Carlos The Jackel

Anyone owned one or basically have an informed opinon on one? Im thinking about getting one but don't know too much about them in the real world as far as reliability etc. All advice welcome (except Robertio of course)

DAYZEE

A mate of a mate of mine used to have one. Apparantly it was a storming little car. Don't know if it had any reliability problems though.

Carlos The Jackel

I've heard pretty much great things about them from other forums like cliosport but scoobynet is the ultimate place for opinons in my opinion I sort of got the impression reading many old threads that renaults aren't the most reliable. I have virtually talked myself into getting one but get the impression running costs could be highish.

WRX PLAYTIME

mate truth is u know u want a 172 like me so get a bigger loan and finance and buy one their by far the best front wheel drive hih powerd car i have ever driven.

brendy

Had a Renault 19 16V for 3 years with no major problems - clutch cable snapped and occasional wheel bearing replacement. The 16V engines were the starting point for the Williams and are good for 150k. Very different to drive from Scooby - the power band is much higher and you need to rev to the limiter approx 7300rpm to get the best out of them.
Have never driven a Williams but have heard they are excellent.

RickyD

My mate had a Williams1 about 3-4 years ago. He had problems with the car starting from time to time. Probably did'nt help having massive ICE in the car. The alternator probably could'nt handle it.

He also got rid of it because rust was appearing on the rear arches. On the downside he was always replacing the front tyres. Well 150BHP through the front wheels is a lot.

If you can find a good example 1, 2, or 3 I would go for one as they are a classic and would be more appreciated than the 172. I've got nothing against 172's I think there both a great little car with a lot of oooomhh!

Cheers

Saint Patrick

I had a clio williams 1, 94 for 2 years, no. 252. Amazing, it was my favourite car before I started into the Impreza turbos. It never gave me an ounce of trouble, looked absolutely the Cats Jingles, with a few mods ( cat out, Green Induction kit, chip and primma cams) it was really really quick and sounded like a 3.2 litre porsche. It was also great having the comfort and crusing ability of the 2 ltr engine. It stood out a mile, so unique.
I really wish I could have kept it as a second car, if i had the money.

Sprint out and buy it if you can.

Pat.

GaryC

I had a Williams 2 for a while, totally standard (company car) - brilliant little car, was THE hot hatch of the time. Quick (better PWR than the 172), go-cart handling, typical vice-grip early Renault sports seats. Never missed a beat, and probably the ony car I have driven that is more chuckably-fun is Mrs Cs new MINI.

Andy Hamilton

Agree with Saint Patrick, fantastic car

I had a Williams 2 back in 1995, had it for 2 years and did 24,000 miles and it never missed a beat. Like Pat I wish I could have kept mine as a second car, having said that I lost so little on it that I had a healthy deposit for my first scoob

I think the only trouble now would be finding a decent example.

Andy

Carlos The Jackel

Cheers Guys, there appears to be some good example in the Autotrade. Most "seem" to be well looked after. I will only find out when I start looking for proper. They seem to be 5-6k for a decent one with roughly 50k miles.

Rob16v

I had one for 3yrs and in that time all I did was replace an exhaust, which rotted through, and replaced a headlamp which got stoned. Fantastic little car. Replace the cambelts on time, cos they tend to snap if ignored. A damn sight cheaper to live with than my Evo.


Rob

si325i

sounded like a porsche. lol

Mike123

A friend of mine owned an L-reg one ( not sure what version that would be ). It was nice but he had several little niggly problems with it with oil leaks etc.
I had a 309GTi at the time and can only say that with 2 people in the Clio and just myself in the 309 there was no difference in the performance from 2nd gear up to 100. My 309 was standard F-reg.
I drove his Clio and although it felt like it was a bit more responsive in the turns it never seemed to equate to a gap on a twisty road. At the time I think his car cost about 4 times what mine was worth, admittedly it was newer. Before i went in it/drove it I used to hanker after one but afterwards I decided I'd rather have a 309 Gti Goodwood for less money and not have a loan.

skiddus_markus

I had a R19 16V too and I think the engine for the Williams was based on this(stroked or diff bottom end?).Only problems I had were it used to burn quite a lot of oil(didn't smoke as such though)and the electrics were crap.I'd open the sunroof and it was hit and miss whether it would close again.
I fitted a K&N and it was the best sound I've heard from an induction kit on any car-absolutely awesome.I wouldn's say it particularly gained any power from that and the decat I did but sounded 10 times better.The engine did need to be revved over 4k to get anywhere though but pulled strongly after that.
Brakes were pretty good so will be even better on the lighter car and the seats were supportive if not tasteful.Nice trip computer and stereo controls on the steering wheel-something you miss when you don't have it.