Martin_172's Ultra Red 197 R27

[Martin_172]

stuck a deposit down on this today, pick it up after the weekend once a wee ding has been taken out the door, a scuff on the rear bumper and a tear in the recaro repaired (not quite sure how this is going to be done/look!!)
came from a main dealer, belts done late 2013

 

[ADS_V6]

Nice very odd seen one of these earlier in my local morrisons parked up.It looked good and iam not a big fan of the mk3 any plans?

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Don't see many Red R27's at all, look's great

 

[Martin_172]

Tidy it up outside as the grill is faded, one wheel has a couple of nicks and just needs a good detail but really just enjoy it. Id like an akrapovic and some springs/spacers but not till after winter I never keep cars that long anyway so just going to enjoy it!

 

[montana]

Looks nice

 

[yeecup]

nice. did u get rid of the cup?

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks really good Martin

 

[Matthew]

Love UR mate. These are great, its just the bloody gearbox that put me off.

 

[Martin_172]

Love UR mate. These are great, its just the bloody gearbox that put me off.

gearboxes don't stand up to people with no mechanical sympathy, if they are looked after they are fine, this one drives mint but if it has issues later on id just rebuild it and know it will be sound! - like everything the internet blows things out of proportion, 5 years ago no one knew what a dephaser was, when I was selling my cup people were phoning me asking if I had an invoice for the last dephaser change, none of them knew what it was but just read it MUST be done or walk away lol

nice. did u get rid of the cup?

yeah had put it up for sale for a bit, got time waster after time waster, took it down, it broke, I parked it up for a bit, sorted it then a young lad approached me when I was washing it one day, took it off my hands!

 

[Mr Plums]

I like these mate get some more pics up, how much did this set you back if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Martin_172]

Getting it on Thursday now as the Recaro has been removed and sent away for repair at a retrimmer., cost just under £5.5k

 

[Gally]

Cheapish car Martin, especially an R27. The mechanical sympathy is poppycock though, Turners 200 failed early as did hundreds of other mk3s, it's a s**t box, it's just a bridge you cross if it ever comes.

For what it's worth I'd rather have a custom exhaust over an akropovic as it was expensive and very little noise... I didn't think Noddie's one made much noise at all.

 

[Paprika123]

Tidy for 5.5k.

 

[Martin_172]

Cheapish car Martin, especially an R27. The mechanical sympathy is poppycock though, Turners 200 failed early as did hundreds of other mk3s, it's a s**t box, it's just a bridge you cross if it ever comes.

For what it's worth I'd rather have a custom exhaust over an akropovic as it was expensive and very little noise... I didn't think Noddie's one made much noise at all.

They sound just perfect for me, I'm to old for loud exhausts these days lol

 

[Knuckles]

Brilliant. You'll have to let us know how it compares to the trophy

And have you heard an akra in person?

I thought they were lacklustre in videos, but being in a car with one proper changed my mind. They sound unreal.

I wish I managed to nab my mates off his 200 before he chopped it in.

 

[Martin_172]

still waiting on it!! it failed its MOT on worn front ball joints last week so not getting it till mid week this week with 2 new hubs fitted at Renault! result!!!!!

 

[Poopensharten]

I love when uncle arnie gets his fingers burnt! Hope they round every single bolt and have to replace parts worth the same as the car

 

[Martin_172]

I love when uncle arnie gets his fingers burnt! Hope they round every single bolt and have to replace parts worth the same as the car

tell me about it! was expecting them to tell me sorry its fucked we are putting it to auction can we interest you in a Renault captur with 5yrs warranty and 70mpg?

 

[Martin_172]

not had time to update this!! picked it up a week ago, recaro repaired to an amazing standard, looks like it left the factory!, ding fully removed, scratch on bumper repaired to a fantastic standard - great start!!!
new hub fitted to one side as it failed an mot, other side was fine and looking thru the paperwork it was only replaced last mot! so 2 good hubs on it now!

drives lovely, mega fun, its even worse on fuel than my 200 was though, tough pill to swallow coming from the dci 80 but I didn't buy it for economy! averaging 25mpg on my 50 mile daily commute, however that's an amazing drivers road at 5am every morning so its to be expected!

problem already though (why do I not get on with mk3 clios?!?!?!?!) one of the manifold flexi's has gone, most know my opinion/experience of Arnold clark so theres no chance I was letting them touch it so got a good condition manifold arrived for it with a new gasket and manifold to exhaust fitting kit, dropping the subframe off it tomorrow to change them over, was really interested in the KTR manifold but at £600 + a remap to remove the flat spot it would have been the best part of £1k for a bit of noise and a tiny gain.

anyway the weather has been pish so hardly took any pictures but heres what ive got so far!

 

[-Jamie-]

Doing the mani at SWR?

 

[Martin_172]

Doing the mani at SWR?

na, my garage floor

 

[Fraser.J.]

Eugh. Awesome. So much want. Do not put a cup spoiler on it

 

[Stefan.]

Lovely car

But the love the trophy more

 

[Martin_172]

Eugh. Awesome. So much want. Do not put a cup spoiler on it

cheers mate, I'm loving it, don't worry no cup spoilers going on!! just going to keep it standard and enjoy it!

Lovely car

But the love the trophy more

cheers mate, id have to agree with you, trophy is my favourite!

 

[PP200t]

Looks lovely in red. Really did fancy one of these but the mpg put me off tbh. Shame really as every time I see one I wish I'd had one.

 

[Stefan.]

Looks lovely in red. Really did fancy one of these but the mpg put me off tbh. Shame really as every time I see one I wish I'd had one.

Why would you buy a hot hatch based on mpg??:unamused:

 

[PP200t]

Why would you buy a hot hatch based on mpg??:unamused:

Because I'm tight as well as having a heavy right foot.

 

[Martin_172]

My work pays my fuel and it still hurts haha

 

[Knuckles]

Ur makes capsicum look really bad!

110% needs cup spoiler lol.

How does it compare to your 200 and the trophy?

 

[Martin_172]

Ur makes capsicum look really bad!

110% needs cup spoiler lol.

How does it compare to your 200 and the trophy?

really needs a good detail as in the flesh the trophy colour looks miles better but the 197 is just a bit flat looking it should polish up nicely as I remember them when they were new!!

I'm looking at getting a 200 rear bootlid with GT spoiler for it and probably a 200 diffuser

I never got to enjoy my 200 as it only worked properly for less than 2000 miles and then the 8k miles that followed it were horrendous, so I'm loving this, suspension is a bit nicer to live with than the 200 setup was, I always felt the 200 with cup pack was just a bit too hard for uk roads tbh, if I was a bit more organised I would have got a 200 cup rack for it and swapped it over when doing the manifold as we had the steering rack off.
tbh its been a long time since I drove a 200 but this doesn't feel any less keen low down in the revs than the 200 considering the 40% extra low down torque or what ever the figure was and the shorter 1st 2nd and 3rd gears. sounds fantastic too, I'm not sure my 200 sounded as nice but probably just forgetting! and lastly I never rated the brembos on my 200 but these are fantastic, they got fresh discs and pads from the dealer so id imagine its running cheap motor factor stuff and they are still great, the 200 just was a Friday afternoon car!

had the trophy out this afternoon for 20 minutes just a spin around the town to dust it off and one thing was quickly apparent, how much better it pulls from low down to 5000rpm, it is running an RS Tuner map which helps a lot with this but you really feel the lack of weight, the 197 makes up for it with the last couple of thousand RPM, it doesn't feel any slower than the trophy when both are on the boil but id probably bet that it is!

 

[Knuckles]

They are gutless when going from low revs.
But like you say, they're great when on the boil

I bet you don't notice the out of the box handling advantage of the 197 when comparing it to a trophy.

You can fit a gt spoiler to the standard boot lid.

I'm sure it was someone on here who did it. They made a fairly detailed thread.

 

[Martin_172]

They are gutless when going from low revs.
But like you say, they're great when on the boil

I bet you don't notice the out of the box handling advantage of the 197 when comparing it to a trophy.

You can fit a gt spoiler to the standard boot lid.

I'm sure it was someone on here who did it. They made a fairly detailed thread.

ah cool that could save quite a bit then instead of having to buy a bootlid and paint etc! ill do a search!

the 197 is very planted mid corner where the trophy is lively, in a fun way, not a nervous way. I wouldn't say either is better than the other the trophy is probably the better backroad blaster and the 197 probably the better on a fast track.
the trophys party piece is how adjustable it is mid corner with the throttle/brakes, will see how the 197 is in this sense when I get a dry day! its rained every day since I got it, and when its been remotely dry ive had my daughter in the back lol

 

[Knuckles]

Lol it started sleeting on my way home from Chester tonight. The Clio was spinning well into third gear. It felt like a powerful car for a change.

I'm sure it was you who was saying how big of a slide you could pull in the 200?

Either way, I find I have to be pressing on fairly enthusiastically to get the 197 to oversteer... And when the tyres heat up, it gets very unsettling at the rear!

 

[Kosy]

Love red R27s and the Trophy of course!

If pushed I think I would probably prefer the R27 for the more modern look, interior and Recaros.

Interesting about the low down pull. The rstuner map certainly does help. Are you going to put it on the R27?

 

[Martin_172]

I'm sure it was you who was saying how big of a slide you could pull in the 200?

Either way, I find I have to be pressing on fairly enthusiastically to get the 197 to oversteer... And when the tyres heat up, it gets very unsettling at the rear!

haha yeah, they days of driving like that are long gone for me but yeah, ESP off, enter wide roundabout far too fast, flick it in and snap off the throttle and get ready to catch it!!!

Love red R27s and the Trophy of course!

If pushed I think I would probably prefer the R27 for the more modern look, interior and Recaros.

Interesting about the low down pull. The rstuner map certainly does help. Are you going to put it on the R27?

the r27 is a much nicer place to be, my trophy has less miles and drives like it just left the factory but drive it thru rush hour traffic and you need a nap when you get home! the R27 still feels very modern to drive, feels of the same age as our 14 plate dci!

yeah will probably RS Tuner the 197 too, need to get xmas and new year out the way first, had the unexpected bill of a new exhaust manifold on the 197 and my mrs is just back off maternity so still recovering!

 

[Martin_172]

not had much time to update this, not much has changed. Manifold flexi burst so got a good condition manifold from a Clio 200, swapped them over and stuck a new lower engine mount to remove any excess play as I had a feeling this could be the culprit that had caused the manifold to fail, so that was a s**t job but its done now! also stuck a new manifold gasket and manifold to exhaust fitting kit on it at the time

gave it a wash and a clay, need to attack It with the machine polisher this week when I get time

 

[Martin_172]

centre exhaust silencer failed, akrapovic evolution ordered

 

[imprezaworks]

Silver linning and all that

 

[yeecup]

Looks great

 

[Martin_172]

oh my god the sound, its just perfect!! - vids to follow when the snow clears!