Gbakk Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 Hi all, first time posting, have loved the current generation of Renault Clio since its release and will very soon be in a situation where I could potentially purchase one. I have looked at other hot hatches like the VW GTIs and have also looked at 86/BRZs and MX5s. Will be needing an auto so it is not limited as to who is able to drive it. I would really love to purchase a yellow RS200, but the only thing which would hold me back is the reliability reputation of both french cars in general and DCTs in general. How have owners of the current gen Clio RS found their time with the car? Any issues (and if so how expensive/long did it take to have them fixed)? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris043 Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 No issues in my case after 3 years + and 33,000 km. Many complain about the EDC gearbox but it's more a case of getting used to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckovski Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 I'm very happy with mineThere are some build quality issues but nothing I've found much of an issueThere is an inlet pipe thing that breaks but it is fixed under warrantyMy gear box is great, some people have found some problems; my old Skoda superb was appalling so this is a refreshing experience Where are you? Feel free to have a look at mine if you're in the Illawarra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stromlo Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 38 minutes ago, Gbakk said: How have owners of the current gen Clio RS found their time with the car? Any issues (and if so how expensive/long did it take to have them fixed)? Cheers Love it more every time I drive it, in short. About 18months and 9k km in (don't drive much other than w/e) and no dramas. Gearbox is fine - it is not an auto and needs to be driven as you would a manual (albeit with an automated clutch) but otherwise it is great. And for $200, you can do three mods to enrich the experience too (res delete, sports filter and intake amplifier tube cap off) and you'll have a great time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smy0003 Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 The engine (MR16DDT) is a Nissan unit also found in the Pulsar. People on here complain about gearbox behaviour, but it seems it's just the EDC doing it's thing. You'd be best to do a search and read those posts, it might bother you, it might not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 26, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 1 hour ago, chris043 said: No issues in my case after 3 years + and 33,000 km. Many complain about the EDC gearbox but it's more a case of getting used to it. Great to hear, was not worried about the tendencies of the edc but more the reliability and durability of them, good to see there haven't been any problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 26, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 58 minutes ago, chuckovski said: I'm very happy with mine There are some build quality issues but nothing I've found much of an issue There is an inlet pipe thing that breaks but it is fixed under warranty My gear box is great, some people have found some problems; my old Skoda superb was appalling so this is a refreshing experience Where are you? Feel free to have a look at mine if you're in the Illawarra Nice to see you've enjoyed it, I am aware of the rattles and squeaks associated with the build quality of the interior but i dont think they would bother me too much. Good to hear your gearbox has served you well. Im in melbourne, so probably won't be able to have a look at your one hahah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 26, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 54 minutes ago, stromlo said: Love it more every time I drive it, in short. About 18months and 9k km in (don't drive much other than w/e) and no dramas. Gearbox is fine - it is not an auto and needs to be driven as you would a manual (albeit with an automated clutch) but otherwise it is great. And for $200, you can do three mods to enrich the experience too (res delete, sports filter and intake amplifier tube cap off) and you'll have a great time. Good to know that its a car that gets under you're skin the more you drive it, thats a great quality, glad you've enjoyed it. Will need to look into those mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 26, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 28 minutes ago, smy0003 said: The engine (MR16DDT) is a Nissan unit also found in the Pulsar. People on here complain about gearbox behaviour, but it seems it's just the EDC doing it's thing. You'd be best to do a search and read those posts, it might bother you, it might not. Not as much worried about the behaviour of the gearbox, seems like you could adjust to it and learn to drive around it, but nonetheless i will look into it a bit more, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar5boosted Posted 26, March 2018 Report Share Posted 26, March 2018 (edited) 11 hours ago, Gbakk said: I would really love to purchase a yellow RS200, but the only thing which would hold me back is the reliability reputation of both french cars in general and DCTs in general. How have owners of the current gen Clio RS found their time with the car? Any issues (and if so how expensive/long did it take to have them fixed)? They are much more reliable than most people in Australia know. For example the Clio is known to be more reliable in Europe than the Suzuki Swift http://www.reliabilityindex.com/top-100 http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/194 The average time off the road is 2.5 hours and about $350 to service. This is for the 'econobox' Clio's but the RS Clio's aren't that much different. Edited 26, March 2018 by ar5boosted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhayes Posted 29, March 2018 Report Share Posted 29, March 2018 As far as reliability and build quality go, after a little over 12 months and 14,000 km’s I’ve had no problems at all! The five year, unlimited kilometre warranty did allot to put my mind at ease. Previous to the Clio I had a latest gen (ND) MX-5, and the comparison is a mixed bag. Both are pretty full of hard plastics, but you don’t buy these cars for an Audi interior. One thing I have noticed is the paint quality of the Clio is amazing! I would find a new paint chip almost every day on the MX-5 because the paint is very thin and soft, but the Clio is rock solid and I’m still yet to find any chips. The Clio is far superior in terms of it’s acceleration and handling limits, but the MX-5 is a whole other experience with the manual gearbox and soft top. Ultimately the Clio is so much more practical, the MX-5 is a great second car, but very limiting when it’s your only car!The Clio transmission is great, as long as you remember it’s an automated manual, and have some mechanical sympathy. If you use a bit of common sense and remember the computer is doing what your left foot usually does, so you don’t want to be creating situations where the computer might be trying to ‘ride the clutch’. In sport and race mode the shifts are so quick!! It’s awesome!!All the cars you’ve listed drive brilliantly, but very differently. I’m sure you will love whatever you get! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xevman Posted 29, March 2018 Report Share Posted 29, March 2018 You'll find that there isnt many documented issues with Renaults DCTs in particular. My friend had a Clio RS 200 since launch, drove it like it was stolen (no joke the car was in sport mode 99% of the time) and racked up a fair few ks on it before it was written off. Never had an issue with the gear gearbox or engine wise just little stuff like interior squeaks and rattles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 29, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 29, March 2018 On 27/03/2018 at 9:11 AM, ar5boosted said: They are much more reliable than most people in Australia know. For example the Clio is known to be more reliable in Europe than the Suzuki Swift http://www.reliabilityindex.com/top-100 http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/194 The average time off the road is 2.5 hours and about $350 to service. This is for the 'econobox' Clio's but the RS Clio's aren't that much different. Thanks for that, did not know rhose rankings existed, will need to check them out but looks promising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 29, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 29, March 2018 17 hours ago, Bhayes said: As far as reliability and build quality go, after a little over 12 months and 14,000 km’s I’ve had no problems at all! The five year, unlimited kilometre warranty did allot to put my mind at ease. Previous to the Clio I had a latest gen (ND) MX-5, and the comparison is a mixed bag. Both are pretty full of hard plastics, but you don’t buy these cars for an Audi interior. One thing I have noticed is the paint quality of the Clio is amazing! I would find a new paint chip almost every day on the MX-5 because the paint is very thin and soft, but the Clio is rock solid and I’m still yet to find any chips. The Clio is far superior in terms of it’s acceleration and handling limits, but the MX-5 is a whole other experience with the manual gearbox and soft top. Ultimately the Clio is so much more practical, the MX-5 is a great second car, but very limiting when it’s your only car! The Clio transmission is great, as long as you remember it’s an automated manual, and have some mechanical sympathy. If you use a bit of common sense and remember the computer is doing what your left foot usually does, so you don’t want to be creating situations where the computer might be trying to ‘ride the clutch’. In sport and race mode the shifts are so quick!! It’s awesome!! All the cars you’ve listed drive brilliantly, but very differently. I’m sure you will love whatever you get! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Great to hear from someone who has had both a clio and an mx5, and its even better to hear that the clio stacks up pretty well! Manual not an option as other family members would need to drive it, and i too have heard that both the mx5 and 86 have very soft paints so its nice to know that the clios is a bit more robust 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbakk Posted 29, March 2018 Author Report Share Posted 29, March 2018 13 hours ago, xevman said: You'll find that there isnt many documented issues with Renaults DCTs in particular. My friend had a Clio RS 200 since launch, drove it like it was stolen (no joke the car was in sport mode 99% of the time) and racked up a fair few ks on it before it was written off. Never had an issue with the gear gearbox or engine wise just little stuff like interior squeaks and rattles. With a car like the clio it would be hard not to drive it like it was stolen, so it's good to hear that the transmission is up to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmh Posted 10, April 2018 Report Share Posted 10, April 2018 We've done 33K kms in ours and no reliability issues. DCT is fine; if you drive in manual mode - let the gearbox deal with downshifts when driving on public roads. The only exception to this I've found is occasionally when driving hard and braking to take a left turn off a main road I will knock down from 4th to 3rd myself. Try not to crawl using the footbrake in traffic, use stop start technique. I've been lucky enough to drive a Lambo Gallardo and Ferrari 360 - and with both the instructor gave me the same advice regarding letting the computer deal with downshifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuckSqueezeBangBlow Posted 13, April 2018 Report Share Posted 13, April 2018 Did they say why? I ask because I love downshifting my SS with its crackles and pops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris043 Posted 13, April 2018 Report Share Posted 13, April 2018 1 hour ago, SuckSqueezeBangBlow said: Did they say why? I ask because I love downshifting my SS with its crackles and pops! Probably because the boffins at Renault think that the DCT computer knows more about ideal downshift times than we do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vish Posted 13, April 2018 Report Share Posted 13, April 2018 33 minutes ago, chris043 said: Probably because the boffins at Renault think that the DCT computer knows more about ideal downshift times than we do... It clunks way too often when left to its own devices to be 'ideal'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckovski Posted 13, April 2018 Report Share Posted 13, April 2018 I've got my Clio back - and boy have I forgotten how good it is! Including the gearbox. This is coming off driving the Megane for the last few months... Both are awesome obviously. But I'd forgotten how good the Clio is for what it is and how much you can get into one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris043 Posted 13, April 2018 Report Share Posted 13, April 2018 13 hours ago, vish said: It clunks way too often when left to its own devices to be 'ideal'... Mine doesn't 'clunk' when downshifting....maybe a little sometimes when upshifting under hard acceleration in manual Sport or Race mode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmh Posted 17, April 2018 Report Share Posted 17, April 2018 On 4/13/2018 at 5:39 PM, SuckSqueezeBangBlow said: Did they say why? I ask because I love downshifting my SS with its crackles and pops! because the ECU is calculating when to change down and you run the risk of effectively double downshifting which in turn adds stress to components Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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