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Why I love my 16v...





Having only recently bought my 16v I am well impressed to say the least. I was the proud owner of a 1.2 nova before and I cant beleive how good the clio is. For a car its size its very comfortable, very quick and Ive found itll bother cars with bigger engines - BMW 323, Audi A3 1.8T etc etc. I love the funny looks I get when I piss off Focus drivers - they dont know what to make of it all!
Aside from the bonnet vent and Arches its pretty unassuming - mine doesnt even have the 16v badge on the back so its only those in the know who, well, know.
Even more than the annoyed drivers of crappy cars I love the respect it gets from drivers of similar spec vehicles - several times Ive had looks and the occasional nod from RS Turbos - Escorts and Fiestas, 172 sports cant seem to resist a sly sideways glance either! But the very best thing about driving a 16v is the sense of community you get when out driving and you see another. 8 out of 10 16v drivers have given a nod, a wave or a flash of the lights - the kind of thing I only ever expected to see mini drivers doing and I love it!
Only last night I saw a fellow 16valver - also in white which is fairly rare and he waved gave a thumbs up when we stopped at the lights. Has anyone else found this? And what good things have others had happen when out for a drive?
 


Phil, you seem to have come from a simular background to me. i had a highly modded 1.4 corsa before johnny, and like you cant believe how quick the clio is. mine didnt have a 16v badge but i fitted one as i always seemed to get knob heads driving in my rear bumper probably assuming my car was just another 1.2 with a big zorst. i especially loved it the other night when my other half who was driving (i had been on the pop) raced and won against an RS turbo escort. It has got have been standard for us to beat it but still doesnt stop a grin from growing!! Cant wait til i can afford a lovely set of 17" boots for him!!

Chuckie
 
  silver valver/hybrid


i met a guy with a blue 16v at a petrol station, had a quick chat whilst filling up, now i see him every so often on the broadway in walsall (stuck in traffic) always give a quick wave.
 


I was 15 when I saw my first 16v. It was in the showroom at Renault Cardiff and was in metallic green with leather (ultra rare, as I now know). At the time I was with my parents collecting what was to be my first car - a special edition 1.2 Clio. I knew the 16v was special, but it was mainly the looks that did it for me.

The 1.2 became mine two years later and I had great fun with that. I even tried to race a Williams off the lights!! By the time I was bouncing off the rev limiter in 1st the Williams was a spec on the horizon. I eventually moded the 1.2 - 16s, lowered 90mm, colour coded, etc.

But the more I did to the 1.2 the clearer it became that the 16v was what I wanted. It wasnt just a matter of looks (and THAT bonnet bulge) - I now knew just how damn fast and good handling they were!

I bought my Valver last November. I completely blew all my savings and scrimped all the pennies. I had the seen the car twice in Bristol and had fallen in love with it (black, leather, black wheels). When I went to see it I didnt care what the mileage was etc - I just had to have it!! I know thats not a good way to buy a car, but I had swotted up a bit too

The first few months were amazing. The car had a 170+bhp engine re-build just before I bought it and it never let me down in a race.

I could name endless lists of cars that Ive trounced - suffice to say that when you race a 3.0 34v 250bhp 5-Series and leave it after the ton, you get the idea that its no slouch!

But then in January it all went bang. New diffs, g/box and cv joints. All becuase the car (now on 85k) couldnt handle the power. That was expensive and taught me about the costs of running a true performance car. I bit my lip at this point and nearly sold it. But instead I decided to re-build it myself, step by step, and basically make it like new. Ive spent over £3000 on the car since then. You might have seen my car at Donny 2002 - the only Valver with Cliosport. Id like to think that even by then it was looking good.

I now use my car with extreme care. I rarely do short trips - and use it at the moment for maybe one 40-mile trip a week. I cycle to work!! The pay off is knowing that I have a car that is ready to trounce most comers and that it isnt about to fall apart.

Ive met some really cool people with Cliosport and via the RSC. One of my lifes finest memories is racing a 250bhp Nitrousd Williams 3 through a tunnel (on a test track, honestly) 3 times and only losing by two or three car lengths by *120 mph. And its true - everyone with a 16v/Willy always flashes and waves!

If anybody is ever thinking of buying a 16v, stop thinking - just do it! (but it will cost a lot!).
 


Your not kidding they cost alot!! i spent 600 quid on mine 5 weeks into owner ship for a head gasket!! never bought a car that has broken down on me til then, and certainly never spent that much fixing one either!! now i need shock absorbers and front driveshafts cos one is growling, oh and new wheels as my turbines are shat!!

still love him though!!

Chuckie
 
  BMW 320d Sport


Well Id always wanted a Willy or 16v for as long as theyve been around. The first few years they were around they looked so hardcore compared to any other car around except things like Escort Cossies - the 16v comes with everything you want (and Saxo/Nova owners dream of bolting on), the arches, the bonnet bulge and vent, the deep bumper, the wicked alloys, the seats and steering wheel that are so good they dont need replacing with Momo or whatever.

Well first off I had a 1.4 RT for a couple of years which was nippy enough around town, then I saw my blue 16v in the showroom and I had to have it. At the time there was a big price difference between similar condition 16v and Willy ie. 6k for a 16v and 10k for a Willy so I couldnt have my dream which was a Willy.

Didnt really know the history of my 16v at first - there are a few odd things about it, so I set about replacing and uprating *everything* that broke or needed servicing, never intending to sell it.

I would still never sell it, Ive probably spent another 10 grand and countless hours lying in the road in the pouring rain working on the thing to keep it on the road and doing mods for more and more power and style.

In fact I dont even want a Willy now either. If someone was to offer me a mint Willy 3 or my modded 16v, Id keep my 16v. My 16vs book price might be less but to me its priceless.

Doesnt mean I cant thrash it though! I give it a hard life but I look after it too and give it everything it needs. In the last month I just spent over a grand on parts - new Willy gearbox, gearbox mount, both lower arms, sump, power steering pump etc. But if you drive a car hard you gotta be prepared to pay the price.

Thats the only problem with a 16v - it can be fragile and a lot of jobs which are straightforward on other cars are a nightmare on a 16v.
 
  honda accord 2.4 type s


After returning from a night out to see my 5 GT Turbo Raider written off outside my mams, i was quite downhearted!! After waiting months for the insurance to come through, id finally blagged enough off my dad to get my "new baby",and thats when i saw her. Even though she had TSW Blades on!!, she was the one for me!!! And even though she throws up little problems (like the cam belt snapping £750!!), id never get rid of her. Expensive to run but great to look at and drive P.S the wifes ok too!!
 


we all whinge about doing the simple jobs on a 16v, but earlier tonight i had a little blat in a mates Bravo/a HGT, the 2.0 20v 5 cylinder job, its does sound nice but it isnt nearly as quick as my 16v, and then when i had a look under the bonnet! that is a real tight fit, makes a 16v look mid engined! although maybe the Fiat engineers designed it without assuming every one takes the engine out to change the oil,
 
  Clio 1.8 16v


i had a 1.2nova kitted up{not taki}just lowerd with alloys got it lookin just how i wanted it to then i just stopped at some traffic lights then bang taxi driver hit me and sent me in to on coming traffic doin about 40mph in to me that was it my poor nova dead but for the good because i am now a proud owner or a clio 16v got a bad oil leak and enigne mounts need changing but it goes and beats most things this is a car i have always wanted since i was at high school coz i used to see this fit blond driving 1 every day for 5years and that was when i new i wanted 1
 


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