Mini ONE or Honda Jazz?
it's still the cast iron lump out of a Chrysler Neon (albeit a 1.6, not a 2.0). Gearbox itself is ok, but the linkage is quite stiff and clunky.
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So could someone buy a wrecked neon 2 litre and swap the engine over??????
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So could someone buy a wrecked neon 2 litre and swap the engine over??????
Luke - No, IIRC the two variants of the Pentagon engine are not directly interchangable. The basic block, cyl. head and combustion chamber design are essentially the same, but the block casting is not idetical (engine/gerbox mounts etc.), and crank, pistons, manifolds etc. are different. Engine management/injection system is also different.
Not sure the increased capacity would buy you anything anyway, looking at the power output from some of the Cooper S upgrades.
Not sure the increased capacity would buy you anything anyway, looking at the power output from some of the Cooper S upgrades.
The Honda Jazz is known as the Honda Fit in Japan. No Type r varient has been placed into production.
However a couple of companies, Spoon and Mugen, have had a 'play'.
Here are those interesting results although Mugens, it seems, are just cosmetic.
http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/f...08ht_spoonfit/
http://www.mugen-power.com/street/aria/
However a couple of companies, Spoon and Mugen, have had a 'play'.
Here are those interesting results although Mugens, it seems, are just cosmetic.
http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/f...08ht_spoonfit/
http://www.mugen-power.com/street/aria/
Just to add some real life facts 
Bought our Mini Cooper new a year ago, inc the options cost £16,000
Had three problems, fuel gauge, AC control box, Radio
All fixed by BMW, no problems, no hassle
Put 17,000 miles on the car and sold it for £13,000
I'd buy another
[Edited by Torus - 11/25/2003 10:42:15 AM]

Bought our Mini Cooper new a year ago, inc the options cost £16,000
Had three problems, fuel gauge, AC control box, Radio
All fixed by BMW, no problems, no hassle
Put 17,000 miles on the car and sold it for £13,000
I'd buy another

[Edited by Torus - 11/25/2003 10:42:15 AM]
Thanks all, done the deed today, opted for the Jazz 1.4 iDSI SE!
Because, for 10,300 OTR you get:
ABS
Aircon
Sunroof
power steering
CD player
magic seats
(seriously, thats what they are called)
funky interior
And Honda customer care... I can honestly say it was a pleasure buying the car today, no hard sell, no bull and if other peoples comments are anything to go by - we're expecting similarly excellent after sales service.
So, Squeak will be picking it up next week (end of) with a go-faster rear spoiler!
Believe it or not, I spent 1-1:30 hours at the dealers yesterday just chatting about the car and honda.. then a further 3 hours today with Squeak at the dealers today, including a nice long test drive.
Must admit the Jazz is quite a fun small car to drive, pretty good handling, nippy to 50 ish. The big thing to me is it feels sturdy when driving it, even with the huge amount of water on the roads today. Well impressed, much better the 1.2 clio she had a while back.
Top marks for Reigate Honda.
Cheers, Alex
Because, for 10,300 OTR you get:
ABS
Aircon
Sunroof
power steering
CD player
magic seats
(seriously, thats what they are called)funky interior
And Honda customer care... I can honestly say it was a pleasure buying the car today, no hard sell, no bull and if other peoples comments are anything to go by - we're expecting similarly excellent after sales service.
So, Squeak will be picking it up next week (end of) with a go-faster rear spoiler!

Believe it or not, I spent 1-1:30 hours at the dealers yesterday just chatting about the car and honda.. then a further 3 hours today with Squeak at the dealers today, including a nice long test drive.
Must admit the Jazz is quite a fun small car to drive, pretty good handling, nippy to 50 ish. The big thing to me is it feels sturdy when driving it, even with the huge amount of water on the roads today. Well impressed, much better the 1.2 clio she had a while back.
Top marks for Reigate Honda.
Cheers, Alex
I took a jazz out with my mum, she prefered a clio, should of got a jazz on build quality really. Has some awesoem features inside. However, I found it dull to drive, the sport isn't really a sport, it just has alloy wheels and stuff. We took out the 1.4, and I would say not as much fun to drive as my mums 1.2-16v Clio. However, mothers clio already has wear on the drivers seat from less than 6k miles, and a years use, and rattles like a much older car - japs put things together better than the French. One thing you can be sure of is that Honda's are reliable, and the servicing will be cheaper than the Mini.
Out of the two I would get a Mini, although I have heard mixed opinions about mini reliablity. And as just mentioned, the servicing / parts are bound to be more expensive. However, they're very popular, and desirable, which is why they hold their value. Try to get a cooper if budgets allow though, hot hatch's are always more desirable (if you look after them).
Edit: Opps, didn't see this page, you've already bought it - sonds like a good deal, sure you'd of been happy with both really..
[Edited by mynickers - 11/29/2003 10:48:49 PM]
Out of the two I would get a Mini, although I have heard mixed opinions about mini reliablity. And as just mentioned, the servicing / parts are bound to be more expensive. However, they're very popular, and desirable, which is why they hold their value. Try to get a cooper if budgets allow though, hot hatch's are always more desirable (if you look after them).
Edit: Opps, didn't see this page, you've already bought it - sonds like a good deal, sure you'd of been happy with both really..
[Edited by mynickers - 11/29/2003 10:48:49 PM]
mynickers - thats the Clio my otherhalf had up until Sept this year, 1.2 16v Sport, trouble was the thing spent half of its life in the garage due to faults (Mar '02 car)... Never ever buying french again.
No she didn't get teh sport, she got the standard, my mother doesn't want anything sporty, was a good deal, was cheap, and got free insurance, all around not a bad deal. It's quite a fun car to drive considering that it's a little run around, obviously it has way too much sus. travel, you feel like you're on a rollacoster if you start trying to corner fast. But it's a suprisingly good chassis, I had lift off over steer in it the other day (don't tell my mum). Few niggles, the gear stick is in weird place, always feels far to reach, the clutch slips too much if you're trying to drive smoothly, however if you just drop the clutch in, it jumps about like a kangaroo. Breaks are pretty good, but I don't know for some reason ABS just makes little / light cars feel unstable under breakding, if you break really hard at speed it scrambles around, and makes padestrians look scared.
Haven't had any problems with it though, hasn't been near the garage yet, but I am thinking of going back to them as it's still under dealer warranty - think it's fair to ask for replacement seat. Shouldn't look f*cked after one year with 6k on the clock, gonna affect the re-sale value.
172&Cup are fabby - such a shame they can't seem to match jap built quality. However, Clarkeson said that they had a V6 for ages, and from all the cars they had including much more expensive ones, it was one of the ones they had the least problems with, as far as things breaking or falling off.
Can't beat Honda on that front through, tis a shame they havne't done a VTEC type R for the Jazz really. Could of got a Lupo GTI-6 though
Haven't had any problems with it though, hasn't been near the garage yet, but I am thinking of going back to them as it's still under dealer warranty - think it's fair to ask for replacement seat. Shouldn't look f*cked after one year with 6k on the clock, gonna affect the re-sale value.
172&Cup are fabby - such a shame they can't seem to match jap built quality. However, Clarkeson said that they had a V6 for ages, and from all the cars they had including much more expensive ones, it was one of the ones they had the least problems with, as far as things breaking or falling off.
Can't beat Honda on that front through, tis a shame they havne't done a VTEC type R for the Jazz really. Could of got a Lupo GTI-6 though
mynickers
Sorry mate, skim read your post.
We were very unlucky with our Clio I s'pose, although a few have had problems with them on here.
I agree, they are fun little cars, the clio that is, but what I can be doing with is the attitude the dealers have and the number of faults we had, ah well.
I'm hoping the Jazz lives up to Honda's good name.
As for the Lupo GTI, insurance is a bit of an issue, as this purchase is in response to a little accident, and my otherhalf has been deemed partly to blame, hence low insurance rating of the Jazz is great (group 3).
Alex
Sorry mate, skim read your post.
We were very unlucky with our Clio I s'pose, although a few have had problems with them on here.
I agree, they are fun little cars, the clio that is, but what I can be doing with is the attitude the dealers have and the number of faults we had, ah well.
I'm hoping the Jazz lives up to Honda's good name.
As for the Lupo GTI, insurance is a bit of an issue, as this purchase is in response to a little accident, and my otherhalf has been deemed partly to blame, hence low insurance rating of the Jazz is great (group 3).
Alex
Yeah well insurance is always a bit of a problem for me
but I have accepted it and tried to convince myself that philosophical statements like life is short, life is for living and fun is more important make paying big bucks in insurance okay! 
Yeah I am sure you'll have no problems with the Jazz, and from my experience of Honda dealers, they're great, they've all been trident ones though, but generally honda have a good repuation in all respects.
Sure you're aware of this site already, but these lot are the best authority on Honda's I believe:
http://forum.hondarevolutions.com/index.php
Also Parkers sign praises as do most motoring journo's:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/ca...216&manu_id=HO
Reliability
Honda build quality is second to none; Jazz feels solid and well built; Honda reliability is renowned, too – any problems should be limited to teething troubles.
[Edited by mynickers - 11/30/2003 1:02:41 AM]
but I have accepted it and tried to convince myself that philosophical statements like life is short, life is for living and fun is more important make paying big bucks in insurance okay! 
Yeah I am sure you'll have no problems with the Jazz, and from my experience of Honda dealers, they're great, they've all been trident ones though, but generally honda have a good repuation in all respects.
Sure you're aware of this site already, but these lot are the best authority on Honda's I believe:
http://forum.hondarevolutions.com/index.php
Also Parkers sign praises as do most motoring journo's:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/ca...216&manu_id=HO
Reliability
Honda build quality is second to none; Jazz feels solid and well built; Honda reliability is renowned, too – any problems should be limited to teething troubles.
[Edited by mynickers - 11/30/2003 1:02:41 AM]
I know what you mean about life too short and all that. Hence I have an STi8, despite the insurance costs. I was shocked how much even a Jazz is going to cost insurance wise though for my otherhalf, but hey ho, such is life.
Hope you get the seat sorted under warranty on your mother's clio.
All the best, Alex
Hope you get the seat sorted under warranty on your mother's clio.
All the best, Alex
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From: Nobody knows how to tie the simple knots that I know
looks like we actually got lucky with the reliability on the clio compared to you. August 02 car, 18k miles and nothing wrong when it came to servicing............however, you know our luck with cars
mynickers - look at the 'From:' under my user name for ITR reliability

mynickers - look at the 'From:' under my user name for ITR reliability
According to Which (i think) about 30 out of every 100 renaults is plagued with faults... we had one of the 30... you've got one of the 70. They are great cars, when they work.
Congrats on the purchase
Really cool car IMO and looks the dogs danglies once dressed in a bodykit.
All you need now is to visit Spoon Europe clicky and do some shopping
Really cool car IMO and looks the dogs danglies once dressed in a bodykit.All you need now is to visit Spoon Europe clicky and do some shopping



