197 alternatives for the same ish money.

[M19TNR]

I wouldn't hesitaste to push my Clio 197 Cup off Beachy head and go get a low mileage Fiat Coupe 20VT for about £5k. After spending approx. £5k in less than a year fixing this Renault I am determined to get a return on my investment. Otherwise I would SELL it in an instant and also have Chris Harris and the Motoring press up on charges of 'bullshit journalism'! There are still a few Fiat Coupes around for anyone sensible and smart enough to chose a 'real car' and not a pretend one. Built at Pininfarina factory they were very well screwed together and performance wise were thumpingly quick unlike the tetchy and rather weak performance from the Clio 197 and 200. The sound of that 5 pot with the Garrett T3 in the Coupe was a symphony, like music of the petrolhead Gods. When you got in you could feel the adrenalin and KNOW you were in for a fabulous experience. In 4 years of ownership I never had a single problem compared to my current Clio 197 which pretty much falls apart the minute I drive it. Getting in the Clio I have no adrenalin. I just think "is it going to perform, is it going to let me down, will the gears change smoothly, will it misfire, will it do more than 23MPG, how tired am I going to get stirring the gearbox to extract the piss poor amount of torque and can I really be bothered to even drive it."

A strong ‘no bias’ review right there...

Can you not sit on the fence so much next time please [emoji57]

 

[///M]

I wouldn't hesitaste to push my Clio 197 Cup off Beachy head and go get a low mileage Fiat Coupe 20VT for about £5k. After spending approx. £5k in less than a year fixing this Renault I am determined to get a return on my investment. Otherwise I would SELL it in an instant and also have Chris Harris and the Motoring press up on charges of 'bullshit journalism'! There are still a few Fiat Coupes around for anyone sensible and smart enough to chose a 'real car' and not a pretend one. Built at Pininfarina factory they were very well screwed together and performance wise were thumpingly quick unlike the tetchy and rather weak performance from the Clio 197 and 200. The sound of that 5 pot with the Garrett T3 in the Coupe was a symphony, like music of the petrolhead Gods. When you got in you could feel the adrenalin and KNOW you were in for a fabulous experience. In 4 years of ownership I never had a single problem compared to my current Clio 197 which pretty much falls apart the minute I drive it. Getting in the Clio I have no adrenalin. I just think "is it going to perform, is it going to let me down, will the gears change smoothly, will it misfire, will it do more than 23MPG, how tired am I going to get stirring the gearbox to extract the piss poor amount of torque and can I really be bothered to even drive it."

It's a shame you bought a dog, but in the end, that's your issue, not the car's. There are very many folks on here with very high miles on their Clios who haven't had anything like the issues you've had. Don't presume all Clio's are a mess just because yours is! For some perspective, a quick look on the used car review section of the RAC site, the Mk3 Clio scores 78 points, the Fiat... 60... If all Clios were as much of a nightmare as yours I wouldn't expect the score to be as high, would you?

As for the Fiat, maybe you just prefer a turbo car with the extra low down torque? The revvy, grab it by the scruff of the neck experience in the Clio is one of the things that I like most about it. I'd be bored to tears sitting in fourth on a country road just using the torque. Each to their own. And personally, I think the Fiat is one step away from the Multipla and wouldn't be seen dead in one. And the wheels are some of the worst I've ever seen. We all like different things.

Your bad experiences with the car is certainly not the norm where as your opinions about how it drives are just your preferences.

I hope you get it sorted and can enjoy it as much as most of the rest of us do one day.

 

[Barney626]

I wouldn't hesitaste to push my Clio 197 Cup off Beachy head and go get a low mileage Fiat Coupe 20VT for about £5k. After spending approx. £5k in less than a year fixing this Renault I am determined to get a return on my investment. Otherwise I would SELL it in an instant and also have Chris Harris and the Motoring press up on charges of 'bullshit journalism'! There are still a few Fiat Coupes around for anyone sensible and smart enough to chose a 'real car' and not a pretend one. Built at Pininfarina factory they were very well screwed together and performance wise were thumpingly quick unlike the tetchy and rather weak performance from the Clio 197 and 200. The sound of that 5 pot with the Garrett T3 in the Coupe was a symphony, like music of the petrolhead Gods. When you got in you could feel the adrenalin and KNOW you were in for a fabulous experience. In 4 years of ownership I never had a single problem compared to my current Clio 197 which pretty much falls apart the minute I drive it. Getting in the Clio I have no adrenalin. I just think "is it going to perform, is it going to let me down, will the gears change smoothly, will it misfire, will it do more than 23MPG, how tired am I going to get stirring the gearbox to extract the piss poor amount of torque and can I really be bothered to even drive it."

Gotta be honest, that 20vt looks vile...

 

[///M]

Gotta be honest, that 20vt looks vile...

Chris Bangle design mate. The guy who ruined BMW and then got shown the door asap!

 

[Andyyox]

I don't understand why you are looking at other and poorer sporty hatchbacks if you have no connection to the clio. Which is about as drivers car as a modern hatchback gets

put some decent tyres on. Go for a b road blast. And if you still don't like it buy a barge and get bored of it after a while

 

[suj]

I wouldn't hesitaste to push my Clio 197 Cup off Beachy head and go get a low mileage Fiat Coupe 20VT for about £5k. After spending approx. £5k in less than a year fixing this Renault I am determined to get a return on my investment. Otherwise I would SELL it in an instant and also have Chris Harris and the Motoring press up on charges of 'bullshit journalism'! There are still a few Fiat Coupes around for anyone sensible and smart enough to chose a 'real car' and not a pretend one. Built at Pininfarina factory they were very well screwed together and performance wise were thumpingly quick unlike the tetchy and rather weak performance from the Clio 197 and 200. The sound of that 5 pot with the Garrett T3 in the Coupe was a symphony, like music of the petrolhead Gods. When you got in you could feel the adrenalin and KNOW you were in for a fabulous experience. In 4 years of ownership I never had a single problem compared to my current Clio 197 which pretty much falls apart the minute I drive it. Getting in the Clio I have no adrenalin. I just think "is it going to perform, is it going to let me down, will the gears change smoothly, will it misfire, will it do more than 23MPG, how tired am I going to get stirring the gearbox to extract the piss poor amount of torque and can I really be bothered to even drive it."

You've posted very similar posts many times, I think you have been very unlucky and bought a crap example.
I have done 30k miles in mine, apart from me hitting a curb in the snow, it has been faultless, I do 20k miles a year.
I do mainly motorway, but I still get 34-36mpg average.

I think you need to sell the car on, take the hit on the chin and move on, as i've been there with my BMW 740iL, it went through a phase where it was costing me too much, lost love for it, so fixed it and sold it on (at a loss).

From what you say, you want a modern day turbo car, for the torque, so go out and PX it in and get one, I can understand why you keep saying the same stuff and you will get shot down by members on here, as they obviously love theirs, hence why they are on here.

Also regarding Fiat Coupe (20v ones) my mate has had about 4 now, his first was a dog (the way you are describing your Clio), he has had 3 after that and 2 and 4 were perfect, 3 was also a dog, so they are only as good as their previous owners, just like every car on this planet

 

[PaulV]

Yeah fair comments to all. OK shoot me down, but I agree with what's being said here and I'm sure the 197 and 200 are great drivers cars when new or well maintained. As far as I remember I only bitched a few times about my 197 being a pile of the proverbial. I guess I lost the plot and got frustrated as I wasn't prepared for the inordinate amount of time, effort and money that went in to sorting out all the mechanical and poor performance issues, seemingly on a daily basis.

In the past I've been lucky and have never owned a car that needs resurrecting first, so with this one I got well and truly out of my comfort zone (and burnt). However, I'm very happy to report that the last 3 months of continual misfire and stuttering has finally been solved with a new coil and plug (under the washer jet), a change to a different fuel station and supplier of 98 RON, condensation removed from the fuel tank, and an OEM air filter that allows the engine to breathe properly. Have taken said forum advice above and put on a set of PremiumContact 6s which are now going to get scrubbed in.

Am still hopeful that praying at the alter of RS will deliver some divine intervention!

 

[///M]

Yeah fair comments to all. OK shoot me down, but I agree with what's being said here and I'm sure the 197 and 200 are great drivers cars when new or well maintained. As far as I remember I only bitched a few times about my 197 being a pile of the proverbial. I guess I lost the plot and got frustrated as I wasn't prepared for the inordinate amount of time, effort and money that went in to sorting out all the mechanical and poor performance issues, seemingly on a daily basis.

In the past I've been lucky and have never owned a car that needs resurrecting first, so with this one I got well and truly out of my comfort zone (and burnt). However, I'm very happy to report that the last 3 months of continual misfire and stuttering has finally been solved with a new coil and plug (under the washer jet), a change to a different fuel station and supplier of 98 RON, condensation removed from the fuel tank, and an OEM air filter that allows the engine to breathe properly. Have taken said forum advice above and put on a set of PremiumContact 6s which are now going to get scrubbed in.

Am still hopeful that praying at the alter of RS will deliver some divine intervention!

Fair play Paul. Hope all the work pays off and finally gives you a car you can enjoy. Properly.

Push it to the redline and drive it like you stole it. Impossible to be unhappy.

 

[Micah]

Good luck! You deserve to have a good run in it now and I really hope it behaves itself to show it’s a lot of fun!

 

[Flames83]

Iv had two 20vt and love them and have a r27 now and they are two completely different car. If a car has not been look after , it will cost you if your the unlucky one to have it when its go wrong. It’s a lottery.