Franx

Once again, looking to upgrade...... Anything'd be an upgrade at the moment tbh, but I'm seeing these at quite good prices, on around an S to a P reg. They seem to meet all my requirements in terms of size, performance, economy etc, but are they any good?

What's the SRi like compared to the GT? Quick enough? Or would it be worth shedding out the extra on the insurance?

Ta folks

The Chief

I'm thinking of getting a GT myself as i think they are bargains to be had.

A lad at work has an 2.0 se which has the same engine as the Sri and it goes pretty good but the handling is absolutely superb!!!!

CLSII

I had an SRi 2lt Primera before I bought an Impreza Turbo. It was an absolutely brilliant car. Bought it nearly new and saved a fortune on the new price.

The handling for someone like me who enjoys driving and pressing on a bit without being endowed with superhuman abilities was excellent with the Nissan Multi link suspension.

It was 100% reliable and respectably quick once it was moving.

It was only 9 months old when I got it so I don't know how they have fared over the years.

Never drove the GT

CLSII

The Chief

Btw i think the GT has 150 bhp compared to the Sri's 128bhp.

I have not driven the GT but i have heard the GT has a bit more top end.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

My sister has the GT now after her eGT got written off and I believe that there are differences between the cams and management on the GT compared to the "normal" 2.0 engine.

It's a great all rounder and the only let down is the annoying steering. The steering lock is cack and the turning circle is slightly larger than an oil tanker

Franx

Isn't that why it has a handbrake?

All the reports I've heard sound pretty good as well, in terms of handling, performance etc I'm just trying to find one now that's not bloody 35 miles away like they all seem to be at the moment....

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

That's what I keep telling her when she moans to me about the steering Mind you she is a whinging cow

Personally I'd have one

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I have the 2.0 SLX, which has the 128bhp engine. It's OK around town and at a cruise, but for joining busy motorways or overtaking it's definitely a bit wheezy. If you're after a car for the fun of driving it, I'd definitely try and go for the more powerful model.

That said, mine is a second car to an '05 STI with about 300bhp, so that may have coloured my judgment a bit! The Nissan has a better turning circle than the scooby.

dome

I had an M reg eGT, I think the earlier (P10) car's had more aggressive engine mapping, mine had a redline at 7500 rpm and felt almost like a Vtec enhine, coming 'on cam' at 3500rpm and again at 6500rpm. There's not much in the mid range compared to a Vauxhall XE engine for example but it sounded lovely with an induction kit

Handling was ace, watch out for a clunk from the front suspension, it's a common thing for the top links to go but they're relativly cheap to fix. Other than that the only problem i had on mine was the rear calipers seizing come MOT time but a big hammer cured that...

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Is that a loud clunk when going over speed humps and the like? My car does that, I thought it was a sticking shock.

Shark Man

Good car IMO one of the best handling chassis out there on the road. Good brakes, nice steering feel (depending on tyres - stick to conti sports or simiilar strong walled tyres for best feel).

The huge turning circle on it is only bettered by a Clio Sport V6 - be prepared for 6point turns . Front suspension did have the odd knock - never really found out what it was - I went round all the front suspension links shock mounts and bushes with a socket and 1" ratchet and never heard it since.

One thing it does miss is power. For such a good handling chassis it really is wasted by the poor power to weight ratio. It easily has far better handling dymanics than cars such as Imprezas, just not the power to make use of it - needs a nice 3.0 V6 version

Its also abit of lard **** to reverse too - keep an eye out for concrete/steel posts in car parks

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

It's still FWD though, I'm not sure how much extra power it could handle without wheelspinning all the time. Maybe I just have crap tyres?

Shark Man

Can't say I ever found traction a problem, pretty good by all accounts compared to alot of cars. But said that the cheapest tyres it was ever fitted with was Contisports, Goodyears and Michelins. I learnt a nasty lesson at a young age about cheap tyres

Traction has little to do with the handling dynamics "in the twisties" though - If you get my "drift" The entry speed you can throw it into a corner and still hang in there giving a perfect rear end drift when needed - throughly embarrassing my own perception of the imprezas "twisties" legend

The problem being it doesn't have enough grunt on the back lanes to do a fast exit on a bend and be able get up to a nice speed in time to chuck it in to the next bend.

Franx

All sounds good to me

I'm on the hunt for a goodun then. There's not many GTs around here tbh. Mostly in Manchester, which is a bit far away, but I suppose I could get a garage to find me one. I know of a place I think. I'd go private, but I could do to part ex my old one while I'm at it, to save a bit of bother. I know it won't work out as well, but at least I don't get 2 cars kicking around....

Shark Man

Keep a look out for the 2.0 Sport+
Its pretty much the same car as the Gt, but with the revised p11 shell.

Avoid the CVT steptronic auto, quite rapid once moving, but scarily sluggish off the mark.

dpb

aye-up....franx .. .......on the mend now i hope...

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Just be thankful you dont live in Aberdeen! Whenever I'm looking for a car, the closest seems to average 100 miles. 35 miles seems damned reasonable to me. Ebay is a complete wate of time aswell, more like 300 miles

16vmarc

My mate used to have a primera GS which has the same output as the SRi about 120bhp, its nothing to write home about imo. He now has an eGT with the 150bhp engine. Theyre very underated cars and they come fully loaded inside.

Franx

I did until last year That said, I went about 25 miles to see the Impreza I bought, which didn't seem too bad......

Alright 'der dpb Well on the way now thanks In fact, I may go out tomorrow, as I'm working over in West Kirby. There'll be no wind at all now I've said that mind you

I think the Sport+ is the much newer one, which is probably out of my price range unfortunately...... Most things are tbh, but I'll have a look out for a good GT I think, and give it a go

Mike123

I bought an R-reg P11 GT last year to use as a daily driver to keep the miles off my Sapphire.
Prior to the Nissan I had a mk2 Astra GTE 16v which was a great car for me but a little awkward with 2 small boys under the age of 2 to ferry around.
I tried an N-reg P11 Sri which was an early spec without aircon. After trying the GT which had the extra 20bhp and aircon I decided it was the car for me.

What do I like about it?
The handling is brilliant - it's very "pointy" like a Saxo VTS which my wife used to drive. The front has excellent turn-in and even bad bumps mid-corner don't seem to throw it off line. When you really push it, it's the whole car that seems to drift rather than in the Astra which would understeer a lot easier.
The spec is good - it has aircon, pas,abs, trip computer, half-leather seats, 6-Cd changer, electric sunroof, alarm/immobiliser, heated electric mirrors as standard and EVERYTHING works perfectly. I have had the car nearly 12months and have replaced nothing except oil & filter, plugs and air filter and pollen filter. Nothing else has gone wrong with it - it's done 89000 miles and the engine has used no oil in the last year.
It has a fairly big boot but I would say if you need to carry much stuff don't get a 4-door as it has a restrictive oval shaped hole in the rear bulkhead to load stuff through- I looked at a GT saloon but bought a hatch version instead as I had pushchairs etc to lug around.
It seems quite economical for a 2-litre saloon esp if you keep the revs below about 4000rpm - on tank to tank brimming on dual carriageway motoring I average about 37/38 mpg ( lthough the trip computer lies and says about 40/41 mpg! )

What don't I like about it?
After having had the Astra which had the fantastic 156bhp XE engine the Primera seems quite gutless low down. Agreed it is a much heavier car but if you want to really shift you've got to keep it in the 4000-7000rpm band. I drove a friend's Accord Type-R shortly after getting the Primera and it seems like junior version of that.
The astra was so torquey you rarely had to change out of 5th at motorway speeds to make the most of overtaking chances etc whereas you'll usually have to find 4th in the Nissan.
It doesn't help that my other car being turboed is very torquey as well which seems to make the low-down lethargy in the Nissan seem worse to me.That's about it for dislikes though.

Overall, I'm very happy with it and plan to keep it a fair while longer.

Incidentally I drove a P10 model eGT (M-reg) and it had a much "rawer" feel to it. It was more like the Astra in character but the aircon on the later model swung it for me as it's useful in hot weather with little kids.