Beginning to have some 182 doubts...

[cnic69]

I though the handling was a bit funny..headed out of bracknell the other day and blasted up the road.

Was going round a bend and it seemed a little unsteady but as i was doing 110mph i thought that may have been the reason!!

Still ..i like that feeling that you arent too distanced from what the car is telling you..i wanna know if she feels unsteady at high speed so i can get ready for evasive actions!

Otherwise my 182 handles like a beaut and has made a few silly boys in their novas,106s and other daft baseball hat wearing people kinda cars say "what the f*ck was that?!!"

 

[Dan 172 Sport]

Uprate the springs, keep an eye on the speed, youll be fine...

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by Dan 172 Sport on 24 May 2004


Uprate the springs

You shouldnt have to uprate the springs though!

 

[blaupunkt]

when i drove the 182 in normal spec i noticed the car feeling alittle odd lets yes as very high speed on a sweeping bend (the road was a dual carageway)

after talking to afew people about this iv put it down to the cars safty fatures and the fact its a different drive to what im used to.



the next bit im quoting from what renault them selves say..

(some of you might have already read this or know.. but incase afew dont)

CORRECTION. Frequently, the ability to identify danger allows you to evaluate the risks and calmly adapt your driving accordingly. In abnormal situations calling for extreamly fast and precise reaction, technology actually enables todays renault cars to make the right correction automaticlly and immediately. For example Brake Assist coupled with the action of the ABS anti-lock braking, ASR Traction Control and CSV understeer Control all compliment the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) and PAX run-flat tyre and wheel system.



now i dont know about you bit 100+ mph round a sweeping bend i would not call normal driving so if the car is adjusting its self then i put this down the uneasey/nervousness or what ever you want to call it when cornering at high speed.

maybe im wrong or you think i am but i dont beleve the cars handling is as poor as some might think <SCRIPT language=javascript>


[Edited by blaupunkt on 25 May 2004 at 12:02am]

 

[zaskar]

Heres one for you. All these people moaning about the 182 being nervous or jittery...I bet its the first communicative car theyve driven. A 182 lets you know exactly what is going on under the wheels...if you dont want to know, buy an 1.4 Astra!

 

[dk]

well said

 

[Balders]

Ive owned both an Elise and an Exige, tracked them numerous times. Both handled amazingly well. OK, with rear wheel drive they are in a different league to the 182 but I think I can safely say Ive driven communicative cars before... You cant get much more communicative than the Exige... )

I find the 182 to be both vague and nervous at the same time. One second it feels great, the next its all loose with that I almost ended up in a hedge feeling. Very unpredictable.

Personally I dont think the 182 is a communicative car at all - power steering dumbs it down. ESP, ABS and all the other electronic aids are too invasive. I dont think the chassis is anywhere near as good as people here are claiming it is... Whether this is just my 182, the cup suspension or what I do not know but even the other halfs 206 1.4 LX seems to feel more planted in the bends than my 182.

Still wanna bet...? ;o)
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085613336__myexige.jpghttp://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1085613336__myexige.jpg

[Edited by Balders on 27 May 2004 at 12:04am]

 

[dk]

Quote: Originally posted by Balders on 26 May 2004


Ive owned both an Elise and an Exige, tracked them numerous times. Both handled amazingly well. OK, with rear wheel drive they are in a different league to the 182 but I think I can safely say Ive driven communicative cars before... You cant get much more communicative than the Exige... )

I find the 182 to be both vague and nervous at the same time. One second it feels great, the next its all loose with that I almost ended up in a hedge feeling. Very unpredictable.

Personally I dont think the 182 is a communicative car at all - power steering dumbs it down. ESP, ABS and all the other electronic aids are too invasive. I dont think the chassis is anywhere near as good as people here are claiming it is... Whether this is just my 182, the cup suspension or what I do not know but even the other halfs 206 1.4 LX seems to feel more planted in the bends than my 182.

Still wanna bet...? ;o)

yours is knackered then mate as that is total b*ll*cks!

 

[Balders]

Funny you should say that cos Ive just been looking through the pics of others 182s and my suspension seems to be way higher than others... Mmm...

 

[dk]

Quote: Originally posted by Balders on 27 May 2004

Funny you should say that cos Ive just been looking through the pics of others 182s and my suspension seems to be way higher than others... Mmm...

friday car? If you really think it doesnt handle that well, I would get it looked at.

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by Balders on 26 May 2004

Ive driven communicative cars before... You cant get much more communicative than the Exige... )
I find the 182 to be both vague and nervous at the same time. One second it feels great, the next its all loose with that I almost ended up in a hedge feeling. Very unpredictable.

Personally I dont think the 182 is a communicative car at all - power steering dumbs it down. ESP, ABS and all the other electronic aids are too invasive. I dont think the chassis is anywhere near as good as people here are claiming it is... Whether this is just my 182, the cup suspension or what I do not know but even the other halfs 206 1.4 LX seems to feel more planted in the bends than my 182.

If you dont mind us asking what other cars do you define as communicative. The 182 I drve with cups stuff seemed to eb the same as what you are on abot the stearing ligher than the dynamic at higher speed but no communication. Ok so I only managed to go round one round about but my old escort could was better comminicating (only thing I care about). Would need another logner test drive I think to know more but wasnt impressed.

Any other cars you can recomend (PM me if you dont want anyone having a winge about your choices). Have you tried a 172 Cup?

Thanks

 

[007]

I drive my Williams and my girlfriends VTS on a weekly basis and they are both superb handling wise.

The biggest difference is the sharper turn-in on the VTS makes it far more twichy at higher speeds where the Williams is in its element. Her VTS is far more nervous although its far easier to drive round town.

Im sure someone said on here that the 182 seemed to have sharpish steering so it could be a similar reason - maybe not and ive just typed a pile of rubbish

 

[S2 PTH]

if u want a twitchy car at speed try driving my 2004 1.4 with the spax sus! great in the corners but if u hit the throttle a bit too early (even with a meagre 98bhp!) ull start to understeer massively!

 

[Balders]

Apologies for the long reply but here goes... (and please, no crap driver replies )

Ive owned a variety of cars of the years including Vauxhalls, Citroens, etc (but never a Ford) and a Clio 1.4S - the handling on that was surprisingly good by the way. Excluding the Lotus, I still think the old Mini (which was amazing!) and the Rover Metro Gti 16V (dont laugh!) were probably the most communicative. Rusted like hell but handled great. Had a brief blast in a Williams Clio and that was impressive too. Not tried the 172 Cup (or a std 172).

Dont get me wrong, I really do like the 182. Im just disappointed in its handling capabilities and expected a lot more from it. I admit a lot of it is finding the confidence but if the car just doesnt give you that confidence to take a bend just that little bit faster, youre a brave man to try...

I dont think the car is that communicative because of the PAS. It just feels like its dulling the sensation of what the wheels are doing and where they are pointing. It makes the steering feel too light, as if its over compensating - camber changes seem to affect the PAS quite severely. This is the first car Ive driven where Ive had to have both hands clamped to the steering wheel, correcting the direction and concentrating fully just in case.

I dont think the ESP has anything to do with it as Ive turned it off and it still doesnt feel right.

Whether its a long sweeping right hander or taking a roundabout, it can feel like its on rails before suddenly going all loose and nervous. A moment later its back to feeling glued to the road. Its hard to describe but it feels like the backend is somehow not directly connected at times. If you do the wiggling from side to side (like the tyre warming F1 wiggle thing) at 20mph, it feels like the backend is all wishy washy, sliding around, too much body roll... Again, this could possibly be the PAS effect.

Over a slightly rippled road surface the balance of the car is affected and skips quite badly.

Braking hard in a straight line (the brakes are VERY VERY impressive by the way) causes the car to wander even if the road is reasonably smooth. I find I have to constantly correct. Camber changes severely affect the cars direction too...I get a lot of nose dive so a combination of the stiff suspension and weight shift are probably making the backend loose.

Tramlining, lift off oversteer and touching the brakes mid bend (yes I know you shouldnt do this but I am testing its limits ) are more sensitive than any other cars Ive driven - especially the lift off oversteer, woah is that evil!

Im sure when I test drove the 182 without cup suspension, it felt a lot less nervous. I reckon this is down to the stiffness of the cup suspension/geometry.

I think its time for a checkup - Can anyone recommend a decent laser alignment place in the Wakefield / Leeds area? I dont think my dealer does it themselves and after last time... Also, does anyone know what the settings should be with the cup suspension (camber and so on)???

Cheers,

Balders.

 

[toonboy]

Balders i have had my cup for about a month now and know EXACTLY what you are talking about. The handling does not inspire confidence, it makes it feel like your gonna lose it at reasonably low speeds. I know it prob wont lose it at these speeds or another 10 or 20 on top but you can only go on the feedback you are getting from the wheel and it aint worth dying trying to find out. I get oversteer switching to understeer through bends, this suspension is designed for perfect tarmac - i had to let a 1.6 corsa get away a few weeks ago because the cup suspension was not upto the job on this particular road. get it on the right surface and the cup is ace

 

[Rich-D]

Reckon the best handling and most "comminicative" car Ive owned is my old 106 GTi which was just superb!

The Cup is better on a track than a road though, try it they go very well...

 

[Max172cup]

I was caining it along countries roads with a 2l Vectra behind me, it was fairly straight for a fair way and he was behind me, not really close, but close enough to show he was keeping up. Anyhow, we got to a sharp, tight S bend going up a hill, drop it into 2nd before i go around the first bend, and floor is as i come out. There was a hell of a lot of wheel spin (in the dry) as the weight was over the drivers side. I flew around the more open second bend and flew over the hill. I then had to jump on the breaks (as had hit about 80) and the car really felt un-balanced, and id noticed it had over steared really badly around the S bend. Anyhow, im now on a straight after the S bend, and the vectra is now about 500m behind. So heres me thinking id taken the bend badly and the car had under performed, but id drawn 460m on the vectra in just 2 bends.

Id say im happy with the cup, but sometimes it underwelms me, and other times it makes me smile from ear to ear.

 

[dk]

mine really does seem to handle superbly and I am comparing to my old 106 GTi as well rich, what really made me impressed was a couple of weeks ago I was going along a twisty raod I had never been along before at a fair old pace as there was good visibility and was being followed by someone who was driving quite quickly too (not racing in any way, just following from distance) and suddenly out of nowhere came a very tight hairpin bend with chevrons which caught me out big time and I didnt have time to prepare for it so I had to just ride it out, but with braking abs, ebd, traction control and ESP, EPSN, ABC and BBC I was whisked around it at a fair old pace without any problem whatsoever.

I was just so amazed, I thought I was a goner, i would have never made it in my old megane coupe or even the 106. That is the only time I have pushed the car to what I thought would be beyond its limits and it handled it perfectly so I am now sooooo impressed with the way this car handles that I cant really fault it, I also think the power steering is very nicely weighted compared to many other performance cars with it and cant see where the problem you guys are having is, maybe I just have a very good one? I find the car is very communicative through bends and is always letting you know what is actually happening rather than masking it.

I think if you dont like the way it is so communicative then maybe you shouldnt have gone for the raw, race prepared handling option and stuck to a 172 or 182 without cup suspension?

This is just my opinion.

 

[rich[182]]

laser alignment - calderfords ford garage off barnsley road wakefield used to (dont know if still does) have best setup in yorkshire, took my Fiesta RS Turbo their, not cheap mindst - prob set you back between £50-£60 but its very very thorough

balders - Ill have to call round & test drive the 182, I get most of the symptoms in my standard 172 but assumed the 182+cup-pack would have ironed out the issues ??

Cant speak for Mk1 172, Cups and 182s but have to say the handling of the 172 is overrated, Im sure the Williams 1,2,3 are better from what ive read/heard

Too much body roll and yes long sweeping corners can make car feel "light" and vague, Camber issues & tram-lining can be bad and braking on certain surfaces a bit strange

When i can afford it etc am definitely getting some eibachs or k-tec -30mm and possibly with camber correcting bolts

what do you all think about the powerflex bushes that k-tec are now selling ? £120 for full car set inc vat ? Also front & rear strut braces ?


[Edited by rich172 on 28 May 2004 at 1:05pm]