First month review

Hi Everyone,

l bought this Red 197 just over a month ago and wanted to give it some feedback after driving it now for about a 1000 miles.
My first few drives it took me a while to get used to it and get my seating posstion right and now i find the standard seats comfy day to day even on a long drive, i would one day like to swap them out for the optional recaros but there is no rush.
I have driven it on mixed roads but mostly back rounds giving it a blast where and when i can and safe to do so, i have also driven probably around 500 miles on the motorway.
My experiance of the back roads is superb and the handling is one of the best i have driven ( i have also had 2 Evo 5's ) and it keeps up with most cars easily, i do find you have to keep in high in the rev range to get the best out of it though otherwise a lot of cars can catch you on the hop and it takes a second to almost kick into life and get going, i don't know if this is normal but i have read threads about getting it mapped properly to sort out and low down issues ( it has an uprated Ktech cat back system ).
Now the ride on the back roads if it is bumpy now it is lowered can make the car quite hard to drive because it is so fim and the car doesn't have much travel in the suspension to soak it up, i have thought about running it with standard springs to see how that feels.
Motorway driving i had found a bit hard to get used because of the sheer ammount these cars rev and that they are not made for any kind of motorway journey ( once you get off the motorway it soon makes up for it ) when i am driving at about 80mph it will sit at approx 4200 rpm and with the Ktech it is loud, once you get it at the right speed you can live with it just.
I did start a thread about swapping to the original exhaust and if i find it too much i have people ready to swap it over.
petrol wise i have been getting about 31mpg with mixed drives at mixed speeds and i thought this to be good.
I have always wanted one of these cars, 1. becuase is love the looks 2. i love renault sport cars 3. becuase even at 37 i won't grow up and have a big smile on my face every time i drive it.
One final thing is that the car has been owned on the clio forums and if anyone has got any feedback or info on it i am always hapy to get a PM from members.
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Great review and really nice to hear you're enjoying the car so much :thumbsup: they are such fun cars to drive and tick a lot of boxes imo.
 
With oem "full fat" suspension clio is great in b-roads. No need to slow down on little bumps. It works suberb.
 
yeap thats spot on review..you have to keep it over 3-4,000 revs to fully enjoy it...
the k-tec exhaust is not very pleasant on long journeys to be honest...
i have a standard exhaust and springs for sale if you are interested...

glad you are enjoying it so far
 
Nice review buddy. Car looks great in Red too. My fave colour. Almost.....:smile:

Keeping enjoying the car.......
 
Hi and welcome:smile:

Nice write up and you are spot on on what you are saying. You need OEM springs as the lowering ones do not do the car any favours on the road and oem exhaust if you are doing motorway driving. I'm similar age as you and I'm telling you I wouldn't like to sit in a car with a droning exhaust.
 
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Great little review, I have had mine a few weeks now, also loving it - I think a gd compromise between running costs and fun factor!
 
Hi mate, excellent review, gold your enjoying the car. I am similar age too and had the clio 197 for 4 1/2 years and smile the same every single day. Great little cars and the handling is brilliant on them. Very nice car you have. On the exhaust note (not sure how loud a k tech exhaust is) but I have a miltek resonated cat back and although the standard exhaust is good the miltek ticks all the boxes for me it's got a very nice sound too it and not drone or too noisy on the motorway.