197 faster than a 350Z???

richandgem

richandgem

Platinum Member
Before I start I want to make it clear I'm not boasting, more of a general wondering.

We were coming home from Ikea the other night and this car came belting up behind and and was sitting on my bumper. We stopped at some lights and when they turned green I went for it and moved into the inside lane as soon as it was clear. The car behind stayed in the outstide and while it keot up with me it wasn't passing and I could heard its engine revving quite high. I was surprise when we got to the next roundabout to see it was a 350Z.

Surely Clio's aren't that quick, should I just put it down to driver?
 
My brother in law has a 350z and when we went to Wales we were having a somewhat spirited drive one evening with clear roads and he was giving it all he could and he could not lose me.

He was rather gutted after we got back to our hotel as he had just paid a lot of money for it. IVe had a few plays with them and they arent any quicker.

As ive always said, you need something seriously fast to get away from the Clio and it suprises a lot of people. Even my dads BMW 330ci has trouble getting away from it on the twisties.
 
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the figures say 0-60 in 5.7s for the 350z and you would expect that 280+bhp would out perform 194bhp. i would guess that he wasn't giving it the beans or just that he really cant drive!

the 197 is a quick car but i think with such a big power difference a 350z would have the edge but only in a straight line!
 
Good work richandgem!!

That is seriously one of my BIGGEST pet hates, people sitting on the back of my bumper (normally BMW's or BIG fast Jeeps I tend to find) whilst on the motorway etc.

While the Clio 197 is not the fastest car on the road by a long chalk, the higher revving engine of the Clio has taken many a 'flash harry' BMW/Mercedes driver by surprise.. :huh:

And when it comes down to the 'twisties' I cant help to laugh as the BIGGER faster saloon cars 'warble' around the corners..
 
f1team07 said:
the figures say 0-60 in 5.7s for the 350z and you would expect that 280+bhp would out perform 194bhp. i would guess that he wasn't giving it the beans or just that he really cant drive!

the 197 is a quick car but i think with such a big power difference a 350z would have the edge but only in a straight line!
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You got to look at the power/weight ratio not just the sheer power of a car. A Suzuki Swift GTI (not new one) outperformes many other cars in a straight line and it has "only" 101hp 8) but it weights only 790kg or so :biggrin:

Even if the car you encounter on the b-road is forced either with a supercharger or a turbo and it has really torque / middle-rev grunt the Clio still can hang on to it due to its short gearbox. So not only the power/weight ration matters but the gear ratio too.

I'd say the Clio goes rather well throughout the whole rev-band for such a highly tuned NA engine. You should try an old high revving engine without any sort of variable valve timing :biggrin: it's almost like having a turbo engine with all that lag until it gets to the revs its "designed" for. Then hallelujah :biggrin:
 
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I was just a little surprised as I know the driver was giving it some, plus they didn't get round a medium speed corner any quicker than me :smile:

Saying that the 182 did me proud the other night, I was behind a brand new focus RS and while it did pull away from me it wasn't very fast at all. maybe 2 car lengths up to 70
 
richandgem said:
I was just a little surprised as I know the driver was giving it some, plus they didn't get round a medium speed corner any quicker than me :smile:

Saying that the 182 did me proud the other night, I was behind a brand new focus RS and while it did pull away from me it wasn't very fast at all. maybe 2 car lengths up to 70
Click to expand...

Thats another good effort! mind you that 182 has got a bit of a reputation for being a little bit quick hasn't it...
 
f1team07 said:
lol! is that stock or you toyed with it?

iv gotta say i like the LY 197/182 combo!
Click to expand...

The 182 is standard really, the only mods relating to the engine are a set of magnacor leads and a custome stainless exhaust, so pretty standard really. Think we have got a good un though
 
Pre remap, my leon (200PS) kept up with a 197 on straights, not on bends, so i'd suggest it wasnt being pushed, or if it was a convertible maybe an even match? this time of year I wouldnt like to be pushing a rear wheel drive car. Maybe they were at their own limit and not the cars, but even so, i'd say thats a victory for clio!
 
At a recent track day I lined up between an Audi TT 3.2V6 Quattro and a Nissan 370Z. Myself and the Audi put a country mile between ourselves and the Nissan, I was quicker than the Audi, but could not get passed.
It wasnt nescessarily driver ability either, because the session was for advanced drivers.

(My car is mapped and has H&R springs)
 
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