My Albi 197 (a bit of a read and a bit pic heavy)

[St7ckz]

Hey folks

Ive owned my 197 for 3 weeks now and ive finally managed to give it a clean so I thought id post up some pics.

First of all a bit of history with how ive ended up with a 197. Ive always owned VAG cars and tbh it was all i ever thought i would own

One day I was out with my dad and noticed a 197 and we both commented on how nice it looked and that was that. Until a few weeks ago my dad rang me to say a mate of his had this 197 and he was getting rid of it for a really good price so making a spur of the moment decision whilst having images in my head of track days I said I would buy it:001_unsure:

At the time I owned a MK5 Golf GTI with a few mods 260ishbhp and soon after I said I said i would buy it I had serious second thoughts what would the build quality be like? would it be reliable? etc etc but I thought stuff it you only live once just give it a go.

Then I went to pick it up now at this point I had never seen the car i had never even seen a Clio 197 close up. First impressions were well 50/50 got in it drove it and wasnt totally over impressed with the drive to me it felt gutless and slow but then again I had come from a 260bhp turbocharged car and thought stick with it people dont rave about these for no reason.

Anyway onto the pics
some previous cars




Clio the day I picked her up.
The previous owner obvioulsy never knew what a hoover and car wash was but atleast he looked after it mechanically and made sure it had a FRSH.





TBC

 

[edd1e]

Nice car mate, deffo needs a wash though lol.

What's all that white stuff on the seat?

 

[Giles]

very nice mate

need a good clean

 

[St7ckz]

Part 2.

I finally got the chance to give the car a clean and hoover and take it for a good test drive.

Now after taking it for a good blast to strech her legs ive finally found out what all the fuss is about:thumbup1: I have fallen in love with it it handles like a nat on speed and goes like a rocket (well when you keep it above 4k)
Just to put it in perspective I beat my previous GTI record for the time taken to get from my house to my fav surf spot by a full 5mins in the Clio.

The build quality is just as good as the VW and the price on aftermarket parts are 50% less than that of the VW equivalent. I havent had it long enough to comment on the reliability but so far so good. I dont even know how I coped for all those years actually putting the key in the ignition keyless go is amazing.

Recent pics






I have a few things to do to the car which will be done in the next few months but nothing major as it is imo sorted as standard.
1) New set of decent tyres
2) Replace the brake pads/disks and brake fluid
3) H&R springs with new shocks
4) A full correction detail
5) Spacers
6) Cup racer wheels/track day tyres
7) Maybe Recaro's
8) ITG panel filter

Thanks for reading

Ben

 

[Giles]

much better!

 

[St7ckz]

Nice car mate, deffo needs a wash though lol.

What's all that white stuff on the seat?

The white stuff isnt what it looks like:w00t: The car had the front bumper resprayed before I picked it up and the white stuff was kind gift left by the bodyshop.

very nice mate

need a good clean

Cheers guys

 

[St7ckz]

much better!

It is alot better now but the paint still has a long way to come before its 100% in my eyes:thumbup1:

 

[Liambo-201]

Car looks good and plans sound good. Iv driven many fast cars and my mates have always owned 350+ evos and scoobs but they always sell up for 172/182s and me i prefer the high revving n/a compared to a turbo

Welcome to the french **** club! Lol

 

[Foxspeed]

looks great :thumbup1:

 

[Tyler]

looking good, I like to read people comparing from their ex similar cars. need a spoiler being added to that list tho.

 

[Rishi]

Nice pics!

 

[Arran]

Nice plans and I'm glad you like it after going for a good drive. I was going to ask what tyres they are on it, I assume they are the same brand as the Ditchfinder 3000s? Lol! Keep us updated on any progress you make.

 

[RBlueVillan]

Great pics St7ckz. :thumbsup:
Liking the black golf gti. :drool:
Think if I did,nt have (LOVE roud the Clio 200
I would have a golf gti now.

:driveby:

 

[clio200cup]

verrrrrrr nice!! as mentioned above, the black gti looks lovely!

stu.

 

[chappo]

looking good mate,

good to hear your enjoying the Clio.

nice pics as well Ben.

 

[St7ckz]

Cheers for the comments folks:thumbsup:

I will keep the thread updated as I get things done:thumbsup:

Yup the tyres are indeed ditchfinder 3000's I just cant wait to get a decent set on there to really test the cars handling just need to decide which tyres im going to go for any suggestions? For both track and road?

A spoiler will be going on at some point but im first gonna spend the dosh on mechanical things, the cosmetics will come laterroud:

Also been looking into exhausts today are these a worth while upgrade on the clio's or would me money just be best spent on de-catting the original exhaust and pocketing the difference.

Thanks
Ben

 

[Arran]

I use Hankook V12 Evos, but never had the car on the track. So can't really say about that side of the tyres, but I like them for road use. What spoiler you thinking? Don't say cup! Lol!

 

[Curley]

Get some projector headlights too.. that would make it be white stain worthy...



Oh wait

 

[clio200cup]

personally, i won't buy a performance car if someone has put sh!tey tyres on it. that tells me about how they look after a car...
but at least you're doing the right thing and replacing them for performance rubber

 

[pez1356]

For road tyres most people tend to use the Continental Sport Contact 3's... although I hear the new SC5's have just come out :thumbup1: Personally I like the Hankook v12 Evo's, so much cheaper than the Conti's and I honestly think they're just as good. Glad you're enjoying the 197 now, looks much better since it's been cleaned!!