Vauxhall Nova 1.2

Well it wasn't exactly champagne but I couldn't resist the title! My old, dear, departed Nova was certainly a super car though, lasting well past it's 200,000th mile, not bad for a 1.2 litre engine. I am not one for giving a car a name, but I had my Nova so long that I did get almost affectionate towards it, I said ALMOST! I bought 'her' in 1991 for a mere £3,600 when she was a sprightly young 2 year old with just 60,000 on the clock, having been ...
...my silver dream machine of a Princess (titter ye not!) but it turned out to be a bargain. Now at the time I was concerened that the mere 1.2 litre engine was not going to be able to propel me to the awesome speeds I had been accustomed to in the mighty 1.7 litre Princess of Doom, this is tongue in cheek ok? Wrong! Sure she wansn't a super car in terms of performance, but it certainly isn't a slouch either. After the Nova I had a Rover 214 Sli (16v ...

DavidJWest 04.03.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...a little smaller than standard Vauxhall steering wheels. The dashboard contains white dials for the speedometer and rev counter - however I am planning to get them for the fuel and temperature gauges also. I can't think of much else to say about the interior apart from that I've got a Magic Tree hanging from my rear view mirror! The SRi spec Novas also come with body-coloured wing mirrors and clear indicator covers at the front - a nice improvement ...
...20 miles to my nearest Vauxhall dealer (I was told by the mechanics at my local garage that this would be the only place to get a hold of this part) to get a price for one. It came up at £12 for the new hose, which had to be ordered and picked up the next morning by me, meaning another 20 mile each-way journey. After all of this hassle, I fitted the hose and there was no more swelling. It is now April 18th 2001 and it seems that, at last, my car ...

k.mccrindle 20.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...for a reconditioned replacement. The Vauxhall garage wanted half the cars value for a new one. The power on these was actually quite a suprise, perhaps the lightweight body made this much, much quicker than it really should be. Fortunately, I never crashed one, nor would I like to. Interior design left a lot to be desired but all the buttons are switches were obvious what they did. There was no panel fillers, big holes near the footwell where you ...
...holes are generally out of the line of sight but make repairs very simple indeed. Once you have got to 70mph, you may need to stop. Right, this is the part where we see how your nerves stack up. Press the brake pedal and everyone knows you are slowing down, neither of the brake lights never failed on the car. Unfortunately, the driver and passengers are unaware of these lights and the speedo didn't give much of an indication of reducing speed. ...

NegativeG 20.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...continue, if you own a Vauxhall Nova or in particular a modified Vauxhall Nova, you probably won't like this opinion. I am writing this in order to vent anger at something that myself and many of my friends find to be a particularly amusing, but annoying syndrome. That of the boy racer. The Vauxhall Nova was originally designed as a cheap run-around car for the ladies to do the weekly shopping. A small engine coupled with light bodywork made for ...
...being sexist in any way..this was the reason for this car being made! For the reasons above, it was a decent little car. It suffers from the normal cheap car troubles like corrodability and so on, but for it's purpose it was an okay car. The only trouble with the Nova was that it was cheap to insure and as such the boy racers decided to pick up on it, as with the Ford Fiesta and the Astra. Here in Exeter we suffer from probably the largest contingent ...

poodu 12.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

The Car:- Bought from a young female student, i was now the 6th owner, with 100'000 in the clock it was probably a bad buy. A 1.2L, gold in colour and granny brown inside, but for a first car it had all i wanted, an engine and wheels! My aim? To make a superb boyracer mobile.... mision... failed. I kept knocking things, trees, fences, etc, etc. BUt what the heck, its a nova, never did me any favours. Even cost me more than my fiancee! It had NO ...
...a tractor on ice and rusted like there was no tomorrow. But i loved it! Drive:- Every bend felt like i was going to go straight on, the brakes were rubbish, (sat there learning all the stopping distances from the highway code for the test, then had to double them when i got in this car!!) The ride was bumpy, the tracking was always out of line, but it acelerated well, the lightness of the car made it quick (not quick enough though) Inside and ...

Ric_mears 18.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

I bought my Vauxhall Nova GTE in 1990, when it was only three months old. It sat in the garage forecourt, snow white in colour and gleaming, with only about 20 miles on the clock, the owner before unfortunately finding that he could not finance it after all. It is a GTE with a full bodykit, and it is something really special, even after 10 years. It's not a flashy looking car, but more a special and unique looking car, as the bodykit really sets ...
...have nothing but respect for Vauxhall cars as I think they have such a good name behind them and their quality speaks for themselves. My daughter was after a car herself a couple of months back, being near to passing her test, and settled on a Corsa, which took over from the Nova. That is also a lovely car to drive. ...

backstreetwoman 08.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

I bought my Nova a year ago, and it has been proven to be a reliable and quite nippy little car. The only things that have went wrong with my car was that the back box needed replacing as did the speedo cable. I picked up a nearly new back box for £5 from the scrap yard, and a new speedo cable cost me £12. I fitted both of these myself, so the cost was minimum. The cars list performance and consumption is as follows: bph - 55 mph - 94 0-60 - 14.5 ...
...performance goes I think the car can do slightly better than that stated, I have had my speedo reading 110mph although they arn't the most accurate. These figures show what great value the nova is to own, and I think you will be hard pushed to find more econimic car. I feel that although many boy racers do own nova's, it is not a good reason to put a sensable driver off buying what is a good car. ...

Muzz 03.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...my test and bought a vauxhall nova, there are people that think this great little cars are terriable and that they are only for rude boys. I completely dis-agree with this ridiculas opinion because they make great first cars. There is many good points for the nova, as well as bad points. The good points are easy to see, The nova is a cheap car to buy and insure. The nova is only in insurance group 3, which makes it ideal for 17 yr olds that have ...
...to run, they achieve a decent mpg for such a small car. Tax is also cheap because of the size of the car. Now I know that there are people who do buy nova's with the sole intention of adding body kits and thumping sound systems. I do love nova's that have body kits but i do not like the ones which are so tarted up that they look like something out of scaletrix. Nova's allas, do not have the modern day comforts of newer cars, they are slighty roughy ...

The_wizard 04.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...a 1991 onwards model because Vauxhall uprated the looks (They used different headlights, better seats, wider arches and different wings) but unfortunately they used single point injection so the performance was slightly reduced. If you want better performance from your 1.2 then go for the Pre 1991 model Nova becauase Vauxhall used standard carburettor engines which had slightly better performance. Anyway I personally love the Nova and will always ...
...If you want a really sporty nova then check out the GTE/GSi models with 1.6 8 valve engines. Or if you want Vauxhall's up to date version of the Nova check out the Corsa. There is a few things I wouldnt trust in a Nova and thats the fact that they are so easy to steal and the majority of Nova's have been stolen at some point in their life, another thing is I wouldnt like have a smash in a Nova because basically they are just tin boxes with wheels ...

izzyshaw 08.12.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...car, it was a simple Vauxhall nova 1.2i spin. Even this model is a fairly nippy car, this is mainly due to the weight of the car, as it is a light car the 1.2 engine is perfect for getting it around. I would say that the 1.2 size is ideal for a couple of reasons:  It is very fuel efficient, if you start to go for a bigger sized engine you will begin to lose its fuel efficiency.  This model is also ideal for young drivers as it ...
...always order them direct from Vauxhall although they will probably charge you more. If you do decide to buy this car beware of rust, this is a major problem on any Nova. Before you part with your precious money, check all over the car for rust especially the bottom edge of the doors and the rear arches. The rear arches are major rust points and can be quite costly to rectify. Also watch out for if the car has a parcel shelf, as I found out these ...

jones285 02.02.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

This is my second Nova and I love it like my first driven! Secondhand Nova's are taking pot luck really. Whilst they are cheap to buy and cheap to run they can also be purchased for out of this world prices depending what you are looking for. I opted for an unmodernised 1989 1200cc Merit 5-door for £250 and have added to it and added to it until I now have it how I want it. I'm tired of seeing 3-door supernova's and decided to be different with ...
...to come by and are relatively cheap compared to other cars on the market. The possibilties with your Nova are endless, mine has 16 inch wheels on it and it looks wild, even after I had a disater 30 minutes after I put the wheels on, severe chaffing of the wheel arches. This was overcome by a litle tweaking of the Koni ajustable suspension and Bob's your uncle! Niggle-wise; I've had a few, the front end was rusting so badly I had to have a new front ...

wingbat 10.10.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

...red three door 1.2 litre vauxhall nova. It was only group three insurance compared to my previous car which was group four and only had a one litre engine. On the first drive i felt like i was driving a car with a far bigger engine than 1.2 . There is a decent amount of go which when combined to the go cart like handling makes for a nippy machine i especially found windy country lanes a pleasing experiance. For a little car it is also surprisingly ...
...this is more true with a five speed box as fuel economy can suffer with a four speed box. But for town driving and as a runaround they offer very cheap fuel costs. Space and comfort are good though for long journeys you would'nt want to be stuck in the back seat. One let down is the standard brakes there less than sufficiant for the job and can suffer from brake fade. Fear not though thanks to there popularity with boy racers there are plenty of ...

brambridge 09.12.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

For those of you that think that the nova is a car that is for rude boys only. They think that the nova is for stupid boy racers that want to slap skirts and a thumping base system onto this car. The nove is a great car, it is a ideal first car for people that have just passed thier test. The nova is cheap and reliable to run, it has a low insurance group (group 3) and has low road tax. It is the ideal car for the first time driver. The nova is ...
...go wrong on it. Parts can be bought for almost nothing and they are reliable for a long time. The nova is also a great car for motorways , although they can be uncomfortable when travelling across country, there are brilliant around town and for reasonable journeys. The nova does look great when it is resprayed and dressed up with skirts/sound system. I personally love this car because it so cheap and reliable for the first time driver. This is ...

swollen_pussy 28.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

I bought this car as it was brilliant for modifying, I have added a K&N air filter and a piper exhaust. It is only a 1.2 but it still rips around like nobodys buisiness. The most I have had out of it is about 110 Mph and there was hardly and vibrations through the stearing wheel. The boot has plenty of space to fit a good sized amplifier and sub woofer and you can get aftermarket parcel shelves for heavier speakers. The largest type of alloy it will ...

darkteckno 11.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2

the 1.2 nova was the first car i owned, it was a brillant car but did lack in power, the engine only produced a mere 45 bhp as it was injection and had a cat, the carburated engines were slightly better as they produced 55 bhp. the good thing though was that it was good on petrol achieving 45-55 mpg. these days i own to more nova's a 1.4 sri, which is very nippy, and a 1.2i which is soon to have a 2litre tranplanted. as an all round car thay are ...
...potential, especially on the 1.4 and 1.6 engine's. on my 1.4sri a have a kent cam, k&n, janspeed manifold all the way through, including 4 branch manfold. as standard the engine produces 82 bhp mine is up to and estimated 100 bhp which is the same bhp as a 1.6gte. ...

mikeyredtop 24.07.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Vauxhall Nova 1.2