Well, what can I say? I'm smitten with the little beast.
I've had over 70 cars and some pretty nice ones so have a good reference to compare it to. What can I say? A BRILLIANT little car! I'll try and list the positives;
- Steering feel. Brilliant! I thought my DC2 Type R was pretty much unmatched, but this thing is a pleasure to use. Very precise and responsive, I like it!
- Brakes. At the moment I'd say the front brakes are knackered (as is the fluid, marked as amber by Renault yesterday at the service). Even so, they feel OK if a little spongy. I'm fitting Brembo HC front discs and pads and Renault rear discs and pads on Sunday with ATE Super blue so hopefully (200 miles or so once the pads have caught the disc) they will have better feel.
- Chassis. Superb! Really nice and tight (I just fitted new Michelin Pilot Sport 3's) and everything feels taught and controlled. I think the track rod ends may be a bit tired (got new Lemforder ones being fitted Sunday aswell) but apart from that it all feels really nice and well damped. I had heard that the OEM dampers don't last too long; my car is on 140K motorway miles from new and I only have a record of the rears being changed at 110K, not the fronts! To be honest they feel alright, but I'll be rebuilding the front end with new dampers, lower arms, top mounts next month anyhow. She can only get sharper!
- Engine. What a great little unit! Don't get me wrong, its not my B18C6 BUT what it does is remain torquey and relatively powerful. It even has a little kick after 5K ALMOST like a VTEC (lol). It's actually quite smooth at high speed aswell (unlike most Fords) which is rather Honda like. I don't like the dephaser noise (getting done next month) or the slight roughness at idle but apart from that a nice little unit which is actually proven to be quite reliable. Excellent (Scorpion RS192 helps).
- Driving comfort. Excellent! Seats are really comfortable and the car has all the mod cons one could need. I mean even the cruise works! A nice place to complete my 17 mile drive into work (either this or the DC2 or the E500 Sport).
- Fuel efficiency. Brilliant! First tank of V Power was around 36mpg, second around 34mpg including heavy traffic. I'm admittedly not booting it, just trying to see how good she can be on fuel. It's about 2 mpg higher than my DC2 (which is incidentally let done by VERY short gearing).
There are, however, some negatives....
- Seating position. I have got used to it now, but its still a little high for me (I'd prefer to sit lower).
- Audio. Doesn't sound too bad but its the rattles from the door cards doing my head in! I plan to migrate all speakers for a quick and easy JL Audio coaxial upgrade for now and may lay in some light deadening to see if it reduces the light rattles. I want to remove the head unit aswell but don't want to loose my head up display, my steering wheel controls or my CD changer. I have a brand new Kenwood KDC BT92SD I bought from my Accord Type R that I didn't fit which I am desperate to get in (please advise about afore mentioned items).
- Hot idle. I don't like the slight roughness and am hoping its the dephaser which is audibly tired which is upsetting the valve overlap. There is virtually no movement on the needle, you can just 'feel' it....
- Gearshift. Its OK, but nothing amazing. I get a light clunk when engaging first gear so am wondering whether changing the dogmount will resolve this? It's a cheap fix, but I don't want the poly parts due to the vibration. I have read about the Engine Dynamics short shifter which I would be very tempted in grabbing (any reviews?).
Apart from the above I feel this is a remarkable little car. I just knew it would be excellent and have wanted one for years. Finally I've got one and to be honest, with the amount I paid for it from its first lady owner I would be reluctant to sell it on! I have about 6 colleagues at work looking to purchase it when I'm done (they all know I'm nuts on cars and spend a lot of time and money making them perfect).
I think I'll be using the Clio to work in the morning; I'm actually looking forward to using it!
Cheers
Rez
I've had over 70 cars and some pretty nice ones so have a good reference to compare it to. What can I say? A BRILLIANT little car! I'll try and list the positives;
- Steering feel. Brilliant! I thought my DC2 Type R was pretty much unmatched, but this thing is a pleasure to use. Very precise and responsive, I like it!
- Brakes. At the moment I'd say the front brakes are knackered (as is the fluid, marked as amber by Renault yesterday at the service). Even so, they feel OK if a little spongy. I'm fitting Brembo HC front discs and pads and Renault rear discs and pads on Sunday with ATE Super blue so hopefully (200 miles or so once the pads have caught the disc) they will have better feel.
- Chassis. Superb! Really nice and tight (I just fitted new Michelin Pilot Sport 3's) and everything feels taught and controlled. I think the track rod ends may be a bit tired (got new Lemforder ones being fitted Sunday aswell) but apart from that it all feels really nice and well damped. I had heard that the OEM dampers don't last too long; my car is on 140K motorway miles from new and I only have a record of the rears being changed at 110K, not the fronts! To be honest they feel alright, but I'll be rebuilding the front end with new dampers, lower arms, top mounts next month anyhow. She can only get sharper!
- Engine. What a great little unit! Don't get me wrong, its not my B18C6 BUT what it does is remain torquey and relatively powerful. It even has a little kick after 5K ALMOST like a VTEC (lol). It's actually quite smooth at high speed aswell (unlike most Fords) which is rather Honda like. I don't like the dephaser noise (getting done next month) or the slight roughness at idle but apart from that a nice little unit which is actually proven to be quite reliable. Excellent (Scorpion RS192 helps).
- Driving comfort. Excellent! Seats are really comfortable and the car has all the mod cons one could need. I mean even the cruise works! A nice place to complete my 17 mile drive into work (either this or the DC2 or the E500 Sport).
- Fuel efficiency. Brilliant! First tank of V Power was around 36mpg, second around 34mpg including heavy traffic. I'm admittedly not booting it, just trying to see how good she can be on fuel. It's about 2 mpg higher than my DC2 (which is incidentally let done by VERY short gearing).
There are, however, some negatives....
- Seating position. I have got used to it now, but its still a little high for me (I'd prefer to sit lower).
- Audio. Doesn't sound too bad but its the rattles from the door cards doing my head in! I plan to migrate all speakers for a quick and easy JL Audio coaxial upgrade for now and may lay in some light deadening to see if it reduces the light rattles. I want to remove the head unit aswell but don't want to loose my head up display, my steering wheel controls or my CD changer. I have a brand new Kenwood KDC BT92SD I bought from my Accord Type R that I didn't fit which I am desperate to get in (please advise about afore mentioned items).
- Hot idle. I don't like the slight roughness and am hoping its the dephaser which is audibly tired which is upsetting the valve overlap. There is virtually no movement on the needle, you can just 'feel' it....
- Gearshift. Its OK, but nothing amazing. I get a light clunk when engaging first gear so am wondering whether changing the dogmount will resolve this? It's a cheap fix, but I don't want the poly parts due to the vibration. I have read about the Engine Dynamics short shifter which I would be very tempted in grabbing (any reviews?).
Apart from the above I feel this is a remarkable little car. I just knew it would be excellent and have wanted one for years. Finally I've got one and to be honest, with the amount I paid for it from its first lady owner I would be reluctant to sell it on! I have about 6 colleagues at work looking to purchase it when I'm done (they all know I'm nuts on cars and spend a lot of time and money making them perfect).
I think I'll be using the Clio to work in the morning; I'm actually looking forward to using it!
Cheers
Rez
