Ignis is gone, 200 arrives.

[Tighten My Nuts]

Yesterday evening I waved goodbye to this



and said hello to this



then spent a late night working on the wife so I could take it here first thing this morning



and have spent the entire day doing this


[youtube]H_XIFsmRDGo[/youtube]

Last lap of the day...have barely touched what it can do yet, can't wait for the spring.

The non-cupped path is the right one

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Wicked mate! Enjoying it? Whats your first impressions?

I did silverstone (pretty much non stop all day! lol) in mine and I loved it! Hated driving it on the road with the wife and kids hence I sold it.

 

[leeds_182]

Nice. Can you turn the beep off?

 

[Tighten My Nuts]

First road impressions are; motorways are nice again, economy is fine, fat steering wheel feels lurvely, reach adjustment is worth it, why the f*** is there not a power outlet on the dash (or have I missed it?), gearchange and seating position are massively improved, electric PAS is fine.

First track impressions are; grip, grip, traction, traction, grip, and WTF is this, more grip?!! I need to brake so much less, but as I'd only had it less than 24hrs I thought better of it LOL

 

[JCC]

Welcome to the 200 Club.

Power outlet should be down next to the handbrake lever.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

When I did silverstone I did it with a mate in his 172 track car. He is a much better driver than me and previously when I had my 172, when we are both on track there is a big difference between us...

At silverstone with me in the 200, you couldn't get a fag paper between us for the whole day. Literally bumper to bumper.

My driving hadn't improved so it just goes to show how much better the 200 is. I really really rate them.

 

[Jamie]

Why is non cup pack the correct choice?

 

[Sanders]

Cup pack ftw

 

[.Kev.]

Racing gloves FTL.

 

[Russ_16v]

Looking good Mark! So the obvious comparason is is it better than the Cup?

 

[Christopher.]

I knew i should have stayed up there a little longer ! Got some nice pics of the other cars

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Oh, and whats happened to the cup? Or have I missed something?

 

[Gaz_]

Oooft that was quick!

 

[Joe R26]

Cracking day and had the pleasure of being a passenger for a few sessions.

Thanks again mark. You've given me the bug now. Very impressed with the performance of the 200.

 

[Will.]

Finished on the wife? Nice.

Good effort on first day ownership.

 

[Pete.]

Welcome to the proper Clio club Mark. I guess you've found that sweet handling spot then. Well done on persuading the Missus to take it on track immediately, it took me over a year to persuade mine.

 

[danh90]

looking good mate the 200 standard?

 

[jack_davey]

Why is non cupped the way to go?

 

[.GAZ.]

Wrong colour!

 

[sussex_gti]

Ahh, remember you from the Ignis forum. I've just sold mine too and got another Clio. Miss the Ignis a lot though, so so much fun! Good choice, 200's are growing on me.

 

[Clio RS 172]

nice RS:clap:

 

[Tony Hunter]

Gone all modern then Mark,they are so good on track out the box,much better than the 172-182.

 

[GiT]

The non-cupped path is the right one

Bold statement... how do you calculate so?

 

[Mr Burns]

...But is it better than the Ignis??

 

[Infamous Nikko]

Why no Cup?

 

[ColinG]

My mum and dads 200 is non cup packed and it's sublime!

The damping on bumpy b roads is unreal!

IMO ultimate spec would be non cup suspension with the cup steering rack, but it's not worth the crashy ride for the quicker rack unless you do alot of track work and drive on smooth roads,

 

[imprezaworks]

Superb driving, so composed.

 

[CHRIS172CUP]

Will it give you 10 years fun back like the last one

That poor car

 

[Steven103]

Still got the 172 track toy? If so what'll happen to that with the 200 being such a natural on track?

 

[TimR26]

The 200 looks good on track Mark

 

[Fletcher]

Still got the 172 track toy? If so what'll happen to that with the 200 being such a natural on track?

IIRC Mark plans on selling the 172 cup.

 

[Tighten My Nuts]

Still got the Cup, but am open to offers. Not really making any effort to get rid yet, but will do come the spring.

The Ignis wasn't cutting it as a daily anymore, and it pained me that the Cup sat there 3 weeks at a time sometimes without turning a wheel. Then two lots of insurance and tax came up in quick succession, I winced and then thought...why not?

So I did. Got the absolute perfect spec in my opinion...

• Black paint - the front bumper/wing, rear diffuser, wheel-arch vents, all the bits that mark them out as RS Clios, just blend in. So it isn't shouty...looks to the uneducated just like a black Clio.

• Non-cup suspension - my current commute is 52 miles a day along swooping, narrow, blind and generally f***ed country roads. I have two children who sometimes like sleeping in the back. The lack of red calipers and amphasite wheels means it's not shouty, silver wheels and black body = normal car. I love driving on track, I love driving full stop, but of the 17,000 miles I do each year, 500 tops are done at Goodwood. Q.E.D.

• Standard chairs - Goodwood no longer permit any kind of suction mount as they become projectiles if the glass cracks/gets smashed in an impact. So the only camera mount option for me is headrest struts.

• Cost - no one wants Cup suspension so the odd trader that takes one can end up stuck with it for a while. The guy I bought this from had had it two months. It had less than 18k miles and 8 months Renault warranty remains. Cost to change was £8k. Bargain.

• Rear parking sensors - err?

On track it's almost light years away from my Cup in terms of its sure-footedness. I only troubled the ESP a few times throughout the day, so there's still a fair bit to come there once I dial into it. It just feels so friendly, really eggs you on then laughs hard at your lack of commitment.

As a comparison I was doing circa 1:40 vs a best in my Cup of 1:37. But the Cup was stripped and running track rubber. I think vs a standard Cup it would be a good second or two quicker around Goodwood.

Brimmed the tank again this morning then ran a few errands, trip meter currently says 38mpg. WTF? I thought they were meant to be useless on fuel?

After it's thrashing yesterday I gave it some TLC earlier...it's a keeper, going for at least as long as the current Cup so am going to try to take good care of it.

 

[Will.]

Those discs look shocking. Always wondered, is there a way to get rid of that orange look to them?

 

[GiT]

Those discs look shocking. Always wondered, is there a way to get rid of that orange look to them?

Yip on ly on the braking surface... the other bits would need painting.

 

[Martin_172]

very nice, looking forward to your future reviews and videos!

 

[MikeLYR27]

Those discs look shocking. Always wondered, is there a way to get rid of that orange look to them?

Isn't this because he's just washed it?!

Great read mark.

 

[Martin_172]

im swaying between a 200 or keep and remap the GT DCi! cant decide what i want to do lol

 

[imprezaworks]

Isn't this because he's just washed it?!

Great read mark.

Yep

 

[leeds_182]

Cant get on with the wheels on that one, much prefer the old cup but I think you got what you could out of that old war horse!

 

[Mr Burns]

What was up with the Ignis, Mark? I sold mine because it was unbearable on the coilovers, and I didn't like it in standard guise. They're not the most comfortable of cars as standard are they! I've since been offered a cheap Yaris T-Sport, I'm tempted but I don't feel the need so much any more.

200 is nice btw, if it's anything like my 197 was you'll be loving it to bits already!