Clio 172 Cup v BMW 3 series Coupe Sport

[Clio172cup]

Going to be swapping my Clio for 3 series coupe sport.

Is this a bad move?
Got a wee bambino on the way so thought i'd get a slightly diff car but still try keep my street cred being a dad and all.

Any thoughts?

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

Which one?

 

[sh33n]

I hate BMW drivers, I wouldn't swap unless it was an M Power.

What engine are you going for, I hate seeing 318s with the sport kit, all show and no go :dead:

 

[Clio172cup]

Afraid its a 318

Gonna feel the acceleration a lot slower but hey shouldn't be speeding with a baby in car should i

 

[sh33n]

Then for the love of god, don't do it!!

 

[Englebert]

To be fair they are quality pieces of kit and regardless of engine size do handle really nicely. Only problem is that soon everyone will look down at you for being in a old BMW...

 

[chiefsilverback]

I hate BMW drivers, I wouldn't swap unless it was an M Power.

Is that not a slightly OTT comment, how can you 'hate' all drivers of a particular marque? You are purely reacting to a stereotype that says all BMW drivers are tw&ts! A good friend of mine used to drive a 318 Compact and he's a stunningly good driver, do you hate him becaue he drove a BWM?

BMWs have a bad rep for some reason? It's compounded by some people but at the end of the day BMWs are built to a very high standard, they are rear wheel drive, they have 50:50 weight distribution and often their engines are the best available be it 4, 6, 8 or 12 cylinders, petrol or Diesel.

I'd love a 330 Sport/Z4 (3.0) will you hate me if I start driving one?

 

[yellow182jon]

I Hate BMW 3 series with a passion



Only M3 will crush a clio.

 

[thedoc]

IMO, BMW drivers are the most arrogant/ignorant drivers on the road. There are some nice people who drive them, I have met a few, but they are few n' far between.

 

[kully]

me got 2 kids ..................not swapping me cup though , :quiet:

 

[theduck]

i just find the majority of BMW drivers funny, especially those that drive old 3series

 

[yellow182jon]

i agree:lolup:

 

[kully]

i disagree ...........sum of the beemers still av my respect imo .
m3 old shape r good

 

[Swervin_Mervin]

318 or not, it's still the better car for all but tanking down a b-road. If I wanted a BMW I wouldn't give a shite what people think.

There's plenty of w*****s drive Clios or any other car for that matter. FWIW I find VAG and Merc drivers to be far worse than BMW drivers.

Could you not stetch to a 320 or 325 Clio172Cup?

 

[Danith]

i justgone other way. no not like that. i had a bmw e36 328 sport coupe. wat a beast. guzzled petrol tho. reckon the clio wud do it from the lights tho but towards 90mph the bmw would eat the clio. handled a beast too for a larger car and very nice to drive - no rattles/squeaks.
not sure bout a 4 cyl 1.8 tho! reckon you would be gutted.

 

[E-ray_172]

had a 02 plate 318ise sports pack which is a 2.0 146bhp, it was smooth,nippy and rear wheel drive was fun in the wet, had loads of equipment but doesnt compare to my 172.

 

[sh33n]

Is that not a slightly OTT comment, how can you 'hate' all drivers of a particular marque? You are purely reacting to a stereotype that says all BMW drivers are tw&ts! A good friend of mine used to drive a 318 Compact and he's a stunningly good driver, do you hate him becaue he drove a BWM?

Of course it's an OTT statement, have I met your friend? Then clearly I don't hate ALL BMW drivers :clown:

But from my experience most people by BMWs and then prance around like they've bought this fantastic car and that it's the best car ever made!

I guess I'm just not a car label wh0re, certainly not if I've bought a Renault! :evil:

 

[ChrisR]

If you can then get one with a straight 6, criminal not to

Which model we talking, E36 or E46?

 

[182 sport]

330d sorted.

 

[Claire]

LOL! you guys would do anything so the Clio came out on top wouldnt you?!

 

[Ian_182]

2 of my mates drive bmw's.1 an M3 another a 540V8.There my best men at my wedding in august,2 finer blokes you wont meet.My future father-in-law has a 535D
But i agree BMW drivers are t***s.99.9% of them are in company cars and continually piss me off at 2feet from my bumper on the motorway.
Maybe thats the difference...

ian

 

[Richy123]

Get one with the m spec pack. I passengered at bedford in a 320i with the m suspension and it corned as flat as a pancake very little roll, seemed like it handled very nice.

 

[GazCB]

Only M3 will crush a clio.

Maybe only an M3 would crush us, but the 325 will keep up and the 330 will beat an RS Clio.

 

[sh33n]

My mate had a 328i and I could not get past him at all.

I had only just got my Cup at that point though, but even now I reckon a 328 would be very hard to pass if at all.

 

[Ian_182]

^^^^agree

ian

 

[jayxx83]

I had a little go with a 328i E46 on the A13 the other night. Was pulling away from him easy after slowing for the camera. Would like to see how it is after 120 though, I reckon he may catch slightly, albeit very slowly!

 

[Day]

Face it, the BMW is a more grown up car to own whatever the spec

 

[blink172]

Make sure you get one wih the optional indicators, very rare as most dont want to pay the extra for them.

In all, BMW drivers get bad representation by the office wa*kers in their debadged 318's thinking theyve made it and driving like cnuts.

They do go well though.

 

[David_Snaresbrook]

I went from my 1.2 clio to a 323 BMW (it had a 2.5l engine though). It had 170bhp and the same in torque. It used to pull so nicely. I changed for a CUP after only a few months though. Not because the BMW was/is a bad car, as it was solid, and would kill a clio over 70-80mph upto 140mph easily. The only reason i changed is because it was a straight 6, it would return silly MPG of 20mpg driving sensibly. 7mpg driving it hard. It did sound nice though.

And RWD was mental! If not a little scary sometimes, lol.

 

[JonC]

I feel I'm qualifed to pass comment on the merits of both cars since I ran a MKII 172 with Eibachs for 2 and a half years before my current car, a manual BMW 325 Sport (E46). Totally different cars requiring different driving styles. Performance wise they are virtually identical, 0-60 around 7 seconds, 0-100 a shade under 18 secs. Automatics, which most are, are around a second slower in both benchmarks. The BMW is in a completely different class in terms of build quality, ride and handling composure and overall engineering. Its more comfortable on A roads and motorways rather than windy back roads and B roads where the Clio definitely has the edge. BMW tend to be conservative with their power ratings, the 325 having 192BHP (not PS) and its not unheard of for some to have RR'd at around 200bhp mark. The 6 cyl 2.5 is creamy smooth and free reving and sounds great at high revs, the CLio reving even higher with an extra 1000rpm is more rawcous and hyper active in response.

It has to be said that the Clio is definitely more FUN to drive and a lot more nimble where as the BMW encourages a more relaxed driving attitude, though its not to say you can't be a hooligan when you want to in the BMW, especially with the DSC turned off on wet roundabouts. I've not experienced any negative attitudes from other drivers as a BMW driver either and have no problems with people letting me out of junctions for example.

For those who say all BMW are cr@p, drive one (Sport model if you can) and then pass comment. If you can get past your badge predjudices and take the car for what it is and not the stereotypical attitude of others, I believe your views will be a more possitive one.

I'm not a rep, its not a company car and I drive with consideration to other road users and love my 325 but I still hanker after an Clio and regularly check prices in Autotrader website for 2nd Clio 182s, despite their shortcomings, (build, driving prosition) I'm still addicted to the raw edge and fun of the Clio 172, but at the end of the day the family has to comes first!!