No, not at all Chris. The difference as you probably know is slightly more focused suspension, 1 mm thicker front ARB and 7% quicker rack. I had all these on my Clio (before I move to AST) and even though it made a difference it wasn't so noticeable so as to justify the article's comments about the 197's transformation from a disappointing 182's successor to a hatch king. Not at all.