First Car, 1.2 or 1.4?

J

jamesede

Wrench Pro
Points
56
Location
Hereford
Car
Renault Clio
Hi, im currently in the process of buying my first car, iv been racing carts for a few years, so i have reasonable knowledge of car control etc, but i was wondering, what are other peoples experiences of having to insure thier first car? would you reccomend a 1.2 or a 1.4?

i dont really want a 1 litre as i might as well walk really, and anything bigger than a 1.4 is out of the question im thinking.

thanks for your help
 
Hi there mate and welcome to TorqueCars. I started out with a 1.3 Astra then moved to a 1.3 Nova. So we've all been there.

Don't dismiss diesels though, they pull well and are often better than the petrols on insurance costs.

Bigger is always better and gives you a better base to work from.

Have you decided on a Corsa? The Saxo's are quite nice to drive?
 
well from what iv seen, the saxos are generally more expensive to buy, but il keep an eye on them aswell i think.

And from what iv seen, arnt the modification options for 1.3's quite limited?

thanks
 
There isn't much around for the 1.2/1.4 Corsa's either really. The plus is the light body and they are quite nippy. Check the performance stats on the Parkers guide site to see what I mean.

Tuning anything lower than a 1.6 is too expensive to be practical IMHO. The same money spent on a bigger engine gives a much better bang for your buck!

You can always drop in a VTS engine when you have some no claims bonus under your belt.
 
I say a Clio is a good first car too. I have driven the MK1 and MK2 clio, both are nice, corsa's are also very nice to drive too. Some of the corsa's are now some of the nippiest 1.2s about :)
 
You would say a Clio wouldn't you!;) You wont catch me recommending A3's to people;)

My Brother has just got a 1.2 Corsa and its not bad actually. He does drive like a snail though anyway!
 
what about a 1.3 honda civic???
suss out your insurance first mate

the reason i say the civic is
their a good car
they have nice power for such a small litre
they handle great

especially if your used to driving mate
carts and road cars are totally differant but the theory is the same
been able to control a car, and avoid crashes
 
thanks for all the help, il check it all out tonight,

and the only problem really is insurence, but im guna do pass plus, just to try and chip off what i can
 
if insurance is the problem then you should think about classic cars really cheap to insure some are even tax exempt and they still give the average mpg and best of all RWD.

If image is the problem then rip out all the seats put in two bucket seats and a roll cage and racer look.
 
Gary mv6 said:
if insurance is the problem then you should think about classic cars really cheap to insure some are even tax exempt and they still give the average mpg and best of all RWD.

If image is the problem then rip out all the seats put in two bucket seats and a roll cage and racer look.
Click to expand...
in ireland you can only drive a classic car a certain mileage a year
i think its 5000 miles, and they do check it

im not sure if its the same over mate
 
My first car was a 1.2 corsa sxi, and it did go well for what it is, pretty cheap to run too as long as you get the insurance sorted, tax is cheap and turn around about 45mpg i think is the official figure (obviously this depends on how you drive it, if you redline it at all times your not gonna get as much for your money!)

But saying that i learnt to drive in a Clio 1.5DCi (i know its not a 1.2 / 1.4 etc) and that was REALLY nice to drive, handled really great and was amazingly comfy, choices choices my friend!
 
my first car was a 1.4 mg zr and then a 1.4 volkswagon polo. it had great mid range and it had reasonable acceleration, i have no regrets. 1.4 is definetly the best choice its worth the slight increase in insurance in comparison to a 1.2. on the other hand my girlfriend has a corsa 1.2 and i think its good for accelaration and mid range, its also really pokey for a 1.2, so that would also be a good option.
 
thing is with VW the 1.4's are only slightly quicker than most 1.2 engines from other vehicles

e.g.

1.2 corsa = 74-80 Bhp
1.4 Golf/Polo = 80 Bhp

1.4 MGZR = 104 Bhp

try looking on...

www.xpart-allmakes.co.uk i think, or search google for Xpart Allmakes, it lists alot of different engines and BHP on cars :]
 
thanks for all the help, iv been looking about, and theres a fair amount of cars about, i think i will be going with either a corsa or a saxo, but swinging towards the 1.2 corsa, because from what iv seen its reasonably easy to do an engine swap on it, so a few years no claims, in which i can save up for the new engine/modifications, and then wack a 2000 corsa SRi 1.8.

thanks again for all the help guys
 
hi there, you don't only want to be looking at horsepower, but more importantly the weight of a car.

in terms of acceleration, the mass is just as important as the engine power, so something light like a saxo, 106 or clio from the 90s (basically the same car) would be best option i guess, although i personally find them hideously ugly.
 
Just to let you know, insurance doesn't actually go by engine size, it's usually more power-based. For example, a 75bhp 1.2 will be more expensive to insure than a 60bhp 1.2.
 
thats normally because the bigger capacity gives more power.
when you start looking towards different variations of the engine like MA said you will see a diference

theres now a 1.2 clio with 100bhp this is due to a tiny turbo on it. this will cost more to insure than the base model 1.2 with around 65bhp (would need to double check that )
 
Normal 1.2 Clios are insurance group 2 and the TCE (turbo charged) are group 4

However, the new Clio looks really ugly with the big bum, like all other >2007 cars, so I would just stick with the "old" style :)
 
not always, the coupe should have been dearer however and if you looked towards a 5 dr you may have found some insures giving it cheaper.

another example is my bora is group 16. the equivalent golf anniversary is also 16
yet its the golf that cost more to insure. yet it is a smaller car in lengh by 8 inches


found the same when i looked to insure an octavia Vrs which is a hatchback version of the bora with a skoda badge on it and the 5spd gearbox rather than the 6spd that was fitted to the AUQ engines in the golfs, boras leons etc. again the skoda was dearer to insure
 
was it the coupe that cost more ?
if so it could be because they, the insurers, see the coupe as more of a sports car. thats the point i was trying to make but didnt present it properly, the golfs seen as a more sporty car over the bora same with the Vrs

it would proberly have been the same problem if you phoned up to insure a 2 ltr calibra rather than the caviler. you think the price on the cav was bad ;)
 
get a 1.4 sr nova.... u will be surprised how nippy they r and how fun they r to drive! u can do so much with them aswel and parts r cheap:bigsmile:
 
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