rodd1s' ex-turbo Lanos [1349 sleeper in the making]

[gse_turbo]

I know you haven't exactly gone anywhere, but, WELCOME BACK!!

[benzino]

I don't know why they called it an Astra coupe, they should have just stuck a calibra badge on the back...
Are you going to zLET it?

[Rodd1s]

I know, it really is just a modern day Calibra, but it's based on the Astra G, where as the Calibra was quite different from the likes of the Astra F.
Over here it is cheaper to buy an Astra coupe 2.0 turbo than it is to do a conversion, I paid £1600 for this one, but a similar age turbo can be had for less than a grand on top of that.

For now this is just a run-around for me and my partner as we've just moved out so can't afford two cars at the moment - she's already agreed to as soon as we can afford a second car I can go all out, buy a Lanos and go crazy. I might even do a turbo conversion again, and this time do it right. Just need the space to keep a second car and be able to afford to run and insure it etc.

At the moment 1.3 Lanos' are often found for sub-£500 prices, so chances are I'll go back to the 1349cc motor. the 1.5s are nowhere to be found - I literally have not seen one for over 3 years, at all. And the majority of 1.6s are automatic. I did originally plan to buy another Lanos before May this year (for the BHP car show at a local race track), but having to fork out for rent and deposits meant getting rid of one of our two cars, and trading the diesel Merc for something better on fuel.

Not to fear, soon enough I'll start a new thread for a new Lanos (because, let's face it, Lanos' are cool and drive better than most other things I've laid my hands on)

[benzino]

it's funny you want to go back to the lanos...
for my next car I want to get an astra G GSI, I hope I wouldn't regret it and go back to the lanos

[Rodd1s]

I'd quite like an Astra GSI, but they are becoming hard to find, and the turbo coupe is popular alternative as it has the same engine.

Ultimately, I want a 888 coupe! But there aren't many left on the roads and I fear they are getting more expensive as time goes on.

[benzino]

The turbo we got here is a bit of an oddball, it's an SRI-T in every way except it has the GSI big mouth front bumper and 197bhp map.
I wish the turbo we got here had the half leather recaro seats of the GSI, the full leather SRI-T seats are a bit slidey.

Good turbos here still sell for about AU$9000 which is over GBP6000! they never sold well here, but they are an amazingly well rounded car. Awesome boot (swallows up 2 mountain bikes with the back seats down), my partner's is mapped at 200hp at the wheels, and still gets 6.5-7l/100km on the highway.

I just hope there are some good ones around when I'm ready to buy...

[Rodd1s]

We've got the SRI Turbo here as well, which doesn't make any sense whatsoever, because it's just a GSI with more stock looking bumpers.

Recently I've been keepin my eyes on the auto trader and quite a few 1.6 3dr manuals have popped up for under £500... if I had somewhere to keep it locked up (as I can't afford insurance and fuel for two cars at the moment) and be able to work on it I'd buy one now... but it's just a waiting game

[benzino]

don't forget the SRI you get has less BHP compared to the GSI as well...
I just wish we got the half-leather recaros, they look so nice

[Rodd1s]

9bhp less is negligible really, and can easily be made up again with some minor changes.

The recaro interior over here go for £500 second hand if you can find a set, and that usually only consists of front seats. I'd happily do what I did before and opt for some Subaru buckets as they are found everywhere on ebay. damn comfortable, too!


Been keeping my eye on auto trader and ebay, and there are still tons of 1.6 3dr lanos hatches popping up on a daily basis - I've been trying to convince my fiancee to let me buy one and keep it in the carpark and park her coupe on the road while I save up some money for insurance, tax and mods to get it on the road lol

[Rodd1s]

Update, kind of...

I was hoping to have another Lanos by now, but the one I was set to buy sold the day before I planned on picking it up and couldn't find anything similar at the time.

After the Astra coupe, we had a little Corsa 1.2 for a while to help with cutting monthly outgoings - but that thing was just too damn slow, plus the engine was getting a bit on its last knees, so we sold it.

And bought a... wait for it... shitty Proton. Biggest mistake ever. Everything is broken on it, despite only having 11,000 miles on the clock (yes, eleven thousand). But it's cheapish to run and a bit faster than the Corsa. and bigger.

I'm getting married this weekend, and once that's out the way with I can start saving up for my Lanos again as I'm also starting a new job in 3 weeks time when we're back off honeymoon, with more pay. Cant complain.

I've actually had the money to buy another Lanos sitting one side for about 4 months now, but knew that I should be mindful of the fact that weddings are damn expensive!

Hopefully I'll be able to buy myself one as a birthday/christmas treat...

Enough rambling from me for now... I'm just glad the forum isn't completely lost!

[PrecisionBoost]

Congratulations on both accounts ( soon to be lanos purchase + that wedding thing )

All kidding aside, it sounds like you have things going your way, I'm sure the right car will find you at the right time.

[Rodd1s]

I have tried a couple of times over the last year to track down my old Lanos...



This is what it looked like when I got rid of it - it was painted completely black shortly after this. Insurance and road tax databases show that it has not been on the road since around May 2012. Chances are it's either sitting in someone's garden rotting or it's in a scrapyard.

Hopefully I can re-create a similar little beast with my new one