Autocar now has a review up of the new Clio Trophy

Matt W said:
Oh dear, not good at all.
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Don't think the reviews that bad. Actually says some nice things in a couple of places.

Let's be honest here. Short of putting a manual box in the car, its always going to be a motor that divides opinion.

Though think there is maybe some merit in the comment that he makes in the last paragraph.
 
I'm writing this having never driven a Clio 4 RS & have to say that I don't think it is a bad review. I bought my Clio 3 RS200 having driven a friend's & been impressed but I was always put off the Clio 4 by bad reviews, particularly about the gearbox. The Trophy does seem to have addressed most of my concerns judging by this write up. I am not against a two pedal car per se but it is disappointing to read that there seems to be no satisfaction to using the paddles despite the gear changes being quicker now. As mentioned a "click" to the paddle action would probably help. My daily drive is an automatic & I never use the paddles on that as there is no satisfaction to doing so, but it's not an issue as it's not a sports car & I have my Clio for fun. From this review the Clio 4 RS is now a car I would consider buying in Trophy guise though I would want a long test drive to be sure. However I am not in the market being totally satisfied with my Clio 3 & I think that the Clio 4 will remain a left field choice in the world of hot hatches.
 
There's no doubt they're fast. The hydraulic bump stops make the ride very refined on potholed town roads (the closest I got to a typical B road on my test drive of a 200T). But that box! It's ironic that they've tried to go for a more mass market specification when the target market would never look at a Renault. All they want is limited edition Corsas and Polo GTs and Audi A1 S-lines for a few hundred pounds a month.

If Renault had fitted a manual box from the get go it would for sure have sold in low numbers, but I can't imagine as low as it has. The masses would still have ignored it, but the enthusiasts (us) that would have considered it would surely be greater in number. According to howmanyleft, there's 1000 Clio Renaultsport Autos. That's pretty dreadful, there's 2000 208 GTIs and 13000 Fiesta STs.

A Trophy with manual box would seriously tempt me over a 265 for my next car.
 
I think half the trouble for the 200T is that the only negative comments seem come from the motoring press and that's what people pick up. The above review is actually quite positive about the way the car handles in the bends, but that's not what people will focus on...

From the few owners I've talked to, not one of them has had a bad word to say about the car. They go well, sound nice and look good too. There's too much emphasis being put on the fact it has an auto and that it's 'bad'.

It's the new generation of cars as a whole though - it is now all about downsizing/turbocharging and giving cars auto boxes in order to chase emissions goals. It's not just Renault that are affected - look at Porsche, Ferrari etc - who'd have thought a Ferrari sportscar would forego a N/A engine for a turbo'd one, or that Porsche would put a dual-clutch gearbox in a GT3 RS...
 
lostmotel said:
There's no doubt they're fast. The hydraulic bump stops make the ride very refined on potholed town roads (the closest I got to a typical B road on my test drive of a 200T). But that box! It's ironic that they've tried to go for a more mass market specification when the target market would never look at a Renault. All they want is limited edition Corsas and Polo GTs and Audi A1 S-lines for a few hundred pounds a month.

If Renault had fitted a manual box from the get go it would for sure have sold in low numbers, but I can't imagine as low as it has. The masses would still have ignored it, but the enthusiasts (us) that would have considered it would surely be greater in number. According to howmanyleft, there's 1000 Clio Renaultsport Autos. That's pretty dreadful, there's 2000 208 GTIs and 13000 Fiesta STs.

A Trophy with manual box would seriously tempt me over a 265 for my next car.
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Did you drive it in or sports or race? Im guessing not if you only drove it in a town.

Im actually glad its a bit less common than the others (although I'm yet to see a GTI) but the fiestas are everywhere. Theres honestly not many "purists", would hardly be worth advertising too such a minority, Renault tried something different, to bring in a new era into hot hatches, hence the gadgets in it (launch control, paddle shifts etc). Hell half the people that bought the Fiesta are probably cos it got topgears approval. Not telling me 13000 people chose the fiesta because its a manual. A lot of its also down to Renaults dreadful advertising and making the car available.


The 265 is a different kettle of fish all together, dont think it can be compared to the clio at all, its an upgrade.
 
Anyone else noticed the quoted kerb weight for the 220 trophy has magically increased from 1,204kg (200t) to 1,279kg???

EVO always reckoned that the 200t was heavier than Renault stated. Think we might have our answer here maybe. Hum...

PS. Figures from Renaults WEB site (car configurator). Noticed when looking at the body colour to see what the new wheels looked like.

PPS. Exact figures from howmanyareleft are 692 in total (lux & non-lux). Very rare in the UK indeed.
Be interested to see the sales figures for the home market (IE. France) and their 2nd largest RS market (IE. Australia).
 
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Chris91 said:
Did you drive it in or sports or race? Im guessing not if you only drove it in a town.
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Drove around Doncaster and out on the dual carriageways towards the M18 in all three modes. Full auto was actually really nice for pootling around. But even in race it seemed far too unresponsive. I know it's faster than you could ever change in a manual, but it was just that disconnect between pulling the paddle and it shifting that was so frustrating.

Am I right in thinking that VW have actually put a manual box in the Polo GTI and its brethren now, despite it only coming with DSG to begin with?

Chris91 said:
Not telling me 13000 people chose the fiesta because its a manual. A lot of its also down to Renaults dreadful advertising and making the car available.
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Now I will agree there. 13000 people chose a Fiesta because they're £17,000, you can lease them for less than £200 a month, and the dealers actually seem interested in selling them and getting people out test driving them.
 
lostmotel said:
Drove around Doncaster and out on the dual carriageways towards the M18 in all three modes. Full auto was actually really nice for pootling around. But even in race it seemed far too unresponsive. I know it's faster than you could ever change in a manual, but it was just that disconnect between pulling the paddle and it shifting that was so frustrating.

Am I right in thinking that VW have actually put a manual box in the Polo GTI and its brethren now, despite it only coming with DSG to begin with?



Now I will agree there. 13000 people chose a Fiesta because they're £17,000, you can lease them for less than £200 a month, and the dealers actually seem interested in selling them and getting people out test driving them.
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17000 for the base model ST. The 200t comes well equipped, climate, sat nav, cruise etc. Which you only get with the ST3, which is a lot more money.

Dont understand how you were disconnected/feel its unresponsive, you pull the paddle on mine and its instantly changed...
 
Got to agree with Chris here. The speed of the changes has never been an issue for me. Never been quite sure why so many people are fixated by this. The box isn't perfect but in my personal opinion (and that's all it is) I don't think it was that bad an effort on Renault's part. Think whatever they do with the edc box it will always divide peoples opinion. Though I can appreciate why some (a fair few I suspect) will always prefer a manual box. Biggest mistake with the paddles was not to give them a tactile click when you reach the trigger point. At times you are left wondering if the box has heard you (so to speak) and you find yourself instinctively glancing down to see what gear you are in.

With regard to the 220. For me it will come down to how I feel it actually drives, regardless of what the reviews say (rather like when I was looking at the 200t). That and how hard the ride feels on local roads. As at the end of the day, it will be me buying the car and living with it.
 
I've just watched an old TG group test of the 200T, ST and Pug GTi - Hammond criticises the 200T gearbox, surprise surprise... It seems that it's been fashionable to have a go at the fact that it's got paddles instead of a gearlever. And because of reviews like that, people (that haven't driven one properly/owned one) jump on the bandwagon.
 
Pistonheads now has a review up-good review too,makes you think if this is the same car TG drove-at least they worked out how the gearbox worked,ouch!!.
 
Matt W said:
I'm still yet to test drive one at my local dealers, and they've been out 3 years.
They keep telling me that they are so popular that their demonstrators get sold straight away...
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Think I'd be going to a different dealer myself. Even the local Arnold Clark up here got me one to try within two weeks of asking.
 
Don't forget, the Polo GTi/Ibiza Cupra (and Bocenegra)/Fabia VRS have all had a DSG gearbox since 2009. A quick check shows around 5000 vehicles sold between them and that is with a very well regarded DSG gearbox but engines with some major reliability issues. They are now dropping DSG only for the new iterations. All of these were available with Climate, Nav, cruise, etc, the only option they are missing compared to a Clio is keyless entry/start.

Maybe the small hatch market just doesn't want a semi-auto box, unlike the medium hatch market
 
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