straight line or corners????

[litchy]

Simple. In the real world of most clio owners 'day to day' driving, whats better straight line speed or handling? Starting to wonder whether my money is better spent on handling......lets have it right, the only time speed is relevant is when its being tested against so called faster cars.
When its me against my clio, its all about the handling.....and thats where the fun is as a driver.

I'll share my first experience of the clio 197. I was in my 300 bhp SC Bm and the managers son was in a clio 197. We were both late for the same meeting. I was following him as I didn't know where I was going. I couldn't keep up with him, in the real world, the clio absolutely nailed me....

 

[Cannit]

Wrong car if you want a drag car imo so it's all about the handling and keeping the speed up once your up there which the Clio is very capable of!

LSD / coilovers would be my faves to do

 

[Brown bear]

Handling. A trained monkey can use the loud pedal.

 

[Ed...]

right i had this dilmemma too so ill tell you my thoughts on it.

I was forever wanting to go faster around tracks so i consulted my mechanic, the clio lacks i low down torque i kept saying so everytime i cornered the clio would lose all ooomf unless you went down into a silly gear and ragged the clutch to bits so we started tinkering

first of all we made it a little more powerfull adding cams. this was a little bit of a pain as the cams didnt give low down power/torque they pushed it up the revband. by then the brakes were seemingly worthless when punished, so we upgraded the brake pads, took it to another trackday and the problem still existed brakes were still weak, turn in wasnt so great at speed and it fealt a bit unstable. We then threw coilovers on it and corner weighted it, this was the best thing i ever did it changed the cars handling 10 fold.

The problem of losing power through corners was still there though so we tinkered so more in the form of a diff, and a better clutch, another amazing modification all be it costly but improved handling and everything felt easier through corners.

Brakes were further improved by adding 2 peice disks at front (you cannot make these fade) they just dont lol. problem solved

still not happy at this point though it still lacked power coming out of corners and we continued to tinker untill i was near 10k out of pocket all I can say is I have learnt that its a total waste of cash to mess around with the car.

Renault made a great car as it is, its not a dragster by far and there will always be things faster than it or things that corner better than it but in all fairness leave it as it is and if you get bored by a different car that already has more power or if you want cornering get 1 with a lower centre of gravity that corners better.

 

[Foxspeed]

slightly better brakes (material) and better tyres (semi-track) jobs a good one

cant say i find mine lacking - plenty quick enough up to 70mph

 

[Fernandez]

I do love how the car feels and responds when in the twisties, yes all cars can be made better but I don't think you'll find any new car straight from the factory for under 25k that can compare to the clio

 

[slime]

I do love how the car feels and responds when in the twisties, yes all cars can be made better but I don't think you'll find any new car straight from the factory for under 25k that can compare to the clio

...absoloutley right there....the 200 and 250 are really good value for money and to get the same handling fun factor elsewhere is gonna cost a good 10k more....I keep saying to myself I go for a VAG next, but then I check the prices....if I do change my car it will be for a meg 250.....

 

[litchy]

right i had this dilmemma too so ill tell you my thoughts on it.

I was forever wanting to go faster around tracks so i consulted my mechanic, the clio lacks i low down torque i kept saying so everytime i cornered the clio would lose all ooomf unless you went down into a silly gear and ragged the clutch to bits so we started tinkering

first of all we made it a little more powerfull adding cams. this was a little bit of a pain as the cams didnt give low down power/torque they pushed it up the revband. by then the brakes were seemingly worthless when punished, so we upgraded the brake pads, took it to another trackday and the problem still existed brakes were still weak, turn in wasnt so great at speed and it fealt a bit unstable. We then threw coilovers on it and corner weighted it, this was the best thing i ever did it changed the cars handling 10 fold.

The problem of losing power through corners was still there though so we tinkered so more in the form of a diff, and a better clutch, another amazing modification all be it costly but improved handling and everything felt easier through corners.

Brakes were further improved by adding 2 peice disks at front (you cannot make these fade) they just dont lol. problem solved

still not happy at this point though it still lacked power coming out of corners and we continued to tinker untill i was near 10k out of pocket all I can say is I have learnt that its a total waste of cash to mess around with the car.

Renault made a great car as it is, its not a dragster by far and there will always be things faster than it or things that corner better than it but in all fairness leave it as it is and if you get bored by a different car that already has more power or if you want cornering get 1 with a lower centre of gravity that corners better.

Great and honest opinion.

 

[Roger200]

Handling all the way! Managed to keep some rather more expensive and 'better' stuff honest on a recent tour to the Alps. Including M3's, GT3's, SC Elise, Boxters, Z4M's....the list goes on.