I'm sure you do drop below 5k when on a trackday, i'd actually be amazed to see a car do any circuit other than a drag strip where you'll be above 5k all day long.
It does indeed help as you have much more of a rev range to use rather than having to shift a million gears for corners to be quick. Having that much low down torque and power will save you at least a gearchange and still be on the 'boil' leaving the corner with a shed load more rpm to play with without having to change up a gear.
Totally disagree - watch the burpspeed vids or any of mine. I rarely drop below 5k at brands or rockingham. I can't see me getting below 5k ever on Donington either.
Maybe at Anglesey on the hairpin - I was getting killed by my mates mx5 coming out the hairpin because the clio just had no low down power and I really didn't want to go round it in 1st and wheel spin my way out lol but that's just one corner on one track. Other than Cadwell I really can't see a UK track that you would ever drop below 5k on.
I also think one of the biggest selling points of the RS2 is that they regain all the cruise control etc, no slam panel removal/ grill modifying, can be used on std management and is fractionally cheaper. This is what made me go for the RS2 over ITB's as there awesome for an out&out race car but for a daily I think its better, the torque makes the car very manageable dispite loosing a bit at the top relative to the ITB's
This is very true
My ITB's (second hand) cost me £2k all in - so I'd always argue if you want a seriously quick Clio and can find a 2nd hand set of ITB's it's money better spent. But not if it's your daily drive
You end up with bonnet catches, no slam panel, a dashboard lit up like a christmas tree, no working computer for fuel economy etc...
I know if you get a Gen90 or one of the TDF ecu's you can keep most of it working - but that adds a serious chunk to the build cost
That's where the RS2 shines - you get a virtually standard OEM car with no MOT issues and a nice chunk of extra torque/bhp
The only thing that winds me up is, not necessarily this thread, the people who keep saying "RS2 gives 95% of the gains of ITB's and half the money"
They don't make 95% of the gains at all and they're definitely not half the money lol
They're just a very good solution for a road car where ITB's are a very good solution for a track car