Clio RS 200 Cup vs Mini Cooper S

[tomvcarter]

I'm looking to downsize to something more suitable for the city but still a drivers car; and am being tempted by the New Clio RS 200 Cup.
It has had great reviews on Autocar, but was wondring how it compares to the Cooper S as I have some experience drivng one.
Otherwise the more expensive Scirocco is tempting, but maybe not as fun...
Any views would be very welcome!

[megamaniac]

Don't know anything about the clio but, a friend has a mini and it's the worst car he's had, forever off the road with all manner of problems.So far it's had five rear wheel bearings.He says he prefers his wifes streetka which astonished me.

[dannytherev]

Driven the Clio 197 and the cooper s no contest the Clio for me ,note the clio 200cup is supposed to be even better again than the 197, the mini does suffer with a lot of little niggly problems generally haven't heard of any probs with the Clio as yet other than sticking staters hth

[Robert060379]

Hot Clio's have always been drivers cars. BMW Minis have always been overhyped, overpriced, tarts handbags on wheels. End of.

[mike5619]

i have a 197 and its nothing but fun

[EVLXGE]

I have an R26.R and Exige S.

I borrowed a Cup 200 for a day at it was a hoot! Obviously the Clio was a fair bit down on pace compared the the Exige and R26.R (Meg is mapped to 280 brake) but it didnt seem to matter.

I reckon bang for buck its one of the best value fun cars available. Would love to get one on a set of R888's.

Edited by EVLXGE on Sunday 25th October 18:19

[porka944s]

i test drove a r200 with cup suspension, it was effortlesly rapid, very taught, which on country lanes made it seem skittish to the point i thought if i lost concentration for a second id be in a ditch. I thought the steering felt a bit detatched. But i reckon if you got in it and thought i wanna get from a to b fast it would be immense. Plus you can really beat dealers up on the price! sorry i dont have an opinion on the mini tho.

[EVLXGE]

porka944s said:

very taught, which on country lanes made it seem skittish to the point i thought if i lost concentration for a second id be in a ditch.

Odd you say that. I thought the complete opposite.

[bananapieface]

I have a Mk1 Cooper S and I love it, I chose it over the new Clio for a couple of things, its easy to tune - 220/240bhp is easily done and with the s/c torque you dont have to kill it everywhere to get a move on.

Build quality is very good (mine is face lift so does not have a crap gearbox and all that) and it still looks great at 5yrs old, it is very solid and I shouldn't lose much come sale time, in 33k miles I've had 1 front wheel bearing, an expansion tank cap and a weather strip on the drivers door.

If i was a balls out kinda driver with a penchant for track time I think I'd chose the Clio RS then.

Oh, I've not managed to find a handbag that matches the pure silver paint yet.

Edited by bananapieface on Sunday 25th October 18:28

[porka944s]

EVLXGE said:

porka944s said:

very taught, which on country lanes made it seem skittish to the point i thought if i lost concentration for a second id be in a ditch.

Odd you say that. I thought the complete opposite.

Looking at your cars i can see why you'd say that, look at mine, anything is taught compared to a sloppy 23yr old porsche. ha ha

[okgo]

They tested a cooper-s against a clio, and the cooper-s came out on top didn't it?

[EVLXGE]

okgo said:

They tested a cooper-s against a clio, and the cooper-s came out on top didn't it?

Depends who you mean by 'they'

[EVLXGE]

porka944s said:

EVLXGE said:

porka944s said:

very taught, which on country lanes made it seem skittish to the point i thought if i lost concentration for a second id be in a ditch.

Odd you say that. I thought the complete opposite.

Looking at your cars i can see why you'd say that, look at mine, anything is taught compared to a sloppy 23yr old porsche. ha ha

Fair point lol

[GingerRob]

I have a 200 with cup pack aswell as sat nav, bluetooth, rear tints, white id paint, elec foling mirrors, double optic headlights, recaros, black speed lines and cup spolier, the car list should be over 20k, i got the care for under 17k. bang for buck there brill, i had the r27 before this and there solid, well built and can handle a good thrashing, the chassis is amazing, i would really recomend the 200 or a used r27

rob