New to Saxos etc.

[Nathan-HxC]

Hello Saxperience,

Firstly I'd like to apologise if this is posted in the incorrect place, and if there have been many threads like this that you have had to answer!

I'm looking at getting a new car next month and have taken into thought the VTR's, most probably the phase 2 model. I'd like to know from you what they're like to drive etc, I'm only 18 atm, almost 19, so a big engined car or a VTS is out of the question for me in regards to insurance.

What are the common things to look out for when viewing a potential new car?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Nathan :)

[dougieph2]

back axles..

and the fuel tank can fall off and cause an explosion

[Moke]

Make sure it's there when you go to buy it, otherwise you will be driving the wind home.

[Nathan-HxC]

back axles..

and the fuel tank can fall off and cause an explosion

What would I be looking at? Buckled looking stance?

Make sure it's there when you go to buy it, otherwise you will be driving the wind home.

Haha you joker :p

[dougieph2]

aye.. excessive amounts of negative camber in the back wheels ;)

[devilsadvocate]

Play in the rear axle
Make sure it has some service history, especially if its had quite a few owners
Check for rust
Make sure it goes into gear ok
Do a HPI Check :)

Make sure mileage corresponds to paperwork and mots etc

[wicked-vtr]

Any camber in the rear wheels is bad. Look for rust in the inner arches/inner wings too.

I got a vts a few days after i turned 19 btw :y:

[Nathan-HxC]

aye.. excessive amounts of negative camber in the back wheels ;)

Ok cheers :)


Play in the rear axle
Make sure it has some service history, especially if its had quite a few owners
Check for rust
Make sure it goes into gear ok
Do a HPI Check :)

Make sure mileage corresponds to paperwork and mots etc

Are they prone for the rear axle going then? Or is it to do with people lowering them badly/ragging them?


Any camber in the rear wheels is bad. Look for rust in the inner arches/inner wings too.

I got a vts a few days after i turned 19 btw :y:

Really? I've tried quotes for them but wasn't happy with the numbers they were giving me haha :(

[dougieph2]

torsion beam suspension is a common thing to go unfortunately

[wicked-vtr]

The bearings in the beam tend to go if they are lowered the cowboy way, resulting in camber in the trailing arms and a bill for a new rear beam.

Yeah, i was surprised how much it had dropped, i bought a vtr when i passed and the insurance on that was ridiculous.

[Nathan-HxC]

The bearings in the beam tend to go if they are lowered the cowboy way, resulting in camber in the trailing arms and a bill for a new rear beam.

Yeah, i was surprised how much it had dropped, i bought a vtr when i passed and the insurance on that was ridiculous.

Ahh, how can the VTR's be lowered btw? Are there coilover kits for them that aren't mega money?

Haha I bet :p VTS was almost double the quote I had for the VTR, so I thought I'd just stick with the 8v for now haha :D

[wicked-vtr]

Ahh, how can the VTR's be lowered btw? Are there coilover kits for them that aren't mega money?

Haha I bet :p VTS was almost double the quote I had for the VTR, so I thought I'd just stick with the 8v for now haha :D

You can get coilover for the front, but as the rear suspension is torsion bar you have to take it apart and put it back together with the trailing arms at a different height basically. I wouldn't touch cheap coilovers, anything under about £350 is very poor quality tbh.
Have a read through some of the stickies in the suspension section, plenty of info in there :y:

You could always drop a 16v in the vtr when your insurance drops a bit, 16v vtr's are generally slightly cheaper on insurance than vts's too :cool:

[dougieph2]

jeez, spoon fed or what :P

[Kiwistar]

Here comes the choo chooooo train, open wide!

[Robbie-Flat-Arch]

Make sure it's there when you go to buy it, otherwise you will be riding a cock home.

and this is what moke does most days and we all know where that got him

[VTHall]

make sure the advertisment or what he says matches up to the documents.

[dougieph2]

go and have a play with the search button

[Nathan-HxC]

You can get coilover for the front, but as the rear suspension is torsion bar you have to take it apart and put it back together with the trailing arms at a different height basically. I wouldn't touch cheap coilovers, anything under about £350 is very poor quality tbh.
Have a read through some of the stickies in the suspension section, plenty of info in there :y:

You could always drop a 16v in the vtr when your insurance drops a bit, 16v vtr's are generally slightly cheaper on insurance than vts's too :cool:

Oh is it? Are there any other components you can purchase to help the rear suspension cope with the lowering, or will it just happily play along?

Are they really that bad, considering it's just for the fronts? I'm not gonna be driving aggressively or using it for track use etc, just everyday driving to college and work sorta thing :)

Hmm, I'm not very mechanically minded so the sound of that just scares me haha :fcuk:

Cheers for all the info though man :)

[Nathan-HxC]

go and have a play with the search button

Yeah I will do man :)
Just usually on enthusiast forums the filtering isn't all that great, and the word can be mentioned in any thread and it just shows them all :(
But you've all been a great help, and I am appreciative of it all :D

[djadzvtr]

You can get coilover for the front, but as the rear suspension is torsion bar you have to take it apart and put it back together with the trailing arms at a different height basically. I wouldn't touch cheap coilovers, anything under about £350 is very poor quality tbh.
Have a read through some of the stickies in the suspension section, plenty of info in there :y:

You could always drop a 16v in the vtr when your insurance drops a bit, 16v vtr's are generally slightly cheaper on insurance than vts's too :cool:

i was told that conversions were more to insure then a vts and then never heard anything else about it???

[djadzvtr]

Oh is it? Are there any other components you can purchase to help the rear suspension cope with the lowering, or will it just happily play along?

Are they really that bad, considering it's just for the fronts? I'm not gonna be driving aggressively or using it for track use etc, just everyday driving to college and work sorta thing :)

Hmm, I'm not very mechanically minded so the sound of that just scares me haha :fcuk:

Cheers for all the info though man :)

saxos ride ok just by putting some decent springs on like some 60mm spax or something and having the t-bar matched (or a tad lower imo :) ) if your not to bothered about track days and that :)

where are you from mate,,,we do lowering at my work???

[JRC1]

i was told that conversions were more to insure then a vts and then never heard anything else about it???

They are. At the time of doing my conversion an actual VTS was £1,300 for me to insure, my 16v Furio was £1,500.

[Nathan-HxC]

saxos ride ok just by putting some decent springs on like some 60mm spax or something and having the t-bar matched (or a tad lower imo :) ) if your not to bothered about track days and that :)

where are you from mate,,,we do lowering at my work???

Hmm, the only problem is I like the idea of coilovers as I'd be able to adjust them to a variety of heights and get them perfectly how I want :ponder:

I'm from the South West man, Bath to be precise :)