I had a mint 28,000 mile 182 FF for 12 months before I bought my Trophy (which has done nearly 50,000 miles now) and in my opinion the difference between the two is HUGE.
The Trophy is a much more focused and sharper handling car. The turn-in is quicker and sharper, it feels to grip harder and is certainly more stable in higher speed corners on A-roads and the way it damps a bumpy B-road is in a different class from the 182 FF. Bumps on my favourite local roads that caught my 182 out and made it jump are just effectively dealt with in the Trophy which gives you a huge amount of confidence. The weight difference is noticeable too. It picks up better from lower revs. I don't know if this is the same for everyone either but my Trophy revs to just over 7,000 and gives a little more at the top but my 182 FF didn't.
This is obviously just my experience and the Trophy does have its irritations, for example it can be very stiff over bumps at low speeds sometimes and it doesn't have the xenon’s (which I miss) and other bits the 182 FF has.
I suppose it depends what you want. The 182 FF is undoubtedly an easier car to live with because its softer and has more kit but if it’s the best drivers car you are after the Trophy wins hands down. If that’s what you want I can't recommend buying the Trophy over the 182 FF enough. Best swap I ever did.
I think you can yeah but I never dare tamper with the Trophy incase I ever decide to sell it on. They are a big improvement over the halogen lights though IMO and they look a lot better.
