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Recaro or Sachs dampers upgrade on 182 ?



harry999

harry999

Hi guys,

i can get used recaro mounts and seats for 850£ and the sachs dampers are available new for 1250£ in France.

i guess it's all personal and i crave for the recaros but i'm afraid it won't give me any driving added value. From what i've read they sit 10mm lower than the standard seats and weight 1kg less, shoulder support is a little bit enhanced but less than their shape suggest. I tried them in a MRS and they are great tough.

Sachs damper on the other end will greatly enhance the driving experience (my 182 is already on Cup chassis) and as an added bonus you can set them at the softest setting if you want to chill a bit.

what do you recon is the best upgrade ?
i don't track the car but drive it hard on mountain roads and I sometimes wish extra body control over rugged tarmac.
the recaros on the other end will do anytime :p
 
JAMason

JAMason

  Clio 172
Yer, why only OEM parts?! There are some brilliant aftermarket bits that are tried and tested and can make a real difference.
 
Advikaz

Advikaz

ClioSport Club Member
OE parts make sense to an extent. But when talking about shocks it doesn't really, either buy some quality aftermarket coilovers or get some eibachs on the standard shocks.

The Sachs dampers are hugely overpriced & not as good as most of sensible the aftermarket items.
 
C

Chi

  Z4, VW172, R26
Love the Sachs on the Trophy, rather than upgrade the parts Id look for a trophy for the right money and get both upgrade the car :)
 
harry999

harry999

lol might talk about OEM parts in another thread, there's a recent article on PH about this
anyway the Sachs are way overpriced but have been developed with the Renault Sport guys for the 182 while Eibach, Koni, K&R etc parts haven't.

Sir_Dave your thoughts are helphul, basically the Recaros are just gimmick (but man they look good in the Clio) while the Sachs aren't so in the end...
 
sikora

sikora

  Clio 200
Not a huge fan of the Recaros either. They look great, but nowhere near as supportive as older style Recaros
 
JAMason

JAMason

  Clio 172
harry999 said:
do you mean getting a cheap Trophy to take the parts from or buying a Trophy ?
Click to expand...

I think he means buy a trophy. ;) That would be my choice. You can spend loads of money making a 182 like a trophy...but it will never be one! Its your call, personally if it was my money, I would just get the recaros in and refresh the suspensions top mounts, dampers and bushes for new stuff. The 182 set up is decent as it is.

Jack
 
Tim.

Tim.

ClioSport Club Member
If you want to improve the performance of your car in my opinion the Sachs dampers will definitely do that.

Recaros are a perfectly adequate seat, however, if they do alter/improve your driving enjoyment it'll be marginal. If you were driving the same roads in Recaros I think you'd wish you spent the money on the Sachs instead.

Assuming it is one or the other then my vote goes for the Sachs, however, is there a third or fourth option? Buy both?

Or buy aftermarket coilovers, which are tried & tested to death with the 182 platform, then when you wish to return to standard you can easily revert back to OEM.

Win/win!
 
harry999

harry999

thanks guys, your answers make sense.

JAMason said:
I would just get the recaros in and refresh the suspensions top mounts, dampers and bushes for new stuff. The 182 set up is decent as it is.
Jack
Click to expand...
suspensions top mounts, dampers and bushes work was done last year, the car drives much better now.

Tim. said:
Assuming it is one or the other then my vote goes for the Sachs, however, is there a third or fourth option? Buy both?
Or buy aftermarket coilovers, which are tried & tested to death with the 182 platform, then when you wish to return to standard you can easily revert back to OEM.
Win/win!
Click to expand...

i might eventually get both but for now it's one or the other.
still not sure about aftermarket coilovers, i would need to test drive a car equipped with before buying. as per the Sachs, i know they're good from many sources
 
1

182Trophy

  clio 182 trophy
JAMason said:
This... The Sachs dampers are a gimmick. For a road car you would be better off buying some good coilovers that dont cost £600 every 20k to have serviced and rebuilt!

Jack
Click to expand...

Have you owned a Trophy? Why do you make that assumption?
 
JAMason

JAMason

  Clio 172
182Trophy said:
Have you owned a Trophy? Why do you make that assumption?
Click to expand...

Iv been fortunate enough to drive one and also been able to drive a 182 set up with cup dampers and springs on a equally rutted B road. Both cars performed well. The trophy was the most pin point, but the 182 was more able to soak up the bumps from my experience. Not sure when the trophies shocks were rebuilt when I drove it though, the car had done 52k at the time.

Also based on what iv read from other owners. The Sachs are set up for track use ideally and I bet would out perform a 182 on a track and provide a better driving experience...but on the road for a day to day drive? Seems a bit gimmicky same as the seats.
 
1

182Trophy

  clio 182 trophy
JAMason said:
Iv been fortunate enough to drive one and also been able to drive a 182 set up with cup dampers and springs on a equally rutted B road. Both cars performed well. The trophy was the most pin point, but the 182 was more able to soak up the bumps from my experience. Not sure when the trophies shocks were rebuilt when I drove it though, the car had done 52k at the time.

Also based on what iv read from other owners. The Sachs are set up for track use ideally and I bet would out perform a 182 on a track and provide a better driving experience...but on the road for a day to day drive? Seems a bit gimmicky same as the seats.
Click to expand...

If you are going around tighter bends you can just about notice the difference. Where they stand out though is when going along uneven/worn surfaces. There is much more control. They also help reduce understeer, however not massively I will agree. I think Renaultsport got it spot on with the Trophy though in fairness. I agree that the seats are not brilliant! I have used mine as a daily drive for four years and the ride is compromised obviously. Most coilovers though would be equally as harsh, if not more so. All in my opinion though!
 
midge

midge

You can't make an accurate judgment by driving the car on the same piece of road for a short time, you would need to do a good amount of miles in different circumstances to make a proper judgment (IMO of course)

IMO the sach's dampers are simply brilliant, better than of the shelf coil overs you can buy for sure, these shocks were developed for the clio and arnt just of the shelf shocks with clio mounts welded on. The turn in with the sachs is brilliant, you can turn in sharper and faster, understeer is reduced and cornering at speed feels more planted and inspires confidence, the draw back is that they are firmer than the cup dampers and give a rougher ride, a small price to pay imo.

Regarding the recaro seats, terrible imo, better than the standard clio sport seats (which if were being honest are awful!) but the recaros are not much better, they offer no noticeable extra support and are extremely expensive! if its all you can fit to your car then its an upgrade i guess.
 
SharkyUK

SharkyUK

ClioSport Club Member
Personally I would go for the Sachs. And I don't think they are a gimmick. They are fantastic (especially if 'depinned' so as to be adjustable) components. Most of my driving enjoyment comes from experiencing challenging roads and trips, but I also enjoy the odd track day. For such use, they are ideal. They give me an awful lot of confidence compared to a 'standard' setup (which is good out of the box on the RS Clios) and mine also lasted for over 50,000 miles before a rebuild; and that's with a lot of use and abuse both on and off track.

If I were after a pure track car (or a car for mostly track driving) then I'd invest in some trick coilovers. For everything else, I'd go with the Sachs.
 
MarcB

MarcB

ClioSport Club Member
  182 Trophy & 197 F1
I have owned my Trophy now for 3 years and the sachs are a just unreal.
I have been lucky enough to the point that i don't need to refurbish mine as of yet but this won't be an issue with the likes of corning force doing a full refurbishment plus powder coating for around £450.

Renault sport know exactly what they are doing when it comes to handling and they have put the sachs on for a reason and that is because they are unreal and i personally think they will out shine a lot of off the shelf coil overs.

The ride is a little harsh if its a day to day car on city centre roads but when out for a blast on B roads the car knows what its doing and how to use the dampers to there full potential.

I for one would only swap my sachs for something along the lines of AST's or Ohlins where they are just as equally expensive if not more.

The Recaro seats are not that supportive but none the less look very good in the clio. They are an expensive fashion statement if you are getting them as they don't serve any real propose apart from looks in my opinion.
 
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