I made the 182 > R26 move just over a month ago and really havnt looked back. Missed the cheapness of the 182 ie tyres for around the £100 mark and cheap pads/disks and mpg was always around 36-38ish.
Got my R26 and it needed new tyres all around which i hadnt considered when buying it, but iv now got 4 new conti sport 3's and managed to get them them for £128 each (they are 235/40/18's compared to clio's 205/45/16). Was also due pads all round but i got these for free luckily. For disks/pads all round(OEM ones) plus fitting your looking at easily £500. My mpg is around 25-26 at the minute and thats driving like a grandad around town. Hardly any motorway miles so no doubt it would do 32-34mpg around 80mph..
The 182 is a nippy car dont get me wrong, but the rattles etc and loud exhaust i had on mine (only had a miltek so feck knows what its like with a decatted yozza lol) just got abit boring for me, wanted something turbo/faster/more grown up and a nice interior. My nimbus R26 ticked all the boxes for me so i got that. Not looked back though Dave, loved my 182 and as you can see from pic below that was a minter and it wanted for nothing. But the R26 is leagues above. Granted it does have bad points ie running costs as i explained above, and the gear-kn0b is a joke as its too high.. but it generally is a brilliant car. Mine always gets looks where ever it goes and its not a shouty colour like LY. Id say the gearbox was better on the 182 also, not much in it though. Do love having a 6th gear though, the 182 could really do with a 6th gear! If you was closer you'd be welcome to have a look around mine.
Any other cars in the running? (i was looking at a 3.2 audi A3, Golf R32's, focus RS's and ST's) But the R26 is a better all rounder than them imo.
Sorry for thread hijack lynden lol.
Kris
The 182:
The R26: