Mini Challenge 210
Discussion
Looking at one of these as my next purchase.
They seem to have a great spec and enough performance and priced at under £20K.
Have driven a F56 Cooper S,which was ok, but lacked a bit of the 'grin' factor. The brakes felt a bit 'soft' as well.
Appreciate the brake are same on the 210 Challenge, but assume could upgrade.
Anyone had experience with these as a day to day car, performance, relative comfort on our awful roads, reliability and motorway comfort?
Looking at these, as well as a Cooper S, Peugeot 208 GTI sport or any other ideas! (I have had a Fiesta ST and would like a change with a slightly less jittery ride).
Thanks for any thoughts.
They seem to have a great spec and enough performance and priced at under £20K.
Have driven a F56 Cooper S,which was ok, but lacked a bit of the 'grin' factor. The brakes felt a bit 'soft' as well.
Appreciate the brake are same on the 210 Challenge, but assume could upgrade.
Anyone had experience with these as a day to day car, performance, relative comfort on our awful roads, reliability and motorway comfort?
Looking at these, as well as a Cooper S, Peugeot 208 GTI sport or any other ideas! (I have had a Fiesta ST and would like a change with a slightly less jittery ride).
Thanks for any thoughts.
Edited by toffee on Sunday 13th May 21:35
My wife has a 2015 JCW which is basically the same car as the 210 (but with a little more power)
I absolutely love it - its great fun - with more than enough performance, I have a 600+ BHP supercar, yet across country roads, I would say the mini would not be far behind.
Ive done a few 400+ round trips in it and its good on the motorway /long journeys (not excutive car or even Golf GTI good but still good enough to not be tiring). Ours is fully loaded which helps on long journeys.
Big downside is the Dunlop run flats.
They are far too hard (run 40 PSI), added to the already stiff suspension and the 18 inch alloys ours has, can make the ride very hard on rough roads.
We are in two minds to keep in it (wife wants a classic to go with her 5 series tourer) if we keep it it will be going on 215/40/18 Michelin Pilot sports - according to those in the know, transform the front end grip (and improve the ride - softer tyres and lower tyre pressures).
I absolutely love it - its great fun - with more than enough performance, I have a 600+ BHP supercar, yet across country roads, I would say the mini would not be far behind.
Ive done a few 400+ round trips in it and its good on the motorway /long journeys (not excutive car or even Golf GTI good but still good enough to not be tiring). Ours is fully loaded which helps on long journeys.
Big downside is the Dunlop run flats.
They are far too hard (run 40 PSI), added to the already stiff suspension and the 18 inch alloys ours has, can make the ride very hard on rough roads.
We are in two minds to keep in it (wife wants a classic to go with her 5 series tourer) if we keep it it will be going on 215/40/18 Michelin Pilot sports - according to those in the know, transform the front end grip (and improve the ride - softer tyres and lower tyre pressures).
toffee said:
Looking at one of these as my next purchase.
They seem to have a great spec and enough performance and priced at under £20K.
Have driven a F56 Cooper S,which was ok, but lacked a bit of the 'grin' factor. The brakes felt a bit 'soft' as well.
Appreciate the brake are same on the 210 Challenge, but assume could upgrade.
Anyone had experience with these as a day to day car, performance, relative comfort on our awful roads, reliability and motorway comfort?
Looking at these, as well as a Cooper S, Peugeot 208 GTI sport or any other ideas! (I have had a Fiesta ST and would like a change with a slightly less jittery ride).
Thanks for any thoughts.
+1 on the brakes. They're "not great".They seem to have a great spec and enough performance and priced at under £20K.
Have driven a F56 Cooper S,which was ok, but lacked a bit of the 'grin' factor. The brakes felt a bit 'soft' as well.
Appreciate the brake are same on the 210 Challenge, but assume could upgrade.
Anyone had experience with these as a day to day car, performance, relative comfort on our awful roads, reliability and motorway comfort?
Looking at these, as well as a Cooper S, Peugeot 208 GTI sport or any other ideas! (I have had a Fiesta ST and would like a change with a slightly less jittery ride).
Thanks for any thoughts.
Edited by toffee on Sunday 13th May 21:35
Its not a particularly easy matter to upgrade the brakes on a Cooper S as the JCW calipers only fit behind JCW 17 inch "track" alloys (dished out to facilitate the calipers) - which are different to the Cooper S "track" alloys that dont have the dish or the 18 inch JCW wheel thats on the Challenge 210.
With the Challenge 210 at least you've the right wheels so just need the brake upgrade (around £1,000 ish for the official kit)
What about one of the new Fiesta STs? Supposed to be a much more reconciled ride and decent discounts available already.
Wilmslowboy said:
deepthought said:
Or simply a JCW. Plenty of power, AND the uprated brakes .
Ahhh...... thats why I couldn't understand the comments about the inadequate brakes.....Wifes car has 4 pot brembo. The standard ones are just about fine on the standard Cooper S, all goes to hell in a handcart if you do any sort of performance upgrade.
Enjoy it. 
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