Which Mini? Cooper S / JCW / Hartge

[Hackney]

Thinking of scratching a mini itch.

Went out in a Birds modified Hartge Mini a few years ago and loved it.

But what's the best option now.

Budget if about £9k

[Chr1sch]

9k would prob get you a 2003 modified mcs with low-ish miles (maybe slightly newer) a leggy 04/54 jcw or a newer facelift Mcs around an 06 plate (175bhp)

[Hartge210]

Being biased I'd say go for a Hartge tuned MINI, but you could pick up a nice standard Cooper S for around £8000, spend around a grand on reduced pulley & larger intercooler & have a very quick little car.

Quite a few for sale these days, tuned & standard, check out some of the MINI forums;).

Found this on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-52-MINI-COOPER-S-HARTGE...

[RKDE]

My advice, get a stock S and spend the money on mods, you can get a lot of mini for 9K and leave the jcw & hartge for dead presuming you spend 7K on the car and 2K on mods

[MattC1]

I personally prefer the JCW cos the detailing like 'JCW' engraved on the exhaust tips and on the calipers if you have the Big Brake upgrade. I'm selling my late '04 JCW with the Big Brake upgrade for £7,999 which as to be a complete bargain. Its immaculate and only done 40,500 miles too!

It's on the Classified's section as a standard advert if you want to check it out.

Edited by MattC1 on Sunday 9th January 22:09

[tweedbean]

As RKDE said, go for a Cooper S and tune it. For the price you can smash the JCW spec with a few choice mods on a S such as a 17% reduced pulley, intercooler, CAI and after market exhaust. The only reason you would buy a JCW is if you like the idea of saying you own a JCW otherwise I would go Cooper S with aftermarket mods.

[ACB82]

But what about the cost of insuring a non factory modified MCS?

[hyperblue]

ACB82 said:

But what about the cost of insuring a non factory modified MCS?

Go to a specialist insurer. When I first got mine, the larger companies were quoting £1000 when it was standard. I ended up paying £700 with a specialist for a modified policy.

Am now 25 and paying £500 on a ~ 265 bhp R53

Unless you really want a JCW badge like the guy above , go for a Cooper S and tune it, or pick up a well modified one.

Edited by hyperblue on Saturday 15th January 11:18