Thinking about buying a Trophy

[andy_tratter]

Hi all,

I'm looking at buying a 182 Trophy as an everyday driver and just wanted some other Trophy owners opinions on whether or not it's a good idea. My commute to work is a 40mile round trip on 95% major roads and do a lot of motorway driving too, i've had a click around here and seen most people get 35/40mpg which i think is pretty good, is this figure quite reliable?

I'm not bothered about the ride being stiff etc becuase i've had plenty of cars that have been worse! Are 182's reliable enough to use everyday (i know they will have their own little niggles) or will they be nothing but trouble?

I currently drive a Mk1 Fabia VRS and i realise that i wont get anywhere near the MPG that i do currenly (i'm pretty sure my car actually makes diesel as i drive) but i've just talked myself out of a mk1 Focus RS because of the pretty scary running costs and I think a Trophy will give me the same fun and exculsivity for a less money!

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Andrew

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

I'm looking at doing the same, Selling my a3 diesel for a trophy. Most of the VAG range are great cars but they just lack that excitement, Sounds daft but i think they are too good!! , The trophy seems a great car and they don't loose much money. Can't wait to have some fun

 

[Jon.G]

Doing those miles, you might see 35MPG. However I very very rarely see over 35MPG in mine. I don't drive it daily, but even if I do go out I don't hoon it everywhere and I tend to see high 20's to low 30's.

Not sure why you'd by a trophy over a FF 182 as a daily car. During winter the FF is a nicer plate to be, unless your drive to work is clear and a race track you'll hardly even notice a difference.

Oh yeah, head over to cliotrophy.co.uk as well

 

[andy_tratter]

Cotball: cool, i've only ever driven VAG's so dont know too much about the French car world, and yeah its hte excitment that's drawing me in!

Jon.G: Ok cool, i do tend to drive like miss daisy most of the time, but do like to go a little mental every now and then! I dont think i could drive around in anything less then a Trophy because i'd miss that feeling of knowing that your pretty guarenteed to drive anywhere and not park next to the same car! If i was in a cup or a sport and i saw a trophey i'd get really annoyed knowing that i could have something "better" (i've been there in the past!). That said, I might be tempted by a FF 182 cup with Recaro's if I cant find a decent trophy. Cheers for hte heads up on cliotrophy.co.uk, i'll haed that way in a minute.

 

[Steven103]

I don't hoon it everywhere and I tend to see high 20's to low 30's.

You're doing it wrong/something is broken (i.e. Lambda sensor) But seriously... even city driving will see a number beginning with 3*.

Andy, if you want to see loads of opinions on fuel economy then search "MPG" - there are tons of threads. Probably one of the most asked/discussed topics on the forum. If you're driving at the speed limit on 95% motorways then you can expect high 30s low 40s from a healthy 182.

...which brings me onto my next question. If you are doing 95% motorway driving (or whatever the number was) then that seems one hell of a waste of a Trophy. A 182 FF ("full fat" meaning a standard 182 spec'd with the optional "cup" suspension pack - not to be confused with a "182 cup" though!) would do everything a trophy would do on a motorway. I understand you want something special but paying in the region of £2500 extra for track focused suspension (which BTW needs to be refurbed at a significant cost every XX miles) seems a bit illogical.


*In my experience, with MY driving style of course which, in my opinion is normal .

 

[Jon.G]

My cars fine. Its a hot hatch not a derv.
Okay, I'll see an average of 31 mpg from short journeys.

If you do 40miles every journey you do, yes you will probably see more. I was just sharing my experience.

 

[lemonnobby]

you want a Liquid yellow 182 with both cup packs and recaros.
MPG wise i got 43mpg on the motorway last night

 

[shaun442k]

I do a 46 mile round trip. Some motorway, some country lanes and i've averaged just under 38mpg since i've had the car. Heck, I got 39mpg with a Kayak on the roof! I don't hang about either. It's a perfect balance of economy and fun for that length of commute in my opinion. For motorway miles you may be better off with the FF182 as someone else suggested for the extra toys. I can't comment if the ride is better on the Trophy dampers for that kind of journey as i've never been in one.

FWIW, I had one mate with a mk1 RS, and he had no end of issues with the turbo/engine on his. Not great on fuel either. His could have just been a duff mind you- i'm not trying to dissuade you as I loved that car. My lasting memory of it was: fast in a straight line, but a harsh ride compared to the clio(in fact compared to any car). For this reason i'm not sure a 40 mile commute would be ideal in it.

 

[andy_tratter]

Steven: Thanks i see where you're coming from. I think im looking for a car thta can do everything - the comute to work, can cope with motorways when needed, be fast, be economincal and can be amazing on b roads / tracks. TBH i do like the blue cup colour better then hte red trophy colour, and there's a very good chance that i would change the wheels and lower which ever one i went for, so changing the springs on hte sachs is likely to cause them to be not as good, so yeah maybe not worht hte extra £2500.

One of my previous cars was a 2001 Ibiza Cupra 1.8t, its hte best car i've owned so far and i really didnt want ot sell it. Every day i'd look at and be in love with it (not in a weird way...) but i'd always end up thinking "i was you were a Cupra R"! I guess its a bit like how William feels, sure he gets to wake up next to Kate every day which is pretty nice but i bet he thinks "i wish you were Pippa"!

 

[andy_tratter]

lemonnobby: my Fabia is yellow so i've done hte whole yellow car phase!

Shaun: If i werent having a Trophy then i would definatly have to have a cup for the better chassis, toys wise all i want is cruise control and Recaros and im happy. I can live without zennons, light washers and climate control. A very good friend of mine had a Mk1 RS, he drive it everyday and it never missed a beat, he's had a mk2 v6 clio and now got an fq440 evo and he still reckons the focus was the best car he's ever driven. I guess its luck of the draw at the end of the day, same with any car really. You never realy know if you've brought a shitter until its too late!

 

[Supersonic]

I've had my Trophy 3 years and in that time i've done around 40,000 miles, obviously used every day and it's been 100% reliable, couple of blown bulbs aside. About half of that is motorway work and the rest are the usual A/B roads.

Because of that the bodywork isn't fantastic, a fair number of stonechips but I make sure the mechanicals are right up to scratch, so maybe that's why it's been so good to me. I don't do the mileage I used to but I do still keep a close eye on the dampers, which I recommend anyone to do. They were refurbed in 2010 and still feel fine.

I get around 36mpg each tank and i've found the trip computer to be fairly accurate, so I just go with that. That includes several trips right through the rev range.

It needs care and attention, maybe a little more than a normal 182 but it's such a damn good car I think it deserves it. Feels great to drive and you do get noticed in it by people in the know. Makes you feel like you're driving something a little different

 

[Sir_Dave]

My Trophy has 183 thousand miles on it. Theyre fine for use on the motorway - comfy Recaros and cruise is all you need.

It averages 35-39mpg per tank depending on whether i sit at 85 or 70. Brilliant car, awesome fun, cheap to run & a real piece of hot hatch brilliance.

Those that say otherwise simply havent owned one. And yes, ive had 2 trophys, a cup packed 182 and a 172 cup ...

 

[Feirny]

I do 50miles per day in mine, it averages about 36mpg but I go the "interesting" way home to iron out a boring day.

Sometimes go the motorway home and it's nice to sit with cruise on at 70 and enjoy the Recaros.

It's simply amazing, an awesome all round car.

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

My Trophy has 183 thousand miles on it. Theyre fine for use on the motorway - comfy Recaros and cruise is all you need.

It averages 35-39mpg per tank depending on whether i sit at 85 or 70. Brilliant car, awesome fun, cheap to run & a real piece of hot hatch brilliance.

Those that say otherwise simply havent owned one. And yes, ive had 2 trophys, a cup packed 182 and a 172 cup ...

And several BMW's , a 197 and a lot more in the last year :rasp:

 

[Sir_Dave]

And several BMW's , a 197 and a lot more in the last year :rasp:

Exactly!! I sold the M3, but still have the Trophy. Think that says a lot about it really

 

[jenic]

I use the trophy purely for pleasure and still get high 30's mpg.

The only time it dropped below 30mpg was when my lambda sensor broke! So much more efficient than my last 182, might be a stronger engine, or timing is better, no idea tbh but it's great!

 

[andy_tratter]

Wow these really must be something special then if you're all raving so much. Ok so a partly hypothetical question:

If i were to get Trophy i would definately lower it but keep the Sachs dampers. Would putting lowering springs on it destroy the improved handling of the sachs and therefore be pointless having them, or are they good enough to cope with them (i know the whole dael with lowering cars does tend to destroy the ride etc). Would lowering it be a waste of a trophy as the suspension is all setup "properly"? Would i be better off saving abit of money and drop a cup on its arse instead?

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

Wow these really must be something special then if you're all raving so much. Ok so a partly hypothetical question:

If i were to get Trophy i would definately lower it but keep the Sachs dampers. Would putting lowering springs on it destroy the improved handling of the sachs and therefore be pointless having them, or are they good enough to cope with them (i know the whole dael with lowering cars does tend to destroy the ride etc). Would lowering it be a waste of a trophy as the suspension is all setup "properly"? Would i be better off saving abit of money and drop a cup on its arse instead?

I think eibachs are supposed to be good but personally i would leave it, If you put a cup on it's arse surely that will just take away the handling? , I know my old clio which was silly low on fk coilovers didn't handle great.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Standard Eibachs vs Sportlines:

From my understanding both sets of springs are roughly the same rating at about 160lbs, but the standard Eibachs are only straight wound, compared to the Sportlines which are progressively wound.

As such, the latter give a much better low speed ride quality (being progressive they are relatively soft for the first inch or so of travel), but are firmer for the last few inches of travel to give more solid handling and absorb large bumps at higher speeds - I much prefer mine over standard!!

Softer ride, but better handling. Win Win.

 

[Gally]

No arch gap ftw?

 

[Steven103]

Again I didn't own a Trophy, just a 182 FF, so might not be the best placed to comment but from what I've read on this forum it'd seem that "Mark Fish" springs + Sachs + Whiteline ARB is the ultimate B-Road setup. I'd suggest you find out if these highly acclaimed Mark Fish springs are any lower than standard, as this may allow the Trophy to make an even better amount of sense.

If you want to go silly low (emphasise on it being silly ) then you'll want coilovers. The bolt spacing on the hub is different between the standard and cup packed 182s meaning there are very few coilover options available for the cup packed 182. Might be worth researching the bolt spacing on the Trophy hubs if you wanted to go Halfords/Staples/PC world/etc carpark levels of "lowz."

TBH whichever RS Clio you buy, you'll end up taking the scenic route home half the time...

 

[Chris205]

I'd stronly advise getting one for your daily commute and some fun, they're great on the motorway with the cruise control on, nice and comfy and can be updated with a half leather rear bench, suede doorcards and a variable wiper stalk.

As for suspenson modifications, I couldnt rate the Eibach Sportlines and Whiteline Rear anti-roll bar highly enough, it completely changed my trophy and was by far the best handling car I've ever owned/driven.

Make sure its been looked after by a specialist, but choose wisely as the like of North West Performance have a bad reputation on here, whereas places like Birchdown, BTM Performance etc have an excellent reputation.

 

[keo]

I have had my trophy for two years, keep thinking about changing it. Just cant do it though i know id miss it. Like sir dave said hot hatch brilliance

 

[CrippsCorner]

Doing those miles, you might see 35MPG. However I very very rarely see over 35MPG in mine. I don't drive it daily, but even if I do go out I don't hoon it everywhere and I tend to see high 20's to low 30's.

Same here I get around 26-28mpg from pure town driving, just done a 500 mile round motorway trip this week and only managed 36mpg... do I have a problem!? I'm still so happy compared to the 12mpg average I was getting from my Subaru I owned before the Clio!

 

[JohnnyE]

Ive put Mark Fish springs on my Trophy and imo its a great upgrade.....................

 

[BigDaveRotary]

Real men buy Trophies....fact!

 

[Christopher]

Do it. Great cars. Best Mk2 by a mile.

 

[Jamie]

Very cheap to run, look good, decent all rounder really. Apart from the servicing costs, the actual price is pretty depreciation resistant, had mine nearly 3 years and in all that time I will have lost about £1.2k on the purchase price - which you can't really grumble at.

 

[Bobby.]

Ive put Mark Fish springs on my Trophy and imo its a great upgrade.....................

Did your car sit lower on these?

 

[JohnnyE]

Did your car sit lower on these?

It does sit lower but not by much...................

 

[Russ_16v]

Only T I have driven is Sharky's itb'd one, but taking away the brilliant performance, it drove brilliantly - the seats are very nice, suspension lovely (As expected) and will hold it's value better than a 'normal' 182 - id say go for it

 

[.Stevo.C.]

Seriously buy one. I done a trackday at knockhill in my one today and my face is in agony from smiling that much.

 

[2 live]

Real men buy Trophies....fact!

real men buy a Williams....... fact..... Trophy is a pretty close 2nd tho in the clio rs range imho.

 

[.Stevo.C.]

real men buy a Williams....... fact..... Trophy is a pretty close 2nd tho in the clio rs range imho.

I've got both

 

[Chris205]

Put your willys away lads....trophy ftw!!!