Tips for fiarly new 172

[adrianwaj]

Hi all, today I took delivery of a very fine Clio 172 build April 04. It had 2500 km on it, being both second-hand and ex-demo. Paid AUD$29,000 on the road. Few questions,

Should ESP be on all time? Would that consume power/fuel or decrease performance?

The dealer said these cars dont need to be run-in, and from reading posts here, it seems that over time the engine naturally gets looser? So if I did push it hard, or it has been pushed hard, what problems would that cause?

The rear tyre.. how much does it weigh and would removing it pose any benefit from the lessened weight?

Petrol - the dealer suggested using premium every third fill.. is that a good idea? In the manual it recommends 98 octane. If I were to use premium every fill, would that make the car/engine more reliable in the long run?

Selling the car - is the engine prone to wear-out after a given amount of Kms? When is best to sell the car?

Servicing and tuning.. A Renault service is AUD$345 every 10000kms or 2 years. Anyone had any experience with other firms, eg Ultra-tune?

Tyre replacement- Would driving the Clio hard increase tyre wear to any great extent?


Many thanks for any answers you can provide.
Adrian
Melb, Aus.

 

[Lagerlout]

ESP is on all the time. There is a switch to the right of the steering wheel to switch it off (NB - The lighton the dash is lit permanently when the ESP is OFF!! - It flickers when it is working). It will not affect power/ fuel consumption etc, but MAY hinder you if your driving hard.

At 2500km your car is past the running in mark anyway, so drive it as hard as you like (can!)

Spare wheel weighs 16kg. Every little helps, but you wont notice the difference.

Use 98 ron if you can, but it will run perfectly happily on 95. Ive tried both, and can find no difference. Others on here may say other wise, but it makes no difference imho.

There are high milers still knocking about that have had little or no engine truble. Your more likely to have problems with the clutch/gearbox, electrics or the trim than the engine itself.

Never had a car serviced in Australia so dont know that one!! Service intervals in UK is every 2 years or 12,000 miles. Averag price is about £150 I reckon.

Yup, if you drive it hard, your gonna wear the fronts out in no time. I had new frnts on my 172 after 10,000miles. And it need new pads after 11,500 miles!!






[Edited by lagerlout1 on 13 December 2004 at 12:16pm]

 

[cbscup]

My front tyres need replacing every 6k miles. Ive been more sensible in the last 8 months and they lasted about 12k... Big difference!

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by adrianwaj on 13 December 2004

Should ESP be on all time? Would that consume power/fuel or decrease performance? It wont have any effect

The dealer said these cars dont need to be run-in, and from reading posts here, it seems that over time the engine naturally gets looser? So if I did push it hard, or it has been pushed hard, what problems would that cause? It wont cause any problems best to bed the car in hard else the ring wont make a good seal in the engine

The rear tyre.. how much does it weigh and would removing it pose any benefit from the lessened weight? Well least weight is better but the back doesnt need to be ligtened its not as significant, Id leave the spare in personally.

Petrol - the dealer suggested using premium every third fill.. is that a good idea? In the manual it recommends 98 octane. If I were to use premium every fill, would that make the car/engine more reliable in the long run? Wont make any significance. It might make it more economical as its a cleaner burn as such but there isnt going to be any noticable significance.

Selling the car - is the engine prone to wear-out after a given amount of Kms? When is best to sell the car? Sell when you want another car/ the bills for the 172 get to much. The engine is very long lasting and is based on an engine which has proved to be capable over 300k miles (about 500k KM) and the 172 engine is a development correcting its weeknesses. Just follow the service history (preferably do more often oil changes) and it will probably out last you.

Tyre replacement- Would driving the Clio hard increase tyre wear to any great extent? Yep you can get the tyres to last as long or short as you want Ive destroyed a set of tyres in 12k and thats on a 65hp dci my parents have had tyres last longer than the car (~30k often) and that on some powerful cars.

 

[Liam]

welcome adrian.

how many clios do you see in sunny Australia, you planning on joining up to cliosport?

 

[adrianwaj]

Very useful and reassuring responses, thanks. This car is a hidden gem in Melbourne, there arent many on the road. Im kind of glad, otherwise thered be more people wanting to race it, and itd also be prone to more vandalism. The only strangeness I had about purchasing it is that except for the ESP, its essentially the same car that came out of the factory in 2001. Like software, ideally Id expect a car to be refined every year for all faults found from road drivers. Maybe this is impractical/expensive for Renault.

 

[adrianwaj]

There are increasing numbers of Renaults nowadays, thanks to positive reviews nullifying the stigma of French cars. The Clio seems to be the least prevalent model and the Sport Clios are few and far between. Not seen a V6 once. There are LOADS of WRXes in Melbourne. In 2001 Renault made its 6th attempt to enter Australia and have been successful so far, probably due to partnering with Nissan.

http://www.renault.com.au/renault/australia/news_c.aspAustralia News

A friend of mine is in an Audi TT club. Its a sight for sore eyes, like 10 of em in a row driving across the countryside. Next month there is a trip up the great ocean road, but I am more inclined to find a race track.