Clio 200 Part Deux - yellow alert
Discussion
A year ago I dipped my toes in the RenaultSport pool with a well specced Racing Blue Clio 200:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
It was an excellent car which I spent some time and money on getting a few niggles sorted out and reversing some of the modifications that previous owners had done, while keeping others.
However, in the back of my mind I was always a bit sad that it wasn’t
A) Liquid Yellow
B) Lower mileage with full history
C) A bit closer to OEM spec
D) Liquid Yellow
So when one such car with all the right bits appeared for sale with just under 22,000 miles I jumped on it, knowing I would have to pay a bit of a premium for the colour and condition.
It was worth it though when I first set eyes on it - the colour is truly remarkable with the way it changes in the light; with gold, orange and even green appearing. As a cup-pack car complete with an optional black roof, the Recaro CS seats, Speedline wheels, Bluetooth, optional yellow interior (seatbelts and dash inserts) and electric folding mirrors it was at least as well specced as my blue one. It drove beautifully tight, everything worked including the door micro switches (!) and the ride is surprisingly better on the standard cup suspension than it was on the Eibach springs of the other one.
On arrival back home
and with the sun starting to lower
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
It was an excellent car which I spent some time and money on getting a few niggles sorted out and reversing some of the modifications that previous owners had done, while keeping others.
However, in the back of my mind I was always a bit sad that it wasn’t
A) Liquid Yellow
B) Lower mileage with full history
C) A bit closer to OEM spec
D) Liquid Yellow
So when one such car with all the right bits appeared for sale with just under 22,000 miles I jumped on it, knowing I would have to pay a bit of a premium for the colour and condition.
It was worth it though when I first set eyes on it - the colour is truly remarkable with the way it changes in the light; with gold, orange and even green appearing. As a cup-pack car complete with an optional black roof, the Recaro CS seats, Speedline wheels, Bluetooth, optional yellow interior (seatbelts and dash inserts) and electric folding mirrors it was at least as well specced as my blue one. It drove beautifully tight, everything worked including the door micro switches (!) and the ride is surprisingly better on the standard cup suspension than it was on the Eibach springs of the other one.
On arrival back home
and with the sun starting to lower
Believe it or not it was still wearing the original, 12 year old rear tyres! Unsurprisingly they were hard and cracking.
So one of the first jobs was to get a complete set of the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6 fitted:
Somehow looks awesome on the ramp sans wheels
Better!
The interior is really nice, especially with the upgrade heavy alloy gear knob. The steering wheel is in great shape and still has the original stitched band in perfect condition.
So one of the first jobs was to get a complete set of the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6 fitted:
Somehow looks awesome on the ramp sans wheels
Better!
The interior is really nice, especially with the upgrade heavy alloy gear knob. The steering wheel is in great shape and still has the original stitched band in perfect condition.
Thanks, yes the original owner did go to town on the options to a reasonable extent. Didn’t go for the built in TomTom (possibly a good thing) or the RenaultSport timer/display (shame). I have a copy of the original order form in the paperwork and it totalled £20,600 in 2010!
As a comparison I recall ordering a new Octavia vRS estate with some good options including full leather and metallic paint the same year, and it was just over £18.5k.
As a comparison I recall ordering a new Octavia vRS estate with some good options including full leather and metallic paint the same year, and it was just over £18.5k.
Despite the low mileage, as other owners will know the Recaros are very vulnerable to bolster wear if you don’t develop a technique to get in and out without rubbing past them. There’s a metal bar quite close to the surface you need to avoid.
So although otherwise perfect my driver’s seat outer bolster looked like this:
Some research on the Clio forums led me to a guy called Steve Murr, who was only 20 mins away near Brands Hatch. I dropped the car to him and collected it three days later with a fantastic repair completed - new material on the lower and upper outer bolsters over slightly thicker foam:
So although otherwise perfect my driver’s seat outer bolster looked like this:
Some research on the Clio forums led me to a guy called Steve Murr, who was only 20 mins away near Brands Hatch. I dropped the car to him and collected it three days later with a fantastic repair completed - new material on the lower and upper outer bolsters over slightly thicker foam:
Anyway, driving. I met up with my mate in his Trophy and went out for a good 90 minutes hard exercise around the lanes of south Kent, swapping over a few times to compare and contrast.
There was nothing between them in terms of straight line speed; the 200 having to be worked more with its shorter gearing and extra ratio. It was also more stable having a longer wheelbase, but still very chuckable. It probably helped having new decent tyres as the Trophy was on older and perhaps slightly tired (heh!) rubber and was tram lining a fair bit. Both awesome and we had a lot of fun - they are sufficiently different in character to have both in the garage if you were inclined. My car is on the standard exhaust and it’s quiet until 3,000 rpm when it becomes a lot more vocal with a fair bit of induction noise as well. My blue 200 was slightly dominated by the Miltek cat-back, and I prefer this standard one tbh.
We finished at a pub and a drink sitting outside, agreeing that we’d more fun than the last track day we’d done together and wondering why the local roads in Summer after 8pm aren’t packed with people doing the same thing!
There was nothing between them in terms of straight line speed; the 200 having to be worked more with its shorter gearing and extra ratio. It was also more stable having a longer wheelbase, but still very chuckable. It probably helped having new decent tyres as the Trophy was on older and perhaps slightly tired (heh!) rubber and was tram lining a fair bit. Both awesome and we had a lot of fun - they are sufficiently different in character to have both in the garage if you were inclined. My car is on the standard exhaust and it’s quiet until 3,000 rpm when it becomes a lot more vocal with a fair bit of induction noise as well. My blue 200 was slightly dominated by the Miltek cat-back, and I prefer this standard one tbh.
We finished at a pub and a drink sitting outside, agreeing that we’d more fun than the last track day we’d done together and wondering why the local roads in Summer after 8pm aren’t packed with people doing the same thing!
Edited by sutts on Wednesday 20th July 18:16
sutts said:
What a great pair, I would love a matching Megane!
I had a look through the various CL10 plates available for £250 and found one that I thought was a bit of fun. I also decided it deserved to live in my garage rather than car port.
That’s a cracking pair of cars there!I had a look through the various CL10 plates available for £250 and found one that I thought was a bit of fun. I also decided it deserved to live in my garage rather than car port.
Sounds like you had a blast with your mate in the Trophy. It’s a shame the most recent RS Clio seemed to loose so much of the magic of these earlier cars.
My mate and I had another evening drive out last night, except this time he brought his GR Yaris along rather than the Trophy. Both compact hot hatches that handle brilliantly, but that’s about where the comparison ends! Better brakes and traction is one thing and the torque difference is obvious but just so apparent on the road, especially when it opened out. Clio needs keeping over 4-4.5k rpm to stay remotely in touch on the twistier sections, but would then watch the GR disappear as it opened out.
Both fantastic in their own right, and if you drive them according to their strengths then huge amounts of enjoyment to be had from either. People seem to moan that the GR Yaris doesn’t sound like much, but with the windows down the turbo was surprisingly loud and easily heard over the augmented noise coming through the speakers, and from the engine. It wouldn’t attract attention (arguably a good thing) but was good to listen to when driving with some enthusiasm.
I’m not surprised my mate can find room in his garage for both GR and Clio Trophy.
Both fantastic in their own right, and if you drive them according to their strengths then huge amounts of enjoyment to be had from either. People seem to moan that the GR Yaris doesn’t sound like much, but with the windows down the turbo was surprisingly loud and easily heard over the augmented noise coming through the speakers, and from the engine. It wouldn’t attract attention (arguably a good thing) but was good to listen to when driving with some enthusiasm.
I’m not surprised my mate can find room in his garage for both GR and Clio Trophy.
Cambs_Stuart said:
That's a good colour match for the team transport.
And a fantastic clio. I've been looking at a new knob for my clio, i think it'll have to come up the priority list.
Yes it’s an uncanny match!And a fantastic clio. I've been looking at a new knob for my clio, i think it'll have to come up the priority list.
The factory RS alloy knob is much nicer to use than the original leather one - slightly smaller and feels more heavily weighted. Recommended if you can find one.
That is absolutely stunning. I've had mine just over a year now and is fast approaching 110k and in nowhere near as good condition as yours, but not terrible for a 13 year old well used example. Ive got to get some yellow seatbelts and the dash inserts now though, that just finishes off the interior so much better than the grey and black. 
lazyharry said:
That is absolutely stunning. I've had mine just over a year now and is fast approaching 110k and in nowhere near as good condition as yours, but not terrible for a 13 year old well used example. Ive got to get some yellow seatbelts and the dash inserts now though, that just finishes off the interior so much better than the grey and black.
I am pleased to have tempted you to make your first post! Yours looks great. I’ve got the original order form for my car in the history and the interior ‘yellow pack’ was a very pricey option at £782. Considering the Cup chassis was only £348 and Liquid Yellow ID paint £1048, I’m not surprised you don’t see it much given that it was just a couple of trim strips, yellow belts and some yellow on the back seats!
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