clio172vs306gti-6

[matty b]

so u have a CTR & a 172 & a Tuscan & a 360??????????

whats your job?

 

[Matt - Leics]

I had my most-fun-race-ever against one of these a month ago, on a demanding twisty road I know really well. Lasted for about 6 miles, B-road with few overtaking chances.

He was prepared to go over 100 on the staights - which I wasnt, so I had great fun playing catch up when the twisties came! I slowly gained on him though the bends, and quite comfortably out-accelerated him on the straights. I had the best fun Ive ever had on the roads in my car.

I ended up behind him at some traffic lights and wound down my window to say hello but he didnt reciprocate and turned off shortly after. Probably thought I was a nutter!

Anyway.. I have much respect for the motor.. and this driver !

 

[Rich-D]

The Rallye is actually 1163kg (not 1180kg) and standard power is actually 142bhp @ wheels / 167bhp @ fly, not exactly "down on power". However, the Rallyes are rumoured to have s tiny bit more and several reviews have commented that the engine note is somehow different to a GTi-6 and feels more responsive.

It is a very torquey engine though and pulls well from very low down, which is odd for a powerful 16v engine, but makes it more driveable.

However, they are still a biggish) car with slightly less power than the 172, so in a straightline sprint the Clio will have the edge. But weve already discussed this.

After 6 years though, they are still up there with the current models.

 

[RobFenn]

Theres too much discussion of power, a lot of people in this forum give too much importance/empahsis on straightline performance. The point of the ralleye was its handling, something it was very very good at.

 

[Simon172]

the only thing that would put me off the rallye would be the weight of it. The other rallyes tend to be a fair bit lighter than the standard ones - for example the 205 rallye. Or are they not? i dont really know. If the CUP was able to shave off 89 kg why couldnt the rallye? IMO i think the rallye would be a *lot* quicker if it was lighter - well obviously! and more nimble handling too. I liked the driving position very much in the Rallye (used to work for peugeot as a driver during summer hols) and it was very chuckable. Really good fun.

 

[Rich-D]

The Cup is so much lighter due to no ABS, no spare wheel, removed sound deadening, thinner glass, different rear seat, lightweight alloys, etc...

The 306 Rallye is 52kg lighter, so a decent saving, but remember, they are still a bigger car than a Clio, so were heavier to start with and have not got as much stuff stripped off.

If I was to remove bits from my 306, then I could save even more weight, but Id prefer to have a spare for if/when I get a puncture and I like the idea of ABS just in case!



The 106 Rallyes were actually a LOT lighter than their fully trimmed up counterparts though...

106 Rallye mk1 - 825kg
106 XSi (mk1) - 900kg

106 Rallye mk2 - 865kg
106 GTi (mk2) - 961kg


A saving of 75kg in the mk1 and a massive 96kg in the mk2!!!

However, the 106s were a lot more stripped out than the 306, hence the bigger saving. Basically, the 106 and 306 were not aimed at the same market, so they didnt wanna fully strip the 306. Also, the 106 Rallyes had less power than their fully trimmed brothers, so they needed the massive weight saving to boost performance, wheras the 306 has the same power unit.

At the end of the day, the 306 is still a very quick point to point car!

 

[geordiepaul]

The trouble with the 306 is that it looks very dated IMO. That is the only reason that it was never under consideration when I bought my car. Plus any modifcation make the car look worse.....its the only car I can think which looks arent improved by bigger wheels....though I know thats not the point!!!

 

[Rich-D]

But the 306 IS an old car...

The older Clios also look very dated now too, fact of life.

However, the 306 was and still is a great looking car and I agree about the modding making them look worse. Best of leaving them alone IMO.

 

[geordiepaul]

Disagree I dont think the Clio 16v or Williams looks anywhere near as dated as the 306.......so there!!!

 

[Rich-D]

Well, different people have different opinions...

Also got a 96 P Reg Clio RT and that does look dated compared to modern cars and its the revised front model too, so less dated.

Again, its all down to personal opinion though.

 

[TB1]

I acutally think that the old 16v renaults look more dated than the 306s, and having gone from one to another i can say they were different beasts completely.

Rich, as for the gti-6 engine being anyway different to the rallyes.... i dunno about that as ive seen rallyes that only push out 155bhp on a rolling road where as my last GTi-6 was pushing 177bhp out in standard form. I think it is luck of the draw acutally as some do push out more bhp than others (yet still a great handling car but available to the masses now which aint good).



Tony

 

[KDF]

Quote: Originally posted by TB1 on 09 January 2003


some do push out more bhp than others

Sounds a bit like the 172 RR day....

Anyone know whos 172 got 129bhp ?? cause PGTI neglected to say..

What a kick up the arse for the guy though..

 

[Rich-D]

"some do push out more bhp than others"

Definately agree there!

My old 106 GTi was pretty much boggo, yet at a 106 vs Saxo RR event last year, it ran 112.9bhp @ wheels (141.3bhp @ fly) and made more than many of the modded cars there on the day. It raised a lot of eyebrows!

Similarly, this 306 Rallye was RRd a couple of weeks ago and ran 151bhp @ wheels (no @ fly figure), which was more than my mates modded GTi-6.

There are always good & bad examples and I appear to have been lucky.



Would not be happy if that 129bhp Clio was mine...