Hot hatch £5000

[jordmcd151]

Only managed to see 2 cars this weekend.. Clio 200 and a CTR FN2.
Mini and EP3 were sold

My quick opinions on each....

Clio 200 - Test drive in the dry
Pros
Plenty of front end grip even with some ditch finder tyres
Felt compliant on the test drive when compared to the civic
High revving engine was fun to work
Cabin was better than expected
Exhaust volume was good.
Strong brakes.

Cons
Seats in this example had 'bent' bolsters (I know this doesn't apply to all clios)
Cabin still felt cheap when compared to my polo 2010 moda.
Didn't feel as quick as what I expected.
4th gear was crunching on a 67k 2010 car.


CTR - Test drive was in the rain
Pros
Vtec sounds is good and feels like you go faster than you actually are
Feels more grown up compared to the clio
A surprising amount of room in the boot with the seats flat. This really did shock me.
Grip felt good couldn't compare to clio due to the weather and ditch finder tyres
Seats felt supportive
Futuristic rpm gauge

Cons
Very firm ride even on a fairly smooth road

[TameRacingDriver]

Definitely try an R53 Mini Cooper S.

Had mine a couple of months. A few stick on bits and it goes very well, feels pretty damn quick and sticks to the road like glue.

Does seem as though it might be a bit fragile though and I don't feel like I could treat it as rough as my old FN2 Type-R. Luckily I only really drive on the road, on a weekend, and am not one for kicking a cars head in every time I get in it.

I dare say a Honda would do you well as a track toy as it just felt unbreakable, and the engines power delivery is perfectly suited to track use. I also had a Hondata box on mine and it made a big difference to the drivability, felt a fair bit quicker, and you can get your money back when you sell it.

[Jonny_gti]

If you want something that will be good on track aswell then you want really get better than a Megane R26 for that sort of money.

[jordmcd151]

I test drove an R56 Cooper S and R53 Cooper S tonight.

I bought the R53 Cooper S

The car was in superb condition and the previous owners (4) had taken really good care of it.

In the last 4 years (20k miles)
Timing chain done 20k ago in 2016 (off the top of my head)
New exhaust
2 new wheel bearings for the front
New brakes front and rear
New driveshafts
Interior was immaculate
Xenon lights

Happy with what I paid for it.
Collecting it tomorrow

Thanks to everyone for their input.

[Rustybits]

jordmcd151 said:

I test drove an R56 Cooper S and R53 Cooper S tonight.

I bought the R53 Cooper S

The car was in superb condition and the previous owners (4) had taken really good care of it.

In the last 4 years (20k miles)
Timing chain done 20k ago in 2016 (off the top of my head)
New exhaust
2 new wheel bearings for the front
New brakes front and rear
New driveshafts
Interior was immaculate
Xenon lights

Happy with what I paid for it.
Collecting it tomorrow

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Good work, now reward us with pics!

[anonymous-user]

The Megane R26 and Focus ST are easily the most fun out of the cars mentioned. ST has the engine, R26 had the handling and feel.

[ZX10R NIN]

Glad you got sorted OP.

[egor110]

TameRacingDriver said:

Definitely try an R53 Mini Cooper S.

Had mine a couple of months. A few stick on bits and it goes very well, feels pretty damn quick and sticks to the road like glue.

Does seem as though it might be a bit fragile though and I don't feel like I could treat it as rough as my old FN2 Type-R. Luckily I only really drive on the road, on a weekend, and am not one for kicking a cars head in every time I get in it.

I dare say a Honda would do you well as a track toy as it just felt unbreakable, and the engines power delivery is perfectly suited to track use. I also had a Hondata box on mine and it made a big difference to the drivability, felt a fair bit quicker, and you can get your money back when you sell it.

Do you prefer your mini over your old clio ?

I live at the bottom of exmoor so really good b roads and i just can't get to grips with my mrs mini cooper compared to my clios or ford puma .

With them the steering feels precise , you add a bit of lock and the car turns a bit tighter yet the mini steering doesn't give any of that it's more like a audi tt where it gives little feel but it's very stable and flat thru the corners.

[jordmcd151]

Rustybits said:

Good work, now reward us with pics!

[Rustybits]

Very nice, enjoy

[TameRacingDriver]

Nice one OP, looks mint!

egor110 said:

Do you prefer your mini over your old clio ?

I live at the bottom of exmoor so really good b roads and i just can't get to grips with my mrs mini cooper compared to my clios or ford puma .

With them the steering feels precise , you add a bit of lock and the car turns a bit tighter yet the mini steering doesn't give any of that it's more like a audi tt where it gives little feel but it's very stable and flat thru the corners.

I do prefer the Mini. The Clios were good handling cars, and quick too. The Mini for me though has something extra, it just looks and feels more premium, the interior is far better, it looks bespoke whereas in the Clio you could easily just be in a 1.2, and I much prefer the engine, I think its the torque, the supercharger whine and the pops and bangs. It just seems to feel more special even when you’re not on it, and mine at least feels a lot quicker due to the meaty midrange thanks to the SC (it probably isn’t really any quicker though). Both handle different, the Clio feels more light on its feet and easier to chuck around, Mini just feels planted like its on rails. Edit: my Mini has LSD which is very nice to have and I find the steering to be very communicative considering its FWD, although it does have H&R Springs and 16” lightweight alloys, ironically, from a Clio 172 Cup

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 8th July 19:30

[egor110]

TameRacingDriver said:

Nice one OP, looks mint!

egor110 said:

Do you prefer your mini over your old clio ?

I live at the bottom of exmoor so really good b roads and i just can't get to grips with my mrs mini cooper compared to my clios or ford puma .

With them the steering feels precise , you add a bit of lock and the car turns a bit tighter yet the mini steering doesn't give any of that it's more like a audi tt where it gives little feel but it's very stable and flat thru the corners.

I do prefer the Mini. The Clios were good handling cars, and quick too. The Mini for me though has something extra, it just looks and feels more premium, the interior is far better, it looks bespoke whereas in the Clio you could easily just be in a 1.2, and I much prefer the engine, I think its the torque, the supercharger whine and the pops and bangs. It just seems to feel more special even when you’re not on it, and mine at least feels a lot quicker due to the meaty midrange thanks to the SC (it probably isn’t really any quicker though). Both handle different, the Clio feels more light on its feet and easier to chuck around, Mini just feels planted like its on rails. Edit: my Mini has LSD which is very nice to have and I find the steering to be very communicative considering its FWD, although it does have H&R Springs and 16” lightweight alloys, ironically, from a Clio 172 Cup

Edited by TameRacingDriver on Wednesday 8th July 19:30

I'll keep taking her car out every now and then and see if i finally get it .

You only have to look at the cliosport forum to see how many of them have moved on to mini's and like them.

[itsnotarace]

Minis err on the understeery side so adding more steering mid-corner is more likely to make the car push wide. Increasing rear anti roll bar thickness or decreasing front and good geometry can help against that

Adding a bit of negative camber also helps with the feedback you're getting from the front tyres, as does fitting uprated front wishbone rear bushes

[egor110]

itsnotarace said:

Minis err on the understeery side so adding more steering mid-corner is more likely to make the car push wide. Increasing rear anti roll bar thickness or decreasing front and good geometry can help against that

Adding a bit of negative camber also helps with the feedback you're getting from the front tyres, as does fitting uprated front wishbone rear bushes

It's not my car so won't be adjusting camber etc.

Whenever i get my hands on a different interesting car i take it up over exmoor on the same route so i'm comparing apples to apples .

2 clio 182's a 172 cup and a ford puma have worked straight out the box although they do sound boring compared to the supercharger whine in the mini .

[TameRacingDriver]

itsnotarace said:

Minis err on the understeery side so adding more steering mid-corner is more likely to make the car push wide. Increasing rear anti roll bar thickness or decreasing front and good geometry can help against that

Adding a bit of negative camber also helps with the feedback you're getting from the front tyres, as does fitting uprated front wishbone rear bushes

Not my experience but I guess mines been messed with.