is unrivalled in its class and as a practical car it runs rings around its opposition :)

• kj on 25th Apr 2004

  Under the age of 23 the average person is very limited in what he can afford to insure and run. In fact you're down to either the Fiesta or the Nova. Suddenly Novas don't look so bad.
  
  They're cheap and have reliable engines. If your car's bad it's probably because you don't know how to buy cars, or you drive like a monkey.
  They're mechanically simple so you can yield great results modding them for not much cash.
  
  Yeah they rust like anything and the handling's awful as standard, but they're Ferrari's compared to Fords.
  
  If you can afford it get something better.
  
  If you need something cheap, reliable, and something you can learn about cars on. There's only one choice - Novas.

• pringle on 3rd Oct 2004

  your all bulling about the power, yes they are quick and ok little cars but no way 0-60 2.3 sec
  
  "A high performance version of Vauxhall’s award winning VX220 is being built by Hertfordshire based company S Sport ready for Summer 2004.
  
  Combining the VX220’s bonded aluminium chassis with a supercharged version of GM’s 3.0 litre V6 engine, S Sport intend to create the ultimate VX.
  
  With a claimed power output of 320bhp and 280lb.ft of torque in a car weighing 875kg, performance will be brisk! S Sport predict a top speed in excess of 150mph with a 0-60mph sprint time of 4.5 seconds."
  You see 4.5 and its not got the drag or the extra weight of the engine
  also
  "Recipe for fun: add 16v brakes from an astra GTE, upgrade suspension, skim the head, add a cam and exhaust manifold + full system + panel filter = 125bhp / 845kgs * 1000 = 148bhp per ton. = 0-60 7.1, 1/4 mile 15.4secs. This what I have done to my baby 1.6, and she flies. The times are confirmed 0-60 @ TRAX 2003 and 1/4 mile at Santa Pod"
  these were taken from official websites and let me tell you my golf mk2 not gti 1.8 stock apart from new exhaust does 0-60 in 7.9 sec with 350000 miles on clock ok handles crap but its about the same as a nova
  these two cars are almost identical so i wish you nova guys and some golf fanatics would stop saying stupid things like 0-60 in 2.3sec
  also the golf 1.8t mk2 can do 0-60 in 5.3 sec