Hey all, although I've been hanging around these forums for awhile I've not actually been able to make many comments - so heres an attempt at changing that!

Having just finished a tour in Afghan, I've got some savings put aside (6months in a desert doesn't give you many opportunities to blow it on beer haha!)
So because of this, I've got some decisions to make, and I'm hoping you might be able to shed some light/give some hints or just generally make a contribution to the thread

After having a blast in a mates tuned Escort RS Turbo, I've become a massive fan of the whole idea of forced induction - I've heard rumours that you can actually fit a dump valve to a supercharger, has anyone done this?
As far as I can see most seem to love the whine of the supercharger just as much

So, should I supercharge my fiesta? Go down the naturally aspirated mountune route? Or sell the fiesta for buy something that already has the figures I'm after?

Here are the pro's and con's I can see to each option, please feel free to add to the list from your experience/thoughts
Supercharger
Pro's
Awesome noise, be it supercharger whine or PHSSST dump valve
Exclusivity - although getting more common, its still got the prestige factor
Power
Re-sale value if stripped from vehicle - s/c kit can go for £2-2.5k which isn't a massive drop in price compared to a new kit.

Cons
Mpg? - I do a fair few motorway miles, travelling 300miles most weekends back home from base. Can anyone shed any light to what I can expect to see a supercharged car, crusing at 70mph to see?
Upfront cost - lets face it, its not a cheap option. I'd probably go for the stage 2.0
I'd have to strip the S/C from the car to sell it
Need to upgrade brakes/suspension/exhaust
Insurance costs


Mountune
Pros
Stageable upgrades with their stage 1,2 and soon 3
Pleasent drive - heard nothing but good things about the whole mountune package, including drivability
Noise? Never heard mountune.... or a Supercharged fiesta come to that
Proven long-term, over thousands of miles

Cons
No re-sale value
Power/Money ratio not so great?
Lack of whine/dump valve
Motorway MPG? - same as the Supercharger option, can anyone tell me what they get crusing at 70?

Different car
For the £5-5.5k I could get for my car, plus the £3.5-4k it'd cost to supercharge I could get quite a lot of car.
Something like an Astra 1.9 Sri diesel, which I think when chipped can see approx 190bhp

Pros
Already turbo'd, so no need to upgrade suspension/brakes/exhaust to cope
Mpg pretty good, but still retaining some fun factor

Cons
Selling the fiesta I like the car, my missus likes the car and its never let me down once.


So... what do you all think??

How about a mk1 rs focus? Lovely motor and within ur price range after selling the fiesta

I shuddered horribly when I heard you mention an Astra diesel If it were my money I'd go Mountune stage 2 and get 3 when it comes out. SC'ing is good but has alot of hidden costs like new clutch, diff and breaks are needed. Kaxe will tell you about fuel comsumption but for me, Mountune FTW!

Yeah go Mountune Stage 3!
I tell everyone to go MT Stage 3 now. You get the most out of the and increase it's value!
SC'ing is for nutcases lol
I recommend it if you want a small fast car that can beat or match bigger cars performances. (I like small, fast cars)
True there is more to do with charging. Like clutch, quaife, inlet, cams etc

Oh yeah btw my MPG got BETTER with Supercharging LOL

Swap to a MK1 RS or Focus ST, its all done already, no need to worry
All brakes etc are already unpgraded

Don't go for an old car or even a MK1 RS too many bills will arrive and parts much harder to get hold off. Certainly Focus ST and add the Mountune Kit and you have 260+bhp and enough torque to see of the new RS
Don't get a diesel, I don't care how much torque you get or whether you out pull most cars in-gear - with an exhaust output of a look-a-like blown up engine.
SC over turbo I would say, less problems and more of a simple bolt-on-and-go and removeable, as long as you don't cane it everywhere should be fine on standard parts 200-260bhp ish.
For me I need reliability and be able to get anything repaired quickly, so the Ford Mountune garages around the UK make this easy choice and I my local dealer is Mountune Pro approved and only 3 miles away. And looks like I will be able to go stage 3 through the garage too instead of driving to Essex.
Heres my exhaust sounds http://www.fordfiestast.co.uk/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=226266&an=0&page=0#226266

Probably best to decide your maximum budget (even in stages) and then your BHP target and go from there.

Well mine needed a couple of repairs but is all done now and it has warranty until 2012 for mechnical, for sale in the lot at the moment

I'm not too keen on getting something with many miles on it, and a focus RS for £9k isn't going to have low miles! And if it did... I'm going to be very suspicious as to why its being sold cheaply!

Out of interest though, what mpg are you seeing, town and motorway?

Sounds like I'm obsessed with mpg haha, but I'm just after a compromise between fun and fuel costs. Dont want something that'll cost me £200 in fuel to get home each weekend

Average 28mpg, had that down to 12mpg and up to 33mpg

Barely lower than my ST at the moment... Not bad for a car like that!! Tempting haha. Whats the motorway? About 30?

30-32mpg thats with it being uprated as well

Cheers for the info Adam, maybe the Mk1 RS is still an option!

If you Mountune your Fiesta I've heard it does re-sell for more than the standard ST