Opinions on the mk1 RSI

[BenWall]

Im looking to buy a RSI very soon, just wanted to know peoples opinions on them, are they quick? reliable? and how do they compare to the 16v on fuel and reliability and servicing costs etc.

Thanks.

Ben.

 

[Tizer]

FANTASTIC (biast though)

 

[Rage]

heard only good things about them, and iirc only half a second slower 0-60 than a valver....Uk roads you wont notice a great deal difference power wise until you hit the straights against a valver....

when buying look out for the usual mk1 errors....rusty rear arches...leaky sunroof.

 

[al]

Very quick and torquey!!

Watch for oil in the header tank.

 

[BenWall]

Yer tizer told me about the leaky sunroof.

What about if something goes wrong? are they less expensive to fix than a valver? I've seen a valver I like too lol

 

[adamRS]

As all of the above.

Cracking little cars, I had one for 6 great years. May be easier to get a unabused RSi compared to an old valver

 

[Maxx]

Very fun to drive when its all working.

First off you got all the electrics windows, mirrors and sunroof, nice interior, dials. Car as quick to drive and cheaper to run than a valver and almost has the same performance as one (standard vs standard). Lots of mods can be done to it aswell. The alloy wheels the cars come with a pretty light too
A nice power gain can also be made through headwork. Theyre also pretty cheap to buy

 

[adamRS]

A nice power gain can also be made through headwork.

Yeh, Nick Hill did mine at hillpower.co.uk. Really made a difference

 

[Phoenix]

Im looking to buy a RSI very soon, just wanted to know peoples opinions on them, are they quick? reliable? and how do they compare to the 16v on fuel and reliability and servicing costs etc.

Thanks.

Ben.

My biased oppinion...they're very quick especially if you strip out the rear. good mid-range torque. they have 20bhp less than valver iirc. £40 fills the tank and it does you roughly 280miles hard driving....but i could be wrong as my speedos out so probs more like 250miles. i had mine4 months i think and all that gone wrong is rotor arm which cost me £7.50 and garage didnt even charge labour. as for service...im guessing round £100 same as old my 1.4 RT. and with a few decent breather mods and stripped they not that much slower than a valver on 1/4 mile

 

[Phoenix]

A nice power gain can also be made through headwork.

Yeh, Nick Hill did mine at hillpower.co.uk. Really made a difference

how much did that set you bk and what did differance did it make?

 

[Maxx]

I didn't use Hillpower but my headgasket went so got that done, head and inlet polished, ported/gasflowed, skimmed etc and cost me about £650 for that. Gave me about a 8-10bhp gain

 

[Phoenix]

thats a good gain....how noticable was differance?

 

[adamRS]

thats a good gain....how noticable was differance?

Mine was noticable, prices will of changed since i got it done.

 

[nath17t]

the one i got to do me engine swap was mind numingly slow but that mite of just been the one i got just make sure you give it a good test drive

 

[bisonvalver]

Very fun to drive when its all working.

First off you got all the electrics windows, mirrors and sunroof, nice interior, dials. Car as quick to drive and cheaper to run than a valver and almost has the same performance as one (standard vs standard). Lots of mods can be done to it aswell. The alloy wheels the cars come with a pretty light too
A nice power gain can also be made through headwork. Theyre also pretty cheap to buy

I've had a go with a few and they're really not much on a valver, even stripped. Not sure where all this 'almost the same performance' stuff comes from really, from what I can tell the difference is quite noticable. Still quick though and would be a bit cheaper to run.