Some fun today with CTR & cup - **PICS**

[aaronc]

What a fun day. Went out to my mates as hes got a new CTR with induction & straight through exhaust! Bloody thing flies!

Never been in one before so i didnt know what to expect. Well all i can say is if this things driven properly 172s dont stand a chance! A serious kick in the back at 6000rpm when the vtec (or whatever its called) cuts in is quite amazing! The sound of the racing cams opening up is quite astonishing. Got to 140mph very quickly and then went onto 150mph with still few thousand revs to go.

A very firm ride and seemed very stable. Pic below doing 140mph. after that i let him concentrate without me sticking camera in his face at 145mph!

http://www.beauforthouseltd.com/aaronsfolder/140ctr.jpg

http://www.beauforthouseltd.com/aaronsfolder/140.jpg

http://www.beauforthouseltd.com/aaronsfolder/ctrflatout.jpg

The trip down to see a mate who works at the local renault garage was rather fun to say the least.

When we got there i decided to take out a cup for a little blast which was on the forecourt. And well..................what can i say..........not quite the same as the CTR. Yes still fun and had some poke but defonately didnt have the same madness and excitement as the CTR. Took the cup flat out in 2nd round the roundabout and did seem very controllable and did go where i pointed it.

However..........i feel dissapointed that renault havent made the 172 and cup as hardcore as its predecessors (R5GTT,16v,willy). I havent been out in the V6 yet so cant comment on it, but it looks like renault have moved there mad engine designers soley on the V6......and even that isnt so special on the track.

http://www.beauforthouseltd.com/aaronsfolder/26.jpg

 

[teady172]

How much more hardcore can the Cup go!?

 

[rt172]

No interior trimmings, no dashboard, no passenger seat, no rear seat, twin turbo, 200bhp shot of nitrous, 2nd engine in boot.....a fair bit more hardcore is possible, I suspect...

 

[aaronc]

yeah thats more like it! lol

Teady - just didnt have the same excitment/feeling in the cup and certainly didnt feel as quick thats a fact. the high reving jap engine is quite amazing.

I suppose thats why the majority of CTR drivers are x-172 drivers.

 

[rt172]

Id consider a CTR as my next car. Would also consider a Cup too....

 

[BenR]

racing cams? sure if they cam with teh car they are std cams? lol

The CTR might be fast, and all credit, the K90 engine is fab, but it aint no handler, 2 sec slower than a 172 round coomb and publically printed to have worse dynamic handling than the 1.8 focus......if your wondering who said that, um.....does Steve Sutcliffe ring a bell?

You had all the fun, i sat at home.....pah...

 

[Nashrs200]

they should have tuned the cup to about 190bhp before they let it loose then would compete with ctr or focus rs and even gta v6 then and have sold more in process.

 

[aaronc]

ben i would have invited you, but went to a mates to do some uni work, then we got bored and took the ctr out for a blast and headed for the renault garage!

I agree the cup should have had a more powerful engine. Its a shame they didnt bother.

 

[BenR]

WOULD have wont stop my craying into my pint......of coke. lol

 

[teady172]

I happen to disagree I would say a Cup is every bit as fast as a CTR, quicker over the 1/4 mile too! Just last week there was a guy on the CTR forum sayinga CUP stayed with him til 130MPH!

I have driven a CTR and wasnt all that impressed with the afore mentioned VTEC push at 6KRPM!

 

[GR7]

I think that red CTR is pretty damn ugly to look at!

 

[Daz]

Its not.. its quite nice..

Just have to look at them for a while.. then look more.. it grows on you!

Daz.

 

[Ben j]

ive seen loads of em. still ugly!!

 

[BenR]

LOL....

at least its clean!!

why didnt you give it one of your 1 quid washes Aaron!

Seriously, Aaron can use a single pound and wet-shampoo-rinse-wax-wax rinse an entire car! he even had 3 or 4 pence to spare at the end!

 

[GR7]

Quote: Originally posted by Daz on 27 March 2003

Its not.. its quite nice..
Just have to look at them for a while.. then look more.. it grows on you!

Daz.

Daz

I see one every day as Ive got one next door to me and I think it is far too big and only suitable for a family car, not a hot hatch. That bl**dy awful cripple gearstick too!!

 

[BenR]

LOL...GR, bias....NEVER!

 

[scott8629]

I thought the Cup could easily stay with a CTR, Well I best see for my self im off CTR hunting!

 

[teady172]

Scott, dont worry you can!!!

 

[scott8629]

I like the the little Clio nobody knows what it can do!

Scott

 

[Slugger]

Quote: Originally posted by Nashrs200 on 27 March 2003

they should have tuned the cup to about 190bhp before they let it loose then would compete with ctr or focus rs and even gta v6 then and have sold more in process.

Err compete with ctr or focus rs

Mine is faster than every ctr ive raced and everthing ive read says a cup is faster than the focus rs on the road.

 

[aaronc]

yeah as benr says above: anyone who wants a car wash for a £1 let me know.

Im the quickest car washer in the south east no doubt about it .......lol

I do agree that the looks of the CTR do no justice. However after now looking at them for a while since they have been out, they do seem to be growing on me, especially after going in one today.

 

[aaronc]

The cup is surely no way faster than a CTR in a straght line after 100mph? It seems to pull all the way to 145 quite comfortably and then onto 150mph convincingly.

 

[matt_arundale]

i love the gear stick on em, can change gears very very fast in em

Matt

 

[® Andy]

Scott you wont have to look far to find a CTR. Find it funny how many CTRs I see - common as muck! Counted 4 in 30 minutes on Saturday whilst pointing out how common they were to my missus. All they CTR drivers have to look the other way when the see yet another CTR. Same with TTs round here. On the rare occasions I see another sporty Clio I give them respect!

Spent some time "breaking in" a virtual new CTR whilst test driving possible company cars with a mate 6 months ago. Sure it was fast, but with VTEC and 6-speed box, if you hit the wrong gear changing down youre going no where. Change down ... change down again. Just needed to stir it too much.

Other cars driven at the time were Seat Ibiza Cupra (fast but jumps all over the road) plus Focus ST170 (comfortable for cruising but not much else). Drove a mates BMW 330d as part of same exercise - was great fun but rather £££ - worst pedals on any car Ive ever driven but pulled whatever the speed. At same time I drove a Clio 172 cause Id always thought Id like one.

172 was best by far so I bought it!! Mate got the ST170 cause it was cheap. My secretary bought an Ibiza Cupra. CTR went back to dealers.

Played similar games last week cause my secretarys bloke was trying out company cars and so she convinced him to try a Cup (since she loves my 172). So I had a go in the Cup to make sure it wasnt too much better than my Mk1. Came away happy that I still love my 172!!

 

[teady172]

Im not saying th CUP is faster than the CTR over 100, just saying it will hang on to its coat tails!

 

[scott8629]

Does this new ECU give the clio better go over 100mph?

Does it make the top speed higher>?

 

[BenR]

Quote: Originally posted by teady172 on 27 March 2003

Im not saying th CUP is faster than the CTR over 100, just saying it will hang on to its coat tails!

Isnt that what we were saying about the valver/willys a while ago??



BTW, im no longer a 172 owner, it was sold a while ago without my knowledge......good news is i get a cup replacement!!!

 

[Simon172]

3 CTRs ive raced - 2 of which ive raced to over !35+ could not leave me or pull away at all. And i was racing with tyres that were 1 bar lower than they should have been i found out later. The cars are identical performance (well mine was to those 2) and both drivers were going for it. I guess its because they are heavy. Maybe the ones i raced had all the options (fully loaded). Well, mine is too so no excuse!

Dont know what all the hype is about them, theyre certainly not (my) 172 killer so im not that impressed, when one pulls away from me as much as the M3 or my friends pulsar does then ill be impressed, but it hasnt happened. I thought they had 197 bhp? probably down to all three different drivers. I dont think they deserve the Type-R status. Far too big and heavy to be a hot hatch and far too heavy to be a stripped out Type-Racing. Much rather have the integra, especially the new one.

 

[172man]

if they weighed 1050kg they would blow 172s but they weigh 1200kg so they dont. Good effort from honda but the original dynamics let it down.

 

[BenR]

original dynamics......cant find that in the dictionary...

 

[172man]

its two words..

 

[BenR]

which mean what?

 

[Sangy]

Strange that as my mate sh1tes himself everytime he goes in my Cup and hes owned two CTRs? He thinks my Cup is faster although I have had it tuned. I really like the CTR though, lovely cars to drive IMHO. Wouldnt swap my Cup for it though but they are nice....and fast!

 

[mark_CTR]

Quote: Originally posted by BenR on 27 March 2003


racing cams? sure if they cam with teh car they are std cams? lol

The CTR might be fast, and all credit, the K90 engine is fab, but it aint no handler, 2 sec slower than a 172 round coomb and publically printed to have worse dynamic handling than the 1.8 focus......if your wondering who said that, um.....does Steve Sutcliffe ring a bell?

You had all the fun, i sat at home.....pah...





Is this the same steve sutcliffe that said it was the best FWD car he had ever driven only a couple of issues before he made that remark in Autocar?

 

[geordiepaul]

He had his beer goggles on that day!

 

[RobFenn]

In the scheme of things the 172 and Cup arent in the same class as the CTR, Focus, as theyre smaller cars, our rivals are things like the Cooper S. The CTR costs a lot more than the Cup, you could save money spent on mods which will take it over 200bhp, which would destroy a CTR. End of?

 

[OnlyIHaveTheAns]

Its widely regarded as a far superior car unfortunately, by journos and pretty much everyone. Most tests of hotch hatches dont even included the 172s, they are old hat. Nice cars, but outclassed with the newer hot hatches.

 

[scott8629]

Well I think thats good, people think oh its just a sporty clio, then you show them, its best ever.

This way we can suprise everyone. Its so much better.

Scott (still waiting to meet a CTR and have a play)

 

[fred-dibner]

Quote: Originally posted by BenR on 27 March 2003


racing cams? sure if they cam with teh car they are std cams? lol

The CTR might be fast, and all credit, the K90 engine is fab, but it aint no handler, 2 sec slower than a 172 round coomb and publically printed to have worse dynamic handling than the 1.8 focus......if your wondering who said that, um.....does Steve Sutcliffe ring a bell?

You had all the fun, i sat at home.....pah...





Are you talking out of your bum?

The ctr is one of the best handling cars that you can buy!

Sorry for my ignorance but who is steve sutcliffe?

 

[RobFenn]

Quote: Originally posted by OnlyIHaveTheAns on 28 March 2003

Its widely regarded as a far superior car unfortunately, by journos and pretty much everyone. Most tests of hotch hatches dont even included the 172s, they are old hat. Nice cars, but outclassed with the newer hot hatches.



As ive said the 172 isnt a direct class comparison so why would they do a test unless it was an overall hot hatch one? Look in the back of Evo to see where the 172 and Cup are.

Ive driven all mentioned cars out of there skins, CTRS are well behind ITRs on the handling front, it was 2 seconds slower than a Cup round Brands (indy) when i drove them and the CTR i drove was lowered.