19 year old son wants a turbo...general thoughts?
 

Hi, I have been a member on here for quite a while now. I had a version 4 type R in white and thought it was amazing. Now my son is 19 and wants a turbo himself. He is thinking of buying a sport and doing a turbo engine swap seeing as he can afford to do the conversion but nobody will insure him on a straight turbo. What are your thoughts on this?

He has just had a civic coupe with a engine swap which was running close to 200bhp. Im not sure whats what when it comes to all this.

Thank you for any help!

When it comes down to a young lad its ALWAYS insurance. Go look in the insurance section for advise.

Has he got quotes on insurance for after doing the conversion. I'll bet it'll be the same, if not higher, than the normal turbo. Also cost far more in converting than he'll save (if any savings are there) in insurance.

Save up and buy/insure turbo or wait 'till older to get more NCD. There's also plenty of other quick fun cars that won't cost a fortune in insurance (although any fast car for a 19 year old won't be cheap, and for very good reason)

Well if no one will insure him on a turbo they defo won't insure him on a sport thats been modified thats unless he tells them porkies and does like what all the young lads do and don't tell the insurance company of the mods on the car

Yeah, as above insurance is gonna be higher on a highly modified car than a standard factory turbo i reckon.

A sport would cost ££££££'s to convert. It would be cheaper to pay for a Turbo and insure it in the first place :thumb:

I new a lad that had a 1.3 mk2 astra and made it look like a GTE, just body kept 1.3 engine.

Insurance just said it looks like one so is just as high risk so charged him same as a proper GTE.

if they were charging the poor kid full price for one i hope he had enough sense to convert the engine over as well then, cause he shouldent have had to pay anything extra if he was already paying the full whack

agree

Sorry to be negative mate, and no disrespect inteded to you or your son, but 19 year old with a scooby turbo almost invariably means trouble and ends in tears: too much too soon. I was about the most well behaved teenager you could imagine, completely clean driving record too, but hand on heart, looking back, could I have been trusted with a turbo? I honestly don't think so!

Turning a sport into a turbo would be a complete money pit! Combine that with the insurance costs of a kid that age in a turbo engined scooby and you'd need deep pockets.

Much better entries into the world of performance cars for someone his age.

ns04

get a sport and keep it a sport for a couple of years, going stright into a turbo is asking for it.

there was a thread on here not long ago aboue an 18 year old m5 driver who killed not only himself but 3 friends when he crashed it.

1 or 2 years driving experiance aint enough to drive a turbo.



sorry if it sounds harsh, but could save his life in the long run

I dont agree with ya there Tidgy, Ive had a car licence for just over a year, i had a GL for 12 months and went on to an Sti. I think its the driver and what kind of person they are thats counts. I am however 32, I'd agree that a 19yr old and a T2000 spells trouble:cuckoo:

How about a 2.0 GL? I'd been riding fast bikes for 10 years, i then passed my car test and got a GL. Its a shame they get overlooked cos of the turbos but they're a quick, fun car to drive and they have “usually” been well looked after.

Shot8

I would also say no, your looking for trouble, or your son is......

Get a cheap car, and learn to drive that, get experience and then maybe get a turbo.

Admittedley, i passed my test at 20, came to japan (where i am now) and bought myself a lancer evo 2rs at 21, simply because i needed a 4x4 cos i live in the mountains where we get a ton of snow....And the car was under £3000 which is a good price for your first proper car. Insurance was only £700 3rd party, which was more than i was paying for my ax

I drove a 1.0litre citroen ax since i was 17, learning with my dad, but never had time to take my test because of uni. Had one trackday in the ax and a knack for driving since day one, no accidents to this day (tocuh wood)

But to be honest, if you trust your son, and genuinely think that he could safely own a turbo, if its his money, then why not......

Yep totally agree. If I had had a turbo at 19 it would invariably have led to a possibly fatal traffic accident. Also I never wanted a decent car til I could afford to own and run a decent car. Always thought and still do that chavved up Novas, Corsas, Fiestas and Saxos look completely ridiculous. Better to save for a few years to mature a bit whilst building up no claims for a performance car.

Let me add to that, I never tuned my citroen ax, just left it as it was from the factory and learned to drive that. Sure, we all like to put ouf foot down when were young.

But if i were to redline my 270bhp evo like i used redline my 45bhp ax, id be dead within a few streets of my house.......

Lets just hope he has some restraint.

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...nevitable.html

i think its an age thing in combination with lack of experiance

i used to own a corsa sxi - 1.2 16v group 3 insurance, that was till i put a 2ltr 16v in it! :norty: every mod was on my insurance but they still charged me the same insurance as an astra gsi because of the engine, (same goes for impreza sport -> turbo) at the time it was a good idea,but would have just been easyer to buy a fast car in the first place and just pay the insurance on that or wait!

Yeah, an 18 year old, even a nice respectable one (as the guy driving the M5 had apparently been) is still an 18 year old. There are RARE exceptions, but it is at this age when you're most confident that you've done the whole growing up thing etc... when in reality most of us mere mortals have sooooo much growing up left to do.

Age is no assurance of wisdom maturity though!!!

it should also be noted that the M5 driver was driving at speed, but on a private airfeild where he is entitled to do as he pleases without breaking the law

i had my uk turbo when i was 18. it was my second car but third car i had been driving. started off driving my mums rover 25, which was a 1.6 auto, took it easy then got a 106 GTI which is also a 1.6 but alot lighter so had some grunt to it (not much though:lol1: ) i was thinking of tuning that up but diddnt want the boy racer image, cant stand all that. so i sold mine and was looking at seat leons etc but they just diddnt feel fast. i found a quote on the impreza i was looking at. and test drove it, had to have it, i was more suprised at how nice it felt to drive to be honest, the powr was jsut a bonus. i don't agree with everyone saying young drivers can't handle powerful cars,i mean to a certain extent yeah thats true, but i don't think this is the case with imprezas, i think its more of most young people aren't capable of being sensible with powerful cars, or cars in general. with the 18 year old in the m5, that was because he was not sensible in the car which is why he crashed. i have not crashed yet, and when i first got the car i can honestly say i did not break the speed limits for about 2 weeks, and gradually built my self into getting used to the car and learnt how to drive it properly. a boy who is a year younger than me, recently crashed a 1.2 clio becuase he was absolutely caining it round a country lane in the rain ? he almost paralysed the passanger in his car, he has a broken back but will walk. and i think that was down to stupidity and not being sensible. people like him will crash if there in a slow car or a fast car. thats my opinion anyway

Yep, think it's fair to say that he certainly wasn't the reckless, irresponsible kind, just a young un caught out by a powerful car! Very sad! :(

don't get us wrong, were not saying none of the young whippersnappers (god i feel old pmsl) can handel it, were saying that 99% can't or as you sugest arn't mature enough to be driving it.

look at the 4 killed in the big smash two weeks back, a young lad, driving a high power car looses control, wipes out nother can and kills him and his 3 passengers.

As I said, age is not an assurance of maturity. I know people in their 30's who shouldn't be driving a 1.2 Clio let alone a Scooby, but the simple fact is that the proportion of 18 year olds who are mature enough (driving skill/experience aside for a mo) for a Scooby turbo is FAR, FAR smaller than those in their mid 20s early thirties. These cars require the right kind of temprement as much as anything else to drive.

Ns04

PS We should emphasise that the M5 driver was doing high speed runs on a private runway NOT on the steet, so I think we need to bear that in mind before leveling any criticism.

a whole 2 weeks eh?

Far too young for a performance car in my opinion.

Shaun

17 - Yaris T-Sport tuned to - 155bhp at wheels
18 - Golf Mk4 Gti with APR stage 3 kit - 312bhp at wheels
19 - Nissan Silvia S14 import - 400+ at the wheels
20 - Subaru Impreza Sti v6 import - dont know yet

Its not about age but about experience in performance cars. I grew up driving fast cars snce i was about 8 as my dad raced F2, F3, Rally Cross, Formula Ford etc so its in my blood. You could be driving a 1.1 clio for a year at 30 and then buy a sti 8 and you would not have anywhere near the experience that myslef has had and be a lot more likely to crash. But also as with everything, accidents, genuine real unavoidable accidents can happen, and thats just the pot luck of the draw we take every time we get in our cars to drive.

It would be different giving a 19 year old a standard UK turbo say and giving him a WR1. Giving him a UK turbo would be giving him a performance car, the other would be indirectly giving him a weapon.

yeah i see where peoples thoughts come from not trying to single any one out just expressing my opinion. after all thats what forums are here for :D

but as for the m5 driver what was he doing taking his mates in the car when hes doing them speeds any way

[QUOTE=fraser87uk;7635811]17 - Yaris T-Sport tuned to - 155bhp at wheels
18 - Golf Mk4 Gti with APR stage 3 kit - 312bhp at wheels
19 - Nissan Silvia S14 import - 400+ at the wheels
20 - Subaru Impreza Sti v6 import - dont know yet

any pics of these cars :notworthy

if you give me a mo 5 mins

Silvia-

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...6102007158.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...2092007105.jpg

Golf-

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...4072007062.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...4072007056.jpg

Yaris -

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...k/DSC00030.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...k/DSC00022.jpg