New lease car ordered.....

[scotth_uk]

Well the time came to select a new car to replace the Crossfire which is departing in July.

Serious time was put into the decision:

BMW Z4 2.2SE
Mini Cooper Convertible
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR FQ260
Renault Megane Convertible

I finally decided on the Mini. Red convertible coming last week of July/first week of October. Cheap to insure and run, cheap tyres, free servicing, cool roof and my wife might actually drive it!

Still looking at Neil's 2.5-16 tomorrow though. Just can't cut my ties to MB!

 

[WLeg]

cooper or Cooper S ? (and get it superchipped)......

 

[sym]

BMW 0.5 Series .... good choice

Bit of a change from the X-fire though !!

 

[fuzzer]

I finally decided on the Mini. Red convertible coming last week of July/first week of October. Cheap to insure and run, cheap tyres, free servicing, cool roof and my wife might actually drive it!

Still looking at Neil's 2.5-16 tomorrow though. Just can't cut my ties to MB!

you sure they arent run flats ?

 

[scotth_uk]

It's only going to be a Cooper. Unfortunately I have a budget to stick to, and the Cooper S convertible is just too much for me. Will certainly be a change from the torquey Xfire, but the lease company will not let me extend under any circumstances.

Have found out that you can get an extra 10hp for £350, but doesn't seem worth it without forced induction.


Sym - Ben is getting the same car in Black, primarily for Nurburgring racing. We're planning on going a lot more frequently this/next year.

 

[Mambo]

It's only going to be a Cooper. Unfortunately I have a budget to stick to, and the Cooper S convertible is just too much for me. Will certainly be a change from the torquey Xfire, but the lease company will not let me extend under any circumstances.

Have found out that you can get an extra 10hp for £350, but doesn't seem worth it without forced induction.


Sym - Ben is getting the same car in Black, primarily for Nurburgring racing. We're planning on going a lot more frequently this/next year.

My missus has a black convertible cooper, cracking little car!

 

[glojo]

I finally decided on the Mini. Red convertible coming last week of July/first week of October. Cheap to insure and run, cheap tyres, free servicing, cool roof and my wife might actually drive it!

Still looking at Neil's 2.5-16 tomorrow though. Just can't cut my ties to MB!

Good decision.
Around here it is an extremely popular car. In our Avenue and the adjoining other half there are five convertibles, all second cars owned by the lady of the house. One black with black roof, two red, and two blue coloured. I think that a proportion are indeed the 'S'.

Just checked with RAC and they show the vehicle to be a Mini Cooper S but not the convertible that it is SU ** SEE.

Good luck with the new car,
John

Edit out number

 

[Howard]

Scott, why not the Evo 8 ?

Ok its not the 'boss' one, but you could chip it up

Great fun to drive.......

Is the mini not a bit of a 'hairdressers' car ?......... sorry .....

Having met you i just don't think you are a 'mini' type of guy ...... !

H

 

[scotth_uk]

Howard,

I spoke to some Evo 8 owners - they've all had their cars stolen MULTIPLE times! Sounds like too much of a headache to me. As for the car, it would have been the ideal choice.

You are right about me not being a "mini" kind of guy, hence my inspection of another car tomorrow. ;-)

 

[Howard]

Howard,

I spoke to some Evo 8 owners - they've all had their cars stolen MULTIPLE times! Sounds like too much of a headache to me. As for the car, it would have been the ideal choice.

You are right about me not being a "mini" kind of guy, hence my inspection of another car tomorrow. ;-)

Mate, i'm glad you've taken my comment so well.....

All afternoon i've been thinking 'Scotts gonna come home and curse me ...' and worrying !!

Hope you find the ideal car tomorrow .......

 

[PJH]

I finally decided on the Mini. Red convertible coming last week of July/first week of October.....

July/October ? Damn ozzie calendars.

Enjoy it, whenever it arrives...

 

[peterchurch]

It's only going to be a Cooper. Unfortunately I have a budget to stick to, and the Cooper S convertible is just too much for me. Will certainly be a change from the torquey Xfire, but the lease company will not let me extend under any circumstances.

Have found out that you can get an extra 10hp for £350, but doesn't seem worth it without forced induction.


Sym - Ben is getting the same car in Black, primarily for Nurburgring racing. We're planning on going a lot more frequently this/next year.

One of my dads mates has had the new minis from the day they were released. Other than the trimmings the only major difference between the mini one and the cooper S is an engine chip that can be bought for about £300 sad thing is, he only found out after he bought an S talk about gutted

 

[scotth_uk]

Peter,

The Mini One and the Mini Cooper have the same engine, with a different ECU map. The Cooper S has a supercharger on the engine, which contributes to the bcost difference.

PJH,

DOH! Well spotted. I mean Octember. ;-)

 

[Benzowner]

Still can't understand why not the Evo 8, look nice in white with a blue light on top, won't get knicked then or then again maybe it will good choice I think

 

[peterchurch]

Peter,

The Mini One and the Mini Cooper have the same engine, with a different ECU map. The Cooper S has a supercharger on the engine, which contributes to the bcost difference.

PJH,

DOH! Well spotted. I mean Octember. ;-)

I know the S has the supercharger

Cooper = 115 bhp
Cooper S = 160 bhp

That said it is not beyond the bounds of tuning to put the cooper to within the reach of the S without the supercharger (I also concede that it might not last very long going the chip route)...

My 1997 megan 2.0 cabrio sported the same engine as the clio williams...
However they re tuned it to 157 bhp from 129bhp (It went like a bat out of hell) However that engine has now been reintroduced to the clio sports (I think that it now weighs in at 180 bhp !) so 129 - 180 all on the basis of ECU remaping, no head or cam changes involved!

Saab pulled the same trick with the old 93 there was three base engines with 157, 180, 190 bhp £5K difference top to bottom (and 5 minutes difference with the diag tool plugged in to get the 192 bhp version )

Either way the mini looks like a good grin have you driven one with the roof down at any speed? if so whats the cabin turbulance like?

 

[scotth_uk]

Haven't driven a convertible at all actually. Fingers crossed it's ok. Most reviews globally seem to view it favourably.

Re: tuning - all of the advice we've been able to muster from a couple of mini tuning houses indicate that there is 11 hp available only on top of Cooper trim. Nowhere near S territory unless you start disassembling things properly.

 

[peterchurch]

Haven't driven a convertible at all actually. Fingers crossed it's ok. Most reviews globally seem to view it favourably.

Re: tuning - all of the advice we've been able to muster from a couple of mini tuning houses indicate that there is 11 hp available only on top of Cooper trim. Nowhere near S territory unless you start disassembling things properly.

Thats quite a suprise Shame as its not really a good idea to go fiddling with cars that are on a lease

 

[nickg]

Why was a megane even on your list?????????????

 

[peterchurch]

They are not as fast as they used to be (no where near it, in fact )
but they are still a nice car and getting a glass roof as standard is a very cool bonus. Especialy if you take into concideration that you still have to pay for it as a cost option on the _only_ other car that has one

http://www.renault.com/gb/produits/coupecab2.htm

 

[nickg]

horrible horrible horrible car.