Clio 197, or MKV GTI?

[anthonysjb]

So I'm coming from a classic Mini (1275 MPI), and want something a bit pokier, but still fun to drive and decent looking.

I have about £5500 to play with, insurance must be relatively low as I'm 20 so unfortunately no E46 M3s etc!

Any suggestions outside of these two? Anyone on here owned both?

[Ved]

Considered a Clio Trophy? I'd have the GTI if you wanted refinement.

[anthonysjb]

The looks of the 182 just don't do it for me unfortunately! Yeah refinement is good, but to be honest pretty much anything is going to feel refined coming from a Mini, worried that the GTI will be plain boring driving daily.

[BrownBottle]

At your age I would go for the Clio.

[Welshbeef]

Well size wise you are comparing a Polo to a Golf both with near identical BHP, as such the smaller one will be quicker in all circumstances due to it having a higher bhp per tonnne but clearly smaller.

One is a N/A one is forced induction. I'd say its worth having a N/A hot hatch at some point in your car history why not now?

[anthonysjb]

Much greater torque though on the GTI, and can be easily remapped to 250bhp or so

Guess it's mainly handling + size vs power and comfort then

[Ved]

Welshbeef said:

Well size wise you are comparing a Polo to a Golf both with near identical BHP, as such the smaller one will be quicker in all circumstances due to it having a higher bhp per tonnne but clearly smaller.

One is a N/A one is forced induction. I'd say its worth having a N/A hot hatch at some point in your car history why not now?

Performance of the 197 and GTI are identical.

[anthonysjb]

Think I'll go for a 197 with the Recaro seats, as per www.pistonheads.com%2Fclassifieds%2Fused-cars%2Fre...

Unless anyone has any other options? Did consider an EP3 Type R but the image isn't great!

[SimianWonder]

Ved said:

Performance of the 197 and GTI are identical.

What a rather odd statement. 0-60 times may be the same, but real world performance will be a very different story.

[David87]

Never driven the Golf, but the Clio 197 is a good car. Not sure how much Clio 200s are these days, but if your budget could stretch to one they are a fair improvement over the older car. A Renaultsport Mégane might be worth a look too. Something like this would be good as well, although the interior of this particular car is fking horrible: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

[Ved]

SimianWonder said:

Ved said:

Performance of the 197 and GTI are identical.

What a rather odd statement. 0-60 times may be the same, but real world performance will be a very different story.

WB suggested they have a different BHP per tonne which they don't, so it's not that odd at all. Considering they're two very different cars their real world performance does differ but that's mainly down to how they deliver the power. Clio needs to really be stretched but the Golf is pretty much all there from 2,000rpm.

I'm assuming you've driven both too?

Edited by Ved on Sunday 27th October 15:01

[Tickle]

I think its best thinking what you want out the car first. what type of driving do you and what are you hot hatch priorities. Things like;
Is you commute a long motorway one,
Is driver involvement more important than comfort,
straight line speed or B-road twists
Are you a gadget/tech car person or striped back raw person,
revs or torque

The golf and Clio different beasts even though both are hot hatches. I own a 200 Cup,I only do an 8 mile commute daily drive and enjoy weekend blasts on quiet b-roads. If I had to drive it long distances a lot of the time no doubt I would eventually change it.

Find out what you want first and defiantly test them out yourself. My fiance hates my Clio as it is a pig to be a passenger in so have a think if you can live with harsh rides for a few years of ownership too.

Sure you will have fun testing out your choices, good luck.

[anthonysjb]

Tickle said:

I think its best thinking what you want out the car first. what type of driving do you and what are you hot hatch priorities. Things like;
Is you commute a long motorway one,
Is driver involvement more important than comfort,
straight line speed or B-road twists
Are you a gadget/tech car person or striped back raw person,
revs or torque

The golf and Clio different beasts even though both are hot hatches. I own a 200 Cup,I only do an 8 mile commute daily drive and enjoy weekend blasts on quiet b-roads. If I had to drive it long distances a lot of the time no doubt I would eventually change it.

Find out what you want first and defiantly test them out yourself. My fiance hates my Clio as it is a pig to be a passenger in so have a think if you can live with harsh rides for a few years of ownership too.

Sure you will have fun testing out your choices, good luck.

I think I'm settled for the Clio. It'll be plenty fast enough coming from the Mini and will feel like a Rolls compared still. Can't imagine myself doing B-Roads in a Golf, often do in the Mini and have a great time! I don't have a commute, however do drive to university and back once a fortnight (110 miles), though I'm sure the Clio will be fine for this.

[Ved]

See if you can find one with those wonderful Recaros. Beautiful seats and will help resale. I saw a liquid yellow (?) one not long ago and it looked superb. The black gloss wheels really set it off too.

[Tickle]

If you do decide on the Clio, get onto Clio197.net and look through the buyers guide. Its a got all the info and problems to look for when buying.
Brilliant cars and alot of fun for you money.

[sideways20vT]

I would avoid the 197.

Gearbox failures before 40,000 miles are common and there are issues with the steering rack on some models. Both are not cheap to repair.

Fuel consumption is horrendous considering what it is - expect mid/high 20's MPG.

[Welshbeef]

Ved said:

WB suggested they have a different BHP per tonne which they don't, so it's not that odd at all. Considering they're two very different cars their real world performance does differ but that's mainly down to how they deliver the power. Clio needs to really be stretched but the Golf is pretty much all there from 2,000rpm.

I'm assuming you've driven both too?

Edited by Ved on Sunday 27th October 15:01

The Clio is a Polo competitor the Megane is a Golf competitor.
So as both cars have the same power the Clio is lighter and has a higher bhp per tonne thus quicker.

[anthonysjb]

sideways20vT said:

I would avoid the 197.

Gearbox failures before 40,000 miles are common and there are issues with the steering rack on some models. Both are not cheap to repair.

Fuel consumption is horrendous considering what it is - expect mid/high 20's MPG.

True, guess I'll have to look long and hard to find the perfect one, may be hard budget considering.

[vescaegg]

OP slightly left field but have you thought about a mk1 fabia vrs?

I used to have a 182 and moved to an mx5 but have since been looking to go back to the hot hatch group.

I tried a 197, gti etc and only today just bought a vrs. It's quite brilliant in my opinion, not as quick as a 197 but has buckets of torque and in gear punch is good.

Plus it'll do 50mpg on a daily basis love it.

Plus it was £2k less than your budget.

[anthonysjb]

Bit of a weak response but never liked the look of em