New to the world of renault's, melbourne

[davnic]

Hi all just joined as i need to find out as much as i can about the clio before making a choice between a clio 197 or gti.

My current cars are a 1997 2 door wrx sti type r import, a 1998 2 door wrx import track car not used the last 2 years, and my daily driver is a 2001 holden barina sri. I bought the barina in 05 after reading lots of hot hatch storys on this car and it is so much fun in the tight and twisty stuff but it is getting time to let it go after 175000 ks. I was going to buy a golf gti until i stumbled across articles on the clio and now i am undecided and need owners opinions and help.

I feel the clio will have more of a raw edge that i want over the golf true or false? I have driven the gti but not the clio yet.

Build quality, parts cost, resale?

My wife owns a 2004 volswagen tourareg so already have an opinion on volkswagen quality, for a german built car it is no better than ford or holden and parts are triple the price.

Modification potential computer or new chip exhaust ect?

Workshops in in melbourne that work on the clio and can be reccomended?

Correct me if wrong i feel the clio may need a bit more top end power and i have no problems with modifying a new car if needed. Any help and advice will be greatly apreciated.

Thanks,

David

[cooper]

Welcome to the forum David

 

Can't write to much atm, as I about to nod off

 

What I can say (having driven both cars) is that if you appreciate raw edge characteristics in a car, then the 197 is vastly more suited to your tastes (than a gti), particularly in the F1 cup spec that are available for a short time in Australia.

 

Power delivery in the two cars is very different, obviously the turbo of the golf allows it's low/mid range punch to be far stronger than the 197's mill that requires a good stoking before it really opens up and screams in the higher rev range.

 

With regards to engine mods, I don't know a lot about the 197's tuning abiility, although I do know that RStuner does do ecu tunes for the 197.

 

In short the 197 is a bloody fantastic drivers car. Personally, it superior grip, adjustability, looks, brakes and general driver focus and uniqueness would see me in a 197 over the GTI. Plus you can have one for a bit of a steal if you haggle. I know of cars with demo kms that have gone for low 30's.

 

Good luck

[rmadrid-182]

hi davnic,

 

The 197 is more designed to be a cornering and braking machine, so its more of a driver enthusiasts car than the VW GTI. If straight line tunability or all round comfort is more important to you, go the GTi. I'm biased though and agree with cooper, the 197 is my pick, plusses is its build quality has improved over the previous generation Clio which most of us drive and proobably close to the GTI, whether it suits what you need in a car is probably you can decide. So test drive one... warm it up and give it a bit around the twisty road, its like being on rails.. I know with my 182 I signed up straight afterwards

 

As for the prices, Europeans cars maintenance is usually $$$, whether its French or German

[walkie86]

Welcome Davnic. The 197 can be had for low $30ks now, which is an absolute steal. In stock form, Warren Luff ran a 1:12 around Wakefield, such is the cornering ability & brilliance of its brakes. Yet it is still comfortable & not overly stiff.

 

The Golf can only keep up with the previous gen Clios (172/182) once there is a long straight, and the 197 is quicker through the sweeping bends again.

 

So, pick the Golf if you want to be like everyone else. It is a great car, but far too common & boring for myself. It'll be comfortable and still decent in the twisties, but lacks the razor sharp edge of the Clio and won't bring the same smile to your face.

 

Pick the 197 for (IMO) the best looking hatch out there, exclusitivity & a lot more fun.

 

Stealer-wise: there are good & bad Renault dealers out there. This forum will tell you all you need to know. I am sure it would be the same with Volkswagen, but have no experience with them.

 

Resale: The 197 is really unchartered territory, but 182s are still fetching decent dollars 2nd-hand so don't think it would be too bad. The Golf, there are about one million of them out there

 

Modding potential: well, you would need to mod the Golf suspension-wise to keep up with the Clio in the twisties. The Golf is easiest to extract more power from, with a simple ECU reflash (as you would know) whereas the Clio is pushing the envelope at 97hp/L from an NA. Exhaust & intake mods will give you aural pleasure, and an RSTuner will give you a bit more mid-range guts. The should be some interesting developments in the aftermarket area with the introduction of the Clio200 overseas, as that has a fair-whack more torque, but a lot lower down the rev range.

 

But the biggest advantage of getting the Clio?

 

You get to join the best car-forum in Australia (probably the world) with the friendliest people and best advice, and avoid the "fun" of VWVortex (there are probably other Aussie Golf forums though).

 

Best of luck with your decision

[Tyrone]

Welcome buddy,

Plenty of info on this site on Renault Sport Clios - accessible, readable, tried and tested.

 

Share with you a story - wife (who had always wanted a Golf R32) calls me at work from her day off:

"Honey, you know how you keep talking about those Clio Sports? Well guess what, I went to a dealer and took a Clio Cup for a spin today! After the dealer asked me to floor it around a roundabout I've fallen in love with it too! Let's get one!"

 

Moral: happy wife = happy husband

[griffyn]

 

Congratulations. Hope to see you at our Melbourne gathering on June 28th!

[davnic]

Thanks for the help.

Yes i think the golf is a becoming a bit to generic for my liking but i did like the test drive. I bought my last new suby in 99 and after my wife wrote it off at philip island i decided not to replace it as they were becoming far to common.

I have 1 quote for an ex demo 08 197 clio for 36000 but have not started to haggle yet. I think the dealer should be able to go allot lower for an 08 model or is this about right?

Question for the melb guys

Have any of you taken your car to phillip island for a run and what times will it do? My sti will do 1.57 and thinking the clio should be pretty close to 2.05.

 

Thanks for your comments again,

David

[CHRIS-172]

Davnic you have a PM

[emu]

David, Hi , and welcome to a great group of people with terrific cars

A lot's been said , so I'll be brief

 

I'm 69, and never drove a french car till I was 65

Saw a Clio 172 at a hillclimb, and couldn't believe it was standard ,so I bought one and won the Australian Hillclimb Championship 2 litre class in 2005. Since ,owned two 182 Cups,(needed a change of color).Never lost a supersprint in a Clio ever. Lost only 2 hillclimbs. Never lost more than 12.5% per year in depreciation. Now got an R26

 

One of my best racing mates and I have recently both bought cars, I bought the R26 after hard testing a gti, he bought the gti without testing a 197 or R26. He now bitterly regrets buying the gti..........power's good, but handling and brakes are nowhere near as sharp. Renault reliability and fault freedom is amazing t/out all cars. No rattles or squeaks even is my experience

 

Phillip Island......I've just sold a redhot Gemini Coupe which did the Island in a flat 2.00 mins, and I used to race the Gemini and the 182 together on the same days .Their times hillclimbs and sprints were almost identical, so I'm sure I could get around the Island in 2.00 flat in a 182, the 197 should be fractionally better

 

I was recently in Perth and Brisbane shopping for a new 197 before I bought the R26. I got the Brisbane bloke down to $31,500 drive away, and the Perth Bloke down to $31,000 drive away, so there are deals to be had if you tough it out for cash

 

So, just put a smile on your face and buy a RenaultSport !

 

cheers pete

[davnic]

Thanks Emu

 

Congrats on the title win it is not an easy thing to do.

I have not been to SA collingrove hill climb for at least 8 years but loved it when there. I bought one of my last sti's from a guy that used to run allot at collingrove probably still does.

The car will be used as a daily driver, hill climb at GCC new track haunted hills and to justify my membership of piarc phillip island. The wrx 2 door race car will be sold to help fund the clio so if you know of anyone that wants a cheap 2 door wrx for hill climbs ect let me know.

 

Thanks,

David

[emu]

Thanks David

Haunted Hills, ....I'm looking forward to that,.....faint chance this year, strong chance next

Post up some info and pics of the rex, and importantly ,price ,and what needs doing to it to have it competitive

my son may,may, be interested, and there's a few hillclimbers on this forum, and don't forget my105 ads

 

my recent experiences tell me that, with your background, there's no way you will be content with a gti as against a 197,.......the gti has many pluses, but for a demanding all round performance driver, you won't be content with anything less than a 197 style chassis

 

If you can afford it , I'd try to pick up a demo 197 R27,............... these are fabulous with the Cup chassis and brakes,seats etc, but , at $45K driveaway, Renault have missed the mark by slightly overpricing them in this market, and they're sticking in the showrooms,.....by time you've sold your rex, you should be able to muscle someone down to $36K or thereabouts for a demo,..........and like me, I see you're very wary of depreciation,... these things will be very rare and sought after in 2/3 years time, and being an upmarket sport model will hold their price best of all

BTW, their economy is simply brilliant, not like my R26, but I'm not complaining

 

And don't be put off if you're offered an ex-press car(not hard to establish, even if they don't tell you ,if you trace the VIN back through a dealer's computer, and check the feathered tyres,.......two of my near new RS's have been ex press incl the current R26 , and they always go harder than the rest

 

Good luck, pete

[davnic]

Thanks Pete

R27 demo would be nice.

Out of quriosity have you seen a burnt orange colour 2 door suby running at collingove? Mate sent it over a few years ago and it used to hold the hill climb record at bathurst and camperdown in its class.

Wife has told me to sell a few things before i go and buy another car but likes the idea of a new clio.

Will get the car advertised soon it will be going cheap 6k maybe, titanium exhaust on it cost 2500.

I am going to Queensland in the next few days and hopefully back by the 27th as i see there may be a drive day in melb coming up. If anyone is interested i will drag my 98 sti coupe type r out of the shed and swap drives with a 197 owner. Only stipulation would be driver over 25 and sensible as the car has only done 10,000ks and is pretty rare.

David

[emu]

Thanks

I still need to know what the rex needs done to be competitive. I'm a buyer

 

thanks pete

[Dish]

Let me get this right... you have a 98 2-door WRX track car with 10K on the dial (and a drool worthy titanium exhaust) and you only want $6K for it???

 

And you're in Melb? And you're able to make it to the 28th drive day?

[bruno.225]

welcome mate....

[CHRIS-172]

Let me get this right... you have a 98 2-door WRX track car with 10K on the dial (and a drool worthy titanium exhaust) and you only want $6K for it???

 

And you're in Melb? And you're able to make it to the 28th drive day?

 

Yeah if its an import not to bee complied and road driven thats about right, on the cheapish side tho i would think but it depends on the market and what needs replacing on the car.

[davnic]

No 2 separete cars

Import sti v3 2 door road registered 10,000 ks on the clock and unmodified, not for sale.

Selling wrx 2 door v limited only 1000 made and comes with titaniunm apexi exhaust. Also comes with an apexi dump pipe 3 or 4 rims and whatever else is laying around in the shed. You could comply the car but it is not worth the effort cost or time that it takes to do, 4 door imports are selling for around 10k. The car is going cheap as the wife has said yes to a new Clio 197 {Baulked at the price of a 197 cup} but with the proviso I sell the other cars first.

The 2001 barina sri has 187,000 ks probably 6k also. The sri won motor mags BFYB in its day a bit outclassed now but still a great little runabout.

Pete the car needs a new clutch and general clean up i will get some photo's off the old computer and get them to you.

I hope to be back from Queensland in time for your drive day as i would love to come along.

 

Cheers,

David

[Dish]

Cool, thanks for clearing that up - oh, and welcome aboard! hehe

 

Still, that sounds like a ripper of a car. I've always had a thing for the 2dr WRX, especially the 22B...

Wish I had $6K to spare! Pete's Lancia Beta was also whetting my appetite - always lusted for one of those too - yep, varied taste!

 

Look forward to meeting you on the 28th.

 

Cheers, Dish.

[puncher]

Welcome Davnic. It appears that your leaning towards the Clio going by the nature of your posts.

 

2 things i noticed. You want somewthing thats good in the twisties, the Clio will have that in spades over the Gti. You also said you want a car thats not too common and generic. Once again, The Clio comes up trumps. These 2 important factors heavily point toward the Clio.

 

They ALWAYS get good reviews. I think with your racing back ground it will serve you well, and also the Renault community will benefit from a racer who can make another Clio shine.

 

Besides, we need someone who can challenge Pete He wins too many races

 

ps...as for the Clio needing more power. It actually revs harder than the old model. It is its low down torque that has had criticism if any. No doubt due to its extra weight. It has a 6 speed box (as opposed to the old models 5 speed) to make up for some of the lack of torque by using closer ratios and utilising its power more efficiently.

 

Steve

[griffyn]

Come along to the drive day in a couple of weeks - if meeting a bunch of enthused owners doesn't make up your mind, we can't help any more.

 

 

Besides, a little WRX is fair game for Clios in the twisties

[The Jeffster]

The only thing I have to add is there is that mysterious ITB kit in the UK on cliosport.net there is no price and only one test vehicle but it woudl make the 197 a stand out for sure.

 

Enjoy your time on the forum