sti-04!!

I know this thread has been done to the death but i cant get my head around a few things !

So can you answer a few questions for me please ? I am possibly looking to get one as a sunday toy & track car

In real world terms what is the best to go for ? I dont mind spending upto 13k ish

Whats the difference between the 182, 182 Trophy & the Cup ??

Is there any mods that can be done on them as i am not to bothered about the warranty as such

Any other pointers you may have

davyboy

I reckon they are good for 8.40's BTG at the ring in standard form

sti-04!!

Thanks Dave but what one ?? & thats with your missus driving

davyboy

Standard 172 Cup. I would love to try it on stiffer suspension, r rated tyes and race brakes pads. 8.30's would be a reality!

Jonto

from my own personal experiences i would steer well clear.

Andy M3

Trophy is the best IMO. It's all about the handling that car - so ideally best for the track. The problem is that it is expensive, and a ltd edition which could be considered a bit of a waste. So my second choice would be a used 172 CUP. Very basic car and ideal for the track Mods would be shock / spring combo and brakes. I think you can extract a touch more power, but unless it is TB's i don't think it would make a massive difference........

sti-04!!

Tell me more

Steve vRS

182 Cup.

As fast as the 172 Cup as although it weighs a bit more, the extra power compensates. It also has ABS, which for road driving is a must and air con.

Should be able to get a good un for about £9500 I would have thought.

Stick some braided hoses, Motul fluid and Pagid pads on and you have a great track car.

Steve

Jonto

went from scooby to 172 cup.

Was slower than i expected, car was never out of the garage, the dealers are crap and it lost a rook of money. I imagine the trophy will drop in value like a stone too when the new shape clio sport comes out.

khany

I wouldnt bother with any of the new ones mate they loose too much money.

if ure serious about a clio as a track car then i would do the following:

second hand clio 16v and then throttle body it add williams track after, coilovers, roll cage, custom map (OMEX)...will leave the rest for dust.....my mate did a 13.4 1/4 mile in one and it went round corners for fun. He just sold it recently for £5000, below is the performance:

Performance-
· 13.4@103mph at Santa pod
· 0-100 in circa 12.7 seconds
· 216bhp and 170lb/ft torque
· 260bhp/ton

Daz34

For a weekend/track car get a low mileage 172 Cup as they are v cheap and fit Brembo front discs/ Friction Performance 97 pads for awesome stopping power and the Eibach Sportline spring kit for pretty well sorted handling.

Then see how you get on with it. If it is reliable and puts a big smile on your face consider Bilstein or Leda suspension and then tweaking the engine (inlet manifold work, ecu, exhaust, cams, balanced/lightened flywheel).

BrynO

Gotta say our Mk 1 172 with Eibachs, Racelogic traction control, decent brake pads (and a few bits of excess weight left at home) gave my pals PPP'd WRX a hard time on a Donnington track day recently, at £5.5k odd they are damm good value as a track toy... sorry that doesn't answer your question at all, LOL....

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Stephen,

I've had both a 172 Cup and 182 non cup, with Cup packs

The 172 was a real blast, but the interior was as nasty as.....

The 182 was much nicer with leather and alcantara etc

I would steer clear of a 182 Cup, as the weight saving doesn't justify the toys you sacrifice.

The 172 shed 89kg to make the Cup but the 182 is a measly 20kg heavier than its Cup counterpart.

I'd much rather have the nice seats, xenons, aircon, etc etc.

Pushg the boat out and get a 182 trophy. The leather Recaros are the best around, and by all accounts, there aren't many cars that handle better with the new suspension setup.

Failing all that, what about a Megane 225 Trophy?

Daz34

Couldn't have been as nasty as an Impreza

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Nastier! Have you been in a 172 Cup?

Not even as nice as a Dynamique!

Daz34

No I drive the full fat 172 mk1

R1916v

the best one

C2forWRX

for every day a 182 with the £500 recaro option but for the track then obviously the trophy.

the trophy has sachs dampers which are over 10 times more expensive than standard 182 suspension and looooooads better for the track. trophy will keep up with just about anything on a twisty track

Clarebabes

So, have I persuaded you?

I think some of the comments about the 172 CUP are unfair on this thread. OK, so the interior is a bit basic, but that's because all the luxury has been stripped out to save weight. Remember, lighter cars will go faster - something which the bolt-on-everything-from-Halfrauds brigade have forgotten.

Mine has climate control too, there is a myth that Cups don't have this at all, but it was an option which both of the cars I have owned had. I saw a 182 at the ring last week which didn't have air con.

OK, so I would like ABS, I have only had 2 occasions really when it would have come in handy and one of those times was on the Ring in the rain when you are pushing the car further than you should be on a normal road. Touch wood, I have been very lucky.

I am not putting a case for you to buy the 172 Cup as you have alot more money available, but the Clio often gets such a ribbing on here that I have to defend it. When used in it's proper environment, i.e. the track, it is chuckable, has plenty of power and can out run some cars which it most definitely shouldn't!! OK, so it may be the driver but no one can deny it's a great car for the money.

I also use mine to get to work on a daily-ish basis and go to the supermarket, it does 35mpg regularly and doesn't cost the earth to insure - well, as long as you haven't had one stolen in the last year or so When my last one did get nicked, I looked at alternatives and decided that it was the best car for the money so bought another one. (The 182 had just come out and was a bit too rich for my budget).

Anyone who wants pax laps at the Ring with me, please let me know and I will show you what it can do

Clare

TheJesus

The Clio 172 Cups are the fastest of the MK2 Clio's, this is a fact proven time and time again... thing is if you want the best do what Khany said and get a Clio 1.8 16v and put the Williams bottom end in it (or Megane/Spyder), get the Williams track/suspension and cams at least, throttle bodies as well and you have a car that from rolling will just about outdrag an E46 M3 and destroy most things on track

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Clare,

As far as I can see, the 172 Cup comments have been nothing but favourable, barring my comments about the nasty, drab, cheap, tacky interior!

I owned a 172 Cup from new and spent the next 6 months ringing round breakers yards to source a pair of 172 leather/alcantara seats!

The trim is horrible, and it isn't all in the name of weight saving..... do you really think a few yards of leather weight so much that it will have any sort of effect on performance?

Granted, the loss of side airbags save some weight, but the argument is about trim, not equipment.

Give me a 182 with Cup packs over any other front engined Clio in production!!

Clarebabes

OK, so it was a cost saving. A good thing in my book.

Clarebabes

Get one of these and make it road legal:

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/cars/d...id=24227&cat=0

R1916v

I'd have loved a cup but none cheap enough around when I needed a car.

Anda agreed the first thing I'd have done is got som enew seats, they really do look pap!

Guy I bought my 172 form had a lodger with a cup, they both agreed the wheels on the cup were nicer but the seats from the full fat 172 were much better. Of course mk1 seats are nicer as they have the coloured logo :P

Daz34

Very true.
And a lightweight aluminium bonnet

RRH

I've had two of them, excellent fun, sequential gearbox and 200+ bhp in 650kg. A bit lairy though as they've usually been set up for mucho oversteer, which can be quite a giggle once you're used to it as they're quite snappy (one tore the ligaments in my thumb, which wasn't too cheery)

RRH

you're going soft it your old age steve

Clarebabes

Did you make it road legal? Or was it just for track?

Would be interested in knowing more if you did make it road legal!

R1916v

Not all had the ally bonnet, luckily mine does . Same for the shift light on mk1s, some have it some don't.

Quite a few other subtle differences under the skin as well, one being throttle cable on mk1, all the rest are fly by wire. Not sure which is best if there is any noticible difference, I'm guessing the fbw performs better.

RRH

The first one was pretty much road legal when I bought it. Most single series race cars come from the factory with no id, so you need to get confirmation of year of manufacture from the manufacturer- as all the paperwork was in order all I had to do was have it MOT'd and send the paperwork to DVLA. It needed its headlights fitting, although I think you can run them without headlights provided you only run them in the daylight. Someone can no doubt advise better that I can. It would also need indicators fitting.

They are really quite unpleasent to drive on the road though- I drove mine to Oulton once, which is about 40 miles away, and vowed I'd never try it again. They run so much negative camber on the front that they end to be very nervous below about 80, and are sprung incredibly hard (like you wouldn't believe)- some may think there road cars have hard springs but I promise you that they're nothing like a proper race car.

The second car (same as the one in the d, an ex Team Boulevard car) was loopy- mental quick and handled like a dream. Unfortunately I had a big VAT bill and someone wanted to buy it Never found another as good but am still looking.....