Corsa SRI, Mito Cloverleaf or
Discussion
I'm thinking of selling my MG soon for something easier to modify, and overall cheaper to run whilst still being fun - so any suggestions are welcome.
My first thought is a Corsa D 1.6 SRI - I've heard that these are basically a VXR without the bodykit, exhaust, seats etc. So they can easily be remapped to around 210bhp - does anyone have any experience with these and how do they handle? I've never been a fan of Corsa's but I've always been a fan of sleepers.
Alfa Mito 1.4 Multiair Cloverleaf - I like these, actually I love these, and I love the sound of the 1.4 engine. I've heard in reviews the steering is numb and the ride/handling is a bit useless in anything other than dynamic mode and not much better in it. Also, at the budget I'm looking at they tend to have around 70k on the clock, I've not seen many above 100k, so I'm a little dubious about the reliability of these at high mileages, especially with a remap.
In the past I've had a few cars, I loved the power of my Mazda 3 MPS, so I wouldn't mind something like that again. I've also had a Suzuki Ignis sport and I thought it handled great, lots of fun, however I think I'd notice the lack of power these days. On the flip side, I owned a 9-3 Aero which was pretty quick, though I found it very boring as it was very civilised.
I'd be willing to spend around 5k, so any suggestions are welcome.
My first thought is a Corsa D 1.6 SRI - I've heard that these are basically a VXR without the bodykit, exhaust, seats etc. So they can easily be remapped to around 210bhp - does anyone have any experience with these and how do they handle? I've never been a fan of Corsa's but I've always been a fan of sleepers.
Alfa Mito 1.4 Multiair Cloverleaf - I like these, actually I love these, and I love the sound of the 1.4 engine. I've heard in reviews the steering is numb and the ride/handling is a bit useless in anything other than dynamic mode and not much better in it. Also, at the budget I'm looking at they tend to have around 70k on the clock, I've not seen many above 100k, so I'm a little dubious about the reliability of these at high mileages, especially with a remap.
In the past I've had a few cars, I loved the power of my Mazda 3 MPS, so I wouldn't mind something like that again. I've also had a Suzuki Ignis sport and I thought it handled great, lots of fun, however I think I'd notice the lack of power these days. On the flip side, I owned a 9-3 Aero which was pretty quick, though I found it very boring as it was very civilised.
I'd be willing to spend around 5k, so any suggestions are welcome.
steve-5snwi said:
A Mito Cloverleaf for 5k ?
Get the MiTo and take a leaf out of the Mini Challenge/ 695 Biposto's book i.e road legal cute track car.The first thing I'd do is go to Bilstein.
Quicker rack?
Get a meaty exhaust.
Get some lightweight wheels.
Get a new wheel and gearstick.
That should do for now.
Get the Mito it's a fun car & I like the looks.
This one looks good plus you have some change to go towards upgrades
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
The Mazda is a bit more leftfield but has more than enough grunt so your money would be well spent on chassis upgrades first.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
But I'll be honest I'd take the Focus over the MPS every time with trackday parts being plentiful it would be one of these for me.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
This one looks good plus you have some change to go towards upgrades
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
The Mazda is a bit more leftfield but has more than enough grunt so your money would be well spent on chassis upgrades first.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
But I'll be honest I'd take the Focus over the MPS every time with trackday parts being plentiful it would be one of these for me.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
I had a corsa sri 1.6t 3dr.
Had it remapped, kicked out 222 bhp and 233 tourque. Had a ITG panel filter, remap was by Thorney motorsport and I had Milltek pre cat pipe fitted.
Only bad point was the gearbox - its the m32 box.
I got rid of it at 24k miles as gearbox was going again after a refurb done at 19k miles (by regal motorsport - did the bearings). I had a new clutch (upgraded one by Regal) - in all honesty that was my biggest mistake - hated it after the new clutch and flywheel fitted. Regal said there was a little bit of clutch slip and I should replace - shouldn't of listened to them in all honesty. You live and learn.
My gearbox blew up when the new owner bought it and took it out for a rag so vauxhall had a repair bill under the network q warranty for new clutch and gearbox.
It was a good car - I just feel I was robbed - and that killed the enjoyment of the car for me which is why I got rid - nippy after the remap - well and got rid as had a baby so needed a 5 door - so ended up in a astra diesel
Had it remapped, kicked out 222 bhp and 233 tourque. Had a ITG panel filter, remap was by Thorney motorsport and I had Milltek pre cat pipe fitted.
Only bad point was the gearbox - its the m32 box.
I got rid of it at 24k miles as gearbox was going again after a refurb done at 19k miles (by regal motorsport - did the bearings). I had a new clutch (upgraded one by Regal) - in all honesty that was my biggest mistake - hated it after the new clutch and flywheel fitted. Regal said there was a little bit of clutch slip and I should replace - shouldn't of listened to them in all honesty. You live and learn.
My gearbox blew up when the new owner bought it and took it out for a rag so vauxhall had a repair bill under the network q warranty for new clutch and gearbox.
It was a good car - I just feel I was robbed - and that killed the enjoyment of the car for me which is why I got rid - nippy after the remap - well and got rid as had a baby so needed a 5 door - so ended up in a astra diesel
The M32 gearbox is so called because it is designed to take 320Nm of torque.
Given that a stock VXR has book figures of 230Nm for a vanilla VXR or 250Nm for a special edition like the Nurburgring then there is (IMO) sufficient margin for the gearbox to be able to handle the power at stock. The SRi in its lesser state of tune still has 210Nm.
Thorney then quote gains of +40Nm on the VXRs and +60Nm on the SRi bringing both to around 270Nm. With an improved intake and exhaust then those figures could even be a little higher than quoted so they could be very close (within 10%) to what the rated threshold of the gearbox is. Gazza5's 233ft-lbs is 316Nm so right on the limit of the gearbox and whenever you push the limits of a component you have to be prepared for it to break.
I'm going to throw the Mk5 Golf GTi out there. It looks much like any other Golf to your average motorist, has loads of information available with regards to tuning and there are plenty out there to choose from within your 5K budget - 3 door or 5 door, manual or DSG.
Given that a stock VXR has book figures of 230Nm for a vanilla VXR or 250Nm for a special edition like the Nurburgring then there is (IMO) sufficient margin for the gearbox to be able to handle the power at stock. The SRi in its lesser state of tune still has 210Nm.
Thorney then quote gains of +40Nm on the VXRs and +60Nm on the SRi bringing both to around 270Nm. With an improved intake and exhaust then those figures could even be a little higher than quoted so they could be very close (within 10%) to what the rated threshold of the gearbox is. Gazza5's 233ft-lbs is 316Nm so right on the limit of the gearbox and whenever you push the limits of a component you have to be prepared for it to break.
I'm going to throw the Mk5 Golf GTi out there. It looks much like any other Golf to your average motorist, has loads of information available with regards to tuning and there are plenty out there to choose from within your 5K budget - 3 door or 5 door, manual or DSG.
Defconluke said:
The M32 gearbox is so called because it is designed to take 320Nm of torque.
Given that a stock VXR has book figures of 230Nm for a vanilla VXR or 250Nm for a special edition like the Nurburgring then there is (IMO) sufficient margin for the gearbox to be able to handle the power at stock. The SRi in its lesser state of tune still has 210Nm.
Thorney then quote gains of +40Nm on the VXRs and +60Nm on the SRi bringing both to around 270Nm. With an improved intake and exhaust then those figures could even be a little higher than quoted so they could be very close (within 10%) to what the rated threshold of the gearbox is. Gazza5's 233ft-lbs is 316Nm so right on the limit of the gearbox and whenever you push the limits of a component you have to be prepared for it to break.
I'm going to throw the Mk5 Golf GTi out there. It looks much like any other Golf to your average motorist, has loads of information available with regards to tuning and there are plenty out there to choose from within your 5K budget - 3 door or 5 door, manual or DSG.
Completely agree with your post - funnily enough since I have kept every car standard - when I did have my gearbox refurbed the first time there were a few suprised looks as the car hadn't done a huge amount of mileage. For me I put it down to the map - the thorney map brought the tourque in a lot earlier than the regal remap (EDS I think) you could get so therefore I had more tourque going through the gearbox at lower rpms, thus bearings got worn.Given that a stock VXR has book figures of 230Nm for a vanilla VXR or 250Nm for a special edition like the Nurburgring then there is (IMO) sufficient margin for the gearbox to be able to handle the power at stock. The SRi in its lesser state of tune still has 210Nm.
Thorney then quote gains of +40Nm on the VXRs and +60Nm on the SRi bringing both to around 270Nm. With an improved intake and exhaust then those figures could even be a little higher than quoted so they could be very close (within 10%) to what the rated threshold of the gearbox is. Gazza5's 233ft-lbs is 316Nm so right on the limit of the gearbox and whenever you push the limits of a component you have to be prepared for it to break.
I'm going to throw the Mk5 Golf GTi out there. It looks much like any other Golf to your average motorist, has loads of information available with regards to tuning and there are plenty out there to choose from within your 5K budget - 3 door or 5 door, manual or DSG.
Wouldn't put me off a vxr personally - I would budget about £600 and have it waiting for if there were any problems, the mito may use the same gearbox (not sure).
Golf gti is a good shout - bit more grown up but no way any less fun.
TehRin said:
I'm thinking of selling my MG soon for something easier to modify, and overall cheaper to run whilst still being fun - so any suggestions are welcome.
My first thought is a Corsa D 1.6 SRI - I've heard that these are basically a VXR without the bodykit, exhaust, seats etc. So they can easily be remapped to around 210bhp - does anyone have any experience with these and how do they handle? I've never been a fan of Corsa's but I've always been a fan of sleepers.
Alfa Mito 1.4 Multiair Cloverleaf - I like these, actually I love these, and I love the sound of the 1.4 engine. I've heard in reviews the steering is numb and the ride/handling is a bit useless in anything other than dynamic mode and not much better in it. Also, at the budget I'm looking at they tend to have around 70k on the clock, I've not seen many above 100k, so I'm a little dubious about the reliability of these at high mileages, especially with a remap.
In the past I've had a few cars, I loved the power of my Mazda 3 MPS, so I wouldn't mind something like that again. I've also had a Suzuki Ignis sport and I thought it handled great, lots of fun, however I think I'd notice the lack of power these days. On the flip side, I owned a 9-3 Aero which was pretty quick, though I found it very boring as it was very civilised.
I'd be willing to spend around 5k, so any suggestions are welcome.
You say you want to modify, but modify for what and why?My first thought is a Corsa D 1.6 SRI - I've heard that these are basically a VXR without the bodykit, exhaust, seats etc. So they can easily be remapped to around 210bhp - does anyone have any experience with these and how do they handle? I've never been a fan of Corsa's but I've always been a fan of sleepers.
Alfa Mito 1.4 Multiair Cloverleaf - I like these, actually I love these, and I love the sound of the 1.4 engine. I've heard in reviews the steering is numb and the ride/handling is a bit useless in anything other than dynamic mode and not much better in it. Also, at the budget I'm looking at they tend to have around 70k on the clock, I've not seen many above 100k, so I'm a little dubious about the reliability of these at high mileages, especially with a remap.
In the past I've had a few cars, I loved the power of my Mazda 3 MPS, so I wouldn't mind something like that again. I've also had a Suzuki Ignis sport and I thought it handled great, lots of fun, however I think I'd notice the lack of power these days. On the flip side, I owned a 9-3 Aero which was pretty quick, though I found it very boring as it was very civilised.
I'd be willing to spend around 5k, so any suggestions are welcome.
If it's speed you want, then there are other options.
If it's uniqueness, then there are other options.
Personally, I've always struggled with the concept of modding middle of the road compact and family hatchbacks.
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