you have arrived at the foregone conclusion

welcome, shame you just missed a Notts get together  

Have you got your heart set on a 500?

Have you thought about a Punto (be it Grande or Evo)?

Welcome btw

not necessarily on your doorstep but they're worth travelling for:thumb:

Quote from: 123lhumphrey on January 23, 2012, 07:37:33 pm

I am quite picky if I'm honest. And the one of the main things I'm looking for in a new car is decent power (mainly torque so it has a nice pull)
If I did get a standard A500 I'm sure after abit I'd like more from it but modifying it will bump my insurance up quite a fair bit more than having an ss in the first place.

The normal A500 will have a good oomph compared to your Corsa.
In all fairness, I'd say that the A500 is better than most cars of that category.
It's biggest standard rival is the SS (including Koni) in that sense, just because it again improves the ride, the brakes and has a little more power in higher revs. Under normal driving conditions the difference is not too big though.

Some others, including myself, ended up buying a normal A500 and changing it after the own taste (powerwise, brakes, suspension).

If I were your age, and insurance would be such an issue, I would considering to buy a normal A500, start to enjoy it (which you surely will!) and then getting the SS kit after a year (which you can within the first year).

Quote from: 123lhumphrey on January 23, 2012, 07:37:33 pm

I am quite picky if I'm honest. And the one of the main things I'm looking for in a new car is decent power (mainly torque so it has a nice pull)
If I did get a standard A500 I'm sure after abit I'd like more from it but modifying it will bump my insurance up quite a fair bit more than having an ss in the first place.

The normal A500 will have a good oomph compared to your Corsa.
In all fairness, I'd say that the A500 is better than most cars of that category.
It's biggest standard rival is the SS (including Koni) in that sense, just because it again improves the ride, the brakes and has a little more power in higher revs. Under normal driving conditions the difference is not too big though.

Some others, including myself, ended up buying a normal A500 and changing it after the own taste (powerwise, brakes, suspension).

If I were your age, and insurance would be such an issue, I would considering to buy a normal A500, start to enjoy it (which you surely will!) and then getting the SS kit after a year (which you can within the first year).

Well the quotes I got on compare the market were

A500 - £1400
A500ss - £1700

Which to a lot of you more... experienced...members of the forum will think is ridiculous but considering my corsa is £1000 I think it's okay.
Only thing is with a budget of £12k and it having to be from a dealer so I can get it on finance, I don't think I will get the choice to add the ss kit on later as the car for that money will no doubt be older than 12 months. So I either bite the bullet and get an ss and be skint or get a standard and wait a couple of years before I mod it.

Welcome  

As someone firmly in the ss camp all I'll say is nip down to your local dealer, test drive both on various roads and drive them how you will drive normally. The standard car is great value but if it's performance you're after once you go ss you won't want to go back.