M135i
hello you mucky lot. ive been wanting to test drive the new 138 since i first heard about it. so, straight off the transporter my dad bought one home for me to try. only 34 miles on the clock! possibly one of the first registered in the uk. heres a brief write up of my thoughts.
first impressions from the outside are nice, but sits a little high. if the rumours are true about what the gt version will be like, a more agressive suspension set up (maybe lower?) would be a winner.
i get in and the dynamique interior is really quite nice. nice look and finish to it with a glossy console. half cloth/half leather seats are comfortable and hold well.
i start her up, nothing special to the noise, which was expected. although dad tells me the GT is likely to have a more of an exhaust note.
The clutch is nice and light. now for a 34mile old engine, it pulls pretty damn well through the gears, and has good midrange torque. The 6 speed box feels good too.
i did a little motorway stint in it and sitting at 70 in 6th @ 3000rpm, it is a very quiet and smooth ride, with enough pull for over taking etc.
taking into account that it sits quite high, it handles pretty well, but couldnt push too hard because of wet roads. it does get a little twitchy at the rear under moderate to hard braking. again, with the better suspension, this could be ironed out.
contruary to belief, this is not a detuned 197 engine. It is a engine derived from the laguna. (so that ends the 'lets untune it to 197' theory!!
)
all in all renault have developed a warm hatch, and i think it does exactly that. i'd like to drive it again when its loosend up abit and in dry, day conditions.
if you have doubts about it, i'd seriously go and test one out. its not going to be in the 197/1*2 bracket, so dont kid yourself. what it does, it does well.
heres a couple of pics. sorry about the quality, it was blowing a gale a fooking freezing!
first impressions from the outside are nice, but sits a little high. if the rumours are true about what the gt version will be like, a more agressive suspension set up (maybe lower?) would be a winner.
i get in and the dynamique interior is really quite nice. nice look and finish to it with a glossy console. half cloth/half leather seats are comfortable and hold well.
i start her up, nothing special to the noise, which was expected. although dad tells me the GT is likely to have a more of an exhaust note.
The clutch is nice and light. now for a 34mile old engine, it pulls pretty damn well through the gears, and has good midrange torque. The 6 speed box feels good too.
i did a little motorway stint in it and sitting at 70 in 6th @ 3000rpm, it is a very quiet and smooth ride, with enough pull for over taking etc.
taking into account that it sits quite high, it handles pretty well, but couldnt push too hard because of wet roads. it does get a little twitchy at the rear under moderate to hard braking. again, with the better suspension, this could be ironed out.
contruary to belief, this is not a detuned 197 engine. It is a engine derived from the laguna. (so that ends the 'lets untune it to 197' theory!!
)all in all renault have developed a warm hatch, and i think it does exactly that. i'd like to drive it again when its loosend up abit and in dry, day conditions.
if you have doubts about it, i'd seriously go and test one out. its not going to be in the 197/1*2 bracket, so dont kid yourself. what it does, it does well.
heres a couple of pics. sorry about the quality, it was blowing a gale a fooking freezing!
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