RE: Renaultsport Clio 200 | PH Fleet

RE: Renaultsport Clio 200 | PH Fleet

Author
Discussion

BenLowden

5,968 posts

176 months

PH Marketing Bloke

Thursday 29th August 2019
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BaronVonVaderham said:
I’d suggest Mr Lowden need to try a bit harder
Agreed hehe The point I was trying to make is that it does take that extra level of commitment to get the adjustability out of the newer generations of Renaultsport. Everything is feels more accessible at lower speeds in the older cars and that's my personal preference.

From it's generation though, I'd 100% have a 200 over the likes of an FN2 Civic Type R and even a Mk5 Golf GTI. I would have kept it for longer, but an opportunity presented itself that I couldn't look away from. More on that soon...

BaronVonVaderham

2,316 posts

146 months

Thursday 29th August 2019
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thumbup

I get what you are saying - there’s just so much grip that you really have to be quite deliberate to get the rear moving on a 200, which means commitment levels far above what’s desirable on the road.

tubs

73 posts

206 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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I ran a 197 Cup + for nearly 5 years...It was a love hate relationship. Was brilliant on its day but ruinous to run....the going joke was it was called Triggers Broom as I had bought the car probably twice over...last bill of £4250 was enough. that was wheel hubs(again), timing belt, manifold replacement(again) subframe replacement. Also had a new gearbox fitted the year before as 4th gear Syncro had failed...car had only done 86k!

Renault for me are now of the list! Fantastic cars to drive, just not to own....

CraigV6

348 posts

130 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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I’ve had 8 Renaultsport cars (including a 197) and with the exception of my first Clio V6 (which let coils go quickly and often), I’ve, touch wood, had no problems whatsoever.

Jon_S_Rally

3,385 posts

87 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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tubs said:
I ran a 197 Cup + for nearly 5 years...It was a love hate relationship. Was brilliant on its day but ruinous to run....the going joke was it was called Triggers Broom as I had bought the car probably twice over...last bill of £4250 was enough. that was wheel hubs(again), timing belt, manifold replacement(again) subframe replacement. Also had a new gearbox fitted the year before as 4th gear Syncro had failed...car had only done 86k!

Renault for me are now of the list! Fantastic cars to drive, just not to own....
How on earth did that work cost over £4k? To do swivel joints (upper and lower) is £350 per side at a specialist in Essex, belt is £5-600. Can't imagine the manifold made up the rest of it? They can be expensive if you go to the wrong places but, if you shop around and take advice from owners clubs, they don't seem that expensive to me.

Deep Thought

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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tubs said:
I ran a 197 Cup + for nearly 5 years...It was a love hate relationship. Was brilliant on its day but ruinous to run....the going joke was it was called Triggers Broom as I had bought the car probably twice over...last bill of £4250 was enough. that was wheel hubs(again), timing belt, manifold replacement(again) subframe replacement. Also had a new gearbox fitted the year before as 4th gear Syncro had failed...car had only done 86k!

Renault for me are now of the list! Fantastic cars to drive, just not to own....
Yeah i have to say i felt the same about my 197 and then our 200. The synchro went in third gear on the 197 and that was the week after i'd had the timing belt and dephaser pulley done.

I thought getting a 30,000 mile 200 Cup would mean trouble free motoring but it took £600 to get through MOT due to suspension wear and then it too needed the timing belt done (not the cars fault, but still...).


sideshowfred

89 posts

82 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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Jon_S_Rally said:
How on earth did that work cost over £4k? To do swivel joints (upper and lower) is £350 per side at a specialist in Essex, belt is £5-600. Can't imagine the manifold made up the rest of it? They can be expensive if you go to the wrong places but, if you shop around and take advice from owners clubs, they don't seem that expensive to me.
If you replace the whole hub and not just the ball joints it's a lot more than £350. New subframe as well won't have been cheap. Manifolds are a lot of money if you get a new genuine one. By the time you add labour into that i can believe it's getting to that sort of figure.

Mines costing me what feels like a small fortune and that's with most of the work being done by myself or my brother in law.

Deep Thought

35,724 posts

196 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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sideshowfred said:
Jon_S_Rally said:
How on earth did that work cost over £4k? To do swivel joints (upper and lower) is £350 per side at a specialist in Essex, belt is £5-600. Can't imagine the manifold made up the rest of it? They can be expensive if you go to the wrong places but, if you shop around and take advice from owners clubs, they don't seem that expensive to me.
If you replace the whole hub and not just the ball joints it's a lot more than £350. New subframe as well won't have been cheap. Manifolds are a lot of money if you get a new genuine one. By the time you add labour into that i can believe it's getting to that sort of figure.

Mines costing me what feels like a small fortune and that's with most of the work being done by myself or my brother in law.
+1

We'd the whole hub to do on our 200 for MOT. I think it totalled £650 and that was just for one side.



Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Friday 30th August 2019
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I've always liked these but I have to admit, it's nice to read articles like this as a Trophy owner.

indestructible focus

389 posts

87 months

Saturday 31st August 2019
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I have owned a clio 197 since may this year. Two weeks after ownership the window wiper stalk burnt out knocking out electrics to climate control and window washer motor. New washer motor, investigation and replacement of some earth cables not much left from auto electrician out of £500.
Just had cambelt,waterpump,aux belt done for £500 at ktech (specialist). This was factored in to purchase price.

Now onto the subfram/radiator support, this is getting replaced by renault under the 12 year anti corrosion warranty (car registered 2008) all for free.
Changed gearbox oil myself for £30.00, it was black oil now fresh stuff.

Fedoro 2500 pads and race brake fluid next then off to silverstone track day.

So much fun on a b road, took it to brecon beacons last weekend. That chassis!

Deep Thought

35,724 posts

196 months

Saturday 31st August 2019
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indestructible focus said:
I have owned a clio 197 since may this year. Two weeks after ownership the window wiper stalk burnt out knocking out electrics to climate control and window washer motor. New washer motor, investigation and replacement of some earth cables not much left from auto electrician out of £500.
Just had cambelt,waterpump,aux belt done for £500 at ktech (specialist). This was factored in to purchase price.

Now onto the subfram/radiator support, this is getting replaced by renault under the 12 year anti corrosion warranty (car registered 2008) all for free.
Changed gearbox oil myself for £30.00, it was black oil now fresh stuff.

Fedoro 2500 pads and race brake fluid next then off to silverstone track day.

So much fun on a b road, took it to brecon beacons last weekend. That chassis!
And thats my fear of buying another one. Theres £1,000+ there spent after purchase, and "hassle" RE: the anti corrosion warranty.

I looked at one there at a trade auction during the week. Needed an easy £1,500 spent on it.

Red 4

10,744 posts

186 months

Saturday 31st August 2019
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Stop press !

Old French performance cars in maintenance and repairs shocka !!!

The cars are old, they are likely to have been driven hard, you will need to put your hand in your pocket.

Just like any other older hot hatch really (just don't forget to factor in the French bork factor).

I had one when it was new. It felt quite flimsy then.

I doubt they get less flimsy as they age.

Jon_S_Rally

3,385 posts

87 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
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sideshowfred said:
If you replace the whole hub and not just the ball joints it's a lot more than £350. New subframe as well won't have been cheap. Manifolds are a lot of money if you get a new genuine one. By the time you add labour into that i can believe it's getting to that sort of figure.

Mines costing me what feels like a small fortune and that's with most of the work being done by myself or my brother in law.
The thing is, why would you replace the whole hub, when it isn't necessary? I think the moral is here to shop around and take advantage of the knowledge that's out there so you don't fall into the big cost traps.

Deep Thought said:
And thats my fear of buying another one. Theres £1,000+ there spent after purchase, and "hassle" RE: the anti corrosion warranty.

I looked at one there at a trade auction during the week. Needed an easy £1,500 spent on it.
Just buy one where it's all been done recently. Cars often come up for sale through owners clubs that have had the suspension etc refreshed.

greenarrow

3,551 posts

116 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
quotequote all
Red 4 said:
Stop press !

Old French performance cars in maintenance and repairs shocka !!!

The cars are old, they are likely to have been driven hard, you will need to put your hand in your pocket.

Just like any other older hot hatch really (just don't forget to factor in the French bork factor).

I had one when it was new. It felt quite flimsy then.

I doubt they get less flimsy as they age.
Do Honda Civic Type R owners have these problems when their cars are 10+ years old? I doubt it (Q posts from irate Type R owners telling me I'm wrong!)

The wife has a 14 year old Fiesta ST and none of the electrics has failed. We've had one Lambda sensor and a track rod end failure in 4 years, the latter being particularly had to diagnose apparently! Prior to the ST btw, our 205GTI had very few failures (none electrical) in 11 years of ownership....so its not all french cars that are fragile.

Does seem that Renaults are a bit more fragile than the competition. Would definitely put me off buying an older one as a weekend/fun car.

sideshowfred

89 posts

82 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
quotequote all
Jon_S_Rally said:
sideshowfred said:
If you replace the whole hub and not just the ball joints it's a lot more than £350. New subframe as well won't have been cheap. Manifolds are a lot of money if you get a new genuine one. By the time you add labour into that i can believe it's getting to that sort of figure.

Mines costing me what feels like a small fortune and that's with most of the work being done by myself or my brother in law.
The thing is, why would you replace the whole hub, when it isn't necessary? I think the moral is here to shop around and take advantage of the knowledge that's out there so you don't fall into the big cost traps.

.
You can replace just the ball joints but even then some people have had hubs split whilst doing the work. I have seen it said that generally after you've had one new ball joint pressed in you're best replacing the whole hub if it goes again.

I did the lower ball joints on there own last year but if they need doing again i would be more tempted to replace the whole unit so as not to risk splitting the hub itself.

sideshowfred

89 posts

82 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think a lot of people sell them when the issues arise as they can't justify the repair cost. I've had mine about 5 years now, bought it with 21k on the clock and it's now at 53k. Don't get me wrong,in that time it's had a fairly hard life but all the front suspension parts seem to have gone at once over the last year or so. It's very much a second car now (it was a my only car for 3 of those years) but the condition of the roads where i live doesn't really help. I've put so much money into it lately that i feel i need to keep it for another year at minimum to justify the outlay. Who knows what will go wrong in that time though!

tail slide

2,168 posts

246 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
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Had 200 Cup with Recaros for 5 years, its the one alongside my TVR T350 that will never be sold. Merc C63, Lotus/VX220 are great but come and go, there won't be another in future quite like this with an NA engine.

I've driven a lot of cars on road and track over last 40 years, for a fwd car I found this has the best nimble handling on wet B-roads, with firm but supple-enough suspension, light weight and drifting balance around roundabouts held snugly in shoulder-hugging Recaros (and no torque-steer from this setup, but remember to turn the understeer-inducing traction control button off - did Ben remember this on his drives?) together with the peppy engine from 5-7.5k, powerful brakes and small hatch versatility for everyday. Great fun on snow tyres, and looks good too IMHO. Gear selection perfectly firm and precise once warm, unlike most fwd.

Cant part with it.

Edited by tail slide on Monday 2nd September 21:26

iceicebaby1980

101 posts

97 months