Hello All
Just thought I'd say hi to everyone on the forum as I've just bought a Clio (Full Fat) Cup -black- 182 and it has (not surprisingly) blow away my Pug. Very happy with it so far - Despite having covered 90k miles it had 1 (yes one!) lady owner and FSH and it was local to me here, in Bournemouth.
So just to put it all into perspective I like cars. Always have. And I've always wanted a 'proper' hot hatch but never got round to it. I've always liked small french hatches, having owned 2x Renault 5s ("Event" & TSE) , Peugeot 205 (XS), 106 (XT), 4x206s (GL, XS, QuikSilver & only very recently a GTI). Ive also driven some of the classic hot hatches -but never owned- 205 GTI, 306 XSi, Renault 19 16v but I somehow went from 'warm' hatches (XS, XT) to BMWs to Family Cars and missed owning a genuine GTI.
Now some years later where Insuring a performance related car is no longer a hinderance I found myself in position not actually needed a car at all, as I walk to work and we, naturally, have a family car (Kuga) for running the kids around - so what do I do?
In the meantime and only as summer car, I've been running a TT 225 Roadster. Ok not a proper drivers tool, but its a reliable good looking car that's excellent to pootle around town in during the summer days but I hankered for a proper GTI. So I bought a 206 GTI (140BHP version, not the 180) and its was nice little car that I could be a hooligan in, but as we all know, doesn't tick the boxes
Bear in mind I don't do any driving during the week at all and we're more likely to take the kids out in the SUV than anything. But I needed a GTI. I Had to have one.
So I was considering getting a properly looked after 205GTI or Clio Williams - and the few that've I've see I was quite surprised at the relative cost and lets be honest, compared to recently cars they're made out of balsa wood. I wouldn't want to take my chances in a crash.
So after some digging around it had to be the 182 - not a 172 or 197 but a 182. Considered the Trophy but given I drive so few mile I could;t justify it (ok, to the wife! ;-) but you know what I mean. And by luck this lovely 182 appeared on sale around the corner with 1 owner - it had to be mine!
Appears to be outstanding condition and sees very tight to drive - Transmission, Engine, Clutch, Brakes feel rock solid. Mods so far? Well I want to keep it close to factory spec as possible, so I'm going to major changes BUT I've replaced the steering wheel as the previous one was wrecked (thumb grips esp.), new Silver trim inside (as previous was worn in places) and the only thing that needs doing are refurbing the front alloys - cosmetically all very tidy as well. I also put in some iPod ICE connectivity at some point, maybe some new boots soon (not desperate, but I like to know I've got max thread under me ;-) ) but aside form that, I don't think there is much to do.
The only complaint i have is that the exhaust is noisy - had it checked and the garage reported that its relatively new (third party) so it isn't worth changing at this point (despite have a knock underneath) not sure what the previous owner drove over tbh
But so far, its a great little car and completely blows away the 206 GTI in just about - correction EVERY- department
Just thought I'd say hi to everyone on the forum as I've just bought a Clio (Full Fat) Cup -black- 182 and it has (not surprisingly) blow away my Pug. Very happy with it so far - Despite having covered 90k miles it had 1 (yes one!) lady owner and FSH and it was local to me here, in Bournemouth.
So just to put it all into perspective I like cars. Always have. And I've always wanted a 'proper' hot hatch but never got round to it. I've always liked small french hatches, having owned 2x Renault 5s ("Event" & TSE) , Peugeot 205 (XS), 106 (XT), 4x206s (GL, XS, QuikSilver & only very recently a GTI). Ive also driven some of the classic hot hatches -but never owned- 205 GTI, 306 XSi, Renault 19 16v but I somehow went from 'warm' hatches (XS, XT) to BMWs to Family Cars and missed owning a genuine GTI.
Now some years later where Insuring a performance related car is no longer a hinderance I found myself in position not actually needed a car at all, as I walk to work and we, naturally, have a family car (Kuga) for running the kids around - so what do I do?
In the meantime and only as summer car, I've been running a TT 225 Roadster. Ok not a proper drivers tool, but its a reliable good looking car that's excellent to pootle around town in during the summer days but I hankered for a proper GTI. So I bought a 206 GTI (140BHP version, not the 180) and its was nice little car that I could be a hooligan in, but as we all know, doesn't tick the boxes
Bear in mind I don't do any driving during the week at all and we're more likely to take the kids out in the SUV than anything. But I needed a GTI. I Had to have one.
So I was considering getting a properly looked after 205GTI or Clio Williams - and the few that've I've see I was quite surprised at the relative cost and lets be honest, compared to recently cars they're made out of balsa wood. I wouldn't want to take my chances in a crash.
So after some digging around it had to be the 182 - not a 172 or 197 but a 182. Considered the Trophy but given I drive so few mile I could;t justify it (ok, to the wife! ;-) but you know what I mean. And by luck this lovely 182 appeared on sale around the corner with 1 owner - it had to be mine!
Appears to be outstanding condition and sees very tight to drive - Transmission, Engine, Clutch, Brakes feel rock solid. Mods so far? Well I want to keep it close to factory spec as possible, so I'm going to major changes BUT I've replaced the steering wheel as the previous one was wrecked (thumb grips esp.), new Silver trim inside (as previous was worn in places) and the only thing that needs doing are refurbing the front alloys - cosmetically all very tidy as well. I also put in some iPod ICE connectivity at some point, maybe some new boots soon (not desperate, but I like to know I've got max thread under me ;-) ) but aside form that, I don't think there is much to do.
The only complaint i have is that the exhaust is noisy - had it checked and the garage reported that its relatively new (third party) so it isn't worth changing at this point (despite have a knock underneath) not sure what the previous owner drove over tbh
But so far, its a great little car and completely blows away the 206 GTI in just about - correction EVERY- department
