just starting to push the car a bit now and find the handling a bit nervous or is it the go kart feel ? also under heavy braking earlier the car was snaking left and right it went very light at the back end. my last car was an almera gti which was very stable handling/braking it had strut braces front&rear as standard and i never felt the back end was waiting to bite back
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just starting to push the car a bit now and find the handling a bit nervous or is it the go kart feel ? also under heavy braking earlier the car was snaking left and right it went very light at the back end. my last car was an almera gti which was very stable handling/braking it had strut braces front&rear as standard and i never felt the back end was waiting to bite back
any hot hatch under hard braking will go very light at the back. Just something you need to get used to.
as for the handling, i am a little suspect about mine too. but i think this is boecause i am used to the grp N peugeot sport suspension of my saxo track car!
also the cup really doesnt feel that quick. again, i think its cos i am used the rawness and speed of saxo!
The car is naturally heavier at the front and Id say from experience of owning 4 Clios that it sounds usual.
I think it would be a good idea to take the car onto a track and learn where the limits are. The Clio Willy was always noted as being a great "on the limit" car where you could explore the handling safely without it suddenly snapping out of control. I dont feel that my 172 is much different (nor my old 16V), so dont see that a 182 would be either.
So, your 182 should really come into its own when driving it hard and I think perhaps you need to tailor yourself to it? How long have you had it?
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Best thing you can do. Until you get it on a track and start playing about on the plateau that is the "limit", youll never truly appreciate what theyre capable of.
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Give it time, exercise caution, focus on what youre feeling through the seat/wheel/pedals and itll all come good in the end.
Get over to the trackday forum to see whats coming up next...I think theres a Renaultsport day at Brands on May 6th?
[Edited by MarkCup on 19 March 2005 at 1:20pm]
Just seen your username - imposter!!!
seb
ClioSport Club Member
Clio trophy
i am currently driving a hire car cos the 182 is broke....
it is scary driving a normal everyday car like the 1.0 yaris im in or the astra van i had as well. just shows how good a 182 is... the yaris is a fun car but the front has nothing to keep you on the road.
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
LOL - pride and joy? How fast do you travel on the motorway? 80?
Thats probably more dangerous/risky than caning round a track for a day. At least everyone on a track is there for the same purpose - and is focused on driving, not drinking their coffee/answering the phone/shouting at screaming kids etc.
My wife refuses to get involved - its childish according to her LOL so I just get on with it myself.
Wear and tear? I get 12,000 miles from a set of Yoko A539s, including two trackdays. Brakes lasted until 24,000 front and 30,000 rear - and they had to survive four trackdays.
At the end of the day, how fast you go, and how much wear your car suffers is down to your driving style and confidence - dont put it off, do it
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
See you at Brands on the 6th then
Renault Laguna Coupe
Lucky. My missus had a go at one of the Renaultsport trackdays, now I cant get her out of the car when we go to a track. She even went and did one in her Megane cabby!
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Ooh...best ease up on trying to convince her its a good thing then LOL
Dont want to share my Cup with anyone!
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
LOL @ Fred
I have to say the 182 I drove yesterday suprised me from what Im used to and I can see where your comming from.
I think the big issue is the weight at the front, my dci must be 100kg or so lighter and it realy make an impact.
Im not sure what can be done maybe ligthening it will help remove the fog lamps (you dont honestly need them) along with splitter, all underbonnet covers etc and move the battery to the boot, lower the car and I think it would help. Otherwise the fact the brakes are hugly powerful the engine very heavy and the c of G quite high and weight balenced the way it is there nothing you can do.
you just have to learn to trust the 182, if may not feel like it will go where you want it to but you just have to point it and trust it.
the best advice has already been said, get yourself on a trackday and see what its limits are, then it will inspire you with confidence.
you just have to learn how to treat it to get the best out of it, its a drivers car, not just something you sit in a pootle forward, it has to be driven!
Handling is awsome. better than me old 205 gti i can say with out a doubt. feels similer but def better. as for the brakeing it does tend to make the back end light but what do you expect the cars stoping power is amazing. the clio has 2 effects from hard brakeing. The first is the backend going light but in turn the weight from the back end lifting is transfering to the front which give you extra traction and the 2nd effect which is it can be a bit lively @ high speed heavy brakeing. so you can either transfer more weight to the back of the car to keep the back end down but this will affect your grip front end which or course effects your brakeing.
They are designed to be nervous and relatively unstable its these characteristics that make it change direction and handle so well.
Also its why loads get crashed, mainly by people who think they can drive!
My advice would be to just build your experience and it will become second nature, just dont lift off or brake mid corner or else it will be bye bye, if the back does come round just keep your foot in at all costs and steer where you want to go (its very hard to do this as your brain says brake).
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
Everytime that happens to me (on private airfields of course), winding off lock is a natural reaction...but keeping my foot in and off the brake is so hard to do.
Best get some practice at the next airfield day
I used to be able to fling it into a roundabout without so much as a whiff of understeer but my confidence with it now is totally shot. Mid corner bumps just totally screw it up and it skips about like its possessed. I held my own once with an M3 (within reason -i.e. it was a narrow country lane type B road too not quite wide enough to pass on) but now on the same road the 182 is all over the place.
Is there no-one out there thats found ANYTHING wrong? Im going insane analysing the ride every time i drive the thing! Someone please put me out of my misery......
Do you all think that race/track cars drive like limos?
Its a light, firmly sprung, front drive car with a stiff chassis, and wide tyres. Surely race cars are twitchy? Surely they are nervous over bumps and ripples at speed? Thats why you need to be a good driver to make them go fast isnt it?
Methinks some of you spend too much time at your Playstation
I can drive fast in most things 182 included and the pootling comment earlier in this post made me laugh the other day when test driving brothers revod leon cupra i came appon one very red faced P1 driver and boy was he trying also a friend has 2000 decated impreza turbo and on certain parts of our private track ie: one corner i was 5 mph faster in the almera and long straight with a big braking zone he was only 3 mph faster both him and my brother are suprised how much i get out of there cars so i might not be a trackday legend but on the road im not a sunday driver ( its a drivers car so drive it was also funny, sounds like fred can drive and he seemed to feel the same about 182 handling )
Iain C
ClioSport Club Member
The mera is a bit heavier than the 182. I would expect all the hovis loaves weigh it down more too.
Mark where are u from? We have a datsun almera/clio meet in tonbridge kent quite often.
Youll get used to the 182 nervousness
Ziel Nurburgring
Sounds like you need time padwan. Think of the physics, everything weight wise is in the first 40% of the car. Everytime you chuck the brakes on the inertia lods up the front axle and means the back end feel weightless. To be honest, id rather have it light and be able to feel where and when its going to go.
You would never learn to be a decent driver on the road. Road racing is all down to who is willing to take the biggest risk really, not much skill in that.
Get some tuition, not just take it on a track day. I know of people who go on trackdays all the time but are no better than when they started. People waste so much time and money trying to learn it all themselves.
-Rob
For the record - I wasnt implying Im a good driver, more suggesting that Id imagine most fast track/race cars are far from easy to drive. I dont think you could expect the 182 to handle so kart-like without it being a bit twitchy...
...in any case I would say its more communicative than twitchy
Just my interpretation of how it drives for me
182 miles better than almera just pointing out im not a sh*te driver as suggested. it was only a comment I was not knocking the handling and it seems i was right its meant to be nervous I did put /go kart handling and as you all know im adjusting after 8 years with the bread van
am getting more confidence day by day and faster than the datsun already (bends) also i do not street race it was an empty private track no one else and he did pull 2 car lengths upto a ton but considering it was a P1 not bad for the cupra
MarkCup
ClioSport Club Member
The weight split is about 650/350 kgs front/rear when static...so imagine what its like under braking?
850/150 maybe? No wonder they dance...
