my 182 and first opinions...

[raf182]

Well after 2 months of waiting and the same again of reading this forum I finally picked my Cup-spec 182 up today...so far so good I have to say!

First impressions on driving out of the showroom went pretty much as follows...fcuk sharp brakes...fcuk high clutch bite...fcuk RATTLE! rattle has since dissappeard which is nice and my brain has adjusted to clutch/brakes.

Drove home at a speed Miss Daisy would be proud of, was full of that nervous excitment usually reserved for 10yr old at xmas time so didnt bother trying to find out what the performance was like, that was left for later

On my first proper drive its noticeable how much power the car has, coming from a 1.8 Civic VTi which had about 174hp the Clio feels much stronger and thats without extending it at all, very impressed with engine so far.

As for the handling? well coming from the Civic which was lowered the difference is night & day, the steering is so much sharper and the chassis rides bumps much better, it does feel unsettled on rough bits of road and braking hard into corners but I guess that comes from being a small car, I am quite aware I have to learn how to drive again after being in a safe car like the Civic for 2 years! The Clio reminds me of my old 309 GTi which is deffo a good thing, once I get the hang of driving it properly!

Overal Im very impressed, the build quality seems good, the dealership helpfull and above all Ive got a massive grin on my face which surely what the 182 is all about!

 

[blaupunkt]

u gave it some stick with out running it in abit to start with ? brave man!

when i get mine it will be 300+ mile before i think about "thrashing" it alittle eheheh

 

[Funkyjahooner]

Ive had mine 2 months now and get a buzz everytime im out in it.Its not my day to day car so its great to get in it and enjoy but im sure it has that effect if used daily.Its a smashing car to own and drive

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by blaupunkt on 22 May 2004

u gave it some stick with out running it in abit to start with ? brave man!

You need to bed the engine in hard getting it upto temp quick and revving the engine to the redline in the foirst 25miles.

Otherwise the piston rings wont shape the cylinder walls so blowby and oil burn will be increased in later life also a few % of power is lost and mpg will be lower (abeitly only slightly)

 

[blaupunkt]

really ? thats not what iv been lead to believebut still...

 

[Funkyjahooner]

Quote: Originally posted by edde on 22 May 2004

Quote: Originally posted by blaupunkt on 22 May 2004

u gave it some stick with out running it in abit to start with ? brave man!

You need to bed the engine in hard getting it upto temp quick and revving the engine to the redline in the foirst 25miles.

Otherwise the piston rings wont shape the cylinder walls so blowby and oil burn will be increased in later life also a few % of power is lost and mpg will be lower (abeitly only slightly)

So why dont Renault tell us to do this ?? People often say that but surely if its better for the engine then wed be told to do it ?

Whatever reason is given for Renault not telling us to do this makes no sense to me,if its proven to be better to give it loads in the first 25 miles then its stupid to tell us to take it easy ! If its fact its better with no argument then wed be told to give it some surely !

 

[NIN-172]

Cars used to have running in oil in as new & u had to run them in for about a 1000miles, then get some proper oil put in.

Dont know what they do nowadays tho. Maybe they come already run in.
I got mine 2nd hand, so no idea.

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by Funkyjahooner on 22 May 2004

So why dont Renault tell us to do this ?? People often say that but surely if its better for the engine then wed be told to do it ?
Whatever reason is given for Renault not telling us to do this makes no sense to me,if its proven to be better to give it loads in the first 25 miles then its stupid to tell us to take it easy ! If its fact its better with no argument then wed be told to give it some surely !

To bed the engine in hard you would have to drive it quite fast in order to do this quite a few people would crash the new car. So Renault to protect themselves tell you to go easy.

There are benefits to going easy in that if a part breaks at low revs wont do as much damage so if there is a manurfacturing fault it will be cheaper for them to fix.

Reanult dont care about engine life realy or max power since they want you to buy a new car in 2~3yrs and the engine going to go forever anyway however you drive it. Why should they tell people to drive it hard your going to loose them business in 3yrs time.

Can you imagien telling a buyer of a new car to hammer it 5 minutes after they drive out the showroom there would be quite a few crashes and peopel wouldnt belive them and be gentle anyway.

Motorbike engine are rev limited from new for the first few k then at the first service there limiter is removed to protect the buyers from the increased performance. But its not to protect the engine infact Suzuki for certain rev there bikes hard on the production line they let them top 14k so reving hard from new must have some reason.

 

[NIN-172]

Well when I rebuilt my last engine on my last car, I had to deglaze the cylinder bores, put running in oil, in & run it in.
The running in oil is more hash than normal & acts as a lapping oil.
This gets the piston rings to match to the bores better, giving less blowby & more performance.


Maybe they dont bother with this from new though.

 

[Jim172CUP]

new engines are run in before you get them. They just cover theirselves by telling you to take it easy for the first 500 miles so you can settle the brakes etc.

 

[matlow]

^^^^^^wot he said

 

[raf182]

Quote: Originally posted by blaupunkt on 22 May 2004


u gave it some stick with out running it in abit to start with ? brave man!

when i get mine it will be 300+ mile before i think about "thrashing" it alittle eheheh <SCRIPT language=javascript>



hehe...giving it stick in this case wasnt going above 4K and even at that it felt like I was abusing her!

As for the other comments about running in, sirely the only way to prove either theory about running in gentle or hard is to have to identical engines and test them side by side through-out their lives, then we will know for definite what the best way is, until then my personal feeling is its better to be gentle rather than hard with it.

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by raf182 on 23 May 2004

As for the other comments about running in, sirely the only way to prove either theory about running in gentle or hard is to have to identical engines and test them side by side through-out their lives, then we will know for definite what the best way is, until then my personal feeling is its better to be gentle rather than hard with it.

Totally agree with you but you have to decide whats a good engine long life low blowby etc and what sort of conditions your going to drive the engine in ie short drives reved hard from cold plus there no way of making 2 identical engines.

Personally Id not be bothered Ive some excellent enginnering based reasons why you should bed in as I wrote above and the reason explained why which I can understand. AFter all how many engine fail and how many failed due to a hard bed or soft bed in thery uisualy fail after a few owners have had it so knowing other factors in the cars life is difficult.

 

[wackojacko]

Take it out NOW and rag the bloddy nutts off it.

My 172 had 8 miles on it when it hit the rev limiter for the first time. 20k on and its still pulling strong.