Hi Guys!

[Stuartyvilla]

Hello everyone, Newbie here! I am a massive fan of the site and a bit of a lurker so decided I would join up. My name is Stuart and I am 17 and from Northern Ireland, Passed my test in September and drive a 1999 Renault Clio 1.2 Grande and I love it!

[Otter Smacker]

Hey

Looks like a pretty clean Clio you have there!

Welcome

[Night Runner]

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

[v8will]

Night Runner said:

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

Restricted Driver.

1 year of wearing numpty plates and a 45mph speed limit

[Stuartyvilla]

Thanks for the welcome folks The cars isnt very clean at the minute, its filthy with muck and dirt from the weather.

[DaveL86]

v8will said:

Night Runner said:

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

Restricted Driver.

1 year of wearing numpty plates and a 45mph speed limit

Are you allowed on the motorway with R plates? must be soul destroying.

[Stuartyvilla]

DaveL86 said:

v8will said:

Night Runner said:

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

Restricted Driver.

1 year of wearing numpty plates and a 45mph speed limit

Are you allowed on the motorway with R plates? must be soul destroying.

Yes but it is far too dangerous imo, 45 is too slow whe you look in the rear view mirror and see other cars zooming all around you, the journey also takes far too long.

[greggy50]

Stuartyvilla said:

DaveL86 said:

v8will said:

Night Runner said:

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

Restricted Driver.

1 year of wearing numpty plates and a 45mph speed limit

Are you allowed on the motorway with R plates? must be soul destroying.

Yes but it is far too dangerous imo, 45 is too slow whe you look in the rear view mirror and see other cars zooming all around you, the journey also takes far too long.

Is they an actual thing on the engine that physically limits it to 45? Or could you go a bit faster if you wanted out of interest?

[anonymous-user]

Stuartyvilla said:

DaveL86 said:

v8will said:

Night Runner said:

Nice.

I may be being a tad thick, what does the 'R' mean?

Restricted Driver.

1 year of wearing numpty plates and a 45mph speed limit

Are you allowed on the motorway with R plates? must be soul destroying.

Yes but it is far too dangerous imo, 45 is too slow whe you look in the rear view mirror and see other cars zooming all around you, the journey also takes far too long.[/quote
Bloody hell, that seems like a ridiculous law.

Is it strictly enforced?

[Stuartyvilla]

Nothing on the engine that restricts it, but I am too feared of getting caught.

[TAHodgson]

Dude, that's a bad law! I passed in september too, and I thought my insurance curfew was a p***take! I am SO sorry!

[minimatt1967]

Sorry is this in the UK?

[Stuartyvilla]

Northern Ireland. Does it apply in England as well? Or are you allowed to go whatever speed you like on the motorway etc.

[Jezz172]

I had a 1.2 Grande for my first Clio and loved it!
Wasn't quick but felt like a race car compared to the sheds I drove before
Was great on fuel too!

[v8will]

minimatt1967 said:

Sorry is this in the UK?

When I last checked NI was still part of the UK Getting a bike ticket is different too although CBT (I think) has just been introduced. R plates must be displayed on bikes but the unwritten rule is that traffic branch are more lenient with bikers.

There is no physical limit that restricts the car to 45mph but getting caught doing more than 45 is 3 points, 6 points within 2 years and bye-bye license. Of course you could just take the plates down and take your chances of not getting stopped at a police check point (Uncommon now but still happens in NI) Getting caught though usually means an extension and possibly points.

Doing 45mph is soul destroying and I must confess that for any longer journeys I kept pace with other traffic and backed off when I spotted any jam sandwich or any unmarked cars (another talent you 'gain' in NI, which is why unmarked cars here can be anything from VRS Skodas to W8 Passats)

I agree with the plates, it's a good way for letting other road users know you are a newbie numpty but the speed limit is a joke and has not prevented any carnage on the roads. Too many kids picking up VAG diesels at 17, £200 remap and hey presto they've got the best part of 200BHP.

To the OP, Those Clios are great little cars, easily as good as the VW/Ford fodder IMHO. The photo is Airport road?

Edited by v8will on Wednesday 29th December 00:06

Edited by v8will on Wednesday 29th December 00:08

[the jollyrodger]

well done stuart in sticking to your 45mph speed limit, its there for a reason,to perserve you and others on the road.
get the experience you need by driving around first,then you can think of going faster, on the right roads, in the right conditions when your out of your 'r' plates.
looks like the salt store in the background, just off dee street.
tidy wee clio you have there as well, always liked these.
cbt comes into force at start of year but depends on how long you have your licence before you have to do it.
keep an eye on the n.i. region for any meets, etc, all welcome no matter how old and whatever car.

Edited by the jollyrodger on Wednesday 29th December 12:14

[PaulG40]

Nice little car you've got there Stuart!

45mph though does sound like a joke, i can't imagine the "i've just passed my test boy racer brigade" pay much attention to it though, until they get caught that is! I used to hate taking driving lessons with my mum when I were a lad as she wouldn't even let me past 50mph, used to hate it!

[davepoth]

As someone said, do you know if the 45 limit applies for the whole UK, or just in NI?

[PaulG40]

Just in N.I. afaik. Its not in force in Ireland, nor UK.

[Classic Grad 98]

My first car was a grande 1.2 in black. It was a fantastic motor and gave me very little trouble during my ownership- I did 29,000 miles in 3 years. I used to thrash it everywhere and it'd still do 330 miles on a tank. The only reason I 'upgraded' it was because I needed a big car to tow a car trailer.
Best thing I ever did to that car was fitting it with michelin tyres- they cost a fortune but wore evenly despite my enthusiastic driving and lasted so much better than the arrowspeed budgets they replaced. I'm now a premium tyre convert
My car also had blackdiamond front brakes which were shockingly effective!