The appeal of a hot hatch is that it's small, light and nimble. Power to weight isn't the important thing, as you can still get an 1000kg car around corners a lot faster than a 1200kg car.

I still remember a stripped out old shape Civic embarassing a lot of scoobs at Donington one trackday. *That* is the appeal of a hot hatch.

 

It only needs bigger brakes as its gained over 200kg compared to the cup.

However, I'm always a bit sceptical about "branded" brakes...sure they look the part, and are good pub chat, but do they actually work very well. It's good marketing for people who like "labels" though.

Dave

 

The Brembo's on a LCR work very, very well indeed....... I can tell you.

The fuel figure on the new Clio Sport are a bit sh*t.... the 172's inparticular I remember were very good on juice even when booting them....

 

have you driven one of the 172s or the like ?? if so i don't think you'd say that !!

 

Another car mucked up, yep looks that way doesn't it.

With regards to the "why oh why" comment, I'll tell you why cos car manufacturers obsess with telling us the bhp of a car, and most buyers are interested in that. How many adverts say "xxx bhp" - answer is most of them. None state the weight cos most buyers would say "who gives a ****".

But I know you already knew that.

They're changing the formula cos it'll sell cars to the masses - bhp figures sound alot better in the pub than how much your car weighs.

Sad but true.

HOWEVER - it might be cracking!! The GTi-6 was over 1200kg's too (and probably still are unless you've stripped it)

 

branded or not 4pot calipers are going to be better than a single piston sliding caliper on any car.

Mark

 

......if the car was the same weight

 

well i have driven the GTI-6 for a few weeks while my RALLYE was in for repair.

the 6 did seem a dam good car, but the rallye was just untouchable in terms of braking and handleing. It s didnt have 4 pots on, but then for fast road use, it didnt need them TBH, a good set of fast road pads were all that were required.

never drove the 182, but have drivenm the 172 cup on a few occasins now and the rallye did it for me, was easier and more predictable on the limit, although not very much in it at all.

A worthy note though, both cars were far better fun on the back lanes than my MY05 WRX PPP


John

 

 

The Rallye is only about 25kg's lighter than the '6 - amazing what that reduction weight translates to on the road!!

My '6 is fully stripped and as such weighs alot less than both. In standard form the Rallye is lighter, but once stripped (both cars) there'd be no difference as the weight saving items are removed from both E.G. interior - lighter in the Rallye.

Great track car.

Proper 'ot 'atch!!!

 

there is only one car that i have driven that came close, thats a DC2, i say it came close, and not better as the suspension was more set up for very smooth tarmac and not for hooning around the country roads



john

 

Not necessarily, the MKI 172 stopped from 100-0 quicker than a 996 Turbo if I remember correctly. Also bigger brakes means more unsprung weight, which means suspension has to work that bit harder. Hope they do a Cup/Trophy spec and a V6 with perhaps a turbo like the old Turbo2s to give it a bigger performance gap from the 197.

 

It's about 5Kg heavier than a classic turbo and it's about half the size, and the scoobs got 177bhp per ton (i think).
Looks nice though.
But it's french and will probably spend more time in the renault garage than with it's owner. One of my mates had 2 V6's and had nothing but problems with them, my mrs has an 03 plate 1.2 16v and thats a pile of ****, and i know of several people with sports that have had loads of problems.

 

define better.....


it doesnt need them for road use anyway, you may find 4pots better on the track, not sure what the advantage would be,


the 6 and the rallye do well with sliding calipers, best brakes i have had on any of my cars todate


john

 

Ah yes John, but where's the bragging rights for having sliding calipers?

It's all for pub talk and marketing, and it's probably an attempt to convince people who say "CLio? Girls car" that it really isn't.

I thin it's sad that the public wants that sort of thing, but the manufacturers seem to be selling 'em.

 

Just been and picked up a 52 reg 172 Cup for my missus today and had a 250+ mile journey back with it... got to say I absolutely loved it. I drove the majority of the way
Id say that its the best hothatch I've driven for some time, infact Id go so far as to say I havent enjoyed a hatch like that since I got rid of my Mk1 1.8 Golf GTi which was about 8 years ago!

Theres no way thats a girls car, my gf found it nearly immposible to let it rev past 5500rpm... just where its coming to life LOL

Anyway, really impressed. All Id say is dont knock it until you've driven one... and Im sure if they bring out a Cup or Trophy version of this new one, it could be just as good no?

J

 

J, I'm not sure it'd be as good - part of the appeal has gone by adding the weight and size. Imagine the 172 and chucking an extra two adults and a kid (or just my mother in law ) in there: that's about the same weight penalty.

 

LOL @ the mother in law joke... the old ones are still the best (and the ugliest... ba-boom-tish!!)

Wouldnt the Cup or Trophy version(s) remove that added weight though...? So alright, the "normal" 197 wouldnt be as appealing as the equivalent 172, but a 197 Cup/Trophy might be worth a look. I now the actual shell will still be bulkier, but my Scoob isnt exactly a bubble car and that gets chucked around with no problems?

Incidentally, this looks like it could be interesting, apologies if its SIAL ( )

RCup

J