Well as iv had two valver's, a hybrid and now a 172 i thought id give my 10p's worth on them
Im going to compare my hybrid to my ph1 172, and im not taking any other cars into consideration here, just comaring these two( so no comparing to tyre r's, cups or 182's lol)
Miles covered inthe mk1 :12,000 miles
Miles covered in th 172: 24,000 miles so far
Now my old hybrid most of you will know (i sold it to martin who rolled her at anglesea) and the mods were:
1994 Clio 16v
rear seats, all carpet, soundproofing and rear door cards removed(though std front seats,roof lining and all glass remained)
Rebuilt williams engine by Hill power
recon 16v gearbox from Renault
Supersprint exhaust manifold
Hill power stage 1 remap
Hill power enclosed induction kit
lightened flywheel
ashley competition exhaust with de cat
Koni shocks (adjustable) with unknown springs (came on the car)
BF Goodridge G force Profiler tyres
0-60mph 5.69 (recorded with my g-tec)
1/4 mile 14.6 @ 98 (with g-tec on private road)
1/4 mile 14.0 @ 99 mph at santa pod (many times lol)
And my 172:
2001 172
engine standard bar Blueflame cat back exhaust
new renaultsport shocks
Eibach Proline springs
Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres
cg lock (lol)
0-60 6.48 (g-tec)
1/4 mile 14.8 @ 96 (g-tec)
I bough the 172 as it seemed the right upgrade from my hybrid as i wanted a more comfortable car that was still fun , and i love Clio's
Speed wise the hybrid is faster. No denying this, that car had power from 1000 rpm, and pulled hard right to the 6800 rpm limiter and would go from a standing start to hitting the rev limiter in 5th in under 30 secs, and was amazing for overtaking,if you found yourself in the wrong gear it didnt matter in this car, it just had such a broad spread of power. The 172 is still fast, but needs to get over 5000 revs before real progress is made, which though can be fun, does effect day to day driving if comparing it directly to the hybrid
The gearbox i think is better on my 172, which has better feel than my rebuilt mk1 box did, even though there is hardly any difference between the two (linkage maybe?)
Handling. now i know this is a bit of a sore subject, comparing the mk1 to the mk2, and this is only my opinion, but i believe this is unbiased.
The mk1's steering definatly has more feel,and turn in is alot sharper. With the car being lighter than the 172 it seems to turn in faster, and you can feel that.
BUT
i think the handling on the 172 is good if you drive it right. Like any fwd hot hatch too much right foot will just see smoke, but i think its a challenge to drive them fast, and although the steering isnt quite as crisp as the mk1's,and a bit wooly in direct comparison i can still carry the same amount of speed round the same roads as i could in the mk1 and the car is just as flexible too.
Day to day
Here is where the 172 is a mile ahead in my book. Even when my hybrid had an interior it still doesnt compare to my 172. The creaks,groans and rattles from my mk1 were all expected, and the feel of the dash was typically early 90's. I was expecting the 172 to be the same but Renault (imo) really have come leaps and bounds ahead of the mk1, mine now on 122,500 miles with no ripped seats, no creaks,rattles and the dash is still in perfect condition even after 7 years on the road, the same couldnt be said with my mk1 . I love the 172's white dials, though the hybrids oil temp and pressure guages are missed, and i really wish Renault had included these on the 172
The seats are a million miles better, i took my hybrid to the ring, which was a long and unfortunatly uncomfortable trip, where i have covered 1000 miles in 5 days in the 172 without any discomfort at all.
Fuel consumption
My mk1 was better, the 172 averaging 35.1 mpg over the past 9500 miles. My mk1 driven carefully could easily top 40 mpg and go over 45mph on a run.
So my thoughts.
For an out and out fun car, the mk1 wins.If i had enough money to have 2 cars a mk1 would be on my drive. With a few choice mods it was faster than nearly anything i came across on the road,pin point handling, light weight and fun fun fun on every blast
But now i can only afford one car the 172 will come out on top every time for m.It can manage 80% of the mk1's fun with 80% more refinement. Airbags are a nice touch to have,half leather, air con and all the little things like much better sound insulation (this is a big plus when your in the car alot) make a big difference to someone like me who has covered alot of miles in both cars. I know there are cars out there which can rival the clio, and im not saying these rivals are not worth a look in. But i think alot of people are forgetting how good these cars are, i mean look at the trophy and how well that did in EVO in 2005,thats a bloody good achievement ( though im certainly not taking away how the willy compares to faster machinery!)
please remember guys this is just my personal opinion, and i know in some of your cases this will be the other way round, and people will disagree with me, im not looking to say one is better than the other,neither am i looking to cause a big debate, this is just my personal opinion on two great cars
Russ
Im going to compare my hybrid to my ph1 172, and im not taking any other cars into consideration here, just comaring these two( so no comparing to tyre r's, cups or 182's lol)
Miles covered inthe mk1 :12,000 miles
Miles covered in th 172: 24,000 miles so far
Now my old hybrid most of you will know (i sold it to martin who rolled her at anglesea) and the mods were:
1994 Clio 16v
rear seats, all carpet, soundproofing and rear door cards removed(though std front seats,roof lining and all glass remained)
Rebuilt williams engine by Hill power
recon 16v gearbox from Renault
Supersprint exhaust manifold
Hill power stage 1 remap
Hill power enclosed induction kit
lightened flywheel
ashley competition exhaust with de cat
Koni shocks (adjustable) with unknown springs (came on the car)
BF Goodridge G force Profiler tyres
0-60mph 5.69 (recorded with my g-tec)
1/4 mile 14.6 @ 98 (with g-tec on private road)
1/4 mile 14.0 @ 99 mph at santa pod (many times lol)
And my 172:
2001 172
engine standard bar Blueflame cat back exhaust
new renaultsport shocks
Eibach Proline springs
Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres
cg lock (lol)
0-60 6.48 (g-tec)
1/4 mile 14.8 @ 96 (g-tec)
I bough the 172 as it seemed the right upgrade from my hybrid as i wanted a more comfortable car that was still fun , and i love Clio's
Speed wise the hybrid is faster. No denying this, that car had power from 1000 rpm, and pulled hard right to the 6800 rpm limiter and would go from a standing start to hitting the rev limiter in 5th in under 30 secs, and was amazing for overtaking,if you found yourself in the wrong gear it didnt matter in this car, it just had such a broad spread of power. The 172 is still fast, but needs to get over 5000 revs before real progress is made, which though can be fun, does effect day to day driving if comparing it directly to the hybrid
The gearbox i think is better on my 172, which has better feel than my rebuilt mk1 box did, even though there is hardly any difference between the two (linkage maybe?)
Handling. now i know this is a bit of a sore subject, comparing the mk1 to the mk2, and this is only my opinion, but i believe this is unbiased.
The mk1's steering definatly has more feel,and turn in is alot sharper. With the car being lighter than the 172 it seems to turn in faster, and you can feel that.
BUT
i think the handling on the 172 is good if you drive it right. Like any fwd hot hatch too much right foot will just see smoke, but i think its a challenge to drive them fast, and although the steering isnt quite as crisp as the mk1's,and a bit wooly in direct comparison i can still carry the same amount of speed round the same roads as i could in the mk1 and the car is just as flexible too.
Day to day
Here is where the 172 is a mile ahead in my book. Even when my hybrid had an interior it still doesnt compare to my 172. The creaks,groans and rattles from my mk1 were all expected, and the feel of the dash was typically early 90's. I was expecting the 172 to be the same but Renault (imo) really have come leaps and bounds ahead of the mk1, mine now on 122,500 miles with no ripped seats, no creaks,rattles and the dash is still in perfect condition even after 7 years on the road, the same couldnt be said with my mk1 . I love the 172's white dials, though the hybrids oil temp and pressure guages are missed, and i really wish Renault had included these on the 172
The seats are a million miles better, i took my hybrid to the ring, which was a long and unfortunatly uncomfortable trip, where i have covered 1000 miles in 5 days in the 172 without any discomfort at all.
Fuel consumption
My mk1 was better, the 172 averaging 35.1 mpg over the past 9500 miles. My mk1 driven carefully could easily top 40 mpg and go over 45mph on a run.
So my thoughts.
For an out and out fun car, the mk1 wins.If i had enough money to have 2 cars a mk1 would be on my drive. With a few choice mods it was faster than nearly anything i came across on the road,pin point handling, light weight and fun fun fun on every blast
But now i can only afford one car the 172 will come out on top every time for m.It can manage 80% of the mk1's fun with 80% more refinement. Airbags are a nice touch to have,half leather, air con and all the little things like much better sound insulation (this is a big plus when your in the car alot) make a big difference to someone like me who has covered alot of miles in both cars. I know there are cars out there which can rival the clio, and im not saying these rivals are not worth a look in. But i think alot of people are forgetting how good these cars are, i mean look at the trophy and how well that did in EVO in 2005,thats a bloody good achievement ( though im certainly not taking away how the willy compares to faster machinery!)
please remember guys this is just my personal opinion, and i know in some of your cases this will be the other way round, and people will disagree with me, im not looking to say one is better than the other,neither am i looking to cause a big debate, this is just my personal opinion on two great cars
Russ
