break

Sorry, but you're absolutely nuts to look past a clean EVO VI for a track car car. The Clio 200 is a fantastic drive, but horribly underpowered, too heavy (only 80kg lighter than an AWD EVO VI), and hard to yield all that much extra power out of without going forced induction. EVO VI's have bulletproof drivetrains, are a more fun drive (IMO), handle better, are easier to extract power from, had a large range of aftermarket parts all readily available, are cheaper on replacement parts, are easier to maintain, and are FAR less expensive to buy.

Two real problems with E85, highly strung NA cars don't tend to respond all that brilliantly to it (the V8 supercars actually lost a tiny bit of power in the switch and needed to do some really funky stuff to the inlet trumpets to get the fuel mix right).... ....and the bigger problem is you need a fuel system with ~30% higher capacity than your car is currently using at peak. Most factory fuel pumps/injectors just don't have the capacity to facilitate this. Long story short (and the same story with most NA engine mods to Clios), too much effort/cash for too little gain.

Welcome to the pain that is the 'quality' of French built cars, combined with the cost of repairing French cars. You'll get indredibly frustrated time and time again.... only to fall back in love with the car each time you take it for a squirt around a mountain

+1 to both of those! where are you in brissie? I'm @ morningside not that far from french car care I'm out at Loganholme, but work in town so usually try and find mechanics who are on my commute. But yeah, had nearly as bad of an experience as 'Le French Motors' as well (fitted my clutch incorrectly)... so I really can't recommend either of the 'known' French specialists in Brisbane.

I had similar problems... only instead of 'friends' of the previous owner, I had 'French Car Care' in Brisbane give the car a roadworthy with a number of problems that should have never passed (leaking rear shocks, worn tie rod ends, buckled rear wheels, oil leak etc.) I learnt two valuable lessons.... never inspect a car at night with a torch before buying.... and never take your car to 'French Car Care' in Brisbane

Stiff OEM clutch is all down to the OEM pressure plate... it's diabolically stiff, but doesn't give all that much clamping force. I moved to an Exedy OEM replacement clutch which has dramatically improved the clutch operation thanks to the improved pressure plate design with the Exedy kit (it now requires a 'normal' amount of force to depress to the clutch for a modern 4cyl car)

No, no it isn't. Look at any race car or exotic sports car with a manual transmission... ALL have all three pedals sharing the same neutral position (with the exception of dual clutch cars, which often have a typical automatic pedal layout). Having the pedals out of line is cumbersome and inhibits heel and toe control.

For me (I'm 5'11" and 86kg, so hardly a tall/wide person), the seats are too small in terms of back height, they are positioned too high (which can be alleviated with the lowering mod), the steering wheel is far too raked and doesn't have enough reach for my arms (ie. it's like driving a bus), and the pedals are in a position more suited to an upright seating position with the accelerator pedal a little too far in for my liking (they should all line up in the neutral position IMO). So yeah, pretty flawed... particularly when I compare it to cars with great driving positions like the Mx5.

TBH, quality fully synthetic oil is quality synthetic oil (for the better part). I've found most success for NA motors from Mobil 1, and my turbo cars always responded better on Castrol Edge...... BUT, you really can't go wrong with any quality oil. Never-the-less, point is... both are much more readily available and cheaper than Elf... so why go through all that hassle for a comparable product?

Any reason you want to go for Elf? Castrol Edge and Mobil 1 are both better IMO

I'd personally go for the 197. A litle of the rawness is lost, but it's made up with a car that has resolved some of the big problems with the 172/182 (the driving position being the biggest fix... horrendous doesn't even begin to describe how bad the 172/182 is). Not to mention the age of 172/182's are starting to cause issues regarding maintenance.

As I've said, forget 182's... they are a lot more cash, for not much more car when compared to a 172. Really, you're just buying lower kays if you get one. As for 172's, I wouldn't be paying over $10k for one... you can get a fantastic car well under that mark.

I completely disagree to most people here, you simply can't baby a motor or the piston rings won't seal properly. Have a read here for details: http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm Definitely avoid low rpm/high load situations.

Yep, I can see the 'PM' button under everyones profiles now. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks for looking into it Dish. I still don't appear to be able to reply to PM's. Below is a screenshot of an opened PM that shows a lack of a 'reply' button anywhere: