Clio 182 to Clio 200...motorway commute
Discussion
My current daily is a low mileage, mint condition Clio 182 and my daily commute is 13 miles over A and B roads for which it performs admirably and is great fun. I've always loved driver focussed cars and I believe life is too short to drive boring ones if possible.
I'm looking at changing jobs early next year and my commute will be a 70 mile (one way) motorway commute to work from Wiltshire to Heathrow. However, I will only be doing this 4-5 times per month so I'd be interested to what people think about changing the 182 for a Clio 200....am I completely mad? Heart says 'do it!', but head says 'Idiot, get a more comfortable Golf GTi'
Thoughts on how I'll feel driving a Clio 200 on the motorway like this??
I'm looking at changing jobs early next year and my commute will be a 70 mile (one way) motorway commute to work from Wiltshire to Heathrow. However, I will only be doing this 4-5 times per month so I'd be interested to what people think about changing the 182 for a Clio 200....am I completely mad? Heart says 'do it!', but head says 'Idiot, get a more comfortable Golf GTi'
Thoughts on how I'll feel driving a Clio 200 on the motorway like this??
I went from 172 to a 197 (so basically the same car) and I thought the 197 was hideous on motorway journeys. The 172 wasn't great but in my opinion the 197's gearing was far too high and if I had a pound for every time somebody said "why are you in 4th gear?" when I was in fact in 6th I would be a very rich man .
If you are only doing longer journeys like that 4 or 5 times a month then it is bearable but in hindsight I wish I'd have bought something else or kept my 172.
.If you are only doing longer journeys like that 4 or 5 times a month then it is bearable but in hindsight I wish I'd have bought something else or kept my 172.
iphonedyou said:
I think the question is 'will a Clio 200 handle 560 motorway miles a month' for which the answer has to be, in all likelihood, yes.
I'm pretty sure it would handle that sort of mileage, I'm just wondering if I will being inside it
It might be a case of square peg, round hole.... ron130888 said:
....but in my opinion the 197's gearing was far too high and if I had a pound for every time somebody said "why are you in 4th gear?" when I was in fact in 6th I would be a very rich man .
I think the 200 has a taller 6th gear than the 197, so 3000 rpm at 70mph vs 3600rpm. I'm not saying that makes it a great motorway car though!.I think you'd be disappointed in the change personally.
The cabin and ergonomics of the 200 are well ahead of the 182 but even though the clutch is less digital the car is just as unforgiving if not more so as the suspension is stiffer still.
You'll likely use a lot more fuel too as the 200 struggles to get over 30mpg unless you sit on a level motorway at 60 all day. Mine used to average 21mpg
The chassis in the 200 is the best fwd chassis I've driven, much better than even it's bigger brother the Megane imo but as a road car the Megane is much more liveable and gets better mpg.
I commuted 80 miles a day in mine for a while and it cost a fortune in fuel and was far from a pleasant experience.
The cabin and ergonomics of the 200 are well ahead of the 182 but even though the clutch is less digital the car is just as unforgiving if not more so as the suspension is stiffer still.
You'll likely use a lot more fuel too as the 200 struggles to get over 30mpg unless you sit on a level motorway at 60 all day. Mine used to average 21mpg
The chassis in the 200 is the best fwd chassis I've driven, much better than even it's bigger brother the Megane imo but as a road car the Megane is much more liveable and gets better mpg.
I commuted 80 miles a day in mine for a while and it cost a fortune in fuel and was far from a pleasant experience.
Although my car is not a Clio 200 i believe it has very similar ratios (FN2 Type R) . If you can ignore the firm ride, 4000rpm at motorway speeds meaning anything above 70mph is noisy and guzzles fuel then its fairly comfortable and reasonably refined, i can get around 35mpg out of mine on a motorway if i stick cruise control to 70
My history of cars in order:
- 172 cup
- 182 cup
- mx5
- 200 cup
- 220 Trophy
...as you can see, I like my Renaults
The 200 was very stiff and not a great daily as you felt every uneven surface on the roads. This could have been because I went to it from the mx5. I owned the 200 for a few years and really enjoyed it but longer drives were not its strong point.
I wouldn't recommend it if your 182 is a good car.
- 172 cup
- 182 cup
- mx5
- 200 cup
- 220 Trophy
...as you can see, I like my Renaults
The 200 was very stiff and not a great daily as you felt every uneven surface on the roads. This could have been because I went to it from the mx5. I owned the 200 for a few years and really enjoyed it but longer drives were not its strong point.
I wouldn't recommend it if your 182 is a good car.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff