Clio V6 - Everyday car?

[Focus ST]

Hi,

I've got a Focus ST on order as I was trying to me more 'practical' with my cars but as Ford keep failing to build my car im getting a little pished off with it so, back to my original car I have always wanted, a clio V6 .

Basically can these be used everyday? They certainly have all the luxuries and as long as they can do 22mpg when not being 'Sunday driven', I can live with that. I wanted a mark II V6 when I last bought a car but they were still too much money and bought a Honda S2000 instead, but looking about they are the same money as a new ST so I am considering off loading my order.

Any thoughts and tips?

Cheers,
Dan

[Alpineandy]

Can you live with 6 cubic inchs of luggage space?
OK a bit more than that, but not much.

I think they're quite high maintenance, but a guy at autocar mag (i think...)had one as his company car for a year and was gutted when he finally had to give it back.


I want one.....

[Focus ST]

Hehe . I can live with virtually no luggage space, I am single and still live at home and thats the reason I can afford to have one at the moment, come 2 years time and its back to reality!

I can live with low service intervals, tyres etc... its unreliability I can't. But as long as theres no known problems with the Mark II and the Focus falls through, its got to be the option .

[DollySprintV8]

Gearbox's are prone to fail along with the driveshaft's.

Ignition Coil's as well.

And the turning circle is crap.

Apart from that good fun.

22mpg you'll be luckly

>> Edited by DollySprintV8 on Wednesday 15th February 19:49

[muckymotor]

I live with mine every day with no problems at all. Servicing is every 18000 miles or two years and isn't much more than a Clio 182 would cost. The pads are fairly pricey from Renault but they are available from other places at a much lower price. The gearbox and coil problem seems to be with the phase 1 version so you should be fine with a later phase 2. The one thing that is expensive is the cambelt change as it is an engine out job, budget for around £900. This is every 75000 miles or 5 years.

Obviously with the hatch being full of engine there isn't much room for anything else. There is a fair amount of room under the bonnet and behind the front seats if you use squashy bags. Me and the g/f spent a week on holiday in Cornwall and managed to fit all our stuff in quite easily. Also on the cruise down on the motorway I was easily getting 30mpg, often more.

Yes the turning circle is a joke but it isn't that much of an inconvenience, you just have to be careful if trying to do a U turn or swinging into a tight parking space.

The V6 Clio is also a car I have always lusted after and now I have one I can't see me selling for a long time, what else could I replace it with? Oh and the noise it makes is something I will never tire of hearing, the radio rarely comes on. One thing I will warn you about is that if you don't like attention and total strangers asking you questions about the car then the Clio V6 may not be the car for you

[Focus ST]

Awww thanks for the replies!

I shall see how it goes with the dealer at the weekend, if I have to wait 6 weeks for the ST then I will try and get my deposit back. The mark II V6 did have a big rework but I wasn't sure what problems still existed but it does sound like they ironed them out .

I am used to no space... I had an S2000 until a few months back and I need something that looks a bit special and I adore the V6... shall see what the outcome is at the weekend.

[Alpineandy]

muckymotor said:

The gearbox and coil problem seems to be with the phase 1 version so you should be fine with a later phase 2.

I'd heard stories about the gearboxes, but asking around since I understand that it's 1 car which has had 2 gearboxes. If it's the guy that I think it is, I've followed him round on trackdays and he's very very hard on the box (he's fast as well tho!).

Maybe others know of more Gbox breakages (rather than rumours), but that's the only 'actual' I know of...

[Polarbert]

theres a guy on here called atsgv6 or something who has a v6 so could try asking him as well.

i thinkt they are amazing and would have one in a heartbeat over an st

[karlosfandango]

Might be worth popping over to www.v6clio.net I've had mine for a couple of months and really love it, I came from a s1 Elise. It's not our only car so the luggage thing really isn't an issue. I think the problems regarding gearboxes are virtually all with the mk1. Coils do go but if they are replaced with trophy variants you'll be fine. I'm getting around 23 mpg at the moment but if you spank it you don't need to look at the trip readout, you'll see the fuel level needle dropping!!

It's something very different and I honestly wouldn't know what to replace it with if I had to. In short, Go on, go on, go on, go on.....

And if you neede any more encourage ment they do look quite sexy.

[stoneyV6]

use mine every day as i have no other car, commute to work 22miles each way even on the snow (but that aint nice) plus as many trackdays as i can fit in. not counting trackdays i average 26mpg but on trackdays that drops to 9mpg, it really is a cracking motor and totally unique.

[Focus ST]

Cheers guys . I had a look at a mark 1 yesterday and wasn't impressed with the interior, but I have driven a 182 in the past so I know the mark 2 is much better . I am going to hold out for 2 more weeks to see if I get a build date on the ST... otherwise I might be on the look out .

[james280779]

Why not do what I done, Pug 406 COUPE, bit heavier that the clio (just lol) same engine, luxury interior,loads of boot space, every electronic device imaginable and much cheaper car insurance.
That means with the money you save you have enough left over to buy a totally crazy weekender. I opted for a TVR.
The combined insurance for the TVR and 406 Coupe is still almost 1k less than the clio.
Sounded good to me, thats why i did it

[wrightyrs]

I'm going to look at one tomorrow which will be my everyday car,i have a great car now but i just fancy something completely different and rare that will turn heads and be fun to drive.
I do over 20K miles a year so the servicing intervals will be great for me also.

Am already looking forward to the drive down to Le Mans in it this year and i haven't even seen it yet!!!!!

Has anyone been to Le Mans in one,whats they like for getting stuff in?

[muckymotor]

I've travelled on holiday to Cornwall in mine with luggage for two people. Use squashy bags and it's suprising how much stuff you can fit under the bonnet, behind the front seats and also in the small space in the hatch.

[wrightyrs]

i gather you can't put anything on the engine cover then?

[muckymotor]

You can but it does slide around as the cover isn't flat and is fairly smooth so very little grip. I've laid a suit cover on there but it soon ended up behind the front seats. When you look at one you'll see what I mean.

Fantastic car though and a few creased clothes is something I can live with

[miniandy]

[quote=muckymotor]Servicing is every 18000 miles or two years and isn't much more than a Clio 182 would cost./quote]

You sure?

My 182 needs servicing every 12,000 miles.

[muckymotor]

My mistake

Not sure why I typed 18000, still pretty cheap at around £180 for this service.