Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo: PH Fleet
And you thought the Clio had left the fleet? It had, then someone on the team accidentally bought it!
Some changes in my personal situation [Jack's leaving PH sales for pastures new - Ed.] meant that I needed to find a car pretty sharpish - and after plenty of debate I settled with a Renaultsport Clio 200 EDC. It was up against a new Clio 220 Trophy EDC, but after seeing the car in the PH car park - I wasn't convinced it looked any meaner and was put off with the lead time. I'm sure the Trophy is an improvement in terms of drive, but for me, the 200 EDC ticked the right boxes, was available immediately and was substantially cheaper!
Looks familiar...
As I approached the gleaming Clio I had one of those deja vu moments. "Where have I seen this car before?" I racked my brain - was it a mate's car? Had I just seen it in the wild? I couldn't come up with the answer - so I did what most blokes do and Googled it.
The numberplate was familiar as it had graced the pages of PistonHeads.com for a number of months. Damn! I had just purchased the ex-PH Fleet Clio. Cheers, dad!
After an initial worry - I thought to myself, is this necessarily a bad thing? The car has been maintained to the absolute highest standard by Renault - and I have been given all the history to match. Yes, it has been tracked, it has visited Spa, the Nurburgring and it most definitely has been driven to its limit. But do you know what - that's fine by me! Experience tells me that Renaultsports are known to respond better to hard driving in the long term - and if maintained properly - this should not present any issues (I'll let you know if I eat my words here).
Well it's certainly been run in properly...
Having read Danny's reviews of the car, I find myself sitting more with Mr Harris' thinking when he first drove the 200 EDC. The Clio is not perfect, Renault has 'dropped the ball' to a degree - but let's not get caught up in the milliseconds, stats and metrics. As a hot hatch - the car delivers, and providing the engine doesn't explode next week I will continue to enjoy it for many miles to come.
Wish me luck!
Jack Woodgate
FACT SHEET
Car: Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo EDC LUX
Owned by: Jack Woodgate
On fleet since: July 2015
Mileage: 14,450
List price new: £21,835 (Basic list of £19,995 plus £650 for Cup Chassis, £300 for 18" Renaultsport wheels and Dunlop Sport Maxx RT tyres, £595 for Flame Red i.d. metallic paint, £295 for Renaultsport Monitor)
Last month at a glance: Coming to terms with the fact that PH ran my new car as a long-termer.
Previous updates:
Clio arrives on the PH Fleet; faces an uphill struggle for popular opinion
PH 'accidentally' ends up in an impromptu Clio Cup race at Spa
Danny heads to Scotland in search of the Clio's hidden depths
Found - the Clio's wild side
Clio battles its Peugeot nemesis for Danny's affection
So, the Clio wants to be grown-up and mature - is it?
Does the NISMO Juke offer the Clio salvation?
New boots for the Clio
The Fiesta v. Clio grudge match continues!
Tearful goodbye for the Clio 200 EDC
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[Photos: Ben Lowden]
this seems a common trend for journo's . or should I say low paid scribes. Nick from Evo bought some crap shiite that never even ran and now he has bought some Porsche GT2 turbo R RRR thingy CS RS er, club sport, and he bought it without checking the insurance quote which he than shat his pants about until it turned out ok.
Do journalists really buy cars like that? Shame on them. In the current evo he admits s it is still at the dealer because he is worried about the tyres. Just drive the fecking thing. Crap tyres are great! Unless you have a an appreciating asset of course
too much money too little thinking.
Feck sake
I personally enjoyed the car. It was fast enough, reasonably economical (around 33mpg for me), handled well and I thought sounded good. As such, there wasn't really much bad to say about it. It is true that the gearbox isn't perfect but if, like me, you run it in manual race mode then it performs well enough and I found the gear changes to be very rapid indeed. However, the down changes were not always the same but I have noticed that in almost all DSG type gearboxes I have sampled since.
However, ultimately, my time with the Clio was cut short when said family member left Renault rather suddenly meaning that I had 2 weeks to find another car or to buy the Clio itself. I very nearly bought the Clio as the price I was offered it at was significantly less than list plus I knew where it had been and how it had been driven. However, in the end I chose to go the Fiesta ST route as I was able to buy a similar age ST with less miles and almost identical spec (i.e. Sat nav, climate control etc etc) for around £500 less. I also couldn't get over the nagging feeling that the Clio may be hard to shift on once I was finished with it (particularly if selling privately).
Either way, I still think the ST was the better choice in the end as it immediately felt like the better car. I have now bonded with it and, strangely, it feels more exciting like my old 182 than the 200 EDC ever did.
Will be interested to read about how the writer gets on with his Clio though as I still have a bit of a soft spot for them.
this seems a common trend for journo's . or should I say low paid scribes. Nick from Evo bought some crap shiite that never even ran and now he has bought some Porsche GT2 turbo R RRR thingy CS RS er, club sport, and he bought it without checking the insurance quote which he than shat his pants about until it turned out ok.
Do journalists really buy cars like that? Shame on them. In the current evo he admits s it is still at the dealer because he is worried about the tyres. Just drive the fecking thing. Crap tyres are great! Unless you have a an appreciating asset of course
too much money too little thinking.
Feck sake
1. I'm not a journo - but am flattered that my first attempt at an article fooled you, so thank you.
2. I have worked in car dealerships for the majority of my working life, from workshop to sales - I'd like to think I know a thing or two about cars.
3. I bought the car blind - perhaps your relationship with your Father isn't on the same page as mine.
4. I think you missed the light hearted nature of this article!
this seems a common trend for journo's . or should I say low paid scribes. Nick from Evo bought some crap shiite that never even ran and now he has bought some Porsche GT2 turbo R RRR thingy CS RS er, club sport, and he bought it without checking the insurance quote which he than shat his pants about until it turned out ok.
Do journalists really buy cars like that? Shame on them. In the current evo he admits s it is still at the dealer because he is worried about the tyres. Just drive the fecking thing. Crap tyres are great! Unless you have a an appreciating asset of course
too much money too little thinking.
Feck sake
The actual gearbox isn't really my issue though. If anything, with the amount of town stop-start driving i do, it would be a bonus. My worry is the reliability of the box over the years. It would be a car i'd want to keep for a while and out of warranty I've got a feeling i'd end up wishing i'd have bought the Fiesta.
Only time will tell i suppose. Either way good purchase! Hope it ends up being a good buy. Be sure to report back and let us know how it's holding up. It might just sway my decision
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