hi folks, apologies for the amount of questions coming your way !!

[richbk]

hi folks 1st post and sooo many questions.

as a forum regular on a couple of other sites, for my other motor, i hope cliosport is going to be as useful, fun and
knowledgeable? as i have learned lots, saved loads and enjoyed my car much more being part of a "group"
particualry if trackdays and local meets are involved (so long as there not at mcdonalds at 2am!!!)

i am in the market for a clio as my daily commute car, as i do 80 miles a day on some great driving roads through the peak district
and up to manchester, and my current mazda 2, 1.4 deisel just doesnt cut it !! it used to do 120 miles a day up and down M6 to brum
and at 65 mpg it was great.

i have been looking for 2/3 months on pistonheads etc and for my budget (£3000-£3500) see quite a few cars, either well sorted low milage 172's
or higher milage mixed pack 182's.


i wonder if the cliosport fraternity can shed any light on the below and point me in the right direction,

my questions in no particular order are :-

1) other than bodywork what where the big steps forward / backward between 172 / 182, is there a big weight difference?

2) whats all this "packs" stuff. i would ideally like a true "cup" car, or even a trophy, although dont think budget will allow
as i would proberbly track the car in the winter months and want the suspension / chassis / seats etc that seem to be part of spec.
but dont want to travel to see a car called a "cup" to find out it has a spoiler and some uprated wheels but nowt else?

3) what type of mpg can i expect to get a) steady 55 mph commute b) hooning

4) any specialist insurers to try for quotes (im 41, clean licence, full ncd)

5) any colours to aviod due to paint fade / poor resale etc.

6) any big known service /reliabity issues

7) is there a safe aftermarket steering wheel to swop that fugly thing out for?

8) any "must do" mods, bearing in mind it will proberbly go on track occasionally?

there will be no doubt lots more, so thanks in advance for bearing with me

cheers

richbk

 

[Revels]

Welcome!

1) The 182 is actually slightly lighter as it doesn't have a spare wheel

2) http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?562600-172-182-Guide.-Cup-Packs-Spec-Info You don't want a 182 Cup anyway.

3) 40MPG+ if you're good. 30MPG if you're not

4) Sky. Bentacare. Admiral Group etc.

5) Arctic bluetends to be unwated. Same as silver.

6) Engine mounts/Exhausts

7) There's a few different options

8) They're pretty good as standard. See how you get on with it.

 

[Hixle]

Welcome along mate. In your position I'd be looking at a 172 cup; you'd get a decent example in budget and it seems to tick all your boxes. With these cars, history is more important than milage in my opinion.

As Revels say's, they're pretty decent cars as standard!

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Welcome.

Go for a Ph1 if you can cope with the interior. Do a dash swap if you can't

Ph1 will give you better MPG, cable throttle has a nicer feel - more 'raw' if you like. Better if you're going to be doing track days. Also you'll have plenty of cash left for trackdays etc !

 

[richbk]

Welcome!

1) The 182 is actually slightly lighter as it doesn't have a spare wheel - surprising, are they all fly by wire throttles??

2) http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?562600-172-182-Guide.-Cup-Packs-Spec-Info You don't want a 182 Cup anyway. - thx, this suggests "cup is just lighter and has no suspension / chassis tweaks??? is this true??

3) 40MPG+ if you're good. 30MPG if you're not - cool, better than my exige. 35 if good, 8 if really bad!!

4) Sky. Bentacare. Admiral Group etc. - thx

5) Arctic bluetends to be unwated. Same as silver. - mnnn quite like the silver, but racing blue would be 1st choice, without stripes

6) Engine mounts/Exhausts - okey dokey

7) There's a few different options - any options that retain air bag, or is it momo route??

8) They're pretty good as standard. See how you get on with it.

-

 

[Steven103]

1) The PH1 172 has a cable throttle. All newer versions are fly by wire.

2) Nope, you've misinterpreted that by quite a long way. The 182 cup is a lighter (no leather, no climate control, no cruise control, no split folding seats, cheap 1.2 steering wheel, no xenons etc) go faster version. As standard the 182 cup has revised "cup" suspension (wider track, lower, different springs & dampers, anthracite wheels) and revised "cup spoiler" looks (bigger rear spoiler & front splitter). It is possible to buy the standard 182 (i.e. with nice seats, xenons and all the goodies) and as an optional extra specify it to have the "cup suspension pack" (the "182 cup" suspension setup) and the "cup spoiler pack" (so you get the bigger spoiler/splitter from the 182 cup.

This should clear it up, this is the renaultsport range. The 182 and 182 cup are different cars: http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/roadcars/heritage/Default.aspx However if you take a look at the standard 182 sales data you will see almost 4000 buyers specified the standard 182 to also have the cup suspension setup: http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/roadcars/heritage/182/ (note how rare the other options, sat nav & recaro trendline seats from the trophy, are)

3) IMO running costs are really underated for the 172/182. When we saw "being good 40+" we don't mean sat in 5th doing 60mph and not overtaking a single thing. Being as careful as possible can yield an mpg starting with "5"...

5) Don't discount "black gold." The 172 and all non-sport clios are just plain black, but the "black gold" 182 gets special black with sort of tiny gold speckles. Looks absolutely mint when cleaned or next to a normal black. Looks dirty all the other times. Maybe BG is for the inconspicuous person.

7) Most popular is the Sabelt Renaultsport steering wheel (as supplied on the 172 "cup racer") http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...eering-wheels-£143.00-See-post-390-for-update Alternatively there have been 197 steering wheels fitted, but this requires a reasonable amount of DIY wiring and would be more of a project than a straight swap.