clio 172
 

anyone had one,what they like,mpg,to drive,to live with?
cheers

Drive my mothers every now and again. I find it very twitchy and doesn't provoke much confidence to be honest. Despite most peoples opinions, it seems quite well put together even after 4 years service to my ma. A few nice toys and likes to rev. Having a Scoob myself makes the Clio feel slow, ie - no real shove in the back :thumb:

Had a Mk1, 172 ally bonnet etc, with out eibach springs fitted it loved to snap into lift off over steer. With the eibachs fitted it loved to rattle my teeth out. But interior was comfy well screwed togethor and reliable, you don't here that often about french cars ;) . Oh and in winter the solid alloy gear nob would try and numb your hand on gear changes i ended up putting a sock over it on really cold days :eek2:

I have a Mk1 as a daily driver.
32mpg around town and 40+mpg on a long run.
Good torquey engine that also likes to be thrashed. Goes like stink and is huge fun. Nice weighty steering.
I have Eibach Pros on mine which still give a decent ride but sort out body roll and understeer and gives it limpet like grip. Rob must have had the Eibach Sportlines.
Brakes are excellent as standard. Mine has been reliable and everything still works and nothing has fallen off. Other people have had different experiences though. Service intervals are long. Just ensure that the aux and cam belt are replaced as per the schedule.
Definitely agree with Rob about the gearknob!

We sold our "02" plate yesterday after 4 1/2 years.

Good points:

Nice looking car, does look different to normal clios.
Leather and Alcantara Interior.
Very chuckable, but we never really pushed it on country roads.
Its amazing what you can fit in it with the seats down.

Bad points:

Exhaust corroded right through after 2 years.
Alloys corroded and are very easily kerbed.
Would sometimes rev like hell in neutral for no apparant reason.
Kept popping cv boots off due to rubbish turning circle.
The cambelt costs in region of £600 to replace (engine out).
Auto part of the Xenon lights worked for about 5 minutes.
Rain sensing wipers are rubbish.
You're never quite sure what may go wrong next.

well i was just thinking about selling my bugeye wrx and getting one of these for a bit to save a bit o f ££ (wedding) but i think i may miss the scoob too much.

You won't miss the bug - the 172 is quicker.

Brun - quickly puts on his flamesuit :D

lol

Had one of the original 172s. I had so much trouble with it, I sold it. Have sworn to never buy another Renault!

They most certainly are :)

I have one and it's great, as said, stock they are quicker than some of the smaller bhp Impreza's... also for a reno it's fairly well put together! lol

downside is they are expensive to tune and get any real power out of them... although I've managed to get 240 out of mine :) lol

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...g?t=1186616995

What you got for 240?

A massively reduced bank account I would imagine :D

starting to sound like my subaru!

it's on Jenvey individual throttle bodies, so still completely 100% N/A, no boost or anything, just those, cams and other complimentary mods.

as for cost I bought it off my mate who'd already done the hard bit for me lol. It was 218bhp & 178lbs/ft when I got it, so I've just helped it along a bit, now 240/193 :D

Next level of power will be expensive... bottom end and head are completely standard at the moment, but I'm happy with the power. Surprises Evo's and M3's lol

I have a 2002 172 and have been nothing but impressed by it. Don't have the time for a proper response right now but I'll try and remember to come back to this thread some time!

Steve

I owned a 172cup for 2 years. I had a wheel bearing fail and nothing else went wrong, banishing my french is ****e impression as banded around by all internet armchair experts...
Good cars - extremely agile and responsive, and cheap to run. Quicker and more economical than cooper S, CTR ...
They aren't the most comfortable on motorways, but anyhow they are exactly the car to seek out b roads.
Would still own one except they are a little small inside when trying to get adults in the back...

Right, got some more time now.
I had 2 94 wrx's previous to my clio, and the clio is without doubt a better car. The only trouble I've had is that I'm 6'5 and thats too tall really. I thought I would be ok after I drove one but after a few weeks of ownership I could take it no more so I bought some cobra bucket seats that sit lower. I also removed the rear view mirror so that I don't have to lean down everytime I turn left. If you're tall like me you might find the standard seats are too small. They look all nice and comfy but they are just too short for me.
Other than that, everything about it is great! Its so much fun to drive. If you kep the revs up its really quite quick. I do short journeys to work and I still get 34mpg out of it. Its got plenty of toys - auto xenon lights, auto wipers, digital climate control etc. I paid £5800 for mine with 36k on the clock and in truly immaculate condition for a 4.5 year old car. Anything else I was thinking of getting was just not as good value for money as the clio. I've had it for just over 6 months now and not had a problem, although I think my cv boot is gonna need replacing soon as I found oil or grease everywhere when changing my front pads.
Here are some pics to wet your appetite lem:

http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom021632154188.jpg
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom529250536099.jpg
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom92838414812.jpg
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom21483573548.jpg
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom89211763556.jpg
http://www.sidtech.co.uk/iu/Fantom99622323273.jpg

Anything else you need to know just ask :)
Steve

thanks a lot m8,i have always fancied a 172 and as the scoobys gotta go, for something a bit cheaper and economical i thought i might as well try one,and it is a lot of car for the money!..will defo be back in a scooby again at some point but the weddings taking all my cash at the moment...i never knew wedding sh*t cost so much!!!

if you are looking for a Clio check the Cliosport.net sales section out, usually some nice ones on there. I'd go for one that's had some basic mods and ideally cams if you want something that's a little quicker.