Had the car about a fortnight now. Thought id write a few words for my website. So for those who are interested.... comments welcome !
Cheers
Jon.
Picked up the Renault Clio Cup as I needed a run around to replace the Elise with. As my 111s at the higher end of the S1 price scale and demand for good examples of this model being high, I decided to part with it after just 3 months ownership. Only the fact that I got the same money that I paid for it softened the blow- and with S2 residuals free falling into and below the 16k price bracket I think I did well. With nigh on 15.5k in my back pocket the question was what to do next. I needed a few thou to sort out bits and bobs so my limit was around 13k.
It’s not a measly amount of money to play around with but I was seriously stumped on what to do. I test drove a Honda Civic Type R knowing fine well that I wouldn’t like it – in the same way that I didn’t like my Honda S2000. Hate the VTEC delivery.
Sportscar wise – there was not much around. An earlier standard Elise? I couldn’t possibly having owned the finest example 111s around. VX – never really thought at the time. I was eyeing a 182 Clio up in Blue with the white stripes but at 13.5k – for a hot hatch – no chance – too expensive. These people who buy R32 Golfs/Focus RS and similar 20k price bracket hot hatches are morons. 5k will pick you up a Clio Williams which will do just as good a job if not better – this was my thinking – but couldn’t find a good one.
Ok. A quick scan through EVO and I was down to 2 cars. Alfa Romeo GTV and a Clio Cup. Both prices under 10k and both looking extremely good value. Head went over heart though and the Clio arrived with 900 miles on the clock and pretty much brand spankers.
First impressions – nice colour ! Kind of azure blue – seats are snug and blue detailing inside kind of williams-esque. All the controls are in the right place but nothing looks much different from the Clio’s of 10 years ago apart from the previously ridiculous position of the stereo. . Driving position felt too high until I found the seat height adjust and steering column adjust! The quality of the interior isn’t great compared to the Civic but it’s a cheaper car to start with. A criticism of the gear change position is that it felt too far away. Maybe it’s just my seating position though – but I have missed 3rd gear a number of times now. Back seats are nigh on useless – especially with the Cups lowered suspension and some adult back seat passengers. Erm..No air con – I can live with that – but no sunroof either??
It feels small and compact – far more in proportion than the silly high sided Golfs and Focus’s. The 2.0 litre engine sounded very nice and acceleration was poky. Coming off the first roundabout, handling felt very nice and tidy but trying to exit on full power as you would on a RWD car was not possible. Well it was but the force just pushed against the front tyres causing understeer until you started to straighten up. What did I expect from a FWD car though? Surprised at the acceleration to be honest – not quite in the 111s league but was probably on par with a standard Elise. Could do with an extra 30bhp to be honest. Gearing felt good but the needle on the rev counter was not going up quick enough! And the revs had a few little flat spots. As I said a bit more power would be needed – probably an air filter and exhaust along with a re-map to bring it all together.
As I got more familiar with the car I tried to exploit the handling. Rave reviews from EVO gave me the confidence to throw it around without too much worry! Handling is good if you are committed and have full concentration. There felt like too much ‘bounce’ in the suspension but this may be too critical having come from a spine breaking Elise. But for B road driving and quick change of direction from left to right to left – the handling just leant too much to drive the car with serious pace. But as I said before, if you are committed and don’t mind having one of the rear wheels off the ground then fine but sometimes I just want to relax and drive quick without having a sweat on. The ‘lean’ of the suspension is highlighted even further when breaking hard. Weight transfer from back to front can be quite scary – more so with the absence of ABS. Long sweeping 90 mph corners also demand too much of the chassis whereas he Elise would have another 30% up its sleeve. The Mini Cooper S chassis felt so much more composed and capable. This came as a surprise having read numerous magazine reviews that raved about it. Stiffer springs to order maybe?
All in all, I’m very happy with it. I think the original asking price of 13k would have kept me away but for a sub 10k car on the second hand market – it’s very good value - quick, capable and exploitable in the right hands. Down right dangerous in the wrong ones!
