New Clio RS200 EDC LUX - an owners view
Discussion
I posted a few months ago about having bought a new RS Clio. Since then, there has been a lot of comment about the car, mainly about what a disaster it has been and how the RS brand has been devalued so I thought it would be worthwhile to put a report out from an owner who has now done a few thousand miles in the car.
I should start by putting my hands up - I am no twenty something boy racer - I have got a couple of kids and have been through the German exec barge phase and the X5 4x4 thing when the kids meant hauling around a mountain of kit. The boys are now older so no pushchairs etc are needed so it seemed like the perfect time to go back to a hot hatch and a bit of fun.
I have owned some fast cars in the past, probably the best being a 2008 M3 coupe - very fast but so efficient that I never fell in love with it. The Renaultsport cars have always held an appeal for me - I have previously owned an RS250 Megane but the kids hated it in the back. I therefore opted to replace the BMW X5 with the new RS Clio as the kids were happy in the back and I thought that a good fun hot hatch would be better than the X5 - well, the Clio should do more than 17mpg!
So I have had a 63 plate Clio RS200 EDC Lux since last September.
The car is fantastic but it does have its annoying quirks. Ignore the b
ks about fuel consumption - I accept that most of my mileage is in and around London, but I am getting no more than 26 MPG so not really much better than the previous version.
The gearbox is a love and hate affair. Around town, the default setting is too sluggish - you see a gap in traffic and put your foot down but the car is in fourth rather than second and by the time it kicks down you have missed your chance. OK, so you put it in RS mode - more responsive but then you spend the whole time driving through town with the engine at 4k revs which is bloody tiring. This can be dealt with by using the paddles - which kind of suggests that a manual gearbox may have been a good thing……
However, get out of town onto a B road and the car comes alive. It is unreal - the car is more fun than my M3 was! In semi-auto RS mode, it revs to the red line, the gear changes are seamless and the chassis comes alive (I have got the Cup chassis) - it is a real hoot to thrash. Put it into race mode and it is flappy paddles only and no traction control - even more fun as you are in control but probably no faster in the real world.
Overall, I have really bonded with the car which I wasn't sure that I would. I loved the idea of the previous version but knew that I wouldn't have been able to live with it day to day - maybe I have become too used to the refinement levels of a BMW - but my RS Clio feels really good quality too.
I have got a Golf R coming in July and it will be interesting to see how the Clio compares with that - obviously, the Clio would be nowhere in a drag race, but I wonder if I will fall for the Golf in the same way I have for the Clio.
So, is there a moral to this story? I guess it is that anyone being swayed by the forum comments/reviews/press about the new Clio should actually give it a go before making a decision. It is a damn good hot hatch and I get a buzz every time I drive it. Although even I will admit that from certain angles it does look like it has had a proper pasting from the ugly stick!!!!
I should start by putting my hands up - I am no twenty something boy racer - I have got a couple of kids and have been through the German exec barge phase and the X5 4x4 thing when the kids meant hauling around a mountain of kit. The boys are now older so no pushchairs etc are needed so it seemed like the perfect time to go back to a hot hatch and a bit of fun.
I have owned some fast cars in the past, probably the best being a 2008 M3 coupe - very fast but so efficient that I never fell in love with it. The Renaultsport cars have always held an appeal for me - I have previously owned an RS250 Megane but the kids hated it in the back. I therefore opted to replace the BMW X5 with the new RS Clio as the kids were happy in the back and I thought that a good fun hot hatch would be better than the X5 - well, the Clio should do more than 17mpg!
So I have had a 63 plate Clio RS200 EDC Lux since last September.
The car is fantastic but it does have its annoying quirks. Ignore the b
ks about fuel consumption - I accept that most of my mileage is in and around London, but I am getting no more than 26 MPG so not really much better than the previous version.The gearbox is a love and hate affair. Around town, the default setting is too sluggish - you see a gap in traffic and put your foot down but the car is in fourth rather than second and by the time it kicks down you have missed your chance. OK, so you put it in RS mode - more responsive but then you spend the whole time driving through town with the engine at 4k revs which is bloody tiring. This can be dealt with by using the paddles - which kind of suggests that a manual gearbox may have been a good thing……
However, get out of town onto a B road and the car comes alive. It is unreal - the car is more fun than my M3 was! In semi-auto RS mode, it revs to the red line, the gear changes are seamless and the chassis comes alive (I have got the Cup chassis) - it is a real hoot to thrash. Put it into race mode and it is flappy paddles only and no traction control - even more fun as you are in control but probably no faster in the real world.
Overall, I have really bonded with the car which I wasn't sure that I would. I loved the idea of the previous version but knew that I wouldn't have been able to live with it day to day - maybe I have become too used to the refinement levels of a BMW - but my RS Clio feels really good quality too.
I have got a Golf R coming in July and it will be interesting to see how the Clio compares with that - obviously, the Clio would be nowhere in a drag race, but I wonder if I will fall for the Golf in the same way I have for the Clio.
So, is there a moral to this story? I guess it is that anyone being swayed by the forum comments/reviews/press about the new Clio should actually give it a go before making a decision. It is a damn good hot hatch and I get a buzz every time I drive it. Although even I will admit that from certain angles it does look like it has had a proper pasting from the ugly stick!!!!
All I can compare it with is the Megane RS250 I had before. I test drove an RS200 cup chassis (previous model) but didn't get the chance to really push it.
I have not felt that the Clio is any less direct than the Megane and it has good feel to the steering. However, I really need to get it on a track day to come to a true conclusion. In real world driving conditions, I have not found it wanting - like previous RS cars, it only really comes alive when it is being really pushed hard, otherwise it just feels like a normal, albeit very civilised, hatchback which is probably the big difference over the previous incarnation.
The main difference between the Clio and the Megane, as would be expected, is purely power - the Clio has noticeably less grunt but I actually prefer the Clio - it is just a nicer place to be and handles really well. Hopefully the Golf R that I have on order will give me an alternative for when I want the power, but I suspect the Clio will be the more involving drive - and I never expected to say that about a car that did not have a manual gearbox! Still, I guess I can't complain about having an RS Clio and a Golf R on the drive...
I have not felt that the Clio is any less direct than the Megane and it has good feel to the steering. However, I really need to get it on a track day to come to a true conclusion. In real world driving conditions, I have not found it wanting - like previous RS cars, it only really comes alive when it is being really pushed hard, otherwise it just feels like a normal, albeit very civilised, hatchback which is probably the big difference over the previous incarnation.
The main difference between the Clio and the Megane, as would be expected, is purely power - the Clio has noticeably less grunt but I actually prefer the Clio - it is just a nicer place to be and handles really well. Hopefully the Golf R that I have on order will give me an alternative for when I want the power, but I suspect the Clio will be the more involving drive - and I never expected to say that about a car that did not have a manual gearbox! Still, I guess I can't complain about having an RS Clio and a Golf R on the drive...
Thanks for the comments everyone. I think it can comfortably be concluded that the car has not been a commercial success for Renault - in the UK at least, not sure about elsewhere.
I think the car has come up against a number of problems. First, there is a lot more choice in the small hot hatch market - Fiesta ST, Pug GTI, - plus the premium brand offerings - M135i, Golf R - which have been available on amazing finance deals. My Golf R is going to be nearly £90 a month cheaper than the Clio and that is with full maintenance, road tax and tyre cover - if I could only choose one car, the Golf would be the clear choice over the Clio.
Also, the Clio is not a standout car any more - it is just one of many very good hot hatches but doesn't have anything that really separates it from the rest.
For me, it is far more refined than the previous version which means it can be (and has been for the last 6 months) our only car, dealing with ferrying two kids about as well as being good for a B road blast. I don't think I would have been happy with the previous version for a single family car - maybe when I was 25 but not 15 years later. Maybe that is proof enough of where the RS Clio market now is for this car - a family with young kids but where dad still wants to have a car that he can hoon around in and remember the good old days of MK2 Golf GTis and Astra GTEs!
Anyway, it is not going to be a car for everybody (I have only seen two others in the last 8 months) but I am loving mine and have no regrets about buying it.
I think the car has come up against a number of problems. First, there is a lot more choice in the small hot hatch market - Fiesta ST, Pug GTI, - plus the premium brand offerings - M135i, Golf R - which have been available on amazing finance deals. My Golf R is going to be nearly £90 a month cheaper than the Clio and that is with full maintenance, road tax and tyre cover - if I could only choose one car, the Golf would be the clear choice over the Clio.
Also, the Clio is not a standout car any more - it is just one of many very good hot hatches but doesn't have anything that really separates it from the rest.
For me, it is far more refined than the previous version which means it can be (and has been for the last 6 months) our only car, dealing with ferrying two kids about as well as being good for a B road blast. I don't think I would have been happy with the previous version for a single family car - maybe when I was 25 but not 15 years later. Maybe that is proof enough of where the RS Clio market now is for this car - a family with young kids but where dad still wants to have a car that he can hoon around in and remember the good old days of MK2 Golf GTis and Astra GTEs!
Anyway, it is not going to be a car for everybody (I have only seen two others in the last 8 months) but I am loving mine and have no regrets about buying it.
I didn't try anything apart from the RS - the GT looks nice but is just a normal supermini so I can't imagine it will be great to drive. I have driven a new Fiesta and if I was going for a standard car, I would take that over a Clio.
The RS Clio is a different story though - it is a great drive, looks distinctive (ugly to some, but definitely different) and is less "Chavy" than a Fiesta ST. If you can pick one up for £15k, I would say go for it. It is a jack of all trades - cruise on the motorway and don't worry about traffic jams as the auto makes it comfortable, or get it on a B road and thrash the hell out of it. I love my one despite all the purists saying it is a lemon.
The RS Clio is a different story though - it is a great drive, looks distinctive (ugly to some, but definitely different) and is less "Chavy" than a Fiesta ST. If you can pick one up for £15k, I would say go for it. It is a jack of all trades - cruise on the motorway and don't worry about traffic jams as the auto makes it comfortable, or get it on a B road and thrash the hell out of it. I love my one despite all the purists saying it is a lemon.
I didn't try anything apart from the RS - the GT looks nice but is just a normal supermini so I can't imagine it will be great to drive. I have driven a new Fiesta and if I was going for a standard car, I would take that over a Clio.
The RS Clio is a different story though - it is a great drive, looks distinctive (ugly to some, but definitely different) and is less "Chavy" than a Fiesta ST. If you can pick one up for £15k, I would say go for it. It is a jack of all trades - cruise on the motorway and don't worry about traffic jams as the auto makes it comfortable, or get it on a B road and thrash the hell out of it. I love my one despite all the purists saying it is a lemon.
The RS Clio is a different story though - it is a great drive, looks distinctive (ugly to some, but definitely different) and is less "Chavy" than a Fiesta ST. If you can pick one up for £15k, I would say go for it. It is a jack of all trades - cruise on the motorway and don't worry about traffic jams as the auto makes it comfortable, or get it on a B road and thrash the hell out of it. I love my one despite all the purists saying it is a lemon.
Unless you desperately want something brand new, you can now pick up a tiny miles RS Clio for £15-16k - much better deal than new.
I bought new just because the car had only just been launched when I was buying - I knew it would depreciate (it's a Renault!) but I expect to keep it for 4 years so do not need to worry as the depreciation curve should level out and I knew what it would cost and accept that.
I bought new just because the car had only just been launched when I was buying - I knew it would depreciate (it's a Renault!) but I expect to keep it for 4 years so do not need to worry as the depreciation curve should level out and I knew what it would cost and accept that.
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