Should I buy a Valver?

[geordieracer]

May have the opportunity to buy one local to me.

Its up for £950, MOT until November, Not sure on TAX or mileage though, still investigating lol

Its red and is suppposedly running 155bhp

Has various mods such as lowered 40mm, Magnex full stainless exhaust, black alooys wheels, stripped interior (rear) leather bucket seats with harnesses.

Body is in good nick for its age (90s) car, with no rust on rear arches etc.

Still trying to get in touch with the owner to verify details missing etc, but, if on avergae miles, no shocks looming on an MOT advisor sheet etc, does this sound like a good buy?

Also, what are they like performance wise (imagine this would be williams pace if running 155bhp). Previously owned a 306 GTI-6.

 

[Winged-Will]

Sounds ok for the money, what happened to your 6?

 

[geordieracer]

Ended up selling it at end of january, miss it and have been offered it back for sale. Its done 2000 hard miles since i sold it though, so not sure, plus he wants more than i sold it for lol

 

[D4N13L]

Have you been on to clio16valver.co.uk

 

[geordieracer]

Have you been on to clio16valver.co.uk

No, thought i would ask generally on here first as i am already a forum user.

And... I just went there and the link to register doesnt work, and it looks like you have to pay as well, no mention of free access.

 

[banderson]

Do it! I miss my valver already and it's only been gone a week tomoro awesome little cars!

 

[jack_kemp]

Lovely car, the valver. Id be questioning what it's had done to get the 155hp.... Could well be that they've read the quoted figures on the boxes of the upgrades and just added them together. Lol.

 

[geordieracer]

See, I did wonder that, cos its a 20bhp roughly over what i would expect standard.

 

[jack_kemp]

Ask them, the answer to that question would decide it for me.
If he says 'well I got dis induction kit from halfords and it's sick innit, gives you 15hp' then you're not on to a winner.

 

[geordieracer]

Aye, am still trying to contact the seller, no response as of yet.

It looks pretty well lokked after, no fading whatsoever on the red paint, despite its age, and like I said, no rust etc.

Will depend on arios things, including the sale of my current car. Was just looking for comments from previous/current owners really.

MPG, performance etc compared to a 306 gti 6 ideally.

 

[Daz.]

If its a genuine 155bhp it should be quite good, my williams was 163bhp and felt much quicker than my 172 does!

I reckon you'd find it easily comparable to the 6 apart from the annoyance of the lack of 6th - valvers are a pain on the motorway!

 

[geordieracer]

AH ok, tbh, the 6th in a GTI-6 is not a motorway gear. Its probably about the same as a standard 5th in most cars, just allows the first 5 to be closer for acceleration.

Intersting it will probably feel faster as well then with it being smaller. Less torque though so overtaking wont be as easy I should imagine.

 

[Daz.]

Need less torque in a lighter car though..

I loved my valver!

 

[geordieracer]

Ah well there is that.

Thanks for the replies and comments though. ANy major issues to be worried about, or things that are notorious apart from rust?

 

[black-hawk]

Buy it!!! i had a red one about 16yrs ago absolutly loved it, got it to just shy of 170bhp and then spent 8 grand to get it around 300/300

 

[2 live]

get it bought lad

not as tail happy on LOO as the 6, will be just as quick if its up to 155, which is 17 over std. might even have had the benefit of having had the better f7r transplant, williams/megane block. by far a much better engine than the f7p std in the valvers, and i also think the f7's are a stronger engine than the f4's, but thats all personal opinion.

as for other probs, the sunroofs are a pain in the arse, my main reason for going williams rather than hybriding my old valver tbh. loved my valver. the williams is just another level tho. the sunroof leaks, and the roof bends at the back of the s/r if its been driven properly. not exactly a problem, but not exactly brilliant either.

they handle well, can pick their heels up and upset supposedly better/newer machinery, the seats are comfy as if they are std seats, the heaters arent great, but hey. much better driving position than the newer clios imho, comfier, dash looks a little dated but they are 15+ years old so to be expected. lots of driver feedback.

all round a great little car.

 

[.Stevo.C.]

^^ Yup the driving position is night and day compared to 1*2's I love driving my williams.

 

[sideways danny]

it wont be 155bhp, not unless it's had a LOT of work, but it may well still be very healthy. Mk1 seats are night and day different to mk2 for comfort, Williams ones being the best. F7P is a cracking engine really, bit down on torque but loves to rev and it'll give you plenty of fun even in standard form. F7R conversion is becoming harder to do for sensible money as there's a lot of crap engines about which are having daft money asked for them. Rebuild needed the majority of the time if you wanted to go F7R, unless you get very lucky and find a low miler

 

[terryc101]

Agree with Danny that it won't be 155, but that's no reason not to get it as they don't need big power to make them move and be great fun to drive.

Things to go on mine in the 2 years have been cv boots, wheel bearings, the odd sensor and 2 engine mounts. Most stuff has been on there 15years or so tho.

Handbrakes always seem to be turd too lol.

 

[2 live]

low miler not really needed on f7r. they are pretty much bulletproof.. in my experience anyway. and iv had quite a few.

 

[yeecup]

great cars. had a white one brand new back in 1995, had it for 6 years, used to wash it nearly every day i was obsessed with that car, stuck a full magnex decat on it and lowered it after keeping it standard for 4 years. regret selling it to this day.

 

[MrWills_182]

Iv got a 93' Valver aswel as my 182 & there brilliant little cars. As for GTI-6 comparison (i used to have a 98' blaze).... the 6 was alot faster,alot better on fuel,alot comfyer (sp) & it was more reliable! BUT not quite as much fun as the Valver especially in the handling department!
Both awesum cars for age & money!
Im a member on Clio16valver.co.uk & im not paid up, u can still use most of the site.

Hope this helps a little???
Good luck with your choice & keep us informed.

Mike .

 

[16v_paddy]

No, thought i would ask generally on here first as i am already a forum user.

And... I just went there and the link to register doesnt work, and it looks like you have to pay as well, no mention of free access.

Try again mate http://www.clio16valver.co.uk/forum/ it's deffo free and the register of cars isn't in the paid members section so you can see if it's in there, you just need to do the usual signing up stuff as you do for any forum

As for the claimed power I'd be skeptical, just to give you an idea, mine made 144 bhp on the dyno at Surrey rolling road, that's with itg filter, piper 270 cams, supersprint manifold & straight through decatted exhaust & ecu mapped to suit (ish:rasp

 

[2 live]

6 bhp from all that work? id get it rechecked tbh mate. would have been cheaper/easier to fit an f7r and got more power straight off the bat

 

[16v_paddy]

6 bhp from all that work? id get it rechecked tbh mate. would have been cheaper/easier to fit an f7r and got more power straight off the bat

What & become another R loving sheep? NEVER!! :rasp: I'll have sucked many a penis dry before I consider fitting an R to any valver of mine

Besides, the only work I did was plug in a randomly bought ecu plus that engine has got suspected piston ring oil burning type issues which I had originally misdiagnosed as std ghey inlet breather blockage

 

[2 live]

theres nothing wrong with admitting inferiority mate

the f7p is the base , the f7r being the finished article. its like saying a 16" black and white tv is better than an all singing all dancing 50" lcd/plasma/3d tv.


theres nothing wrong with the p, but its left lacking in some areas, torque being the major 1. yes they liked to rev, but they had to. whereas the r doesnt to produce a decent amount of torque. 85% max torque from as little as 2500 rpm iirc. not to be sniffed at.

as for tuning, its always best to start from the best base possible, which would be the r without a doubt.

fair play for sticking with the p tho. hats off to you. but you will realise one day that your pissing against the wind.

 

[sideways danny]

you're years out of date though. Every R i've seen someone buy recently has been an expensive mistake. £350 for a bottom end that knocks is not good value, and they're all getting that way

 

[2 live]

every r iv bought.....and thatd be quite a few over the years..... has been perfectly fine. except 1 that had been stood for 3 years, with no oil in, and given to some hooligan to drive home....i guess i just cant resist trying to shove the acc pedal through the floor .....that was replaced by a 200 quid engine, that engine has now done 000s of miles unhindered, and every 1 of those miles it has been worked hard.

they arent all getting that way, just from unreputable sellers

350 for 1 tho??? as above, i sold one last year for 200, and again, its been worked really hard in its new home and is still fine. bringing me back to unreputable sellers........

 

[16v_paddy]

. but you will realise one day that your pissing against the wind.

Already realised that by sticking with a poxy 4 pot renault

Mind you the thing that's made me keep with it is watching an instructor drive a pretty standard valver, ok stripped out with bucket seats but you get the idea, on track & absolutely dicking far superior machinery out there including 2 litred mk1's. All this b****cks of what's a better base engine & handling wise is meaningless unless you've got the capability to exploit the differences, which the vast majority of F7R lovers just don't have & neither do I.

If & when the day comes, I simply cannot make my valver physically go round track any faster without changing the engine, I'll be looking at getting a different car altogether, something with at least 5 cylinders, possibly boosted & RWD. But I'd never get rid of the clio.

Ok I've fitted ITB's to mine but that was more for s***s & giggles and to do something different than anything else, but to get back on topic you've got to agree that a valver does deliver s***s & giggles in massive dollops making it a worthwhile investment :approve:

 

[2 live]

yeah a valver is a great base. for s**ts n giggles, i loved mine. the diff between the p and r tho is far more than the few bhp/torque figure suggests. as you rightly say, driving ability is a far better thing to have. just imagine what the driver of the f7p you were so impressed with would do with the f7r.......

im not saying im the best driver out there by a long way, but i can push pedals, and cars to their limits in my hands, i have no doubt whatsoever that there are much much better drivers out there than i. which is where the help from the r comes in lol. susp set up/tyres etc etc can have a far better outcome on a car than a few extra cc's and torque. but still.......creeping up on vees, passing scoobs etc, beating 300+ bhp cossies down the strip is still not to be sniffed at

 

[16v_paddy]

Vee's don't count as they're dirty mk2's :rasp:

 

[2 live]

with a halfrauds bodykit

 

[clio-girl]

me and the other half have 4 valvers and a ph1 172, and the 172 kinda lays dorment really. 2 of the valvers (ones an F7P and ones an F7R) we use as daily drives and both do about 400-500 miles a week without too many troubles, the main thing with these old MK1's is to keep them maintained then you have minimal problems and pleasurable driving!

economy isnt too bad for an old car my F7P valver does about 190 miles to £30 with the current petrol prices and a dollop of sensible driving, although this is very difficult to achieve as i love to rag my valver about its awesome and handles like shes on rails

the power in a standard valver can be a bit tedious as you dont really get any power till 4000rpm but can be amazing fun on the twisties, when you get bored chuck an F7R in a relive the experience all over again!

the other 2 valvers are ITB monsters so there is no economy on those lol.

 

[Ali]

with a halfrauds bodykit

Calm doon auld timer!