Renault Clio 197 Cup

[melvster]

Cheers for the invite John, great day out and the car felt mega when pressing on. I will let you know when i am next out to Wales

[Johnston]

Nice car Adam. Good to see you've got an RS as you were talking about getting one. Like the colour too.
We've had this 200 cup since new and it is a great little car.

[melvster]

Hi John, yes wanted one for a long long time...... was originally thinking of a Trophy but test drove one and wasn't all that convinced, dampers had no evidence of a rebuild and i didn't like the lofty driving position.

See you have still got the A610, hope its still treating you well. I spy an Esprit too A spin out in a friend's 200 Cup sealed my decision to buy a 197/200 Cup.

[melvster]

Well 900 miles in and the car feels great, nothing to update presently although the car is booked in today to have the geo sorted. Looking forward to piling on the miles.

[ZSjdm]

I've just noticed this thread. Being a new owner of a 197 myself, it's interesting to read your thoughts on it. I went for an R27 in Deep Black - I love the Recaro's!

Phenomenal handling car, so much fun on a good B-road.

[melvster]

Great car

Done over 1000 miles in mine now and still loving it, although i kerbed the rear wheel yesterday gutted.

[LukeSi]

Mine's faster

In all seriousness really good looking car dude.

[melvster]

Well me being an idiot i clipped a kerb exiting the Arndale car park in Manchester on Saturday, rear right wheel is a mess however i am not really keen on the satin paint finish, it never looks clean so its an excuse to have all 4 refurbished right ? Presently its a toss up between Gloss Black or Anthracite. Hoping to have the work done in the next few weeks after pay day arrives.

1200 miles done now..... managed to achieve a record 37 mpg

[Tickle]

Gloss black will look good against your nimbus, anthracite may be lost as its a similar colour.

I maybe a bit bias to gloss over satin though for the wheels.

[melvster]

I don't like the satin at all so it has to go...... Gloss Black will contrast nicely against Silver exterior as you say

[Johnston]

Just fitted a custom exhaust to the 200. It has transformed the car. The standard exhaust sounds dreadful (well so quiet you would hardly notice it's running) and seriously chokes the engine. The new free-flowing stainless system has freed up some serious horses. For the first time today, I seriously enjoyed driving the car. I would recommend anyone with a 197/200 to upgrade the exhaust. Well worth doing.

[melvster]

Who makes the exhaust John ?

[melvster]

Well the Clio died on me last night attempted to start the car and nothing happened..... turns out the battery was knackered so £66 later and everything is all good again

[melvster]

Nearly 3000 miles completed and i am still loving the Clio; trip out to North Wales with a MK7 Golf R and TVR Chimaera and the car was fantastic, the cornering speed you can achieve is incredible; it feels so nimble and the front end goes exactly where you are expecting it to go. I was quite worried to begin with i wouldn't enjoy the steering, i am not really a fan of electric systems but the Clio's system has a nice "weight" to it and doesn't feel too light when pressing on.

Costs so far have been relatively low, alignment, battery and 2 new ContiSport 3's for the front to match the rears. Previously i was running Falken FK453's which were quite impressive.

I still need to have the wheels refurbished at some point and the brakes will require attention towards the end of summer as previously mentioned.

So glad i bought a 197 Cup

[melvster]

UPDATE - 6000 miles

So, 6000 miles into 197 ownership and its been an up and down experience so far. The car continues to excel when pressing on and never fails to impress at the amount of mid corner grip it has and the braking is excellent. Presently running the standard OEM set up however I am hoping to address this in the new year with new OEM Brembo discs, Ferodo DS2500/3000 pads, Braided lines and Motul RBF 660 fluid as I hope to possibly take the Clio on track; a new job proposition should allow me to spend more time and effort on the Clio than i presently do. A spare set of 197 wheels and some tasty rubber will also be purchased as i doubt the standard Conti 3's will last very long :P

Negatives; nothing except the car needed the dreaded flexi pipes replacing due to them splitting so I decided to opt for the Bosal 265-567 items as recommended by other 197/200 owners. It seems this is a common issue with these cars so i suppose it was bound to happen at some point. It's a messy job which involves removing the manifold, steering rack and subframe... total bill was £396 + the purchase of the Flexi's which i managed to steal at £45.





However the next job on the agenda is to give the car a service which will see the following......

-Engine Oil (Either Millers or Fuchs Titan Race)
-Gearbox Oil (most probably Elf as recommended by Renault
-Gearbox Oil seal
-Panel Filter (Most probably Pipercross)
-Cabin Filter
-Oil Filter

[jbaddeley]

Good work melvster. If you didn't drive it quite so hard you probably wouldn't have to fettle so much. Glad you are enjoying it. It's certainly impressive over the welsh blacktop and I had to drive the golf quite hard to keep,in touch. Let me know when you are trackday ready and I'll give the m3 a run out too. What's your new job?

[melvster]

They're meant to be driven hard

Nothing at the min, still looking and applying etc... but hoping something can be sorted fairly soon. Don't worry I will let you know when i am ready for my first trackday. I think I will book a novice day to begin with.

[Tickle]

Good to see you are still enjoying the 197 Adam.

[melvster]

Hi Mark, I am guessing you sold your 200 ? It was a minter

[Tickle]

melvster said:

Hi Mark, I am guessing you sold your 200 ? It was a minter

Yes the 200 has gone, I really miss it too. I'm going down the two car route, one for short commute to work/shopping etc and one for pleasure.

Still not got the pleasure car though to fill the hole the 200 left!