172 Thrashing

[Michael172]

So, you take two 172's. I drive them both.

One has been thrashed by a teenage moron since new and allways takes each gear to 7k revs, and has been for a MOT and had a Full Service only last week.

The other has been owned by a mature woman and has never been thrashed, aside from the odd occasion. This car has also been for it's MOT and Had a full service the week before.

What will be the difference/s between them ? Seriously, i know clio sports are sports cars which, in all honesty, were made to be thrashed. But what sort of differences will there be ?

---I know the chances of getting a clio 172 thats been driven sensibly is about as likely as me finding rocking horse s**t plasterd all over my air filter.

Gears ? Engine ? Will there be a performance difference ?

 

[matt__f]

Why on earth would someone buy one and not intend to drive it hard? If you never took the car about, say 3,000 rpm your not really getting the most out of the car.

It doesn't do the car any harm to be driven a bit harder than normal once its warmed up fully...but I would never thrash mine from cold.

 

[DrR]

Will just be more worn out surely, and beside if it's been owned by a oldish woman driver, it's probably had no maintenance apart from the services.

 

[Ads_172]

The one that's been thrashed will probably have a 'freer' engine, but the opinion does seem to be that this just means it's that little bit closer to dying. The one that's not been driven hard all it's life will feel a bit slower but will be more mechanically sound.

 

[Michael172]

i dont think i would have any intention of driving a 172 past the 80k mark, so im hoping i can get one second hand with about 25-40K miles on the clock. When do cars tend to die anyways ? when do clio sports die ?

 

[matt__f]

I don't think there is a set date/mileage! lol

 

[Ads_172]

Lol, modern engines, even French ones, can go into 100k+ comfortably, providing they're looked after. It's the rest of the car that'll need replacing!

 

[Michael172]

Heh allrite. i read somewhere that they respond well to abuse, even at 88k they just get better and better.

 

[DrR]

Heh allrite. i read somewhere that they respond well to abuse, even at 88k they just get better and better.

I tend to agree, if i drive mine slow, it feels awful, gearchanges are bad, clutch is awful, but when caining it it's super smooth.

 

[edde]

i dont think i would have any intention of driving a 172 past the 80k mark, so im hoping i can get one second hand with about 25-40K miles on the clock. When do cars tend to die anyways ? when do clio sports die ?

There no cut off point yo need to chnage bits depending onw aht your happy with I'd have no problme with a 100k 172 etc. Just need to remember they wear out some parts.

Heh allrite. i read somewhere that they respond well to abuse, even at 88k they just get better and better.

Yep they do loosen up a bit and often get quicker with milage.

 

[JR]

dont let the miles put you off, the majority of higher mile 172's i have driven drive better than ones with 30k on

 

[Fletcher]

Heh allrite. i read somewhere that they respond well to abuse, even at 88k they just get better and better.

Like others have said, don't let high mileage put you off, i bought mine on 46K she's now on just under 70K [52 plate] and she is quicker then ever atm

Hopefully keep mine for a while longer, i'd like to take her over the 100K mark.

 

[LegoHead]

gearbox may be fooked by stoopid old biddies, and clutch coul be fooked from bad drivers riding it.

Who really cares, I drive my car hard from standstill. It's lasted 53k miles so far, when the engine blows up, I'll buy another for 500 quid. When that one blows up buy another.

I would choose between cars based on interior and body condition alone, but lack of service history would make for a bargain of a car.

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Well... Young drivers tend to be poorly skilled. Meaning the clutch and gearbox have probably taken a swift battering.. (BTW lol at Sports car), but if a 2.0 car has never seen less than 20 mpg, it's going to be slow... Very slow.

What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??
The Short Answer: Run it Hard !

Why ??
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.

If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.

How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??
From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into
the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.


The Problem With "Easy Break In" ...
The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run.

There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!
If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.

Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice,
which is why more engines don't have this problem !!

An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!​

 

[Jamie]

i thrash mine when the oil is upto temp, and when cold i let it run for a few mins until i drive it...

 

[Michael172]

imo i stopped doing that when its cold. used to wake up at 6am in winter to get to work, and thrash my car, must have done 60 mph in bt 8 seconds lol.

dont do it now. allways drive like an old man till its warm, and then i continue to drive like an old man.

 

[172boost]

imo i stopped doing that when its cold. used to wake up at 6am in winter to get to work, and thrash my car, must have done 60 mph in bt 8 seconds lol.

dont do it now. allways drive like an old man till its warm, and then i continue to drive like an old man.

I'm the same mate, don't thrash my engine till oil temp is up.
Having said that, I drove to Manchester and back from Portsmouth in my old citreon ax and when I checked the dipstick after getting back there was some sort of insect on the end of it! Topped the oil up and it lasted another 50k!
The only way of truely knowing the state of your engine is to buy from new.

 

[portal172]

The chavs car will break down all the time, but will go hard.

The old ladies car will be problem free (besides the clutch), but will be much slower.

 

[Neil G]

Thrashing may be an indication of the attitude to the rest of the car though....ie not looking after the interior etc.

 

[Michael172]

^^ yeah. interior is the most important thing, but then the engine might be batterd to f**k and sound like a tin.

 

[MillerLight]

the 172 thats been thrashed prob a bit more lose and prob bit quicker. imo. i brought a Fiesta RS1800 with 35K miles owned by a woman from new. and after about 2 months of driving it and trashing it a little bit it was quicker and more responsive. But there are older designed cars and not so tunned but still think the 172 would act the same.

 

[gaz44]

It's like anything. The harder you push a car, the quicker it will break. (There will some exceptions) I guess it depends on what you mean by 'thrashing.' To me, thrashing means maxing out the engine at every opportunity and not caring for the car. Any car that I knew had been thrashed, I would walk away from the car for sure. Not worth the risk.

 

[clio172cup20]

Is it me or am I the only one who doesn't thrash my car!?!?!
I dont feel the need!!!
You chase a car, it will break!! end of!
and cost you money.

 

[MillerLight]

It's like anything. The harder you push a car, the quicker it will break. (There will some exceptions) I guess it depends on what you mean by 'thrashing.' To me, thrashing means maxing out the engine at every opportunity and not caring for the car. Any car that I knew had been thrashed, I would walk away from the car for sure. Not worth the risk.

agree. i drive my car fast all the time but then change the oil every 5K get it serviced on time and change stuff before they really need changing so woundnt call it thrashed just enjoyed.

 

[redclio60mm]

mines done 97k n i really thrash it only when its hot though, and its proabably the fastests its been since i got it 18 months ago, i just service it regularly and wait until its warm. I have had a new clutch though not bad its 1st in 97k.

 

[Russ_16v]

my 172 is on 104k and she loves it lol

 

[Fletcher]

my 172 is on 104k and she loves it lol

Are you still on your first gearbox, clutch?

 

[darren_rallye]

My mum's car has had every service and never been rev'd. However... she's never looked under the bonnet and it could have no oil of water in it, and she probably rides the clutch.

I've had two 106 gtis - one with a lady owner for 6yrs and it was slower than the other one with lots of owners.

 

[Alex_225]

To be honest, most RS Clios are going to have been driven fairly hard, that doesn't mean they've had a hard life.
If you've got some clueless idiot, who hasn't got a clue, doesn't let it warm up etc, then it will take its toll.

My missus drivers her 182 sedately, yet puts her foot down ocassionally, if I drive it I am the same. So her car, would be the kind of car I'd want to buy second hand.
I'd rather know a car had been driven slowly and felt newer even if it meant I got too run it in harder than the previous owner.

 

[Russ_16v]

my 172 is on 104k and she loves it lol

Are you still on your first gearbox, clutch?

yup mate,both original as far as i know,and iv got pretty much all the history

 

[Fred@BTM]

the clutch will be knackered on one, the gearbox AND clutch will be knackered on the other

 

[Russ_16v]

ha lol so true!

 

[lewisniven]

the old ladies car will hve a tighter engine.

i got my cup on 21k miles and it was super tight. it had been owned from new by a woman who did the school run in it, then the bloke i brought if off had only had it 3 months and hardly drove it, so it was as new.

im on 50k now and its loosening up nicely, hehe.

just make sure u test drive both cars and given them a good looking over.

 

[Michael172]

jesus i remember this thread lol.

 

[lewisniven]

yeah looking t the dates this is a bit of a resurrection, lol.

 

[Michael172]

lol i know i dont know why people did them up lol.