Im coming up to 19 and have been driving for a year and a half. I have owned in my short time driving, 8 cars including a 1.6 Audi A3, 1.6 VTR, BMW 316ti auto, Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDI (...) and a few others. My current car is a 2005 Clio 1.2 16v, which is really easy to drive, economical and not the slowest thing Ive driven. Thing is, like nearly every Clio owner who doesnt have one, I really want a mk2 172. Insurance isnt a problem..and I can afford to upgrade to a 2 year old 172 however the thing that worries me is the difference in power! TBH I am s*** scared of driving one, with the closest thing Ive driven in terms of power being the VTR or Galaxy! I am comfortable with my driving but just dont trust other drivers. How safe is the 172? How big is the difference driving wise and basically....is it a good idea for me to buy one this young?
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Im coming up to 19 and have been driving for a year and a half. I have owned in my short time driving, 8 cars including a 1.6 Audi A3, 1.6 VTR, BMW 316ti auto, Ford Galaxy 2.0 TDI (...) and a few others. My current car is a 2005 Clio 1.2 16v, which is really easy to drive, economical and not the slowest thing Ive driven. Thing is, like nearly every Clio owner who doesnt have one, I really want a mk2 172. Insurance isnt a problem..and I can afford to upgrade to a 2 year old 172 however the thing that worries me is the difference in power! TBH I am s*** scared of driving one, with the closest thing Ive driven in terms of power being the VTR or Galaxy! I am comfortable with my driving but just dont trust other drivers. How safe is the 172? How big is the difference driving wise and basically....is it a good idea for me to buy one this young?
I went from a 1.2 to a 172, just watch out for the torque steer and Im sure youll be fine.
Oh and dont drive it like you stole it all the time.
go for it, i went from a 1.2 16v clio to a seat leon cupra r, love it! only b*****d is the insurance, im 20, so its a tad high, but if that was gonna be a problem i woudlnt have even bought the car, so well worth it
matt
and btw, the 1.2 was the quickest and only car i had owned previously
matt
Mazda 2, MX5 Mk2.5 Sport
Just give yourself time to get used to it and dont get over confident/cocky too quickly. Its a fairly predictable car in general but they still bite if you take the piss and push them to far. Lift off at high speed on a bend could catch you out quite easily if you arent used to it.
Still not had a no! Great! Bit more confident in that Im not like a lot of young/new drivers and dont rag the tits out of cars. Ive had a few close calls in the past and have learnt my lesson. Will only put my foot down if the roads are clear, have a good view of the road ahead and dry roads (i.e. late at night/early morning), like a lot of people would. I never drive fast in the day/stick to speed limits etc. Reason Im going for the 172 is, want something with a bit more of a following/reputation, the looks (one of the best looking cars for the money imho) and ofcourse the very generous acceleration/handling.
Yeah, 172 brakes are pretty useful.
lawrence
ClioSport Club Member
is non-existent
NO,
only joking, yeah go for it went from an mg zr105 to a 172cup and still keep grinning ear to ear, like everyone else says, take the first few months easy learnt to use the car, and if it helps a few trackdays wouldnt go amiss, breaks are more than adequate, unless you get the 172cup, in which its very twitchy in the wet, but in general respect the car and it will respect you
133/225/CLS AMG
Also went from a 1.2 to a Mk2 172 when I was 21.
Didnt bother me in the slightest, best thing is to just take it easy and get used to the feel of the acceleration. I was held by by the fact that I was running the engine in but if you think of it like that youll get used to it in no time!!
Then you can go round larging it like the rest of us haha.
Wouldnt be going for the Cup anyway, dont trust a car that doesnt have ABS. If I just take it easy for a few months/drive how I drive my 1.2 I should have no problems? I mean...its not going to suprise me and do something out of the ordinary if I drive it cleanly/without putting my foot down?
Youll be fine, just dont take it past 88MPH.
i own a 1.2 16v dynamique, but my friend was on holiday, so i borrowed his type r, not sure if the drive is simmilar to the 172 but woah, the smile you get on ur face when u put ur foot down is priceless, but then you look at the petrol and cry
like every car you get used to the cars power, but only buy it if you are 100% certain you can maintain it an run it
theres "occasionall" are the reason why im still stuck with my 1.2 16vQuote: Originally posted by jph172 on 07 June 2005
Thats what the credit cards there for!!
Oh&paying for the problems that go wrong with them occasionally
maybe we shoud make another forum for guys like us to moan
2005 Impreza WRX STI
A CAR IS ONLY AS FAST AS U DRIVE IT
...made that one up myself!
ex Clio 172 owner :(
I went from a 1.4 RT (which is similar to a 1.2 16v) to a Saxo VTS (similar to a 172).
Just take it easy for the first few days. Learn the gears, learn the handling, the brakes etc.
Tbh people talk about these cars being tricky on lift-off over steer but I cant say Ive had any trouble and I cane mine at times.
Youll never look back.
Go for it!
picked up a 172 cup last week after 4 years of driving 1.2s.
the extra power is nothing to be scared of it should be enjoyed, and, as long as your a decent driver, you will have no problem at all in adjusting.
Mini Cooper S sport
If you change gear at low revs and drive it normally just like any other car, its fine, its when you floor it that you realise what youve got!
The accelerator isnt massively sensitive, youll be fine.
The fact that youve posted this topic shows that youre probably more sensible than a lot of young drivers with fast cars.
® Andy
ClioSport Club Member
Illiad V6 255
Yep ... as MB says 172/182 is a pussy cat when you want it to be ... and a tiger when you want it to be too. Progressive accelerator and progressive brakes make for smooth driving.
Get youself a V6 next ... equally progressive. You can cruise around sensible and smoothly without any effort too.
In fact because of torque in 172s you can cruise with a tiny bit of accelerator and when you hit a hill you hardly have to press any further. Keeps your choosen speed up at constant accelerator in loads of situations.
Its an interesting swop to say the least, interior is virtually identical so its hard to imagine that you have nearly 100 extra bhp at your disposal, it doesnt even sound particuarly fast. First thing that got me was the clutch, completely different in a 172 so that takes a little getting used to it, I drove 60 miles in my 1.2 16V to look at the Cup I now own and jumped straight in for a 25 mile spin in the Cup, you know immediately once you pull away that things are different so there is no risk of putting your foot down as you would do in the 1.2 and flying off into the distance (unless your stupid and decide its wise to floor it straight away!), I had immediate respect for it and things were fine.
At low speeds around town the 172 is very deceptive and very civilised, it wont do anything out of the ordinary around town unless you tell it to and you can drive it very smoothly and relaxed around town/in queues no problem.
The only thing that caught me out was the torque steer, putting your foot down in low gears with one hand on the gear stick (which is not an issue in the 1.2) will catch you out if you arent ready for it, putting your foot down in 2nd requires firm control over the steering. This will only crop up out on the open road when you go for it though, anything up to 5000rpm is very controllable and suprisingly easy going.
Driving in the wet is the other issue (in a Cup at least), my Dynamique is very happy on twisties in the wet but the Cup feels very skittish and I take it very very easy. Its amazing how differently it drives in different conditions, in the dry the grip and control is insane, but in the wet it all goes a bit dodgy, I could probably do my daily commute quicker in the 1.2 when its really wet. Brakes are bordering on supercar good, excellent stopping power when needed, only issue is again with the Cup with the lack of ABS, chances are you will never need ABS but obviously you dont get that safety net in the Cup.
BMW M3
I went from a 1989 Ford Escort 1.3 to brand new 182 when i was 19 and it is seriously different. You do have to watch out for the torque steer when you boot it in low gears but other then that it should be fine. The car feels safer having more power cause you know its there just in case. Strangely, i dont thrash my 182 as much as the escort and having had the car now for almost a year, i cant say i have had any close calls due to my driving as i usually drive it sensibly. However, that may be because i put my escort through a wall and about 10 meters into a field by approaching a blind corner at 60mph on the crest of a hill at 1.30am in the middle of nowhere in the scottish borders. What a night that turned out to be..... Best thing that ever happened to me though as i reslised that i wasnt as good a driver i thought i was at 19.
An orange one
i went from a very heavily modified (double feature car) saxo VTR which just couldnt go fast due to clearance and 18s to a 172 cup, i was still 19 and when i test drove one didnt expect to think much of it..(it was a car id read about but never thought about owning)...but..wow..power power power, i am also a very safe driver for my age compared to some of my mates..as said on here, it can be driven like a 1.2 no problem..ive now owned mine 2 months and confidence gets better every time i go and drive it, the feeling when your in the mood (no passengers, dry b road, radio off, no fuel to keep weight down) 2nd gear from 4900rpm onwards is truly surreal!
do it you know you want to!
im looking forwards to going the next step up to a V6 255
Sinclair C5
its only a 2 litre Clio not a space rocket
