Alright Chaps!

[Dan_mk1]

Hello people

Iv currently got a mk1 nova but am looking to get rid of it soon and get me a nice clean phase 2 valver, just a few questions!



are they really that unreliable??

how much should i be paying for fsh + low miles?? round 3k mark??

and is it worth tuning the 1.8 lump? or saving for a williams transplant??



Thanks in advance



Dan

 

[jamesy16v]

they arent unreliable if u buy a good 1 and u look after it,but they are bloody exspensive to fix if they go wrong.i paid 3 grand for mine with 49k 1 owner frsh its immaculate.u can tune the engine if u want or leave, its rapid anyway!

 

[Dan_mk1]

Anyone got anymore advice on the tuning side of things??

 

[Tom_16v]

To seriously tune it, Id say its better to do it to the 1.8 lump as it revs higher.

They arent any more unreliable than any other hot hatch, its just if you get a neglected one, its gonna empty your wallet!

I bought my 95M 16v almost 18months ago on 48K (only just gone over 57K now) and have had no major problems with it. Just little commen faults.

 

[Smokey]

Quote: Originally posted by Tom_16v on 06 January 2004


To seriously tune it, Id say its better to do it to the 1.8 lump as it revs higher.

They arent any more unreliable than any other hot hatch, its just if you get a neglected one, its gonna empty your wallet!

I bought my 95M 16v almost 18months ago on 48K (only just gone over 57K now) and have had no major problems with it. Just little commen faults.





Unless you go for a Hill Power chip!!

I bought my valver 4 months ago on a 1994 (L) with 120k on the clock for £1500 and have just bought a williams engine on 55k to drop in it!!

Will let you know what its like when i get it back hopefully on Thursday

 

[Ben H]

Hi mate

Do a search for tuning the 16V. I used to have a tuned 16V (head, cams etc) and to be honest my totally standard Williams is a fair bit quicker. The thing about tuning a 16V is that you only really make power gains in the legendary 4,500+ power band. If you looked at a RR graph for my old 16V, the difference over a standard 16V was that it made more power at about 6500rpm and the torque curve flatened out after 5000rpm (instead of tailing off).

The Willy engine was designed from the outset to improve low-down torque and gets 85% at 2500rpm. Thats torquey! To be fair, the 16V is a fairly torquey motor with a nice plateau at 2-3,000rpm - but it falls again until the power band. The Willy makes 100% torque all the way from 4000rpm to the redline as standard too.

What this means on the road is that the Willy is a fair bit quicker from A to B. If you dropped a cog at motorway speeds, then the Willy would only pass a Valver because of the extra power (which is supposedly 13bhp, but is usually more as 150bhp is quite conservative for a Willy F7R lump). But if you add some roundabouts and corners, the Willy will really show its teeth.

Add all this to the fact that finding and fitting a Willy (or early Megane Coupe 2.0) F7R bottom end is cheaper than most cam and head packages, and youll see why the Willy bottom end is such a popular route. Of course, you can tune the nuts off an F7P 1764cc 16V engine, but itll cost you! (someone here also argues that the 16V is better for extensive tuning, but I cant remember why and its not usual practice).

By all means buy a 16V, but as someone who once had a tuned 16V Id recommend 2.0 power for the average tuner.

 

[Dan_mk1]

cheers guys, the willy engine does sound the easier route, i suppose it depends on funds at the time



so far ive been to see 3 valvers;

first one was an absolute dog, high mileage, tacky alloys, neons etc but felt really quick

second was an absolutely mint monaco blue example, 78k, full service history, mostly motorway miles, but felt really slow compared to the dog i drove earlier on in the week.

next one was another monaco blue, 70k, part service history, but kinda felt in between the other two performance wise!?

i take it the engines get quicker with time?? or respond to how theyve been driven??