New North East potential owner....

[Mid-Night]

I've registered on a few Renault forums and Facebook pages lately. I'm pretty sure I want a sporty Clio next. I'm getting on a bit, Been a serial modifier since I was 16. Owned a fair few sporty motors in the last 20 years, from mk2 escorts, XR Fords, many a Pulsar Gtir, Silvia, Skylines, Dc2 integra R's, Dc5, into Vw's, mk2 golfs, mk3s. I want a 182 or 197. I wanna give the French brand a go. Something I can leave relatively standard, but enjoy as a good car even in oem trim. I love the fact the 182 is classed as the last great hot hatch, but the body of the 197 is getting me at the moment, the big arches, the front arch vents, the brembos, even the spoiler less rear hatch. So you'll catch me lurking, asking questions, researching. Could do with a passenger ride if any members are up for it? Seems a friendly forum

andy

 

[Jimmy]

Hi Andy welcome to the forum. You've got a pretty impressive car history there! Good to hear you want to give Renault's finest a go :thumbsup: we're all biased on here so we'll tell you to go for a 197 over a 182!

Let us know where in the NE you're based and I'm sure someone in your area would be happy to give you a passenger ride

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[sevenfourate]

197/200 with the flared arches - stirs the loins everytime the garage door opens here.

I've owned a few 'pleasant' warm hatches too. This might be the best looker yet. Dont drive too shabby either

Good luck in your search Andy............

 

[Micah]

Agree with [MENTION=54245]sevenfourate[/MENTION] - it does indeed stir the loins!
Nothing has the presence of a Mk3, Renault haven't made anything that good looking since.
If you catch it at the right angle with the arse and the front wing you'll forget why you ever questioned buying it in the first place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mid-Night]

Hi Andy welcome to the forum. You've got a pretty impressive car history there! Good to hear you want to give Renault's finest a go :thumbsup: we're all biased on here so we'll tell you to go for a 197 over a 182!

Let us know where in the NE you're based and I'm sure someone in your area would be happy to give you a passenger ride

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Many thanks, I'm in gosforth, in Newcastle upon Tyne. It very rare I see a 197, or even a 182 for that matter, although my days of prowling the streets are behind me. I kinda go through 'phases' to keep my enthusiasm. The ford concours scene in my younger days, the jap import scene in the late 90s up to 2008, then the vw scene. Getting a bit sick of the whole 'stance' element within the vw scene. My current mk3 golf runs very low on porsche wheels, and I'd like to get back to a less modified more user friendly car, and enjoy the driving element again. I ran a Honda forum many years ago, and we did many trips up to Hartside near the lakes. This was a fun time. Hopefully the Clio will emulate the feeling I got from the 96 and 98 spec integra Dc2s.

 

[Mid-Night]

197/200 with the flared arches - stirs the loins everytime the garage door opens here.

I've owned a few 'pleasant' warm hatches too. This might be the best looker yet. Dont drive too shabby either

Good luck in your search Andy............

Loving your progress thread. It seems to encapsulate all of the issues and potential problem fixs I've read about. I can cope with the cam belt dephaser service, the flexi blow/ engine mounts, dodgy steering wheel and front lower suspension stuff, hoping on nothing more major than this. I've always steered away from French cars. I was always that guy who said french cars were crap, but french hatches excite me, and I have an itch to scratch, I just prey I don't get caught out

 

[Foxspeed]

:welcome:

 

[montana]

Welcome:w00t:

 

[petercronin]

Welcome along. Good skills with the list of previous cars by the way! I'm based pretty close to you (Cramlington) but it's a 200 that I've got.

 

[Mid-Night]

Welcome along. Good skills with the list of previous cars by the way! I'm based pretty close to you (Cramlington) but it's a 200 that I've got.

Thanks, I've been very lucky. The old man is bloody good engineer, ex Sierra cosworth technician, so I've saved a lot over the years in labour costs. Mechanically the 197 and 200 are similar yes? I'm not ruling out the 200, will be a good 6 months away before I'm looking to buy, awaiting on my mortgage being sorted out, so I'm watching specs and prices of both

 

[Chris]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Jimmy]

Many thanks, I'm in gosforth, in Newcastle upon Tyne. It very rare I see a 197, or even a 182 for that matter, although my days of prowling the streets are behind me. I kinda go through 'phases' to keep my enthusiasm. The ford concours scene in my younger days, the jap import scene in the late 90s up to 2008, then the vw scene. Getting a bit sick of the whole 'stance' element within the vw scene. My current mk3 golf runs very low on porsche wheels, and I'd like to get back to a less modified more user friendly car, and enjoy the driving element again. I ran a Honda forum many years ago, and we did many trips up to Hartside near the lakes. This was a fun time. Hopefully the Clio will emulate the feeling I got from the 96 and 98 spec integra Dc2s.

I did a run over Hartside when I first got the Clio, it was a great bit of road. Yeah french cars do have their reputation, and rightly so a lot of times! I know a lot of us on here have had various problems over the time we've owned them! But any of them will tell you that you forgive all those woes as soon as you find a great stretch of road and the Clio does its 'thing'.

 

[Mid-Night]

I did a run over Hartside when I first got the Clio, it was a great bit of road. Yeah french cars do have their reputation, and rightly so a lot of times! I know a lot of us on here have had various problems over the time we've owned them! But any of them will tell you that you forgive all those woes as soon as you find a great stretch of road and the Clio does its 'thing'.

Hartside is my nemesis road. It's the road that I first found to my amazement how good the integra was, and later how poor my driving skills were, ending up in a ditch. I've gained 8 points on that road and a trip to Penrith court.

Tbh, problems I can cope with, niggles, so long as nothing major goes bang

 

[Jimmy]

Ouch, an expensive bit of tarmac then! But you still like going back to it??

There are a couple of areas on the Clio that can be expensive fixes - gearbox synchros failing, manifold needing replacing.

Generally though they aren't massively pricey to maintain in terms of individual things needing doing - it can add up if things happen all at once....there's the potential for that with any car though, as I'm sure you've found over the years

 

[Mid-Night]

Ouch, an expensive bit of tarmac then! But you still like going back to it??

There are a couple of areas on the Clio that can be expensive fixes - gearbox synchros failing, manifold needing replacing.

Generally though they aren't massively pricey to maintain in terms of individual things needing doing - it can add up if things happen all at once....there's the potential for that with any car though, as I'm sure you've found over the years

Lol yeah, you seriously don't want to foot the bill for an SR20DET blowing up!
Gearbox synchros, replacement is gonna be box out job, with labour charges, and manifold? Does the manifold itself break or do you mean the flexi joint issues? Assuming new manifold either way

 

[nutnutwelshman]

Did a hartside with my mate [MENTION=2929]smoggy mark[/MENTION] doing air line speeds to stay in touch love it

 

[smoggy mark]

Did a hartside with my mate @smoggy mark doing air line speeds to stay in touch love it

And we never got caught ha!

 

[petercronin]

Thanks, I've been very lucky. The old man is bloody good engineer, ex Sierra cosworth technician, so I've saved a lot over the years in labour costs. Mechanically the 197 and 200 are similar yes? I'm not ruling out the 200, will be a good 6 months away before I'm looking to buy, awaiting on my mortgage being sorted out, so I'm watching specs and prices of both

Yes you're right, they are pretty similar, the main differences mechanically depending on what you get will be springs/dampers, steering rack and gear ratios. Other than that its mainly cosmetic differences. My personal suggestion would be if you can arrord a 200 over a 197, then get a 200 provided the mileage/spec is good for you. As for a 197/200 over a 182 I can't really comment as I've never driven one.

 

[Jimmy]

Lol yeah, you seriously don't want to foot the bill for an SR20DET blowing up!
Gearbox synchros, replacement is gonna be box out job, with labour charges, and manifold? Does the manifold itself break or do you mean the flexi joint issues? Assuming new manifold either way

Yeah that's it on the gearbox - it's very labour-intensive work, which boosts the costs up. Same for the manifold. It is indeed the flexis that can wear out on the mani. They can be replaced rather than fitting a whole new manifold, however you still have to get the manifold off, which is the expensive part of the whole thing.

Both of the above issues are reasonably rare though, thankfully. The gearbox is pot luck as to whether the synchros fail, however not a reason to put you off buying a mk3. Flexis, Powerflex poly mount inserts are a good and cheap mod that can act as a preventative measure on damage to the flexis. This seems a common upgrade these days.

 

[Johnny 99]

And we never got caught ha!

Hartside is the only place I have ever been caught! Luckily it was after the interesting bits & was for being slightly over in a village so I got a speed awareness course instead of points. Cracking road that.