5 replies to this topic

[henuz96]

Hiya

Im a 18 year old with a 998 mini 1988 and I am thinking about fitting a stage 3 tuning kit. I was wondering if anyone has done this before at my age or around my age and found that you had problems with your insurance going up or that you had to fit new sports breaks to compensate with the power increase. Cheers

[HarrysMini]

'A Stage 3 tuning kit' is a bit vague. Your insurer will need to know the exact power increases and it is likely that as an 18 year old you may not even get insurance if you've added too much power. The brakes shouldn't increase your premium at all, in fact, if anything, they should decrease it!

 

Don't even think about going with 'mainstream' insurers from the likes of comparethemarket etc. as they will laugh in your face as they quote you £4000+

Look at 'specialist' insurers (either ones that specialise in classic or modified cars).

 

For me, Adrian Flux are the cheapest, although they are rubbish insurers, just look at some of the posts on here. But I don't have a choice, I'm not paying thousands of pounds just because they might be a little easier to deal with. AF also say that they specialise in insuring young drivers with modified cars.

[henuz96]

'A Stage 3 tuning kit' is a bit vague. Your insurer will need to know the exact power increases and it is likely that as an 18 year old you may not even get insurance if you've added too much power. The brakes shouldn't increase your premium at all, in fact, if anything, they should decrease it!

 

Don't even think about going with 'mainstream' insurers from the likes of comparethemarket etc. as they will laugh in your face as they quote you £4000+

Look at 'specialist' insurers (either ones that specialise in classic or modified cars).

 

For me, Adrian Flux are the cheapest, although they are rubbish insurers, just look at some of the posts on here. But I don't have a choice, I'm not paying thousands of pounds just because they might be a little easier to deal with. AF also say that they specialise in insuring young drivers with modified cars.

cheers thanks a lot for your advice. i will give Adrial Flux a call and get a quote from them. thanks again

[Tamworthbay]

An 88 would have discs have standard wouldn't it? They would be fine on with a bit of extra power as long as they are in good condition. The four pot conversions costs a fortune for very little benefit. The 1275s were fitted with the same discs and had more power than you are likely to get to.

The issue you are likely to have with the insurers is getting an idea of power increase. Until it's fitted how do you know? The suppliers tend to suggest big gains that are unlikely in the real world, but this is more likely to bump up the premium more than you need it to. My insurance accepted data I provided from Vizards book so that's worth a try.

[Tomm]

At this point you will be better off going with the likes of Adrian Flux or Graham Sykes on a specialist policy.

 

I insured my extensively modified 16v MKII cooper through Adrian Flux and it was very easy.

 

I got a online quote, called them up and they sent me out a load of paper work to complete and return. In your case you will have to break down a "Stage 3 998" because as to them that will mean nothing. Break it down into Cylinder head, Exhaust Manifold, Inlet Manifold, Exhaust system, Uprated Carb and so on until you have covered the lot. I had to attatch extra sheets to my quote form but they were fine with all of it. You will then have a "Standard" and "Current" BHP section.

 

Sometimes it is best to get an online quote and then phone them up with a policy number as I have found some people to be a little funny when asking over the phone. I recently tried to insure an Impreza with then and they said due to my age and the insurance group of the car they would not give me a quote. I ran a quote with them online, got given a policy number and then just phoned up to settle the final details of the policy.

 

I have since added some modifications to my car, They just send me out another form that I complete and return and as of yet I have had no increase in my premium.

 

Graham Sykes have also appeared to be quite reasonable when it comes to insuring things that are a little different. They insured me earlier in the year on a Trans Am for an extremely reasonable price when no where else would touch me. They do online quotations which are extremely effective with a pretty prompt response. So it may be worth filling one of them out, only takes a few minutes.

[henuz96]

At this point you will be better off going with the likes of Adrian Flux or Graham Sykes on a specialist policy.

 

I insured my extensively modified 16v MKII cooper through Adrian Flux and it was very easy.

 

I got a online quote, called them up and they sent me out a load of paper work to complete and return. In your case you will have to break down a "Stage 3 998" because as to them that will mean nothing. Break it down into Cylinder head, Exhaust Manifold, Inlet Manifold, Exhaust system, Uprated Carb and so on until you have covered the lot. I had to attatch extra sheets to my quote form but they were fine with all of it. You will then have a "Standard" and "Current" BHP section.

 

Sometimes it is best to get an online quote and then phone them up with a policy number as I have found some people to be a little funny when asking over the phone. I recently tried to insure an Impreza with then and they said due to my age and the insurance group of the car they would not give me a quote. I ran a quote with them online, got given a policy number and then just phoned up to settle the final details of the policy.

 

I have since added some modifications to my car, They just send me out another form that I complete and return and as of yet I have had no increase in my premium.

 

Graham Sykes have also appeared to be quite reasonable when it comes to insuring things that are a little different. They insured me earlier in the year on a Trans Am for an extremely reasonable price when no where else would touch me. They do online quotations which are extremely effective with a pretty prompt response. So it may be worth filling one of them out, only takes a few minutes.

cheers thanks a lot for that nformation. i will try them both and see which is best for me.

 

cheers again tomm