In terms of the vrs versus the mini cooper, the vrs wins hands down on a motorway due to experience. The mini may handle better on a track, but i soundly pulled away from a mini that appeared to be giving it full whack recently and I've no reason to doubt that he was really going for it.

It may be possible that the mini's handling sees it round a track better but I have no experience of that to go on.

In terms of the vrs versus the mini cooper' date=' the vrs wins hands down on a motorway due to experience. The mini may handle better on a track, but i soundly pulled away from a mini that appeared to be giving it full whack recently and I've no reason to doubt that he was really going for it.

It may be possible that the mini's handling sees it round a track better but I have no experience of that to go on.[/quote']

Just wait for the white smoke from the Mini - that'll tell you he's flat out, and then just drive on by!

:orb_wave:

depends on the conditions, on a straight road a vRS is faster than a Cooper, round the twisties, the Cooper will be faster, let alone a Cooper S which will be faster round corners and on A-roads.

STANDARD VS STANDARD OTHERWISE IT MAY BE A DIFFERENT STORY

let alone a Cooper S which will be faster ... on A-roads.

Unless that A-road happens to be the A6 through Stockport, in which case both cars will be stuck behind a 192 bus, and push bikes will be overtaking them.

Therefore, the smart money is on a pass for the 192 bus, the very smart money is on a push bike, and the really smart money is on avoiding the A6 through Stockport.

Me, I'd have the Mini.

Rob.

:orb_blah_

They stopped making Mini's in 1999.

To the person who can't view the top gear vid- you need DivX installing. The speed difference between the cars is even greater than it looks - One Clarkson must weight the same as 2 Hammonds!

wonder what the gap would be like if you have a brace and arb on the fabia?

for

The Fabia vRS just pi55es all over the mini IMHO. Never have I struggled against Cooper S'. My car handles like a dream in comparison to standard, and for everyday driving and B-road thrashing, I can't fault it. I've never been to a track before, and to buy a car for its handling mainly based on trackday use would have been pointless. I'd rather modify the fabia for fast road use.

changed a 51 reg cooper for my fabia the fastest the mini ever went was back to the dealers as it was always braking down,granted the mini handles better but acceleration in the fabia is exellent and as a comparrison the fabia would leave the mini standing .also the mini ate fuel lucky to get 25mpg compared to 45+ with fabia.

These are the facts of two standard cars, driver ability equal

The Fabia has quicker in gear acceleration by some margin hence the reason it wins on the track.

They both accelerate to 60 in a similar time, due to the gearing on the Fabia, from 3rd upwards the Fabia is quicker.

The mini corners better.

It isn't as fast as a standard Cooper S in standard Fabia vRS form.

Harry, there is no point in comparing your "modified" one to a standard one as it's unfair. It's a bit like comparing a BBR Cooper S to yours, you'd have no chance.

In the last fews years I've owned a Ford Puma, Mini Cooper S, Mitsi Colt CZT.

Mini ownership was certainly a Mini Adventure, unfortunately it seemed to end at the dealers most times!It handled like a go kart but was a bone shaker! Had loads of problems in 2 months of ownership and it was definately a friday afternoon car. Fuel economy was appalling and it's put me off BMW for life, both the terrible service from the dealer and the troublesome car.

I think the VRS has all round appeal and it's handling is good when compared to normal road cars, fancy a bit of under steer? Try driving a Mitisubishi Carisma.

You are indeed perfectly correct Hellfire. I compared it to an S because I've read on hear that it makes them about equal.

I realise it's standard vs standard, out of the box so to speak, BUT.....

Lets look at it this way for a second.

Fabia - no extras - can be bought new for 11k ish

Remap

I have the autocar atricle which Skoda used as a promo for the car. The figures are as follows:

0-60mph 8.2secs - one wind unassisted run of 7.2

40-70 through the gears is 0.5 secs quicker than a BMW 330 petrol

20-40 same as a lotus elise 111s (in the wet, the lotus that is!!)

Not bad for a 11k car!

Just our of interest, what would be the most cost effective and best way to tighten up the vRS handling?? I'm considering putting 17's on there and open to ideas!!

Just our of interest, what would be the most cost effective and best way to tighten up the vRS handling?? I'm considering putting 17's on there and open to ideas!!

SEAT Struct Brace

In the last fews years I've owned a Ford Puma' date=' Mini Cooper S, Mitsi Colt CZT.

Mini ownership was certainly a Mini Adventure, unfortunately it seemed to end at the dealers most times!It handled like a go kart but was a bone shaker! Had loads of problems in 2 months of ownership and it was definately a friday afternoon car. Fuel economy was appalling and it's put me off BMW for life, both the terrible service from the dealer and the troublesome car.

I think the VRS has all round appeal and it's handling is good when compared to normal road cars, fancy a bit of under steer? Try driving a Mitisubishi Carsima.[/quote']

thought it was only me that was banging my head at mini dealers ,service shocking ,read about recalls on net and dealer hadnt been informed,pull to left was hellish 4 sets pirrelis in 24k ,net detailed suspention mod to eliminate but dealers were not participating ,lovely car to look at but terrible to own on average at dealers once every month ,on comparison ingrams phoned to ask if service on fab was good and if everything was ok ,now thats customer service .

Noticed that the vids have been taken down. I wouldn't mind seeing them. Any chance you could put them into youtube.com? Very easily done and free.

Yep I had to take the vids down as they have become so popular that I recieved a bandwith alert from the hosting company this morning.

I do intend to put them back up again but not until next month.

Thanks for the vids Stu, if you want I could host them on my site until next month?

I don't mind but let me know.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my current SDI for a VRS, I take it there's a huge difference in power?

Huge!!

I take it there's a huge difference in power?

Mr TaviaRS's SDI certainly has a huge difference in power compared to a vRS

Chris

Thanks for the vids Stu' date=' if you want I could host them on my site until next month?

I don't mind but let me know.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my current SDI for a VRS, I take it there's a huge difference in power?[/quote']

Thanks Tom.

If people still want them then I'm sure we can sort something out.

Thanks for the vids Stu' date=' if you want I could host them on my site until next month?

I don't mind but let me know.

I'm seriously considering upgrading my current SDI for a VRS, I take it there's a huge difference in power?[/quote']

MASSIVE difference! Go for it, the VRS will make you smile!

:iagree:

I should think the SDI performance is similar (slightly better) to my old Citroen ZX 1.9D - ie shocking and unsafe. However peeps dont buy the SDI for their tarmac ripping ability, vRS's though. Tarmac beware! :orb_cool: