kuksool

are they any good

i do about 50 miles a day looking at a n plate tomorrow wondered if anyones has ever owned one or if they are a complete pig or dead reliable like my slow vw mk3 golf gti 8v

cheers
scott

LG John

I've never driven one personally but they are up there with the rest of the hot-hatches for straight-line speed and are very well regarded for handling. The clio williams is often said in the same breath as pug 205 gti, 306 gti/ralley, MK1 golf gti, 106gti/vts, and all the other greats. Try and get a good example though that isn't tired

kuksool

cheers mate

hows class going is your training going well!

LG John

Not too bad thanks - I've been bulking up in the gym and kitchen which is REALLY affecting my training (excess weight and muscles become a little more inflexible) but I should hopefully be fine when I can cut the excess fat again in the summer. KSN Gavin is back teaching again but still can't do kicking and stuff like that.

LG John

Lots of williams owners on this site; they might be of some help

Carlos The Jackel

Great cars - expensive to get work done on them. Make sure you get a good one!

Sunroofs can leak - rust on the rear arches - even check for creases in the roof as MK1 Clios with sunroofs have been known to get this.

Follow SB's link to get more info

talizman

iTrader: (1)

I owned one for a couple of years between Scoobys and it was more fun than the Imprezas in a lot of ways.

Very fast and great handling.

Regarded by most of the respected motoring press as "The" best hot hatch of all time.

Daz34

Best hot hatch ever made. Simple as that. IMHO

[Edited by Daz34 - 12/7/2003 12:18:11 AM]

Rich D

iTrader: (12)

Not the best outright, there are others that have had that "tag" too, but definately one of the best hot hatches ever...

R1916v

Only williams 3s had sunroofs. The 1s and 2s did not.

Plums!

Great car.... although some gearboxs have been known to be very weak and fail early on in life......?

Plums....

Anyone else heard of this? Or suffered from it?

Tim-Grove

My old 16v had to have a gearbox recon at 70K miles and my mates ***** had the same at 90K miles

R1916v

My 19 valver (same engine and box as clio valver) is fine, 80k on clock and no probs yet.

iain atkins

I used to have a Williams 3 before the impreza.

It was a grat little car, but as mentioned earlier, the gearbox lasted 35,000 miles (had the car from 6,000 miles). The diff bearing picked up!!

The handling was awsome, and engine was nice and punchy.

My old car was N361 E**

Cheers



Iain

evoviifan

I had a phase 1 1.8 clio 16v. Never had any probs....Q car in terms of lack of GTi badge, but full on 137BHP early 90s hot hatch performance/power, etc.

I would say, dont just look at the williams. I was defo getting a williams then I found a genuine full service history phase 1 16V with 16k miles on the clock in mint condition and got that instead. Had rare full factory leather as well which was very nice. Loads less money than a willie, but only a bit less power.

That was a few years ago, and willie/16 valvers are very hard to find in unmolested genuine condition.

Good luck with your search.

AllyBally

i had an L plate Williams and at 80k the gearbox was shagged . I work for renault and the mechanics said he had done 2 gearboxes on them so far . so listen for whinnig and other noises . also cam belt is a pig of a job and can be expensive so check its been done

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Alternator on my Williams went and it was a 2 hour job!

Bonnet off, headlight removed, radiator moved etc etc.... bloody nightmare.

IIRC, the Autodata job times book says its 8 hours for a timing belt!!

mynickers

yeah just be very well researched, it's hard not to get a raped one, and as many other threads in here will show, renault are not great with built quality and reliablity, so if possible try and get one thats been loved as well as ragged.

Defo worth shelling out for a test from aa or rac, or if you've a good made who is a spanner monkey take him along...

You can get some mint second hand cars with fsh, but you can also get lumbered with a headache on wheels, especailly a cult classic hot hatch like williams.

prodriva

The Williams needs rigorous looking after with regard to servicing. they are such a finely honed car that they need to be kept in tip-top condition to perform as they should and all this means expense.

However, as others have said, dont forget about the Clio 1.8 16V I bought my phase 2 1 owner fsh 1995 'N' with 28k on the clock 5 years ago and its now done 86k. All thats been replaced is an alternator and a cambelt change aside from the regular servicing of fluids and filters etc. Very reliable and not half as sensitive as a Williams but then again not half the amount of kudos that the Williams has.

Which ever one you go for make sure its had its services and especially its cambelt done ON TIME.

The Zohan

My other half had a W2 as a company car for around three month.

At the time i had a Vectra 2.0l SRI which had been chiipped so not exactly a flying machine and the handling was 'interesting so not in any way comparing it to scoob performance - anyway the Clio. My other half inherited it as a co car so had a previous owner who by the looks of it did not look after it

Engine - dissapointing, it went OK but only OK. I was expecting more from it
Suspension/handling brakes very good verging on great.
Interior seats OK rest of interior cheap and nasty, i did not know they made plastic that thin or cheap looking.

It was an OK car, you might struggle to find a nice one, they do not seem to wear the miles or age well.

hegie

had a Williams 2 from new for 5 years did 100k plus in it a lot towing a small trailer, had it serviced at renault until sold bit pricey on servicing and spares it never let me down great fun more fun to drive than a lot dearer cars, agree with Talizman's comments

M8TTJ Home

I used to own a Clio Williams 2 reg M## HOT about 3 years ago. It was lowered 80mm all round, had cross drilled brakes a full devil pipe which was a special edition, ported and polished head and a super chip.

It was a great package and I still regret getting rid of it...I would try and get an original one, or at least one which looks std as they are worth more like that.

They are expensive to maintain and working on them is a real pain in the a##e. As menitoned look out for rusty rear arches and crash damage....plus the interior is pants and does rattle...I say get a nice low mileage one with FRSH and you shouldn't loose much money if you look after it.