Clio 197 ownership VERY disappointing

[Bigstu77]

Had clio 197 less than a week and finding it a bit hard to live with. The flat spot at 2000 rpm, the general poor quality really disappointed.
Had car to DDC Renault specialists in doncaster and they said it's one of better ones they've driven and has no faults (I'd hate to have one of the worse ones).
Not new to renaultsport cars I've had a 182 and a megane r26 f1 and this is by far the worst.
Anyone else had this feeling? Will I adjust?
Just for the record car is a mint low mileage example in a really nice blue (renault racing blue I've been told) with fsh. Just had all belts and waterpump done. HELP!!!! Have I made a massive mistake?
Thoughts please guys

 

[Pav]

may not be your cup of tea..never had any of your previous cars so cant compare..hope you find the way to love your clio..
the flat spot can be cured of course..the built quality is decent to me..well its a small hatchback so dont expect some luxury

 

[CallorFold]

Might be worth seeing if you can meet up with someone local and have a passenger ride in their Clio to see if its any different? Or get yourself to a local Clio meet to see a whole bunch of cars

Maybe it just needs a few mods/improvements? I found the Powerflex Engine mounts (upper and lower) + gearbox mount made a big positive difference to how to car felt to drive.

 

[Beany]

I'm around in Doncaster most weekends, so you can jump in my cup and see the difference if you want?? It's basic as Fook but it might give some comparison!

 

[DS197]

Did you test drive the car before buying it or not? I mean it's no BMW when it comes to quality but neither was the 182 with its rather horrid interior. Remap will sort out the flatspot. What exactly are the other problems

 

[turkie172]

OK I know it’s very different from the 182, but you havebought a second hand car things on it might not be original. They don't feel asquick as a 182 that's the extra weight but if you check your speeds you willfind you are traveling along at the same if not faster on familiar roadsthat's what I found going from a 172 to 197. As for your poor quality commentyou need to elaborate, build quality, engine performance, handling,visibility ( I find the passenger seat blocks the view along with the pillar whenlooking left and has a lot more blind spots that the 172). When you bought ityou would have driven it the flat spot was there but if it has an inductionkit, cat removed or different exhaust then put back to standard or get someoneto map it out. The gearbox I find myself going from1st- 2nd to 4th to 6th easyeveryday driving I think the car should have or someone make up a cruise ratiogearbox for economy/ motorway speed. Anyway the cars less than a week oldyou've made a mistake sell it or compare it to a standard 197 car and see ifits mods that are causing trouble. I joined the forum to get info andguidance with problems but I find that many comments for example exhaustsone guy has an induction kit the other has removed the first or second or both cats withoutmapping then complain about flat spots. The forum needs cleaned up with say aguide or answer done and then 4 people vote that it's right then list it as fact. Ithink one guy on the forum said his gearbox light came on while driving well heshould have known he was around 7000rpm and it was a shift light I bet he wouldbe the guy to check for a gas leak with a lit match.

 

[Bigstu77]

Hi guys. Thanks for all of the response!
I have just read the thread for the flat spot / kangeroo fix so will give this a go.
I did test drive the car, in fact I have been in a few. I generally like the drive. Speed, handling and stopping are all spot on to be honest just the flat spot around 2k really getting on my onions. Maybe I need to get used to driving it for a bit longer and see how I feel.
The car has no mods. I was planning on a simple panel filter swap but other than that it can stay how it is. If I have it long enough I will probably fit uprated brakes and some replacement powerflex black series bushes.
My most recent car from the Renault range was the Meg f1 team which I loved. I have just bought the clio as a bit of a runner as I am currently out of work but still wanted a bit of fun.
I understand what you guys are saying regarding my comment on the quality. the issue I have is mostly with the really nasty interior plastics. The interior in my Meg which was the same year was far superior. I have had loads of cars in my nearly 40 years (approx 70 :001_rolleyes and am aware of difference between renault and the VW, BMW etc but I just expected a little more from the clio.
Sorry if I have annoyed some of you guys that wasn't my intention.

 

[Bigstu77]

Ha ha Basic as fook, I like it! This isnt an issue for me tbh. I like how simple these cars are! Thanks for the offer. I'll see how I go. I may well take you up on your kind offer

 

[chappers]

As I'm sure you realised with the 182, they are unbeatable for fun on a track/fast b road blast. Aesthetics and comfort were secondary.

Get a remap done to iron out the flatspot, the fix only works until the ecu recalibrates imo.

 

[Bigstu77]

Ha ha Basic as fook, I like it! This isnt an issue for me tbh. I like how simple these cars are! Thanks for the offer. I'll see how I go. I may well take you up on your kind offer

You are 100% correct! I realize the potential the 197 has as a fun track / b road blast car. Aesthetics and comfort not an issue just the finished quality of some areas of the interior. I'm sure i'll learn to love her!!!!!

 

[Beany]

Ha ha Basic as fook, I like it! This isnt an issue for me tbh. I like how simple these cars are! Thanks for the offer. I'll see how I go. I may well take you up on your kind offer

Just give me a shout whenever, she's standard aside from panel filter and powerflex engine mounts!

 

[Bigstu77]

Cheers mate
That's what I will do to mine if I keep it panel filter and powerflex bushes.
I'll definitely give you a shout one weekend, cheers

 

[DS197]

It's strange to have the flatspot so low on a standard car imo. I've got it from 2500 - 3000 rpm but that's with the silencer taken out. Definitely worth trying the free mods to help with the flatspot and kangarooing. Any decent remapper should be able to iron it out and give you a good bit of low down torque too if it gets on your nerves. I've pretty much learnt to avoid it by changing down but it's not always possible. However let us know how you get on

 

[Micah]

That's a shame. I bought my 200 last Friday and it took me the best part of 3 days to accept what I had done and now I love it! Felt sick as a pig leaving the dealership over £7k lighter! Hope you start to enjoy it :s

 

[Antti O]

In my opinion 197 should not have flat spot if it is completely standard. Are you sure there is all silencers/catalysts in its place? Standard intake ?
One of my previous cars was 2006 197 which i loved. Absolutely standard, no worries with flat spot. Only annoying thing was after cold start without electric pre-heater (yes, we have those in arctic Finland).. it was kangarooing and there was no power until engine was in operating tempeature.
In cold mornings when i had 230VAC electric pre-heater warming the engine (basically coolant boiler in engine block), no any kangaroing or anything. Full power from start.

 

[Jimmy]

It's a shame you've been so disappointed with the car so far... Hopefully it's started to grow on you a bit! These cars aren't without their faults unfortunately (you only have to look at how many threads are started asking for a solution to problems!), but what makes us love them is the fact that they are such good fun to drive!

And so we put up with their little failings and irritating faults because on the right road, on the right day, these cars bring huge smiles to faces and it makes us forget that the brakes bind, lights don't work, door handles don't lock, the plastics aren't great etc etc

Definitely take Beany up on his offer on a ride in his 200, because as well as being a top bloke, he's also one of the people who loves his car and that enthusiasm might rub off

 

[nutnutwelshman]

You do had to drive them hard to get the best out off them

 

[CallorFold]

Yeah it's not until you're pressing on towards the red line that it really brings a smile to your face.

I dont get the chance very often, but when I get to take the Clio out for a proper drive around places like Wales and the Yorkshire Moors, you really appreciate how FUN it is.

 

[Bigstu77]

Hi Guys
Thanks again for all of the responses!
To be honest after spending a few more days with the car i'm getting into it. The only bad thing I can say as i mentioned before is this annoying "flat spot" / hesitation around the 200rpm mark. At first I thought that the timing may be out as the garage I bought the car from had done all belt, water pump etc but garage say its bang on. Car has been plugged in (not at DDC) and there wasn't a single fault code to be seen.
Took it to DDC as I said in first post and they said it drove exactly as it should and felt just like all other 197's they've had in the workshop. I have double checked and the intake side of things is completely standard even down to the panel filter. The plugs have just been changed as I was hoping this may be responsible for the annoying issue of flat spot / hesitation and although the plugs were getting ready still the same. I am unsure about the exhaust. Its definitely stock but not been underneath to check all boxes etc are in place.
If I can rid the car of the annoying 2000 rpm issue im sure I will take to it. The engine brakes and chassis are cracking its just the rest thats ****e but I accepted that when I bought the car.
I am currently unemployed and don't have the funds to try a remap to see if this rids the clio of the issue. I just bought the car as a fun runner to be fair but once im back working might build a track car using clio. Can I realistically rid the car of this issue? HELP!!!!!
PS ive tried the little free fix from an old thread by X82 and not sure if this has helped, it seemed to at first. I have also removed and thoroughly cleaned the throttle body.

 

[Antti O]

Check underneath that your car exhaust system got all standard parts.