4th Aug 2009, 01:27

I own a JDM 4wd Starlet, and swapped in a Supra stage one turbo, front mount intercooler and tuned the ECU, and I could spank some ST's and Evo X. My quarter mile time is 10.05 secs. Beat that!

I'm from Philippines, Starlet rocks.

11th Aug 2009, 11:00

My mate has a Glanza and these cars are so over rated in standard form. A standard Zetec S Fiesta keeps up with it, but yet it's as quick as an older GT Turbo in the area!! Fair enough, they are quite quick with mods, but standard they ain't great, plus the interior is rubbish!!

21st Sep 2009, 14:12

I wouldn't contest any of that, but these cars are getting on a bit now and if you throw enough money at any car it will be quick. Plus anyone knows that most turbo'd cars are easy to gain power cheaply (look at diesels).

Chances are that even running 200bhp they would get slower lap time than something like a DC2 Integra Type R on a good track. Not to mention fuel economy, getting insurance with the mods, reliability of a car running well over what it left the factory at etc.

Obviously the performance will be good for the money, but to be honest buying an old Evo or Impreza makes just as much sense.

8th Jan 2010, 21:35

I can see what you're saying, but don't agree on the cost levels.

You will be spending a lot less on the running costs of a 1.3 Starlet turbo.

Insurance, running costs, tax (£120 for the year, £400 for a Scoob or Evo) and petrol will be a hell of a lot cheaper to run daily than most of the turbo 2.0 4x4s.

240bhp can be had for under £800? Donor car GT £800??

Dc2 Integra 3k plus at time of writing for a dog.

Try and tell me you can get a decent reliable Evo for that cash.

9th Jan 2010, 16:17

If you want ultimate power for £££, buy a motorbike. It's all about priorities, and what you value in a vehicle. To be honest, I've always found insurance to be much cheaper on standard powerful cars than tuned cars.

There are lots of cars that are cheap to buy, and quick, old BMW M3's or even the old MR2 turbo are both a lot of power for the money, and are proven reliable at big power.

3rd May 2010, 03:35

I'm thinking of buying one of these as a weekend car. The Glanza V model tuned to around 200bhp. Also being stripped out, it will be pretty much untouchable on the roads; around 280 per tonne, nice.

25th Nov 2010, 18:28

Hi to all Starlet owners, I'm from New Zealand, and Japanese imports are really really cheap. I'm thinking about buying a GT Turbo Starlet, but the one I'll buy will be an automatic for a few months. I'd like to know if there is anything about performance issues between the manual and auto versions that I should know about? And is it worth modifying an auto...?

Eventually I'll have a manual conversion done.