182 Trophy - The Dirty Secret
Discussion
Hi. Really don’t know how to begin this thread and neither did I ever think I’d end up owning a Renault but I have one. It’s a dirty secret.
How it all started. I’m in an m140i (stock) with friends in a small convoy all in high powered cars driving our way to Bala, Wales. A week leading up to this Wales drive a friend decides to tell us he’ll be leaving his m140i (Birds B1) at home and instead join in his 182 Trophy. My initial thoughts were .. maybe he’s had a long day at work and going a bit mentally insane , sleep deprived or just winding us up. Thought nothing of it really and just assumed he’ll come to his senses and bring his Birds m140i.
No he didn’t listen. He brings his 182 Trophy. Anyway, back to the drive. We get the boring straight motorway blast done. The B roads arrive. I have a little red Clio chasing me from a safe distance behind. I open up the m140i, take a couple of corners. The little red
Clio continues to chase from a safe distance - felt like it was locked on with adaptive cruise. I push on a little harder to the point where it’s not safe to push on any harder, that little red clio is just sat comfortably behind me locked on. No body roll, just comfortable. How is this happening?! If I push on any harder in the beemer I know I’m off the road. I’m impressed.
Couple miles of doing so we park up to let the convoy regroup. Our stopping point is at a mobile internet black spot , our sat navs have stopped working. 182 Trophy owner has a bar of signal and his sat nav works. We put him in front, I’m second in the convoy. Not sure how I feel about having to chase a 182 Trophy but it should be a piece of cake and I’ll overtake it soon as I get internet signal and gps. So I thought.
We set off steadily, a couple corners in the 182 Trophy picks up the pace, tyres feel like they’ve got up to temp. I push on in the m140i chasing, I’m struggling to keep pace with the 182 trophy. Its braking later than me, carrying more speed into and out of the corners. He’s 500 kilos lighter and I can flippin tell! I’m working hard to stay on the road and the PS4’s are just about keeping the m140i on the road. I’ve reached the cars safe threshold. The 182 Trophy continues to disappear into the distance corner after corner … why am I laughing my head off? I’m mighty impressed at that little French hatch. No other car has done that to me down a back road before in the m140i.
I’ve got the bug now. I must get myself a 182 Trophy one day. My wife already thinks I own too many cars. E46 M3, E39 M5 and our daily F31 335d stage 2. There’s absolutely no way she’d allow me another car. Absolutely no way. The only way I can make it happen is i’ll just buy a 182 Trophy, store it away from home and check up on it from time to time and enjoy it on the occasional Sunday morning. Makes perfect sense to me.
With the help of a good friend Mr m140i Birds (driver of the 182 Trophy mentioned above) we manage to locate a project 182 Trophy via the ClioTrophy forum. It’s a 1 owner, 49k miler car. Collected on the back of the trailer using the 335d daily wagon … 812nm torque put to good use. No the wife doesn’t know anything about it. One day I’ll dig up the courage to tell her but until then … let the dirty secret continue and let the project begin
Major service done ✅ Lee @ The Renault Specialist
Brake overhaul done ✅ Lee @ The Renault Specialist
Suspension refresh done ✅ Cornering Force Ltd.
I’ll go into the low level details on another post but to summarise all of the work has been done by Lee @ The Renault Specialist, Midlands.
Lee put me in touch with an excellent painter who also happens to be a Renault Sport enthusiast … owns a 172 himself with a Clio Williams and Clio V6 in the family. The Trophy is currently at the workshop for a full paint job .. back to how it looked when it rolled off the production line. Or in the words of Shane the painter “even better than the day it left the production line!”
For those who don’t know what a 182 Trophy is, here’s a great video by by Harry Metcalfe,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTTI-aMKn60
Only 500 arrived in the UK. Mine is one of the later ones. Number 485. Lord I hope she doesn't find this thread.
How it all started. I’m in an m140i (stock) with friends in a small convoy all in high powered cars driving our way to Bala, Wales. A week leading up to this Wales drive a friend decides to tell us he’ll be leaving his m140i (Birds B1) at home and instead join in his 182 Trophy. My initial thoughts were .. maybe he’s had a long day at work and going a bit mentally insane , sleep deprived or just winding us up. Thought nothing of it really and just assumed he’ll come to his senses and bring his Birds m140i.
No he didn’t listen. He brings his 182 Trophy. Anyway, back to the drive. We get the boring straight motorway blast done. The B roads arrive. I have a little red Clio chasing me from a safe distance behind. I open up the m140i, take a couple of corners. The little red
Clio continues to chase from a safe distance - felt like it was locked on with adaptive cruise. I push on a little harder to the point where it’s not safe to push on any harder, that little red clio is just sat comfortably behind me locked on. No body roll, just comfortable. How is this happening?! If I push on any harder in the beemer I know I’m off the road. I’m impressed.
Couple miles of doing so we park up to let the convoy regroup. Our stopping point is at a mobile internet black spot , our sat navs have stopped working. 182 Trophy owner has a bar of signal and his sat nav works. We put him in front, I’m second in the convoy. Not sure how I feel about having to chase a 182 Trophy but it should be a piece of cake and I’ll overtake it soon as I get internet signal and gps. So I thought.
We set off steadily, a couple corners in the 182 Trophy picks up the pace, tyres feel like they’ve got up to temp. I push on in the m140i chasing, I’m struggling to keep pace with the 182 trophy. Its braking later than me, carrying more speed into and out of the corners. He’s 500 kilos lighter and I can flippin tell! I’m working hard to stay on the road and the PS4’s are just about keeping the m140i on the road. I’ve reached the cars safe threshold. The 182 Trophy continues to disappear into the distance corner after corner … why am I laughing my head off? I’m mighty impressed at that little French hatch. No other car has done that to me down a back road before in the m140i.
I’ve got the bug now. I must get myself a 182 Trophy one day. My wife already thinks I own too many cars. E46 M3, E39 M5 and our daily F31 335d stage 2. There’s absolutely no way she’d allow me another car. Absolutely no way. The only way I can make it happen is i’ll just buy a 182 Trophy, store it away from home and check up on it from time to time and enjoy it on the occasional Sunday morning. Makes perfect sense to me.
With the help of a good friend Mr m140i Birds (driver of the 182 Trophy mentioned above) we manage to locate a project 182 Trophy via the ClioTrophy forum. It’s a 1 owner, 49k miler car. Collected on the back of the trailer using the 335d daily wagon … 812nm torque put to good use. No the wife doesn’t know anything about it. One day I’ll dig up the courage to tell her but until then … let the dirty secret continue and let the project begin
Major service done ✅ Lee @ The Renault Specialist
Brake overhaul done ✅ Lee @ The Renault Specialist
Suspension refresh done ✅ Cornering Force Ltd.
I’ll go into the low level details on another post but to summarise all of the work has been done by Lee @ The Renault Specialist, Midlands.
Lee put me in touch with an excellent painter who also happens to be a Renault Sport enthusiast … owns a 172 himself with a Clio Williams and Clio V6 in the family. The Trophy is currently at the workshop for a full paint job .. back to how it looked when it rolled off the production line. Or in the words of Shane the painter “even better than the day it left the production line!”
For those who don’t know what a 182 Trophy is, here’s a great video by by Harry Metcalfe,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTTI-aMKn60
Only 500 arrived in the UK. Mine is one of the later ones. Number 485. Lord I hope she doesn't find this thread.
Great stuff, following this.
I had a lot of fun with mine back in 2006/2007 leaving far more exotic machinery for dust, it was a true giant slayer.
When it was still very new I did a trackday at Goodwood and got some driving tuition. Anthony Reid was my tutor! He proceeded to drive around the outside of 911s, R8s, everything on track as he was talking to me with what looked like 2/10ths effort. I was having trouble not laughing at the hilarity of it.
It was such a fun car to pedal hard.
I had a lot of fun with mine back in 2006/2007 leaving far more exotic machinery for dust, it was a true giant slayer.
When it was still very new I did a trackday at Goodwood and got some driving tuition. Anthony Reid was my tutor! He proceeded to drive around the outside of 911s, R8s, everything on track as he was talking to me with what looked like 2/10ths effort. I was having trouble not laughing at the hilarity of it.
It was such a fun car to pedal hard.
Just does to show what decent suspension and low weight will do on a British B-Road.
I had a BMW 130i with the full Birds Set Up, LSD and AP Brakes (a car I still miss) and it was amazing how much speed it could carry down smaller roads compared to my Z4M, 335i and M3.
Having driven a few 182 Clios I can imagine that the trophy would be a similar step up compared to the standard Clio.
Been to a few track days in the past and there have been some very fast clios there as well.
Always liked the Trophy, but prices seem to be bonkers lately.
I had a BMW 130i with the full Birds Set Up, LSD and AP Brakes (a car I still miss) and it was amazing how much speed it could carry down smaller roads compared to my Z4M, 335i and M3.
Having driven a few 182 Clios I can imagine that the trophy would be a similar step up compared to the standard Clio.
Been to a few track days in the past and there have been some very fast clios there as well.
Always liked the Trophy, but prices seem to be bonkers lately.
You have an impressive selection of cars, congrats.
I've recently become a Renault RS addict, as I've acquired an RS200 Cup pack car. It's utterly brilliant, I adore the car. I do wish it had another 50bhp at times, but that might ruin the cheeky nature of the car.
Anyway, keep us updated on the Trophy
NG
I've recently become a Renault RS addict, as I've acquired an RS200 Cup pack car. It's utterly brilliant, I adore the car. I do wish it had another 50bhp at times, but that might ruin the cheeky nature of the car.
Anyway, keep us updated on the Trophy
NG
I’m shocked that you were so shocked one of the greatest hot hatches of all time can keep pace with a heavier and fairly run of the mill hatch that happens to have a big engine 
I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
Edited by F20CN16 on Wednesday 15th December 10:01
F20CN16 said:
I’m shocked that you were so shocked one of the greatest hot hatches of all time can keep pace with a heavier and fairly run of the mill hatch that happens to have a big engine
I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
My 996 wouldn’t see which way my 172 Cup went down a decent B road, of which we have many in Devon I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
Edited by F20CN16 on Wednesday 15th December 10:01
LordHaveMurci said:
F20CN16 said:
I’m shocked that you were so shocked one of the greatest hot hatches of all time can keep pace with a heavier and fairly run of the mill hatch that happens to have a big engine
I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
My 996 wouldn’t see which way my 172 Cup went down a decent B road, of which we have many in Devon I used to have a 172 Cup - those mk2 Clios are really something else. Wish I could have kept it.
Edited by F20CN16 on Wednesday 15th December 10:01
Used to do loads of PH hoons with my 172 Cup. Pretty much always held its own.
Shouldn’t be a dirty secret; they’re fabulous little things that rightly have a massive following and a huge reputation.
A family member had a 172 and a 182 which he loved; they were dirt cheap through a friend who worked for Renault. But my god they were fun and held their own against posher cars.
Having had an M140i, I’m not surprised it struggled to keep up with the Clio on a B road; mine was immensely frustrating on drives around North Wales although it was fun in the right circumstances, when you could make use of rage mid range punch. I genuinely gave more fun in my older, slower 130i.
A family member had a 172 and a 182 which he loved; they were dirt cheap through a friend who worked for Renault. But my god they were fun and held their own against posher cars.
Having had an M140i, I’m not surprised it struggled to keep up with the Clio on a B road; mine was immensely frustrating on drives around North Wales although it was fun in the right circumstances, when you could make use of rage mid range punch. I genuinely gave more fun in my older, slower 130i.
I've owned a couple of Clio 172s, one I had from new back in 2003 and the other I got for £500 in 2012. Both excellent, both underrated especially the first one back then.
Also considering I had a near ten year old Clio, despite what people say it was really reliable mechanically and electrically. I'm not saying Renault haven't had their moments but no way as bad as people will say. Not even close.
Enjoy the Trophy, looks like it's in good hands and something to enjoy on the B roads!
Also considering I had a near ten year old Clio, despite what people say it was really reliable mechanically and electrically. I'm not saying Renault haven't had their moments but no way as bad as people will say. Not even close.
Enjoy the Trophy, looks like it's in good hands and something to enjoy on the B roads!
Well I’m onto my 3rd RS product all excellent, ive had Clio 182 , RS megane , and now a RS twingo ! I’m loving the twingo easily as much fun as the other 2 if a tad slower , but it’s so much fun having to work for your speed , but it can certainly go round corners fast ! I love driving it as much as my vx220 turbo . 
, It’s mildly tuned, exhaust, filter remap so may even crack 140 bhp , but it’s a nice ish engine to use and requires you to use all 7k of the Rev range to make decent progress. I would love to own a trophy maybe some time in the near future, RS products really get under your skin .
, It’s mildly tuned, exhaust, filter remap so may even crack 140 bhp , but it’s a nice ish engine to use and requires you to use all 7k of the Rev range to make decent progress. I would love to own a trophy maybe some time in the near future, RS products really get under your skin . The last time I looked these were £5-7k for a decent one.
There's one on ebay now at over 20k
I've just messaged someone I know who has one in a barn in Cumbria, it hasn't turned a wheel in years so no idea what state it's really in.
For me they're the pinnacle of the proper small hot hatch.
There's one on ebay now at over 20k
I've just messaged someone I know who has one in a barn in Cumbria, it hasn't turned a wheel in years so no idea what state it's really in.
For me they're the pinnacle of the proper small hot hatch.
They never dropped down to £5-7k for a decent one. At their absolute nadir you could pick up a leggy one without the Sachs dampers for that money. Now that they’re unobtainable and beyond their servicing life, many owners are shelving the Sachs for resale time and running Cup shocks or coilovers.
Alex_225 said:
I've owned a couple of Clio 172s, one I had from new back in 2003 and the other I got for £500 in 2012. Both excellent, both underrated especially the first one back then.
Also considering I had a near ten year old Clio, despite what people say it was really reliable mechanically and electrically. I'm not saying Renault haven't had their moments but no way as bad as people will say. Not even close.
Enjoy the Trophy, looks like it's in good hands and something to enjoy on the B roads!
Aren’t the RS products built in Dieppe rather than the main factory, hence being more reliable?Also considering I had a near ten year old Clio, despite what people say it was really reliable mechanically and electrically. I'm not saying Renault haven't had their moments but no way as bad as people will say. Not even close.
Enjoy the Trophy, looks like it's in good hands and something to enjoy on the B roads!
Saying that, we’ve had loads of Renaults in the family due to a family formed working at Renault and getting crazy discounts. The cars ranged from 172/182 to Scenics to an Espace to a V6 Laguna and all were perfectly reliable other than servicing and tyres.
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