44 replies to this topic

[Cooperman]

Can't actually believe getting an MG ZR is the best answer

Well, a BMW M3 would be better, but an MG-ZR can be bought for little cost. They are quick, handle well, have good road-holding and are comfortable.

Of all the small hatchbacks of that age, say 10 years old, they have good power and excellent torque. The gears are well spaced and brakes are excellent. Spares are not expensive and they are easy to work on.

I had a Rover 214Si which I built into an Endurance Rally Car and it was super to compete in and It won at National Endurance Rally level. More stable on the rough roads than a Pug 106 Rallye, stronger than a Suzuki Swift and very reliable. The MG-ZR is virtually the same car.

In comparison with my full-spec 115 bhp 1964 Cooper 'S' rally car, my Rover 214Si was quicker everywhere when we did back-to-back tests. This was mainly because although the engines were effectively the same size and the 'S' had more bhp, the Rover has suspension which worked, had better torque at low & mid-range revs and was much easier to drive fast.

[Midas Mk1]

Can't actually believe getting an MG ZR is the best answer

 

Agreed,yet again, another thread on the opinions of one member take over as gospel.

 

Coopermans view is not a true representation of a young (<30) persons view, considering many of us have Minis as dailys, with 100+bhp

[fenghuang]

... Coopermans view is not a true representation of a young (<30) persons view ...

I'm pretty sure Cooperman is >30. And from personal experience, there's nowt (inherantly) wrong with being >40.

[Shawbags]

To Doormatt , 1275's  are hard to come buy ,strip your 998 and tune it up it will not only be more fun and quicker you will learn a lot as you go , crack on and enjoy , Shawbags .

[Blatherskite]

... Coopermans view is not a true representation of a young (<30) persons view ...

I'm pretty sure Cooperman is >30. And from personal experience, there's nowt (inherantly) wrong with being >40.

Or > 50 for that matter!

[Spitz]

What's with the caps lock Shawbags…it's rude and annoying.

 

I've not read every post, but I get the gist of it.

A classic MINI will never easily ( see Shaw, bolding is helpful ) keep up with a modern car….but can be far more fun to drive and kicks modern car ass in the corners.

(by the way…a honda civic is quicker than an E-type.  Quicker being different than faster)

 

I have an 1130 with sw5 and 3.1FD….. it's plenty quick enough.

[Shawbags]

if you don't like it don't come on here , it was actually by mistake so I left it being half way through my post before I noticed .

[MJWarren]

The whole idea of car tuning is to develop things over a period of time, if people were to simply buy another car then progression would stop. When you say full spec cooper s  you should make people aware that that is an engine built to a specific set of regulations for rallying. 115bhp is a fair amount of power for a N/a 5 port but by no means the limit in an everyday sense.

 

a 998 5 port turbo would be easily good for 120bhp with mild boost. Collect some parts build up a nice engine as funds allow and swap it over when fully built. at 120bhp you could even use the standard gearbox just with a X pin diff. 

 

i would suggest an mg zr the biggest chav/boy racer wagon would not be cheap on insurance either

 

 

 

 

Can't actually believe getting an MG ZR is the best answer

Well, a BMW M3 would be better, but an MG-ZR can be bought for little cost. They are quick, handle well, have good road-holding and are comfortable.

Of all the small hatchbacks of that age, say 10 years old, they have good power and excellent torque. The gears are well spaced and brakes are excellent. Spares are not expensive and they are easy to work on.

I had a Rover 214Si which I built into an Endurance Rally Car and it was super to compete in and It won at National Endurance Rally level. More stable on the rough roads than a Pug 106 Rallye, stronger than a Suzuki Swift and very reliable. The MG-ZR is virtually the same car.

In comparison with my full-spec 115 bhp 1964 Cooper 'S' rally car, my Rover 214Si was quicker everywhere when we did back-to-back tests. This was mainly because although the engines were effectively the same size and the 'S' had more bhp, the Rover has suspension which worked, had better torque at low & mid-range revs and was much easier to drive fast.

 

Edited by MJWarren, 06 April 2015 - 06:55 PM.

[Cooperman]

 

The whole idea of car tuning is to develop things over a period of time, if people were to simply buy another car then progression would stop. When you say full spec cooper s  you should make people aware that that is an engine built to a specific set of regulations for rallying. 115bhp is a fair amount of power for a N/a 5 port but by no means the limit in an everyday sense.

 

a 998 5 port turbo would be easily good for 120bhp with mild boost. Collect some parts build up a nice engine as funds allow and swap it over when fully built. at 120bhp you could even use the standard gearbox just with a X pin diff. 

 

i would suggest an mg zr the biggest chav/boy racer wagon would not be cheap on insurance either

 

 

 

 

Can't actually believe getting an MG ZR is the best answer

Well, a BMW M3 would be better, but an MG-ZR can be bought for little cost. They are quick, handle well, have good road-holding and are comfortable.

Of all the small hatchbacks of that age, say 10 years old, they have good power and excellent torque. The gears are well spaced and brakes are excellent. Spares are not expensive and they are easy to work on.

I had a Rover 214Si which I built into an Endurance Rally Car and it was super to compete in and It won at National Endurance Rally level. More stable on the rough roads than a Pug 106 Rallye, stronger than a Suzuki Swift and very reliable. The MG-ZR is virtually the same car.

In comparison with my full-spec 115 bhp 1964 Cooper 'S' rally car, my Rover 214Si was quicker everywhere when we did back-to-back tests. This was mainly because although the engines were effectively the same size and the 'S' had more bhp, the Rover has suspension which worked, had better torque at low & mid-range revs and was much easier to drive fast.

 

 

Once again, the OP has specifically said that he can't insure a forced induction car.

This business of trying to make a 55-year old designed car go like a modern is a bit strange really. It is the same as trying to make a car built just after WW1 go as well as, say, a 998 Cooper in the late 1960's. One could try, but it wasn't ever going to happen.

I have driven a lot of those Rover 214Si, 25 and MG-ZR cars and they are the best of the bunch in terms of modern hatch-backs. The 214Si is a very well finished car with good performance, good road-holding and excellent handling. IMHO much better value that most of the others. Don't knock them, they are much more of a true successor to the classic Mini than the BINI will ever be.

[carthorse]

This is why forums are comedy gold. The poor old OP asks if it's possible to make his 998 a bit more peppy and the thread ends up talking about caps lock netiquette and which mid 1990's hatchbacks was best.......


And everyone knows the best 1990's hatch was the pug 306 Rallye not the MG ZR anyway. (Sorry just couldn't resist!)

[Cooperman]

Not at 1.4 litre it wasn't. The 214/25/ZR is the 'class act of all those hatches from 2000 to 2005.

[daenesh]

absolutely unbelievable seeing all these comments hammering Cooperman.. he's simply giving his true honest opinion.. everything is to be taken with a pinch of salt and a glass of whiskey.. i have a 998 clubby "stage 1" doesn't make much but im able to keep up with the 1275s while maintaining good fuel consumption and reliability.. the OP asked what seems to be a hard question because forced induction is out of the topic in terms of insurance coverage..

 

and then he goes on to say he wants a powerful mini which he can drive everyday.. mind you a 998 at that.. a 1275 i could understand.. 38-40bhp isn't enough so if comparing to modern cars he would be looking at anywhere between 90-110 bhp.. now, with a 1275 thats daringly possible but with a  998?? you would have to sell your house to pay for the rebuild.

 

so hence i get why cooperman suggested he get a normal modern car as a daily driver and blast the mini around on weekends, runs and shows.. given that he could possibly look into a stage 2 head upgrade which would push the bhp up to 55 which is almost the same as a standard 1275.. without having to increase his insurance bracket.. and not having to sell a kidney to pay for the upgrades.. just my 2 cents.. thanks for reading,, cheers

 

daenesh 

[carthorse]

Not at 1.4 litre it wasn't. The 214/25/ZR is the 'class act of all those hatches from 2000 to 2005.

Ahhhhh you misunderstand, the 306 Rallye only came as a 2 litre 16v , never a 1.4 like a 205 or 106. It was basically a stripped out 306 gti6 and unbelievably good for its day.
(Nooooooo I've been sucked in to the debate......)

Edited by carthorse, 07 April 2015 - 06:47 AM.

[Spitz]

Poor form Shaw

[Cooperman]

Ha ha, I'm old enough to remember some enthusiasts buying 1920's Austin 7's in the '60's and then modifying them with superchargers, special bodies, twin carbs, Morris 8 hydraulic brakes, different cylinder heads, etc. But they almost never went like our fairly new Mk.1 Minis & Coopers. If they did, they didn't last long before they blew up the engine or broke their transmission.

In fact those of us who had Minis and Mini-Coopers used to laugh at them a bit, although we sort-of admired their optimism. Compared to our then current Minis, those old Austin 7's were very unreliable, noisy, hard to drive and not very safe by 1960's standards.

Back then, however, there were those who owned them as classic cars and restored them, perhaps with better brakes (A 7 brakes were really bad!).

There were competition classes for up to 750 cc cars, especially the 750 Club, which the A 7 could enter, but no historic motor-sport as we have for our classic cars these days.