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Thinking of trading in our year old bini for something with a bit more poke

Thinking along the lines of Civic type R, Impreza turbo (old shape), Subaru Legacy, Octavia RS or maybe an Evo 6

Any other suggestions ?

Cheers

Neil

PS Despite me being the man of the house, the missus has laid down some rules - no sports cars, must be hatchback, saloon or estate - oh and no BMWs or Merc's (I guess I only pretend I'm charge at home....) :)

My opinions.....

Civic Type R - lovely car to have but I reckon you would soon get sick of sitting at 6500rpm when you were waiting to overtake
Impreza Turbo - Unfortunately these have got a bit of an image problem as they are now cheap enough to have got into the wrong hands if you know what I mean, so most are covered in ridiculous spoilers, neons, and chrome wheels.....
Legacy Turbo- I used to have one - it was great fun - if you drive it anything like I did you will soon get bored of putting tyres and fuel in/on it. Also getting a bit old now
Octivia vRS - I really quite fancy one of these, as std not sparkling as heavyish but easily chipped to 225bhp+ and good value for money
Evo 6 - Not just a car, a way of life - friend had one and the running costs were supercar-spec horrendous.

There is my moneys worth......strictly my opinions feel free to disagree!

What about Seat Leon Cupra? Quite smart cars? Or Golf V6 4-motion? Quick but understated?
Of course I have got to suggest a Xsara VTS as I have one and have already converted someone on this forum to buying a Xsara!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leon cupra R without a doubt. great value for money with all the toys. Not keen on the bog std cupra version and it looks like all the other models but the "R" certainly does stand out.

agree with iain totally, they are a real nice car. Dont know what they go like as i havent yet been in one but can imagine its pretty fast.

Cheers, Stevo

Awsome brakes on the cupra R.

Driven a Vr6..let down!!..toys cost lots more.

Love the type R but looks a bit "slabby" from the side IMO.

Honda do very reliable cars.

Focus?

as in focus rs? driven one myself and is very good, handles like a dream and again good brakes. But £30 trade price for an indicator bulb!!!! whats all tha about?

Cheers, Stevo

or buy a nice bog standard car and spend the 10ish grand(or whatever) you save on minis, thats what id do anyway

no longer a series, but still 1.3 turbo.

get a type r, then get a vtec controller, then you wont have to sit at 6500 to over take, you can drop that magical point to 4000, or whereever you want

Thanks for the comments and views. Interesting stuff :)

Not found anything that has really jumped out at us, but we do have an idea of what to price the Bini at if we sell it. We'll then stash the cash, add to it and then look for an Evo.

I'm sure the running costs will be a nightmare, but owning an Evo is one of those things we've just got to do

Once the bini has gone my missus will use her using her classic Mini for a bit. Don't want to use her mini through the winter, but we need to sell the Bini before the prices drop, and cheap, solid runaround mini's don't seem to exist any more.

One of those annoying itches that needs scratching.......

As I said before just look into running cost a bit before you buy one, mate of mine had an evo 6 (had being the past tense...he got banned in it as well).

Day to day the best he ever managed was 19mpg. That was driving it gently. Also add in tyres and brakes every 7k miles or so he reckoned. Also I remember him saying a service nearly bankrupted him, apparently the active yaw stuff needs servicing and replacement oil or something and costs a small fortune to get done....and if you don't get it done it stops working......

My missus travels from Doncaster to Rotherham every day so we're not getting one while she's doing that.

She's not keen to work in Doncaster as she enjoys the travelling so the other option is to pack in work. Daft thing is, we'd be alot better off and could afford a 6 if she did that!

Yeah?! Where in Rotherham does she work? I work at Corus Engineering Steels on Aldwarke Lane if that means anything to you?

Clifton Lane Surgery, on err CLifton Lane :)

I don't know Rotherham that well, but we might know someone that works there. I'll check with the missus.

I have an EVO 4
and I can recommend it all day long .. its a beast

Oil and filter every 3000 - Easy job

brakes very prone to warping , done mine in about 1000 miles !
but this is a problem that comes with opwning a car like this . its so fast and so effortless to make speed you will find that most of the time you are on the brakes ... if you see what I mean

Clutch ... just burnt mine out !! the standard clutch CANNOT launch the car , rolling starts a must ! seriously it cannoy cope with the 280 bhp :)

they handling is exeptionaly good .... my old bmw would have been off the road at half the speed I can take corners in in my EVO ... itsd all down to the AYC

AYC ... active Yaw Control ..... Mitsubishui will flush refill and bleed the AYC for £35 thats 1/2 hour labour !!

the 4 is far less tune-able than a 5 or 6 as it has a different engine .... cannot run as much boost and the pistins are much weaker !

BUT the 4 is bar far and away the best looking of the bunch look at the spoiler on a 5 or 6 looks just like a subaru ... wheras on the 4 it has a centre brace ( vertical )
Also the vents on the bonnet are different as well as number plate location

mine is lowered on 17's with a big fat exhaust and Apexi air filter and good old baily twin piston DV

nice




I would say more but am at work !!


Steve

PS have driven a four motion vr6 , it was quite nippy but very dull !! I would have one though :)

Edited by b12 on 12th Oct, 2004.

TurboLessTosser