How long is a piece of string....! Most people will be biased towards the model they have (what you really want is a Mini Cooper S hint hint!).
I used to own a Clio 182 with cup packs and thought it was great....a mate had a 172 cup and he preferred that, but we never agreed on it.
Depends what your budget is, and whether you care how nice the interior is?
172 cup has no aircon/abs/leather seats/xenon headlights/cruise control etc, but is marginally lighter, and marginally quicker then normal 172/182, but there really is very little in it.
If your budget runs to it then the Trophy (variant of 182) is a good bet - they only come in red, but have awesome front seats and Sachs suspension that is very trick.
If you've got stacks of cash and can afford the insurance then a V6 clio maybe an option.