Clio 182 vs 200 vs other 5k Weekend/Track Cars

Morning all, just joined the forum, been lurking the background both on here and Facebook for a few weeks now trying to pull together as much info as I can before committing to a Clio as a Weekend/Track toy for the end of this year and next year. This will be my 3rd car along side my Daily M135i and fully restored Classic Mini. Looking to buy something in the next few weeks to try and get some track days in before Winter.

So far ive been looking at a variety of 182's on the FB page as well as Autotrader, and have seen a few of the 200's creep into budget.

Maybe i havent looked hard enough, but i cant seem to find any info on how much of a job a cambelt and dephaser is on the 200 vs the 182, theres a good vid on youtube of a 182 being serviced but nothing really on the 200. Is the 200 much more of a job? I would plan on doing the work myself and I cant imagine its going to be the worst job ever, ive recently just fully restored an old Mini in the garage so should be fine and ive got an engine crane, too many tools and workbench etc. I would need to buy timing tools at a minimum but wondered if theres anything im missing or if it is basically the same procedure on the 200 as the 182.

Secondly, gearboxes, the 3rd/4th syncro, again is this a driveway/home garage job or would it need to go off to a gearbox rebuilder, and are there any main differences between a 182 and 200 gearbox apart from the extra gear in the 200? Happy to pull the gearbox apart but the one thing i dont have in my workshop is a bearing press or extractor. The parts dont look too expensive and from doing a bit fo research the box in itself isnt too tricky to pull out the car, just a bit fiddly. I do have access to a 4 poster ramp if required. One option is to pull the engine and box at the same time and do any Syncro work at the same times as the Dephaser/Belt.

I see theres quite a few options when it comes to Standard/Cup/Full fat, am i correct in thinking the Full fat is in effect a standard with a few of the Cup goodies but maintaining the Aircon, but an outright cup also has suspension hard point changes as well as a different steering rack, or again is this all difference between 182/182Cup/182FF and 200/200Cup/200FF

The 182 and 200 are both joint at the top of my list (although has to be a funky colour), other options ive got on the table are an EP3, although probably a crusty one for £5k, an FN2 although not fully sold on the size of it, and maybe something like an R26 or even a Boxster. Ive already had a 130i in the past and an NC MX5 so dont want to go back there, but interested to know if anyone else has been in this position and any feedback between the Renaults and Hondas and other £5k toys etc? All the reviews i can see online mainly benchmark the 182 trophy vs XXX and its sort of not useful in my circumstances as they are significantly out of budget and from what i can see the Trophy is quite a difference vehicle character to the Cup/FF's.

Many thanks,

Hey man, I'm from Brazil. The Clio stopped being produced here in 2016, but it kept the styling of the 182 generation, with a 1.0 16V engine. I made a post here to show my car to the members. We don't have the 2.0 Clio here, but some people swap in the F4R engine from the Fluence into models with the 1.6 engine, which turns the car into a really fun and capable race machine. Personally, I think the 182 looks better than the 200.

So here’s my view after and still owning a lot of Clio’s namely phase 1 172, 182’s, 197, 200 and then a 220 trophy

In my view for a weekend and track toy a 182 is the best in my opinion. They feel and drive much better than a mk3 / noise and enjoyment from driving is better

A mk3 is quicker when pushed hard but it’s not as enjoyable to drive. The 3rd gear is a pain but easily fixed by someone like northloop or if you are handy I am sure you can fix it but it’s beyond my skills

The trophy is again a great car but remember the front dampers are the only real big change between another 182 and they are now 20 year old technology. I daily’d my trophy for 8 months doing 200 miles today and it was great but a well sorted 182 is just as much fun..

Personally I would get a 182

koksracing said:

Personally I would get a 182

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Agree with the above. I've had 10 182's and more recently a 172 cup. Most people would say to get the 172 cup, but personally I'd go with a 182 with both cup packs or a 182 cup, as they have aircon, cruise, abs, etc.

I

Moosey94 said:

Morning all, just joined the forum, been lurking the background both on here and Facebook for a few weeks now trying to pull together as much info as I can before committing to a Clio as a Weekend/Track toy for the end of this year and next year. This will be my 3rd car along side my Daily M135i and fully restored Classic Mini. Looking to buy something in the next few weeks to try and get some track days in before Winter.

Many thanks,

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I've also owned a couple of 130i's and a NC MX5 too, and both were great cars, but ultimately ended up selling them and back in a mk2 Clio. Though my MX5 blew up after 3 weeks, it was pretty enjoyable until that point.

I've now got a Z4 3.0si, which is pretty much a 130i with 2 seats and a soft top (So kind of a mash up with an mx5). With a few mods including an LSD and a shorter diff, they're pretty fun for the money, and a back box delete makes them sound awesome. But it's totally different to a hot hatch like the 182.

Things to know if you've never had a mk2 before. The seats and seating position is crap, and the steering wheel is to large. I always factor in new seats (usually a bucket seat on Jon Foz X-Low mounts), and a 330mm steering wheel, boss and spacer.

Ultimately if you want a hot hatch at 182 money, there isn't much else out there I didn't think that can deliver the same experience and overall cost. An R56 mini maybe, but they're more problematic and costly to run and not as nice to drive, but are much more tunable.

I'd probably go down the boxster or Z4 options though, as I think they cover more based. But I'm getting old now, and like a convertible.

Yep agree with this - get the Jon fonz mounts and the trendlines or similar..

Steering wheel is a good addition too and then get a nice exhaust on it and pound for pound you can beat them..