Mini cooper r56 or Swift Sport

Begbie · 27 Aug 2020 at 08:13

sovietspybob said:
We went from a Clio 197 to the Swift Sport, and while yes it is a fair bit slower it's an order of magnitude less French and hasn't fallen to bits in the 5 years we've owned it which really couldn't be said for the couple of years we had the 197..

Acme said:
I used to agree, and in fact wanted one myself, until I had use of a 2009 Clio 1.2T for a few weeks.

It had 70,000 miles on it and the interior was falling apart, and the bits that weren't falling apart still looked and felt cheap and nasty.

The Renaultsport may have a pokey engine and a great driving feel, but it still comes with the cheap nastiness.

The Suzuki is cheap as well, but the Japanese know how to do cheap a lot better than the French.

In 5 years of ownership and 70k (roughly) miles it never failed me. It barely needed anything bar servicing, or what you'd expect. The only 'nasty interior' part was when the top door trip fell off one day. I bought some new clips for it, which had snapped. I never get the 'fall apart' name, I must've got lucky. It's still running now, on 140k on an 05 plate!

Edit - 156k!

sovietspybob · 27 Aug 2020 at 08:19

Yeah you are very lucky!

Ours was on an 06 plate and was 4 or 5 years old with about 50k on the clock when we had it and it needed:
Keyless entry buttons stopped working on doors
Handbrake cable snapped twice to the offside rear wheel
steering wheel leather started peeling off
Some weird error on the screen about ABS and TC system occasionally
front brakes starting to seize
interior trim rattled and discoloured by the sun somehow
Not an issue as such but terribly jerky at low speed, seemed to be an issue of bad engine mapping from the factory
gearbox was getting fairly crunchy
probably other things I've forgotten/blocked out as i hated working on that car

Then it also needed the cambelt doing which any car will, but it's a far more involved and expensive job on those stupid F4R engines than it needed to be so had to be done by a specialist with the right locking tools etc.

So yeah, no love at all for the Clio here

it didn't even drive particularly well to make up for all the Frenchness of it, the swift rides better and goes round corners better.

Nasher · 27 Aug 2020 at 08:36

Ive been testing cheap runarounds recently. The Twingo (the previous gen at least) felt like it had better handling than the others, like the Yaris. Many cars seem to have WAY overly assisted steering now and just dont feel right.

Begbie · 27 Aug 2020 at 08:37

sovietspybob said:
Yeah you are very lucky!

Ours was on an 06 plate and was 4 or 5 years old with about 50k on the clock when we had it and it needed:
Keyless entry buttons stopped working on doors
Handbrake cable snapped twice to the offside rear wheel
steering wheel leather started peeling off
Some weird error on the screen about ABS and TC system occasionally
front brakes starting to seize
interior trim rattled and discoloured by the sun somehow
Not an issue as such but terribly jerky at low speed, seemed to be an issue of bad engine mapping from the factory
gearbox was getting fairly crunchy
probably other things I've forgotten/blocked out as i hated working on that car

Then it also needed the cambelt doing which any car will, but it's a far more involved and expensive job on those stupid F4R engines than it needed to be so had to be done by a specialist with the right locking tools etc.

So yeah, no love at all for the Clio here it didn't even drive particularly well to make up for all the Frenchness of it, the swift rides better and goes round corners better.

Wow. I had to get the cambelt done a couple of times, but again it was £300 (with waterpump etc). I knew I should've kept that car! :/

I even thought about buying another, but it'd cost the same as what it did 8 years ago!

kaptainmarc · 27 Aug 2020 at 12:26

had both the mini R56 and the swift sport.

Swift sports wins, great little car i did 30k a year for 3 years in mine certainly not the best car for it but it did it!

only problem I had was to do with the ECU which i had to send away for reprogramming (fairly common issue on the car)

i genuinely miss the car as it was a right laugh to drive.

ZG002 · 27 Aug 2020 at 12:33

kaptainmarc said:
had both the mini R56 and the swift sport.

Swift sports wins, great little car i did 30k a year for 3 years in mine certainly not the best car for it but it did it!

only problem I had was to do with the ECU which i had to send away for reprogramming (fairly common issue on the car)

i genuinely miss the car as it was a right laugh to drive.

Me and the Mrs miss ours also, I should have kept it but it would have sat about not being used most of the time.

Used to love a run over to the Lake District in it, so much confidence and feed back when pushing on.

Cleisthenes · 27 Aug 2020 at 12:50

This thread is making me want a Mk3 swift sport

FlapR · 27 Aug 2020 at 14:12

nas said:
2012 onwards for the newer engine iirc. I owned a 2011 JCW with the N14 and 2013 JCW with the N18, both out of budget either way, for good ones anyway !

Thats because the JCW is different. Standard R56 Cooper S was April 2010 onwards.

jamoor · 28 Aug 2020 at 11:55

sovietspybob said:
We went from a Clio 197 to the Swift Sport, and while yes it is a fair bit slower it's an order of magnitude less French and hasn't fallen to bits in the 5 years we've owned it which really couldn't be said for the couple of years we had the 197..

Mk2?

jamoor · 28 Aug 2020 at 11:55

Cleisthenes said:
This thread is making me want a Mk3 swift sport

Ye they look good don’t they and they’re a bit more modern.

sovietspybob · 28 Aug 2020 at 12:00

jamoor said:
Mk2?

Mk3, 12 plate

jamoor · 28 Aug 2020 at 13:49

sovietspybob said:
Mk3, 12 plate

They look much better than the processors with a price to match. Are they free of rattles and squeaks?
I’ve never been in one but the mk1 swift was extremely poor build quality wise

Cleisthenes · 28 Aug 2020 at 13:57

jamoor said:
Ye they look good don’t they and they’re a bit more modern.

Just seems like a fun car which is also super practical and cheap to run. And would be a bit more 'refined' than my mk3.5 mx5

ZG002 · 28 Aug 2020 at 16:30

Cleisthenes said:
Just seems like a fun car which is also super practical and cheap to run. And would be a bit more 'refined' than my mk3.5 mx5

I mean super practical is a strong statement

Cleisthenes · 28 Aug 2020 at 16:52

ZG002 said:
I mean super practical is a strong statement

I'm coming from an mx5, compared to that it's a volvo estate

Fluke? · 28 Aug 2020 at 19:49

Cleisthenes said:
I'm coming from an mx5, compared to that it's a volvo estate

^This^ I'll be coming from a SportKa so I'm not too worried about a bit of wind noise and rattling. I'll be wafting around in my SSS barge

Oh, and the latest for those who are interested(!). Probably giving up on the Cooper. Waiting for a swift to be taken in as part ex a few miles away which looks interesting but currently no idea of service history etc. £3k 58/70k/black. At least I'd get *some* warranty* in case it craps out on the way home.
Otherwise there is a 5 door yaris in cheltenham being prepped. £2k. Will take a look if the swift is rubbish.

Or there is a mk5 golf gti a mile down the road for £3k. 150k so gonna be a bag of bones. But it is a mk5 gti! :heart:

Akagi · 28 Aug 2020 at 23:49

Cleisthenes said:
I'm coming from an mx5, compared to that it's a volvo estate

You can fit more stuff in an mx5 than a swift sport, just need to use your imagination and make the most of the infinite headroom.

wesimmo · 29 Aug 2020 at 00:35

I'd definitely look at 133 Twingos.

Hugely entertaining little go karts.

I had a 220bhp Mk2 MX5, an RS200 Clio and an RS133 Twingo at one point. The Clio was my least favourite.

sovietspybob · 29 Aug 2020 at 19:20

jamoor said:
They look much better than the processors with a price to match. Are they free of rattles and squeaks?
I’ve never been in one but the mk1 swift was extremely poor build quality wise

Yeah ours has seemed really good in that regard, no rattles at all. I guess the materials probably aren't up to BMW quality if you're into that sort of thing but i really like it inside, The standard stereo is a bit old fashioned though but i think from 14 onwards they all get the 7" NAV which looks way better also the gearstick throw feels a bit naff though but that's the only complaint i've got from inside.

jamoor · 29 Aug 2020 at 19:34

sovietspybob said:
Yeah ours has seemed really good in that regard, no rattles at all. I guess the materials probably aren't up to BMW quality if you're into that sort of thing but i really like it inside, The standard stereo is a bit old fashioned though but i think from 14 onwards they all get the 7" NAV which looks way better also the gearstick throw feels a bit naff though but that's the only complaint i've got from inside.

That sounds good then. I guess the stereo is din so you can just swap it out for whatever you like anyway.