MG ZR160 V Clio Sport 172

[AndyT23]

I'm sure there was a decent comparison a few years ago with lots of Hot Hatches inc. 172 and ZR or maybe ZS. They were very close on the track, in the wet. The Clio was the quickest overall, beating the Civic and Astra etc...might have been an Autocar review.
Personally, they look okay from outside but the interior in ZR's are rubbish. No contest for me - no matter how close the performance is.

I think I remember the one you mean as well mate - was a green ZR iirc and they said it was good value etc, but the interior was just cack?

On the HG issue - there's some uprated bolts and stuf available to cure it isn't there?

Dan

Yep I'm fairly sure there's a few places offering aftermarket upgrade kits for them now. Makes them quite a good engine then I think, it's the same old british engineering story of good product with an atrocious achilles heel!!

 

[harveyg77]

U know what without disrespecting the topic starter
does it feckin matter?
really? I mean i got my clio cuz i love the look of the car there smart and
you dont see many on the road .I did not purchase it cuz i wanna beat everyother
feckin moter on the road or i would of got one of those ugly ass gti pulsar
or something along those lines...

Hmm, understand where you're coming from. But I think you may have missed my point a little/I didn't really make it clear what I was asking.

My query wasn't really meant to be whether I should race one or not. More as to why it seems, two similar size and weight cars could be so close in quoted performance, yet one seems to have a distinct power and torque advantage. i.e. was it just that maybe MG over-egg their figures, or Renault are conservative. Or is it merely cos the MG is 'better' geared, gets power down better or something else.

So really, why are the two cars seemingly so similar on performance terms yet the MG would appear to have a distinct defecit to the Clio?

Also I was interested in whether people have driven the pair for fair comparison, which would probably answer the question.

Cheers

 

[D1CKY]

At the end of the day its a Rover with an add/clipped on bodykit

And rovers are usually associated with old pensioners etc and they rust (well they used to) and are common to blowing head gaskets :S

And what would you rather have a Mg Zr or an Rs Clio ?

I may be close but i know what i'd rather have

 

[Azoic_en_ash]

straight line performance wise, consider gear ratio... could be the factor in this case?

 

[the1]

I can't comment on a ZR, but I have a TF160 (There simular)...The TF160 is 0-60 in 6.9 sec and top speed of around 140mph with the K Series engine.

Yes MG's are prone to HGF, but you only hear the bad ones. What about the MG's that haven't had there HG go? - you never hear about them do you?. I know that mine is on 20k miles and I haven't had a problem with mine and it gets used everyday.

I had a brand new Clio 1.6 16v Dynamique before the TF and tbh the build quality imho is the same. Renaults are built to a budget and so are MG's.

 

[harveyg77]

Excellent reports in those links, makes me want to jump in her right now, head over Via Gellia, Cat and Fiddle and back down Leak to Ashbourne ;-)

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[R20 CWH]

i would have thought the clio would have had the edge on handling