Opinions Please Chaps
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi Guys,

I've recently sold my m4 Astra van as I did not use it for work which was probably the sole reason i bought it.....

however, on the hunt for a new car, i'm pretty stuck for ideas and have so many options in my head currently.

Here's my dilema - There's a mini turbo on ebay which is close to Swindon (bonus). Now having the project mini too, I really don't want to fall into the trap of buying a mini, then decide I want to rebuild it / needs alot of work etc etc.

Link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Item No. 300350627642

I was just after a few opinions really. I have around 2 - 2.5k spare to spend. Does anyone think that this car is worth what its avertised for?

I've contacted the buyer and quite keen to view but the only thing holding me back is whether or not another mini for a daily driver, while im still building up the project one is the greatest of ideas.

I appologise for the randomness of the post

Cheers for any input,

Ollie

i would buy a solid reliable tow car that you dont have to work on cheap to insure/run, spend you time and money sorting the gt

imo a daily should be standard and reliable, a turbomini is neither

Edited by wolfie on 14th Oct, 2009.

lol

very true, also somthing estatey it good for picking shit up in too.

Yeah, keep it simple and buy a reliable tank. 2K should get you a minter

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

diesel estate car with towbar. job done. boring as fook, but that's life

An old A4 tdi 130 would tow your house round for you

As everyone above has said is good advice but you've just effectively sold an astra estate with no rear windows so I guess you are not too bothered about another the same.
Why not consider something like a 10 year old warm hot hatch. Something like a Mk4 Golf GTI or 206 GTI etc. At a guess you'll pick up a nice car in your budget, and apart from servicing and cambelts etc fingers crossed it will be reliable and entertaining enough to razz about in whilst leaving the Mini stuff to your project.
Although that one in your ebay link looks nice, it is a Mini, and will need monthly work to keep it up together.
Diesel estate cars are a good option, I have one, but I also have a hot hatch to scream about in as I'm sure if my Audi was my only car I'd soon get really really bored of it, OK it may do 40mpg and doesn't take much upkeep, but even at 150bhp you wouldn't call it fast, and guessing you are a young lad there is plenty of time for diesel estate cars, for now get yourself something enjoyable until your Mini is done, then you can decide if you need a tow bus or not.

I realy liked my Mk4 golf when i had it - you should be able to pick up a good 1.8T for that money now;

tom, how the hell are you managing to get 40mpg out the audi??

Rob, I got 46mpg the other day, (my best ever) following my mate who was towing a trailer down to Silverstone at a steady 70mph.
Don't worry, round town I only manage 29.

Edited by apbellamy on 14th Oct, 2009.

thanks very much for all the input guys, it's very helpful having an opinion of people who are outside of the equasion.

Leading from the estate / towbar option, am I correct in thinking that I can tow a bare shell without a proper licence - and that a full built up car is over the weight limit?

You guys have just backed up and hit home that the idea of a daily driver being a mini turbo quite a poor idea...however tempting it may be.

I hear what neil is saying, and really would like to pile some money into the gt so that it's at the point of spraying. Hopefully with a bit of saving here and there it shouldn't be far off.

I quite like the idea of a golf now that's been thrown in, I really have kept an open mind scanning eBay and pistonheads etc but nothing has taken my eye.

I'll have a look for a few different cars now I've got extra ideas. I thought my 2k was a lowish budget which would only leave me a fairly below average ca rbut by the sounds of it Im incorrect.

you can only tow upto 750 kg unless you have the cat B+E entitlement on your licence pre 1997(iirc) it was automatically awarded post 97 an extra test was needed, if you have cat C+E (hgv) then you have it aworded too

i think you would need to be about 30yo and passed at 17 to have been old enough

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

No, thats not right.

You can drive with up to a maximum of 3500kg GTW (Gross Train Weight) on the post-97 license, providing the towing car gross weight is GREATER than the gross weight of what you are towing, and that the tow car has a MAM (Max authorised mass) that is large enough to accomodate what you are towing.

So for example, 1.5T of Audi estate, can tow 850kg of Mini and 400kg of trailer for example.
Or in my case, 1.5T of Audi estate tows a car and trailer combination of less than 750kg so it doesn't matter.

The above is fact. I passed my test in November 1997 so missed the earlier license. A couple of years ago I looked seriously into getting the +E bit for towing, to the point of booking and paying for a 2 hour assessment/introduction type thing with a driving instruction place that did the +E training. Before we did anything I outlined what I did, e.g. towing a 900kg car on a 500kg trailer behind my Audi estate. He said that my interpretation was correct and I was legal. However if I was to tow anything much bigger then I would probably pass over and be illegal due to the weight involved.
I then did my 2 hours driving about, his comments basically were that I'd obviously towed trailers plenty as it was clear I knew what I was doing, could reverse it, wasn't clouting kerbs etc, but I would most likely fail the test simply because having driven for 10 years my general road driving was not to test standard, crossing hands on wheel, not enough mirror-signal-manoeuver, coming up to junctions too quickly (not exceeding speed limit, but they will have you slowing to a crawl about 1/8 of a mile beforehand) etc etc etc, the stuff we probably all do since passing our test and forgetting half the stuff you were taught in order to pass the test. So I left it at that, at some point in the future I may well go and get it done, but TBH if I was going to fork out for any training/tests I'd probably get a license to drive a 7.5T first.

so would i be good to tow a mini on my new type license then?

my van weighs 1565kg with a MAM of 2645kg..

It's all as clear as mud to me.

personally mate i would get somthing you enjoy which is cheep, get an estate or another van you will get bored and sell it again putting you in this situation. i regret getting my 106 really its pritty reliable and economic but each time i drive it i just want to crash it into something and claim on the insurance and get a new car, i just dont have the money for it :(

if you want to get that mini do it, if you get it setup and check it over, regular services ect and keeping the boost down it can be very reliable take wil h for example and his 998 t. drive it hard 24/7 it will start to go wrong.

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

I have a renault 5 turbo as my daily but it does take time away from the Mini on the odd occasion but its great fun to drive everyday. With your sort of budget there is plenty of sporty reliable cars which will still give you change to put towards the Mini!

thats what i've got - overall avarage is down at 33mpg although I can push it up to around 36 on a journey;

did get it re-mapped to 210 though!

Re: Audi, I'm in two minds, considering changing it for something newer at the moment. I've never had it chipped/remapped etc as its not had a clutch in 167k miles as far as I can tell. It holds fine, but if you try to launch it really aggressively it will slip. Seeing as it looks an engine out job to change it, I drive it sympathetically and don't really want to push it over the edge with more power. I've always said that if I do have to change it then I'll get the re map done, although I'm not sure what can be done on mine as it still has a good old inj pump.

My clutch is like that, bites really close to the top of the pedal travel. slips if you really push it. Has been like it for 60k miles with no change. My old 1.8 petrol was the same. Maybe it's just an audi thing...

Ollie you need to decide what sort of car you want Hatch/estate/4x4 etc etc

what do you mainly use the car for? if its around town driving have you considered a 106 rallye/gti?

my flywheel (duel mass) chucked it just before Avon last year; its a box out job to change and the quattro makes it 5hrs in the book

mileage was about 100k and in fairness the actual clutch could have been re-used as it was fine - just a hell of a vibration

Tom, I think the engine in mine is the same old lump

Oli, sorry we seem to be hijacking the thread buddy; i'd happily recommend any of the VAG group with the exception of the TT which has cost me more in 18months than I care to mention! As I said previously, I had a 99 Mk4 golf 1.8t which I sold on over 3 years ago for £3k so you must be able to get one for your sort of price bracket; the 130 TDI probably has similar performance with far better mpg

Mine does 50mpg on a run

I must say I really like the Honda CRX I've got, It goes bloody well when you hit the vtec, and calms down when you want to drive normally.

I picked mine up for 1600 quid, spent £280 on brakes tyres and an MOT so all in for under 2 grand for one of these cars is pretty good. Insurance is suprisingly good to considering I'm 21

My critera for getting it was - Fast, realiable, unusual which not many cars offer. Though If you want to chuck loads of stuff in the boot its not that practical, but never mind.

P.s And I'm not bothered if It gets written off, because then I can vtec a clubby estate.

Edited by minimole23 on 15th Oct, 2009.