So after 2 years of membership, I'm finally getting round to starting some form of progress thread (something I've been saying I'll do for about 1 year 11 months)
I'll hope to not bore you too much with a life story, and try and overview the last few years of ownership in this post!
I bought the car in June 2015, and to be honest it didn't tick many of my boxes! I wanted a White 200 Cup, with the lovely red Brembo calipers, and super comfy Recaros... so I did a great job at having neither of these! I travelled 2 hours to Holdcroft Renault Crewe for a test drive, after seeing a 2012 LY 200 pop up on AutoTrader, with only 8,000 on the clock! As soon as I'd been in the car 5 minutes, I just thought to myself 'I need to have this car!' It was such a buzz compared to my 1.2 MK3 Clio I'd been in for the previous 4 years! I picked it up two weeks later, which was painfully long!
What I Love:
- The colour: It took a while this one, but I soon learned to admire it! The girlfriend isn't a fan (an instant 'Why have you bought a yellow car...' upon seeing a photo) but she's had to accept that!
- Handling: I don't have much to compare it against, but it this car handles fantastically well, especially on the twist stuff! Would love to see how it compares to a Cup though, I can imagine you can be even more aggressive into the corners!
- Visuals: When I first saw one when I started driving, I just thought what a great looking car! Twin exit exhaust, a mean rear diffuser, side vents, it just looks awesome. It's very rare you see another 197/200/200T on a day to day basis, and that really appealed to me, I wanted something different!
What I Dislike:
- Interior: I knew what to expect, after owning my previous Clio, yes it will rattle and will have a slight cheap feel, but there's nothing quite like holding against the plastic trim while driving along to try and locate them rattles.... I wouldn't have it any other way its part of the ownership!
- Steering Wheel: Obviously this is something that can be corrected, but I couldn't believe quickly the wheel just peeled away and disintegrated. It does however provide a time gap between red lights picking away at it! I have a spare wheel which will be put on when this gets really bad!
Problems:
- Coolant leak: The first problem I suffered with was I had a period of losing coolant, took it into Renault for some diagnostics and found that the thermostat housing had cracked. Replaced it out, all sorted! So not a biggy.
- Split Flexi's on manifold: Woke up one morning to my car sounding like a tractor, which drew quite alot of attention driving through town. I queried Renault on the repair, and they were quoting crazy prices (changing out the whole manifold). With my dad being involved in agriculture engineering and some colleagues handy with spanners, they decided to tackle it themselves, removing the manifold and welding in new flexi's, of which they did a great job. (Albeit taking 3 weeks and having to attend the Christmas meal in a Renault Kangoo!!)
- Temporarily lost reverse and 5th: I had the big belt change done last week at the main dealership (Car now on 58,000), and after picking the car up I found that 5th gear was stiff (but reverse ok at this point). Drove to work the next day and found 5th still horrible to get in, pulled up in my communal driveway, and as I went to reverse into the bay, couldn't find reverse! Non-existent! Not only that but I was blocking an ambulance from getting out. Sent the car back to Renault, who took the battery/airbox/engine mounts back off and back on, of which it now runs a dream again!
Touch wood this list won't progress
Modifications:
- Powerflex Top mount / KTEC gearbox-engine-lowerstabiler mounts: More of a preventative measure for the flexi's in hope they don't crack again! But would recommend the mounts. Yes they do cause some added vibrations but it seems to tighten the car right up, and seemed to be putting the power down better (could just be psychological!)
Otherwise completely standard!
To do list:
- Refurb the wheels - I don't have the pretty wheels in the world, they're a bit scuffed and could really do with some TLC. I bought a set of alloys for a bargain off eBay (big thanks to @Benno for collecting these and organising a courier!) So the plan will be to get this set refurbed, maybe get them done in black (undecided!)
![IMG_2299[1].PNG](https://clio197.net/data/attachments/114/114869-84e591427df6b3621b3ce4b76f8cc680.jpg "IMG_2299[1].PNG")
- Paintwork Bodywork TLC: At least a year ago I had someone slightly clip the rear arch line, of which creased the arch line! A depressing day, but nothing too obvious. Dent devils etc didn't want to tackle it (think the colour put them off or the location of it!) but it's something that always bugs me! I'm off to America next month, so my cousin who loves detailing as a hobby will be tackling a few stonechips with a chipex kit I bought.
Other than that I'm happy with the car, I've just had the big service, and it's now running a dream! Every drive puts a smile on my face.
Hope you haven't all fallen asleep by this point, and thanks for reading!
I'll finish off with a few photos:
![IMG_9666[1].JPG](https://clio197.net/data/attachments/114/114872-e9f2d2e79e35a023a7658ec97718a50d.jpg "IMG_9666[1].JPG")
![IMG_E8389[1].JPG](https://clio197.net/data/attachments/114/114871-06b7fa32a25afec8fc768414b69d6959.jpg "IMG_E8389[1].JPG")
I'll hope to not bore you too much with a life story, and try and overview the last few years of ownership in this post!
I bought the car in June 2015, and to be honest it didn't tick many of my boxes! I wanted a White 200 Cup, with the lovely red Brembo calipers, and super comfy Recaros... so I did a great job at having neither of these! I travelled 2 hours to Holdcroft Renault Crewe for a test drive, after seeing a 2012 LY 200 pop up on AutoTrader, with only 8,000 on the clock! As soon as I'd been in the car 5 minutes, I just thought to myself 'I need to have this car!' It was such a buzz compared to my 1.2 MK3 Clio I'd been in for the previous 4 years! I picked it up two weeks later, which was painfully long!
What I Love:
- The colour: It took a while this one, but I soon learned to admire it! The girlfriend isn't a fan (an instant 'Why have you bought a yellow car...' upon seeing a photo) but she's had to accept that!
- Handling: I don't have much to compare it against, but it this car handles fantastically well, especially on the twist stuff! Would love to see how it compares to a Cup though, I can imagine you can be even more aggressive into the corners!
- Visuals: When I first saw one when I started driving, I just thought what a great looking car! Twin exit exhaust, a mean rear diffuser, side vents, it just looks awesome. It's very rare you see another 197/200/200T on a day to day basis, and that really appealed to me, I wanted something different!
What I Dislike:
- Interior: I knew what to expect, after owning my previous Clio, yes it will rattle and will have a slight cheap feel, but there's nothing quite like holding against the plastic trim while driving along to try and locate them rattles.... I wouldn't have it any other way its part of the ownership!
- Steering Wheel: Obviously this is something that can be corrected, but I couldn't believe quickly the wheel just peeled away and disintegrated. It does however provide a time gap between red lights picking away at it! I have a spare wheel which will be put on when this gets really bad!
Problems:
- Coolant leak: The first problem I suffered with was I had a period of losing coolant, took it into Renault for some diagnostics and found that the thermostat housing had cracked. Replaced it out, all sorted! So not a biggy.
- Split Flexi's on manifold: Woke up one morning to my car sounding like a tractor, which drew quite alot of attention driving through town. I queried Renault on the repair, and they were quoting crazy prices (changing out the whole manifold). With my dad being involved in agriculture engineering and some colleagues handy with spanners, they decided to tackle it themselves, removing the manifold and welding in new flexi's, of which they did a great job. (Albeit taking 3 weeks and having to attend the Christmas meal in a Renault Kangoo!!)
- Temporarily lost reverse and 5th: I had the big belt change done last week at the main dealership (Car now on 58,000), and after picking the car up I found that 5th gear was stiff (but reverse ok at this point). Drove to work the next day and found 5th still horrible to get in, pulled up in my communal driveway, and as I went to reverse into the bay, couldn't find reverse! Non-existent! Not only that but I was blocking an ambulance from getting out. Sent the car back to Renault, who took the battery/airbox/engine mounts back off and back on, of which it now runs a dream again!
Touch wood this list won't progress
Modifications:
- Powerflex Top mount / KTEC gearbox-engine-lowerstabiler mounts: More of a preventative measure for the flexi's in hope they don't crack again! But would recommend the mounts. Yes they do cause some added vibrations but it seems to tighten the car right up, and seemed to be putting the power down better (could just be psychological!)
Otherwise completely standard!
To do list:
- Refurb the wheels - I don't have the pretty wheels in the world, they're a bit scuffed and could really do with some TLC. I bought a set of alloys for a bargain off eBay (big thanks to @Benno for collecting these and organising a courier!) So the plan will be to get this set refurbed, maybe get them done in black (undecided!)
- Paintwork Bodywork TLC: At least a year ago I had someone slightly clip the rear arch line, of which creased the arch line! A depressing day, but nothing too obvious. Dent devils etc didn't want to tackle it (think the colour put them off or the location of it!) but it's something that always bugs me! I'm off to America next month, so my cousin who loves detailing as a hobby will be tackling a few stonechips with a chipex kit I bought.
Other than that I'm happy with the car, I've just had the big service, and it's now running a dream! Every drive puts a smile on my face.
Hope you haven't all fallen asleep by this point, and thanks for reading!
I'll finish off with a few photos:
![IMG_8389[1].JPG](/data/attachments/114/114870-e150f3e632e1168f3129cbd26c946e3a.jpg)
![IMG_9665[1].JPG](/data/attachments/114/114873-bbc332f9f6128c29fa8a403822fcc272.jpg)
next stop. Snetterton
