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regular track warrior looking for next toy. comes to renault


markis

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Evening all.

 

my brother and i regularly track our ralliarts and his clio sport at QR and lakeside up in sunny qld. we are just about to buy either a lotus elise/exige, evo IX or X SST, or wrx STI.

 

all where considered and then i decided to have a look at the 200 cups. which ticks all the right boxes.

now my question is in stock form is the clio 200 going to be up to the torment and abuse of a track in 40degree heat for half a day or do they need coolers and what not.?

do they suffer from anything dreaded like torque steer?

and do they have some form of LSD?

 

the 2003 clio sport phase 3 is currently getting a facelift and we are getting bored of waiting for parts to arrive from france. so time to buy a clio 200. :mrgreen:

 

if anyone could comment on how they drive in comparison to a focus RS then i would greatly appreciate it as ive had a bit of time behind the wheel on one of them and find them a brilliant FF setup

 

kind regards

mark

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Welcome Markis!

 

Nice list of cars that you're considering. Can I ask what the 'boxes' are that the Clio ticked as the Lotus, Evo/WRX and Clio are all totally different machines.

 

Just to answer your questions:

- all FWD cars will have some form of torque steer. But the suspension setup on the Clio certainly minimises it

- the 200 doesn't have an LSD from factory

- I haven't driven a Focus RS so can't compare but a big, heavy Turbo FWD will be different to a smaller, lighter NA hot hatch.

 

Are you wanting to mod the car much? If so you will have many more options with the Evo/WRX and even the Lotus, though the Clio doesn't need much to be competitive.

 

Is this going to be purely a track car?

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welcome !

 

as to hot weather track work ..... non supercharged elise / exige will be fine . supercharged will need a simply sports cars water spray kit as heat soak in the factory A-A intercooler basically stops it being any use after a few laps and HP goes down

 

evo 9 [ and i assume sti ] will have some hot weather perforrmance loss - they get REALLY hot underbonnet on track and need regular oil changes . i have spent a fortune on mine , blew a motor , mod / mod / mod .

 

the RS motors are bullet proof . we track an 10 year old clio 172 with 105,000k up and the motor just keeps going . and going . best to stick a quaife diff in there , really helps out of the corners . they dont need much moddding as they go so well out of the box . pretty cheap to maintain . obviously not as fast as a s/c lotus or evo / sti but punch well above weight .

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morning gents :)

 

the reason im thinking about the clio is the weight. 1100-1200kg is far lighter than the Evo X at 1500+kg,

i use to own a evo VII and it was a bit of a nightmare as a daily drive and was far too heavy.

 

my current track car is a ralliart colt 1.5lt, power is a measly 113kw, weighs 1086kg wet 70/30weight split :(, its stock for warranty reasons, and im not one to mod a car unless i need to. the colt suffers from single wheel spin post apex syndrome :(, it is in bad need of a LSD and the weight split doesnt help corner entry im afraid.

 

my brothers clio which i believe is a phase 3 172 was lapping 2.5seconds faster around QR than me with an exhaust and filter, so im curious as to what the RS200 will be like in comparison.

 

what i fancy about the clio sport 200 cup trophee (long as name), is it gets brembos as standard, same seats as focus RS, weighs less than 1200kg, developed for the track and will allow me to compete in the street NA class for the rest of the competition. and im a big fan of nick heifield, vitaly petrov and robert kubica

 

if anyone is selling a 200 cup please point me in their direction. :)

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xsounds like youve answered the question ! go for it - 200 will be great for all the reasons you mention .

 

the experts will know how much quicker 200 is over 172 but i recall moosey at the nats at wakefield last year on a very wet track getting 3rd fastest of the day beaten only by a track prepped civic on wets and and track evo :] .

 

does the 172 have a fancy diff ? ours now has and its point and squirt - heaps better . 200 with diff be great .

 

being a mitsu fan , got a soft spot for the colt . underated and obviously a fun thing .

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the 197/200 Clios are closer to 1300 KG than 1200. ive got 1280 stuck in my head.

 

Cup200 on here has recently run a 1.55 at Eastern Creek which is as quick as anyone with a Megane has done previously. he runds KW V3s, different exhaust backbox and Semis but thats about it.

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are they really that heavy? hmmm. i may reconsider and get the Evo X, ill take it out for a test drive and report back. :)

 

the clio my brother runs RE55S to deal with the mid/exit corner grip. he was planning on a diff but he has decided to go with the lotus. for myself i hope its a RS200.

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200's are supposed to weigh around 1220 - not sure where the 1280 came from Chris? I've not weighed mine though so can't be sure.

 

In terms of laptimes, I took the 200 out for a play at Wakefield today and it was around 1.5-2 seconds a lap slower than my fairly heavily modded 172 (but no LSD). The 200 is stock & I was running Falken 615's which are supposed to be R spec but I'm not too sure about that. So that's not too bad straight out of the box and I reckon with proper tyres (R888's etc) it would be alot better.

 

200 doesn't have an LSD and at the fish hook (tight hairpin) it was spinning the inside tyre like crazy - the 172 hooks up alot better through there which leads me to suspect the tyres. The Falken's were $650 the set fitted so.....

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Yeah not 100% Nath, i thought i had read it in a car mag once...

Wiki tells me the 197 weighs 130 KG more than the previous car and the 182 was 1090...

 

UK cars and Evo say the 197 has 1240

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/ca ... 05233.html

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarr ... _clio.html

 

Apologies.

 

Is the 200 a little lighter than the 197?

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No drama's mate, I wasn't bothered but just curious whether you'd seen a higher real number somewhere.

 

I think the 200 may be slightly lighter - I did notice it was quoted lower. Recaro's probably drop a little but don't know what else contributes to it.

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well ill you what. if i find the right RS200 ill weigh it. i get all my cars weighed at fulcrum and they do individual corner weighting too. pretty amazing what those guys can do.

 

i know the rear diffuser is good for 35kg@100kph but does the front mid bar splitter contribute to it at all?

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would prefer a NA car so i cna drop down a class from forced induction street. do any of the clios come with an LSD?

 

Only if you buy it from some hippie who may have left some in the centre console...

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would prefer a NA car so i cna drop down a class from forced induction street. do any of the clios come with an LSD?

 

Dropping in a quaife LSD shouldnt be too big a deal. Probably $2k incl installation

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Probably a bit more Dave, and there would be a bit of work from what i've been told.

But very good option going the Quaife.

Would love seeing the end result of a 200 in Brisneyland fully kitted up for track.

Feel free to drop me an email once you get her...might be able to get you parts and accessories.

France sometimes takes a little longer than the UK to get things - don't know why.

Anyway, here if needed... pics etc please when this project happens.

Cheers,

WOLF

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Probably a bit more Dave, and there would be a bit of work from what i've been told.

But very good option going the Quaife.

Would love seeing the end result of a 200 in Brisneyland fully kitted up for track.

Feel free to drop me an email once you get her...might be able to get you parts and accessories.

France sometimes takes a little longer than the UK to get things - don't know why.

Anyway, here if needed... pics etc please when this project happens.

Cheers,

WOLF

 

ill be after some aero parts. ie. front splitter and canards if they are available. :mrgreen:

 

i took one today for a drive at bryantbyrtrenault whom where more than accommodating took it for a punt around town, picked up my kid sister from school and went up a local mountain track. 8) all up its got great grip, massive turn in. but lacks power. it does feel a bit too heavy too. but to conclude i think i may have found what i was looking for. so long as i could find one within budget. the dealer wouldnt budge on their price of $40990 :( but that was for the Aust GP, the normal trophee was $200 cheaper only. :?:

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182 with ITB's, rollcage, stripped, coilovers, racing rims and tyres and LSD.

 

All this for under 25k and you have yourself an NA track weapon.

 

If doing all that a 172 would be a better base as it's lighter.

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Depends on the supp regs.

 

Some are done on capacity only, and you'd be fine. Others have a list of permitted mods and you move from "stock" to "improved" to "Race" as you bolt stuff on and off.

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evening gents.

 

ive got a 172 at my disposal. but its getting on in age. the R26 is something im seriously considering. but i know its pretty lame but im not a fan of the front of the 197. the 200rs on the other hand is brilliant.

 

i had 31k thrown at a 2011 polo gti which i have backed out of due to its build date being pushed back from jan 2012 to june 2012. so scratched that idea. ive since then bought some semis for the Rcolt and co financing an evo X with my brother. so my budget has dropped below 30k now. haha pretty dramatic weekend if you ask me.

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Once you get it, give me a shout via email and we'll take it from there.

So...they let you drive it up a mountain track?

Mt Gravatt lookout?? or..???

 

they did :) they were very accommodating and trusting. :wink: good guys at byrtbrynt renault. and if they could come down in price i would get a clio on the 2.9% finance.

 

it was mt gravatt lookout. bit futile up hill with the low power and 3 people in the car. but downhill it was good. but the esp kicked in on the tighter hairpins. good front end. and the rear follows nicely. :P im definitely sold on a RS200 i think :mrgreen:

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Geez, i just realised since they are nowat the bottom of the hill (mountain - yeah right), that is the perfect spot for a test drive.

My friends, i suggest all Brisneylanders pay them a visit... as i will be. Heheh.

 

WOLF

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Geez, i just realised since they are nowat the bottom of the hill (mountain - yeah right), that is the perfect spot for a test drive.

My friends, i suggest all Brisneylanders pay them a visit... as i will be. Heheh.

 

WOLF

i know theyre just begging to be driven up there. ralliart uses the same road to test drive their colt, ralliart lancer and evo x 8)

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if anyone is selling a 200 cup please point me in their direction. :)

 

Have you seen the one for sale on this forum?

 

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=20109

i have actually. ive been pm'ing alison for a good half week or so. we'll see :mrgreen:

 

anyone else with a RS200 find the gearbox notchy, its not as silky smooth as my RalliartColts getrag 5mt, i was pretty suprised. cause i thought the french were all about being smooth. :wink:

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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.

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Sorry, but you're absolutely nuts to look past a clean EVO VI for a track car car.

 

Not if you're chasing class honours instead of outright.

 

The supersprint championship, for example, has a class for production, sub 2l, excluding sportscars. Couple that with the reliability of the Renault on-track (from my experience) and he's still on a winner.

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He's bought an Evo with his brother according to an above post. I assume this is a daily which can also be taken to the track?

correct. that is exactly what im after. a track car that i can drive everyday

ive owned an Evo VII for a good year or so. it was nimble and well priced. servicing isnt an issue as i religiously service every 3-5k depending on how many track days i do.

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Sorry, but you're absolutely nuts to look past a clean EVO VI for a track car car.

 

Not if you're chasing class honours instead of outright.

 

The supersprint championship, for example, has a class for production, sub 2l, excluding sportscars. Couple that with the reliability of the Renault on-track (from my experience) and he's still on a winner.

 

 

exactly. i really want to get into a NA car. and the clio seems to tick the appropriate boxes. except power :(

but at the moment i may have to wait a few more months before i could afford a RS200.

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Sorry, but you're absolutely nuts to look past a clean EVO VI for a track car car.

 

Not if you're chasing class honours instead of outright.

 

The supersprint championship, for example, has a class for production, sub 2l, excluding sportscars. Couple that with the reliability of the Renault on-track (from my experience) and he's still on a winner.

 

 

exactly. i really want to get into a NA car. and the clio seems to tick the appropriate boxes. except power :(

but at the moment i may have to wait a few more months before i could afford a RS200.

 

maybe a second hand stripped out 172/182 then for better power/weight ratio? you should hook up with a forum member here evilb66, he raced the Clio II regularly and believe he cracked 1m11's at Wakefield Park

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  • 2 months later...

ok well i did a bad thing. went and bought an EVO X. and drove it half a dozen times and now im over it. so im back to looking for a clio. dont get me wrong the evo is great. amazing power and torque. not bad on fuel. but its pointless for what i want it for. i need something NA and FWD.

 

anyone want to swap with cash my way?

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/pri ... &silo=1011

 

 

im now gonna go scourer the ozrenault classifieds

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