Re: What car do I buy next ?

Hmmm, I think you've succesfully disuaded me :)

err you *should* do that with any 4x4 car - imprezas, evos all of em.

Yeah, I've taken a look - plenty of those are very old, and most of the newer ones are silly money.

Noted - cheers :)

Is that the only major fault ?

I'll be getting a Touring, and it'll be a '97 "R" or newer, with

Check out the newer ones - post '97 cars look pretty nice I rekon.

Local garage does all my work at reasonable prices, so that doesn't bother me too much.

I'm afraid I won't be selling it for £6k;-) It cost me £18,500 new from a UK Nissan main dealer and that was a £7k discount from list as it was a runout of the old model. Also, about the only "affordable" car I would replace it with is a Scooby WRX and at the moment that isn't affordable for me:-(

As for the ownership experience....

Servicing is every 6k miles for oil change (turbo!) and 12,000 for more serious attention. Warranty work has included fixing a window rattle, replacing the fuel gauge sender and replacing the driver's seatbelt(sticking a bit). Also the alarm has proved a bit over-eager and I had the sensitivity reduced.

The only repairs were to replace a chipped foglamp and headlight. Being a muppet I got a main dealer to do this and it cost me about £400.

The only reliability issue (common to the old S13 model as well) is that if you start the car from cold and move it a couple of feet up the drive and turn off, it will not start again for a few hours due to flooding. So if I want to move the car to open the garage door I either push the car by hand or leave it running for at least 30 seconds before turning it off.

Handling is very good, with roundabouts taken enthusiastically and balanced on the throttle with a hint of opposite/neutral lock;-) (Only in the dry though - I do not take risks in the wet.

Performance is where I feel the car is lacking a bit in standard form. My old S13 felt quicker off the line although top end was not as good. This is largely down to gear ratios and Nissan's "linear drive" turbo (or whatever they call it) on the S14. The car will pull 42mph in 1st and 74mph in 2nd and that means you have to be going some before the turbo comes on stream. Also, for reasons best known to Nissan, they have limited the speed at which boost comes into play in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I tried disconnecting the pressure feed to the wastegate actuator for a couple of miles and "F**k me!" the car flew. When I can be bothered I'm going to fit a "Grainger valve" to the actuator feed to remove Mr. Nissan's thoughtfull boost management. Until then I shall make do with standard performance.

What really upset me was when I took a spin in a friend's S-reg Scooby, as a passenger. It was the standard turbo 5 door - not STi or anything. With 5 occupants the thing was pulling more strongly in 3rd than my car does in 2nd with just me in it. Very impressive!!!!! From the right sources I could have bought a Scooby Impreza Turbo for about the same money as the 200SX and I now wish I had. But everything is relative and you do get used to performance and forget how good it is compared to everyday transport. I drove my g/f's Focus 1.8 Zetec the other day and was really disappointed at the lack of urge compared with the 200.

Fair enough. Just suggestions. how about taking a different angle on this. A good brand of classic car. maybe a restored (but not concourse) MGB, Later model XJ Saloon (whatever the sports versions were), or something like one of the big old stack lights Mercs that actually drove a lot better than they looked (just might be out of the price bracket though)?

Brake discs cost him a fortune, and he had to get them from a breakers then (jap specialist), and had to remove them himself.

might be because he only paid £1500 for it. Was a gorgeous looking car, just maybe a bit ropy mechanically.

Nom, have seen your rejection list so far, I reckon what you really want is a very late model, seriously tuned and tweaked Rover 600 based Ti. :)

Should suit what you would like

I think it does :) That's all I'm willing to spend anyway, so it's a moot point.

None here - I live in the middle of nowhere :)

Damn you - I need a house :)

Agreed - there are some advantages I suppose. Depreciation on a new car is a joke though - you won't get anywhere close to you 16k back in three years - prolly not even half of it.

2K for mine :)

That's what I was thinking. The newest ones (M-N reg) fetch SILLY money.

I'm not buying right now - prolly in about 12-18 months.

Ditto my current TI.

seatbelt(sticking

Nothing major then. Good-oh.

LOL :)

Noted.

Good stuff.

I shall be tweaking mine. Standard, it's no quicker than my current TI.

300bhp is a nice target, and doesn't cost silly money (spread over a period of time - I'll do it bit by bit).

So you were running maximum possible boost. That's a surefire way to knacker the car :)

The difference is in your head, I rekon. The stock 200bhp Scooby is only a smidgeon quicker.

Nah - everyone has one :)

IT Technician :)

Yup, cheers. Keep em coming :D

As a rule, I don't like old cars :)

Yep. Fully aware of that I was careful to keep revs under 3,000 and only floored it when I was ready to put my little mod to the test. Once I hit

4,000 rpm I backed off again. I tried it once more coz the experience was so jolly and then stopped and reconnected the hoses. So the time actually at (not even) full boost was very limited but did serve to prove a point.

I did a bit of research before all this and I believe I would have been saved by fuel cutoff safety if the boost had got out of hand. i.e. 15psi or above. Standard boost is around 10psi, I think, or about 0.7 bar. I've looked at Norris Designs on many occasions and ISTR they reckon the stock components are good for 14-15psi before more serious modifications are required.

A bleed valve is not an option I would consider and ND prices are a bit high for proper boost control, compared to a Grainger valve and boost gauge. I've looked into boost control aplenty and Grainger seems a very cost effective way of gaining improved boost reliably, measurably, repeatedly and safely.

Surely Brembo/Tarox/Everyone will do discs for it, so that's no problem. And they only need changing once in a blue moon.

Hopefully.

I'll do some more digging - they're rather nice :)

All seems very similar to my current TI :) That too runs ~10psi, and has a built-in cut-out at 1bar/15psi. I'm running 13psi right now.

Agreed.

I'll use the

that I've currentlygot on my TI. They're EXCELLENT - I've been very pleased with it. No spikingat all, and it holds the boost rock-steady. Highly recommended - you can'tgo wrong for £25. Get one :)

I do fancy the front-mounted intercooler and stuff, from Norris though :)

I was lucky, bought 2.5 yrs ago for 72500, now worth 120k+ at last valuation. Did I mention the 27' x12' garage ? I wouldnt be able to afford it now.

Leon Cupra rs at a year old I've seen for 15.5k cheapest.. so they ar holding very well. I agree with you though, but overall I reckon its better, lets say after 3 years I will have 8k in it, so I've lost 8k.. now pit it against a car of similar performance thats 8k to buy say 3yrs old.. in 3 years time it might just be worth 1500 ? *maybe* 2k ? loosing

6.5k.. thats *if* nothing goes wrong, and the sort of car thats got the same performance is complex, a few problems could cost you a grand.. now add putting a thatcham alarm in... like or like it'd probably end up the same.. so why not go newer.

me too - that *is* nothing!