Mini vs Saxo

[Huntyfm]

Lately I've spent alot of time with my mate who has a saxo VTS, and I admit im kinda swayed towards the eurobox, after years of passionate Mini loving, like the saxo would have power steering, air bags, but I know you lot could manage to convice me mini's are the way forward, any help?

P.S. Is it easy to lower a mini & does this improve handling?

Thanks

[Custard]

oohhhhh this is a thread for irish ;D,, mate SAXO ? really ?
you need a drive in a mad mans mini ;D nothing compares, ever

[quiff]

Ive owned a old mini cooper and 2 106's (same as saxo pretty much) a gti (same engine/chassis as vts) and a rallye,which was a 1.6 stripped out of all the modern bits.

1. Youll never get a drive like the mini!
however, these 106s are still impressive cars,enjoyed the gti, awesome grip+ nice kick above 4k rpm, but electric power steering + too many gizmos put me off after a mini

hence i got a rallye, no p/steering, abs electrics etc. paint on the inside of the doors+ no weight, how it should be, found this to be a great compramise, and a proper fun car!
if you find them with a gti engine in,really is rapid too! jus be careful, crash protection aint much better than a mini and you can get caught out!

if youve not had a mini tho, own one first, I hope to own another one day soon.

[coedy]

hi-lo suspension trumpets and you can drag it along the floor if you want... (but remember, you can make the rear tyre hit the inside of the arch = bad)
No idea if it improves the handling... Mini's dont have bad handling anyway??

I love saxo's... I'd never own/drive one though... too much of a stigma to them... people see a saxo and expect someone with a back to front baseball cap to jump out wearing a white trackie... They look good but 70% of the owners have ruined the cars image....

And that is why you should stick to Minis. lol

[Huntyfm]

yeh thats what I was thinking, and their common as muck, a proper little boy racers car

[coedy]

Don't get me wrong, nice looking cars. If I was going to pack in Mini's I would consider them as an option.... But I would just get another Mini lol.

Go to Castle Combe action day Mini show this year. pay (think it was £20?) to go around with a Mighty Minis driver... you wont ever bother thinking about a eurobox ever again...

[Huntyfm]

are mini's still viable as first cars with like the rust problems and the old heater technology

[taffy1967]

They are still viable and I've owned my 1990 Mini since January 1994.

Yes they rust, more so if used every Winter unless you take precautions like washing all the salt/grit off the underside and rear subframe.

Plus getting it rustproofed will help prevent it from rusting.

Their not as plentiful as they once were and so Minis aren't as cheap and some go for silly money.

So if you do your homework and buy a good one, you'll be happy forever.

[coedy]

I bought a Mini as my first car and recently spent a lot of money getting rid of any rust. now she will last for ages! ;D

All cars rust... the only difference is that on modern cars you cant fix them when that happens

[ljonez]

my mate has a saxo, he bought it a week before i bought my MPi and so far he's spent x3 more than me getting it fixed.

"old heater technology" just fitting a later heater from the mpi/spi will sort that out.

i've owned a fiesta, mk2 golf gti and a Renault 19 and none of them compare to a decent spec mini altho i'd get another golf that was a great car

[boycie101]

all of the above + you have got more chance of surviving an accident if you walked in front of a train than being in a saxo from wa i have heard about their crash test rating

[coopdog]

i have a mini and its much better than any car i've driven
even tho thats not many but dw

[Huntyfm]

well my father is giving up on working on cars, but im sure he'd help me if I got a project, so I think i'll keep my ear to the ground for a cheap mini and do it up

[taffy1967]

Here's a few YouTube video's that might help and even Jeremy Clarkson is a Mini fan, even though he has to be honest in his reviews: -



This one (who someone else uploaded), is more recent: -

[coopdog]

great vid

[daddypig]

Bonjour,

Saxo hey, well I've owned a few cars in my time which have included 205's, 106's and rid myself of a Saxo VTR. Don't get me wrong great little car but felt as if I was a chicken wrapped in foil as regards build quality and crash protection.

The other problem, most of the french hatchback cars share the same rear axle designs. This uses a needle bearing and torsion bar set up. When good it's fab but it's like driving a timebomb you don't know when you hear the first creak, groan or mis angled rear wheels which means the bearings have gone. I've scrapped two cars as the repair costs for this are more than the car, secondhand failed in three days and tried DIY repair, £150 in special tools and parts to find after three days of taking apart the actual beam itself had worn!!!

Loads of first cars out there, but a mini is fun, easy and cheap to repair and will hold it's value (maybe go up).

Mark

[quiff]

Like you say, pay careful attention to the rear beams, i may have been lucky, but i thoroughly checked all of mine first, and change all the bushes etc on suspension. as you said, its a peach of a system when their straight, rear beams are about 100-150 quid.

[84minimayfairalex]

Ryan Theres Allready To Many Saxo's In Merthyr. And I Seem To Be The Only One Pottering Around In My Mini, Join The Club Fellow

[Huntyfm]

Well I seen you and I thought then, ah that is just mint, I gotta stick with the mini, so Mini it is. I got my cousin enquiring about one over in brecon, if that fails i'll bid on the one in barry, I AM joining the mini scene

[84minimayfairalex]

WAHHAYYYY