New Clio 197 & Oulton Park BTCC pics (56k ouch)

[Lee]

Firstly the 197 obviously. The car isn't a final production models so the spec is a little odd, and it's missing the start button and I think card entry system. I wasn't able to drive it today as it's not registered for the road, and had a few faults due to people removing belts for photo shoots, but I did get to start it up and give a bit of a poke. All very promising. I'm looking forward to a drive in a few weeks.

Lovely small chunky wheel:

Neat, clean modern looking dashboard:

Six speed gearbox with a nice tight short throw (100 times better than the 172/182)

Excellent seats. Picking Recaros in a 182 was a no brainer as they were a lot better, now the standard seats are this good it's not so easy. The Recaros will be different to those in the Trophy and are trimmed for the car.

17" alloys with 215/45/17 Contisport 3 rubber. Brembos. :approve:

The pics don't do justice to how much wider the arches are over the standard car.

The pics from the days BTCC as well as some pit garage pics are all here: Link

 

[clio__chris]

great pics!

i still dont like the look of the rear (apart from the defuser)
think i still prefer the look of the 225 tho

 

[fmp_]

the more i see it, the more i like it!

 

[D"w!Z]

are the seats still ridiculsly high??

 

[Ad]

Great day... The 197 looks so much better in the flesh, i was fortunate enough to have a quick sit in the drivers seat. Driving position felt significantly better, gearbox as Lee said. The interior felt like a significant improvement.

But for me, it will still be a 225, for now....

 

[d4ve86]

will these be the new race master cars at oulton?

Im going there next tuesday 23rd i hope its still there, wouldnt mind having a look around it!

 

[Gareth]

i like it and always have, however, I have just specced up what I would want and it came out at 18.6K, MK2 V6 methinks.

 

[Ali]

Nope....I'd have mine any day of the wk.

 

[ant]

that megane for me all day long.

 

[Leeshez]

Lookin good adam

 

[BigBarry172]

Not for me, looks a bit like the new Micra!

 

[Nafoff]

love the meg........clio looks ok.....will stick with the valver me thinks

the mark 1 v mark 2 argument could start to get interesting with a mark 3 coming soon

 

[SimonV6]

Back end looks heaps better than the 225, in fact I reckon the whole car look better than a 225 ( although thats not to hard is it really lol )
Now if it only had the 225's engine I would buy one


Simon

 

[Kris_M]

Its still not doing it for me :-(

 

[rich[182]]

crying out for a custom backbox with more visible tailpipes, hats off to the first person that manages to find space for a viper under that bonnet too, car is growing on me

 

[yellow182jon]

still loks c..p to me.

 

[Leeds_VTO]

Good pics Lee what lens do you use to get your track pics ?

 

[RobHardyUK]

i like it alot!!!

 

[terribleclio]

i think all the 197 needs is a spoiler like on the cup racer...the rear end looks too plain.
great pics too

 

[mas]

i like it... looks very well made

the meggy looks awesome though

 

[The Big Yin]

Clio is growing on me but the F1 wins it for me

Clio's in the nicest colour too Eh Lee??

 

[Dan Page]

it looks better in those pics but i think the meg does look better.

 

[pecan]

The centre console looks f**king awful.

 

[jayxx83]

The car looks ultra sexy. Only thing is the engine doesn look that meaty. When I pop the bonnet on my RS, people are like F**C Me, thats a big engine! Cant see them saying that about this.

 

[ukaskew]

Renault should get you to do the press shots, somehow it looks unbelieavably good compared to the original shots.

Firstly the interior is stunning, fair play to Renault for finally getting this right. The seats look way too high though, hope driving position is ok.

Secondly the exterior looks much better (although those rear wheels never look 17"!), looks soooo wide in this shot...love it.

 

[Englebert]

It reminds me of the 172. It looks unassuming and not even sporting until you start paying attention. I think the Megane looks fantastic but what happens when you want to chill out and go slow? You will always have people baiting you..it just doesn't look grown up.

Whoever, mentioned the exhausts. It would be a bit silly to get a more obvious exhaust and disrupt the airflow surely?

The steering wheel looks really cool, and it's good to know about the gearbox. When i jumped from Mini to Clio the first things i noticed were the bus driver wheel and horrid 'box!

 

[rory182]

dash looks s**t, seats look s**t, side on looks nothing special IMO wheels arent great either.

i'm keen to see how they drive, should get good reviews I'd think.

 

[Lee]

Good pics Lee what lens do you use to get your track pics ?

It's a Canon EF 90-300mm I think. It was pretty cheap too. Link

I didn't really get time to get a decent vantage point, but most the pics came out okay.

We commented on the engine not looking as impressive, and also how doing anything to it won't be easy due to the lack of space. None of those things really bother me though.

Looked great in red, not the same red as the Trophy, but very similar.

 

[Rich]

Nice shots Lee - see you found some ladies!

The 197 has some nice details but overall it is still not growing on me.

 

[Lee]

Nice shots Lee - see you found some ladies!

The 197 has some nice details but overall it is still not growing on me.

Always, can you tell which one was my fave?

 

[Rich]

Lol you took nearly as many pics of her as the 197

 

[Revels]

Looks better everytime I see more pics. Seats dont look that impressive tho. Looking forward to seeing it at FCS!

Good work Lee.

 

[polarbert]

Those seats look really nice. The main thing that puts me off is

182 = 1080kg
197 = 1240kg

With me in as well, it would be a darn sight heavier again.

I'm keeping my 182 until I finish Uni, so I'll see whats what when that happens. For now, I'm damn pleased with my 182.

 

[Adam]

the 197 looks awesome there..
it is growing on me alot now

 

[john.med]

I think that each detail looks really impressive, apart form the centre console.

Agree with polarbert though, the weight gain is an issue. Can't afford to swap my 172 for the 197, so it's not an issue for me really, but if only they'd kept the thing smaller; it'd be a rocket.

 

[Daz]

I didn't like the 197 to start with.. at all.. but those pics look much more promising!

 

[Anni182]

really don't like the 197!!! love the 225 tho, great colour and wheels

 

[Christopher]

loving that!

definately a grower, red or silver please.

 

[Jay]

looks v. nice not sure if I'll be buying another Renault again though......

 

[Gareth]

oh, by the way, needs silvervisions.