New member

[Spoony]

Hello all,

Thought I should introduce myself as I will be picking up a silver RS 182 this Wednesday

I have previously owned three MINIs, the latest was a Cooper S which I modified slowly over time and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately it had to go to make way for my mortgage in April, I had a loan on it and will pay this off as well as buying the RS outright

I will no doubt have more questions but if you guys could give me answers on the following it would be appreciated;

• I hate all the interior plastic. What have people done to improve the looks? My first thought was to cover it in alcantara?
• The HUGE steering wheel! What would you recommend I replace it with and is there a guide to fitting it?
• What aftermarket/tuning/parts company would be recommended? Is there a Renault specialist out there who come highly recommended by the RS guys? I live in Harlow by the way.
• I need to drop it ASAP on coilovers. What brand do you guys generally go for? Not looking to use the car for track purposes, just for use on B roads and motorway.
• What is needed to achieve the 200BHP mark?
• Any inexpensive but "must have" modifications I can make. Like the black Renault badge for example.

Sorry for all the questions but I've been on the MINI scene for so long now this all seems a bit alien to me.

Thanks

 

[Jacko90]

Hey mate, welcome to CS! Like the cooper s, normally I'm not a fan due to the amounts of colour on them normally and all the chrome trim. Nice in black though!

 

[Brian]

Judging by the MINI, I have high hopes for your 182. Look forward to seeing progress. Where abouts are you from?

Welcome

 

[Spoony]

Thanks guys. I'm from Harlow Brian; is there such a thing as Clio RS meets? Would be good to meet up with a few members face to face as I'm very keen to understand these cars as much as possible. With the MINI there were so many hidden gems/tips which could only be found out via forums/meets.

I have a few bits planned for the Clio, watch this space.

 

[Spoony]

Ignore what I said about meets. Just found the meet/events page

 

[Brian]

Yup, Decent amount of meets for our area. Member activity in the Herts area seems to be increasing so there's likely to be some meets quite near you, hopefully.

 

[Jekyll]

hello mate welcome to cs. im fairly new to the forum to but help is always at hand with you queries etc.
for renault specialists there is mark fish (harlow) he has a great reputaion but im led to believe his work is slightly expensive. jms pop up a lot on here and they too have great rep! im not a lover of minis but your looks quite nice. as brian said, high hopes are on the cards! im from harlow too

 

[montana]

welcome to cliosport

 

[Vicky.]

Welcome to CS! Looks like you did a cracking job with the mini so will be good to see your progress with the clio

To answer a few of your questions...

- The dash is something you get used to but to improve it you can as you said get it flocked. Also the dash strips can be unclipped easily and either painted or carbon wrapped. Some have covered them in stickers etc.
- There are loads of aftermarket steering wheels that suit the car. I went for an OMP targa in suede.
- As mentioned mark fish is local to you, haven't had any work done by him myself but he has a great reputation.
- I went for ktec coilovers as they were quite a good price for what they are. Other options are the more expensive KW's/ H&R, Spax etc.
- Small inexpensive mods to improve the general look of the car include clear side repeaters & swap
the orange indicator bulbs for some chrome ones and as you said painting the diamonds, calipers etc always neatens them up.

Enjoy the car and the site!

 

[Spoony]

This is really great information guys, really appreciated. I'll certainly be checking out mark fish, what a result hes in Harlow too! I'm genuingly chuffed that theres a recommended place you guys go to, this is something I became very used to when I owned the MINI.

I'm creating a wish list now. I'll send it over once done to see what you guys think

 

[S TAYLOR]

welcome mate

 

[Brian]

I too will highly recommend Mark Fish, My old 172 went to him for everything (virtually) and the 200 will be heading his way this year. Being so local, definately worth going to see him.

 

[Spoony]

You dont happen to know if he can carry out a health check do you? Does he have a rolling road too?

 

[CabinFever]

Welcome to the forum. I'm also from Harlow. You wasn't by any chance outside Halfrauds today around 2pm'ish were you?

Oh, and Mark Fish is only a stones throw away, and the guy is genius!

 

[Spoony]

Wasnt me CF, no doubt I'll be popping down there this weekend though to top up my cleaning products

I've owned the car a couple of days, got to say I'm loving it, and in terms of comparing it to the MINI I have to say the handling is better!. This has surprised me to be honest due to the fact my MINI was lowered, had front upper and lower strutbraces as well as the rear. Goes to show that the MINI wasnt the greatest handling car that people make out.

It feels more sluggish than the MINI but is no sloach and is plenty quick enough (if I've phrased that right). I'm doing more motorway journeys these days so loads of power isnt necessary.

One thing I have found is the fuel gauge is absolutly HOPELESS. Its extremely inaccurate, and never seems to settle. For e.g. when I turn left the fuel guage needle goes up, on the motorway this morning the needle appeared to drop a bit but then went back up again.

Lastly, it idles a bit lumpy; but is this due to the high lift cam?

Thanks

 

[welshname]

it idles a bit lumpy

Welcome to the realm of the french shitbox.