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I think contis are fine. I do push the car hard some of the time even in the wet and I say they behave themselves, but you also must remember if the road you are driving on is used by lorries after some time you may get a layer of diesel across the road making any tyre handle badly.
Ive still got my Pug and took it out in the wet last night on the same route my 172 was so poor on. It absolutely pissed on the 172 even in the wet, I pushed it to understeer limits many times to see what my pug would do, as it should it understeered slightly but still gripped so I could still power through the small slide. The 172 (in the dry) just pulled to the left offering no grip whatsoever, Id just have to completely back off. Its in to be looked at tomorrow, there must be something wrong with it.....I hope!!
Ive been thinking about the C172s handling for sometime now as I too couldnt quite understand why the magazines praised it so highly. I think there are some things to bear in mind.
- fundamentally, it has high levels of cornering ability
- if it ever feels nervous, twitchy or sensitive, it isnt because its on the edge, its simply telling you what it is doing
- now add in the Continentals. IMHO, they are average in the dry, and poor in the wet. I suspect they compound the feeling that the Clios handling isnt what it should be, when the reality is actually very different.
- you should not be ham-fisted in the Clio. It doesnt like that at all. Corner smoothly and put the power down appropriately, and then you really can take advantage of its grip and balance and hammer through the corners. At all times, it remains predictable and faithful, and is probably even more so with some decent tyres on it.
- i too have been deliberatley brutal with the car on empty roundabouts. It does break traction very easily, but once its sliding, you can control easily whether you drift, under- or over-steer, making it a very responsive and friendly, predictable set up. By the same token, if youre not brutal with it, I bet you can get through that roundabout just as fast as any other hot hatch.
- I know you dont all agree with me on this, but I still maintain that the steering lets the car down; its too slow around town and the car totally lacks the darty, pointy feel thats nice in a hot hatch, plus the steering wheels size and weight exacerbates this impression. And lets not even mention the dreadful steering lock...
That said, its terrific!
g
Its fair to say itll take me a while to really enjoy the 172, but I jumped back into my Pug last night and it was just brilliant, it made me smile more than taking delivery of the 172 and certainly more than driving the clio...
The 172 is certainly a very good car for the money, but Im not looking for the best car but the best fun car to drive and at the moment my 106 GTI wins hands down its great. Im hoping the 172 will be fixed tomorrow but if it is as you said scudetto the way it perhaps should be then its up for sale and Im going back to my Pug.....Anyone interested if its just me expecting too muh???
no, youre not expecting too much BB. I recently put a post up here saying that the 205GTi and, to a lesser extent, the Golf GTi, were so fundamentally right in the stop, steer, go department that it will be very difficult to better their dynamics and, more importantly, their feel. Apart from being faster and safer, and as much as i like my 172, I cant honestly say that it is a more enjoyable car to drive than the 205GTi or the Golf GTi, because they were so good. Others may disagree, but thats what I think, anyway.
To be brutally honest, and with hindsight, I would have been happier spending £1k or so on getting new shocks, bushes, dampers, brakes, induction kit, tyres, etc on my Golf, rather than buying the C172. But then the Golf had no airbags, no abs, (no rattles!) and none of the stuff that might one day save my life. Never satisfied, eh?
g
Yeah Ive tried all the stuff you should be checking on a regular basis, but quite simply its just not right. Ive also heard so many and I think practically everyone has had some form of manufacturing problem with their 172 that Im a bit worried that its down to a build fault.
As in a thread just posted mine has already had a new gearbox in it and has some of the known knocking noises as well.....
Hi Bash,
I have been reading this thread with interest.
It would appear that you have ruled out obvious problems with the car, and yes, the contis are excellent - all round (imho)
I would be very surprised if a build fault was causing any problems.. the usual ones are cosmetic, trim, or more recently, gearbox, however, not suspension.
Where are you located, perhaps a trip in another 172 is a good move ?
as benR said earlier, youre probably giving it more gas than you would in the Gti being a smaller engine with less power higher up the range therefore less low down torque and you shouldnt give it as much as you do in the 106. Its bound to understeer more as it has more power than your gti. Dont accelerate as much and just use half throttle instead of flooring it. My friend in his saxo was trying to keep up with me around some very tight bends (around a roundabout - kinda chicane stage with a long tight-ish corner at the end - great for kicking out the tail on lift off) He was doing a fine job as they are a lighter car etc etc, but he said he was on the ragged edge (possibly as he is a younger driver) and the next time he drove around this particular place he lost it and hit a van....ooops.
Not sure whether that last bit is very relevant, but the key is not to add as much gas as you would normally give in your gti. Its a bit like pressing the brakes when you have ABS, in most cases people now just stamp on the brakes and hooray, the ABS has come to the rescue; in a less powered/excellent handling car you can just floor it around bends and it wont have as much power to understeer as your 172 will have.........i hope that makes some sense!? does it??
Simon ?? !!!!!!!
Are you saying he cant drive it YET ???
Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh.....
Not read all the rplys here but a few pointers.
Falken tyres are okay but last about 8 miles before needing replacing. However if you want to tater the car just accept that you gonna replace tyres on the fromt very often.
The other thing is, in the wet your gonna get a little under steer especially if you floor it in a corner. The trick is to me smooth with the power delivery, and remember the clios got alot more than your peugeout. You should be able to point the car into corner turn in and (in the wet) with steady throttle have no problems, let off and youll se the back end catching you up, squirt too hard and youlll drift on to the double yellows. If you dont feel that you have got that sort of control, then the car is f*cked, at that price I think the latter may be true.
Best of luck and dont give up, when talking value for money, the 172 is the dogs b*ll*cks
Hmmmmm, all you guys are missing the point, extra power doesnt mean you should need less gas to get round a corner. Ive been driving for 10+ years now and had a string of hot hatches over the past 6-7 years Ive also had an Integra R for a couple of months as a company car, which incedentally has more power than the Clio, it would absolutely piss on the Clio from a great height (well my clio). This is quite strange considering I saw a program that put both cars through their paces and it was a close match.
Anyway the 172 is currently being checked out as we speak and Ive got a test drive in another Mk2 tomorrow so lets hope its dry. As I said earlier if this is the way the car should handle and I seriously doubt it then its not what everybody cracks it up to be and Im glad I havent sold my Pug yet!!!
Remember your clio has more torque and weighs less that your old integra type R. What other hot hatches have you owned? it seems that the 172 is the torquiest so far from what ive read......
I think it was Pillessponnen or whatever his name is said that he owned an Integra Type R and he raced a 172 which was 2 up and it kept up. I think the integra would win above 100 tho.....
Maybe there was some oil on the road at the time that you drove your clio and it got cleared up when you drove the 106? you probably just arent used to your new car yet? who knows......itd be nice to get to the bottom of this....
Simon172, the Integra may be heavier but has more torque and more BHP per tonne than the 172 by a fair way. I dont believe this has anything to do with it, no the oil thing is out of the question, this stretch of road is one of my favourites, Ive been around this section of roundies more than Ive had hot dinners and my 106 GTI along with the Integra would sh*ie on the 172 for sheer cornering ability, your certainly right I need to get used to it, but I dont know whether I fancy the idea of forever correcting the 172 as it snakes around the roads........
