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Well I drove one didnt I



a 197 that is.

I have to be honest at the start and say the car only had done 800 miles which in my books is feck all and the 172 i drove back in the day with low mileage wasnt that punchy

I'll be quick

like

build, interior ambience, gearbox feel and the ratios are very very close though, handling is good, brakes are very sharp but maybe over servo'd a touch

dislikes

outside size to inside size ratio, car could of been smaller IMO, the salemans sitting next to me

couldnt really feel at ease with the car and obviously its a different car, its hard to bond with a car in 35minutes LOL. I wish renault would offer a 24 hour test drive. I really want to hate the car but I cant bring myself to do so, I still like it LOL

As for the power delivery it feels very very linear, definitely no kick on this one that said the speedo certainly nipped around to 90, I dont think its a case of it being dog slow, in reality its really quite nippy, but you dont feel the speed piling on. The damping is something else, makes the 182 look crude IMO. Alot of people double checked it from the side of the road which is also a plus. Im a renault nut through and through so I wont say its pants, it really the opposite a really great car

the million dollar question is would I buy one................................with a discount and all the options it would make a good car that you could go to the track in, Im sure plenty of miles and getting comfortable with the car would see it come good

driving back my car(182ff with few mods) feels sooooo different, apart from the engine noise it felt genuinely rapid, that said the speedo in the 182 tells a different story, I think the main problem with the 197 compared to the 182 is the sensation of speed thing

anyway thats enough ramblings
 
I managed quite a good route, never pushed it as hard as i wanted to and only hit 7k on one occasion,

part of the route was on a dual carridgeway, I managed to accelerate to 90 but boy are those gears close,
 
  M135i
agree with the speed sensation too. had one again for the whole day on sunday. went down a 'back road', looked at the speedo, didnt realise i was doing 80 at all.
 
thats the main thing, they certainly aint slow just refined,

thats not a too bad a thing.............

I also asked the dealer when the seats were coming out, he made a phone call to someone in sales, they said no more than two months, still dont believe that 100% lol but ill wait and see
 
  Renaultsport Clio 182
When Motorpoint start selling them for £12,699 with all the options fitted, I will be first in the long queue, but at £16K in cup spec, I will not be buying one.

They are 10% slower than a 182 as shown in Autocar Test, and do not connect the driver with the chassis the way a 182 does, but are a nicer car in most other ways!
 
Hawk said:
When Motorpoint start selling them for £12,699 with all the options fitted, I will be first in the long queue, but at £16K in cup spec, I will not be buying one.

They are 10% slower than a 182 as shown in Autocar Test, and do not connect the driver with the chassis the way a 182 does, but are a nicer car in most other ways!

There was a site on here selling one with all the options I want which is everything except the satnav, sunroof and tyre monitors for 14.6k

id imagine if the seats were 500quid then 15.1k is reasonable for a car of that spec
 
i took one round Brands Hatch several times, and i thought exactly the same as you.

The handling was superb, and i have no doubt once its got a few miles on, it will be quicker round a track than the 182.

My biggest dislike was that you didnt get any feedback from the car. The steering was too light and the car seemed to be doing all the work.

Its different in the way that you could just tell it where to go with a turn of your index finger, and it will just go there. No questions asked and no fuss... it just hung in there and got to the next corner in a rapid time with minimal fuss.
 
ja.jack said:
Has anyone on this forum actually admitted to buying a 197?


that implys its a pants car lol

I for one am giving it a hell of a lot of thought , when the recaros come out I will definitely think about it hard
 
I'm still lusting after a 197 despite sharing the views of the majority about its performance :)

More annoyingly I have the dosh sitting around, but the Megane thing is an issue, and the fact that the 182 is still so much bloody fun anyway!
 

K-Tec Racing

ClioSport Trader
  172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
ja.jack said:
Has anyone on this forum actually admitted to buying a 197?

Yes, should be with us in a couple of weeks and then the work will start.

Not driven one yet but looking forward to getting to know it.

David.
 
K-Tec Racing said:
Yes, should be with us in a couple of weeks and then the work will start.

Not driven one yet but looking forward to getting to know it.

David.

fantastic!

keep us updated David... whats in the pipeline for it?

what colour did you go for, i live 10 mins up the road so will keep an eye out :)
 

K-Tec Racing

ClioSport Trader
  172LBT-172HBT-197-R2
Usual stuff to start with such as exhaust, lowering springs, air filter and we will also have a look at a remap. It appears the new 197 has a different ecu which may prove harder to crack that of the current 172/182. First job will be to plug the laptop in and attempt to read the ecu program.

Mike, my head mechanic, keeps theatening to turbo charge it if I leave it at work for longer than a week.

David.
 
  Citroen DS3 DSport
I like the look of the 197 and from the reviews on here it does appear to be a very capable car. However I would not buy one as for the same money as a top specced 197 I could buy a Megane 225 fully loaded with all I'd want. The Megane is far better value and from driving one it does not lack a sense of speed.
 
Roy Munson said:
I'm still lusting after a 197 despite sharing the views of the majority about its performance :)


me too they look fantastic and i know miles plus a good exhaust will mean at least it will sound good look good and feel well built, plus the seats

the megane is a non starter for me as I dont like the way it looks
 
Was so tempted to buy a 197......then I remembered Renaults track record on upgrading existing designs. How gutted are current 197 owners going to be when the 'ultimate' 197 is on the road. With the power issues ironed out this will be a great car, but it aint that yet.
 
steve740 said:
Really tempted to go for a test drive

Id wait until the test cars have done alot more miles, the one i drove was 800miles old and thats barely used! I will forgive it for feeling sluggish for that reason alone
 
Hawk said:
When Motorpoint start selling them for £12,699 with all the options fitted, I will be first in the long queue, but at £16K in cup spec, I will not be buying one.

They are 10% slower than a 182 as shown in Autocar Test, and do not connect the driver with the chassis the way a 182 does, but are a nicer car in most other ways!


What cup pack, there isn't one. Take the 10% with a large pinch of salt. One writeup, and others give the 197 far better reviews. Afterall, straight line speed against a 197 will show up the newer engined car.

The game has moved on. If you want a raw car buy a second hand Cateham, Westfield. The inabilility to admit a better car is a joke. Too little money to buy it??????

It is by all accounts a better vehicle. I've had a 172 mk1, MK2 and a 182 with cup packs. As a driver of "the fastest available", due to company car price limits, I have done the above. Don't be so sad as to say the car is in any way a lesser vehicle, because of this supposed raw nature of the old chassis and components.

New chassis and brakes are far better, that's the point of the serious reviews, afterall.

Blaze
 
  MINI JCW
There’s no cup pack yet but Ill eat my hat if there isn’t one.

I think the 197 v 182 is very much like the Focus RS v New Focus ST debates. The new cars as an overall package are better but they have lost the rawness of their predecessors.

The excuses about the 197 engine being tight is wearing thin, all road tests on cars by magazines are done with few miles on the clock, when Autocar road tested the 182 it had less miles on the clock than the 197. The 197 was always going to be a little slower in a straight line than the 182, its weight has gone up more in proportion to its increase in power meaning a lower power to weight ratio.

Too me the straight line performance isn’t an issue, my real issue with the 197 is the price tag, I feel for the price for meg 225 offers everything the 197 does and a little more
 
Last edited:
  MINI JCW
ralph wiggum said:
made a decision today............think im gonna buy one when the seats come out lol

Cool, when are the seats out? i found the std seats very good indeed )so much better than the 182. so the recaros should be awesome. So what colour and options you going for?
 
gazcaddy said:
Cool, when are the seats out? i found the std seats very good indeed )so much better than the 182. so the recaros should be awesome. So what colour and options you going for?

the dealer made a call and said no longer than two months lol but that could be bullshit LOLOLOL

as for colour red, options everything bar sunroof, tyre sensors or the gay sat nav lol

reckon i can get that for 15k i wil be happy lol
 
yeah i will be sacrifising a little bit of speed and acceleration

but then I sold a 300bhp scoob for the 182 so out and out speed isnt that important to me
 


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