Renaultsport Clio 172 | Shed of the Week
Brilliant hot hatches are not often available to the Shed shopper these days. The Clio is the exception...
Shed is constantly amazed by the number of solid sporting Clios that are still running around the place. Here's another tempter, a near-17 year old Phase 2 with low miles (115k) and clean-looking bodywork.
The MOT on this one is due in February. It failed last time round on a dodgy headlamp aim. Looking at the car's lights now, you might be inclined to worry more about the transparency of the lenses, but they've been on the advisory list since 2014. If cloudy lenses and slightly chipped alloys are your only worries then life isn't so bad.
Advisories for slight or non-excessive oil leaks have been popping up since 2014 too. There are quite a few places where oil can escape from the F4R engine - head gasket (not so likely), sump plug washer, oil filter seal, oil filler cap, cam cover bolts (all more likely). The plan there is to whip the front bumper off, give the whole engine a degrease and try and locate the source. Imagine how you'll laugh if it turns out to be not an oil stain on your drive at all, but a water stain from a cracked windscreen washer bottle. That happens.
2014 is an interesting year in this car's history. It was 11 years old by then, but had only covered 30,000 miles - a remarkable example of self-restraint on the part of what we presume to be the first owner. Again guessing, but given that there have been just two owners, a glance at the MOT history suggests that owner no 2 has had it for the last six years or so and has been making up for lost time by racking up between 16,000 and 18,000 miles a year.
No doubt most if not all of those were enjoyable, as these are fantastic little skates to wazz around in on a 'rag it till it squeaks' basis. Hard to tell if this one has the jellified steering wheel for which these cars are rightly renowned, but it looks sort of OK from here. Exhausts rot (both mounts and pipework), engine mountings go and airbag lights come on when the under seat wiring decides it's had enough of being shunted back and forth.
With reasonable maintenance these 2.0 engines are strong and reliable. As we all know however the big snafu on these is the dephaser system that is Renault's version of variable valve timing. Over time the phase shifter pulley for the inlet camshaft develops play, which causes a rattly/dieselly noise below 1800rpm on a warm engine. If you don't have any paperwork to indicate that this work has been done within the last 36,000 miles or 5 years, you'll have to assume it hasn't. Your choice then is to think 'ah, it's only a noise' and ignore it. You might get away with that, in fact, as actual failures are rare, but the cambelts do snap and you just might not be able to live with that dephaser noise, in which case you will want to think seriously about getting it sorted.
If you fancy your chances of doing it yourself, the kit of parts for this job - timing and aux belts, water pump, tensioner pulley, two guide pulleys and a crank bolt - normally costs at least £200. You'll need the special Renault locking tools as well though, and the knowledge to do the job right. Get the timing wrong - there are no timing marks on the F4R engine, and no margin for error - and you'll wish you'd never started because firing it up will result in top end damage. Not might, will.
You could cut costs by buying the special tools and then selling them on to some other braveheart, but there are some very dodgy tools about that will bring their own element of risk. Best to engage a specialist, really. They will charge you a bit more for the parts. If you do your research you should be able to get a quote for labour of between £200 and £300. Let's call it £500-£600 all in.
A sound, reasonably low mileage 172 at just under £1500 makes sense, as it will give you many hours of joy, but if that same car needs the dephaser setup renewing it starts to look less attractive at over £2k. It might need new suspension too, depending on how it was driven by the last owner, who apparently was a 'lady'. Not sure what difference that makes. Shed's known some 'ladies' - Mrs Shed included, but don't tell her - that he wouldn't want to meet down a dark alleyway. If you own a sensible head, now's the time to put it on. Otherwise, fill your boots.
Search for a Renaultsport Clio here
Parts are cheap and plentiful. They're a bit odd to work on, but not that hard. It's tough to think if another 4 seat car that is so much fun for the price.
One of the biggest killers of these is crunchy gearboxes. 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th. An overhall plus new clutch can be about a grand.
Mine was due a cambelt when I bought, paid £450 for the belt and dephaser Inc labour at a performance specialist .
Sold mine when the commute got longer, 5 speed box and a 2l engine doesn't make for great mpg and the small tank meant regular fill ups.
Would have another in a heartbeat
Cracking cars. The timing belt isn't for the faint-hearted though: it's expensive to get all the right bits, you absolutely need the locking tools, and access to everything is an absolute pain in the arse. So much so that if I did one again I'd drop the whole engine/box/front subframe out and do it that way.
By far the worst car I've owned. From day one it squeaked and rattled along the road. The glove box didn't fit properly from collection. The car was back at the dealers more times than I care to remember. Nothing ever fixed when something (inevitably) went wrong with it.
The dealers were incompetent, rude, and would openly lie to your face, even after you showed then the evidence. Parts prices were ridiculous too.
The Air con was wheezy at best, and I didn't think it was that fast. I didn't even think the handling was that great either. I came from a 106 GTI to the Clio, so I guess it was never going to be as sharp as the 106.
Due to finance, I ended up keeping it for 18 months. 17 months longer than I wanted to.
Swore blind I'd never own another Renault again. But in 2014 I ended up buying a 2012 Twingo 133 RS. Still have it today. Great car. Handles more like the 106 than it does the Clio.
I wouldn't buy a used car that's lived on the Isle of Wight though.
Potholes, sea spray and a lack of opportunities to stretch it into 5th gear aren't great for a car at this age.
My parents live there and I bought my Dad's R129 500SL off him and it REALLY didn't like pootling about there. I suppose you could think of it as releasing an injured animal back to it's natural habitat?
Due to finance, I ended up keeping it for 18 months. 17 months longer than I wanted to.
Swore blind I'd never own another Renault again. But in 2014 I ended up buying a 2012 Twingo 133 RS. Still have it today. Great car. Handles more like the 106 than it does the Clio.
The 106 was more playful (read, waggy rear), but a 106GTI was definitely a touch slower than a 172. The only combo that's faster from that stable is a Rallye which has the 16v engine. The Clio had a sharper front end, but because it had a relatively low rate of rear antiroll (being a twist-beam without a separate bar), the rear was less twitchy. It was also around 100kg heavier, mostly over the front axle I suspect.
Given the choice of the two, I'd take the 106 for a fun car, but the Clio as an everyday (with its wipers, decent lights etc). But these days you can't get a decent 106 for less than two grand, and a mint GTI/Rallye is 4-5k easily.
Due to finance, I ended up keeping it for 18 months. 17 months longer than I wanted to.
Swore blind I'd never own another Renault again. But in 2014 I ended up buying a 2012 Twingo 133 RS. Still have it today. Great car. Handles more like the 106 than it does the Clio.
The 106 was more playful (read, waggy rear), but a 106GTI was definitely a touch slower than a 172. The only combo that's faster from that stable is a Rallye which has the 16v engine. The Clio had a sharper front end, but because it had a relatively low rate of rear antiroll (being a twist-beam without a separate bar), the rear was less twitchy. It was also around 100kg heavier, mostly over the front axle I suspect.
Given the choice of the two, I'd take the 106 for a fun car, but the Clio as an everyday (with its wipers, decent lights etc). But these days you can't get a decent 106 for less than two grand, and a mint GTI/Rallye is 4-5k easily.
For me, when hitting certain corners in the clio, it tended to slightly understeer, where the 106 wouldn't, or would 4 wheel drift. I guess I just preferred the handling of the 106. Plus I never really got comfy with the seat and steering position in the Clio. Steering on an angle, where the 106 was right in front of you. The only thing with the 106 was a cramped offset peddles.
Agree with trying to find a decent 106. I've searched for years to find a mint GTI example. Most have been modified, which I don't want. And the only ones I've ever found that are mint, are going for stupid money. Seen one for nearly £10,000
Got a free knackered headlight from a scrappy to practice on before having a crack on my own Clio's
Anyway, great cars if you can get one and run it on shed budget. I agree with another poster above, the synchro in the gearboxes are a bit of a weak point and crunching can be heard going in to 3rd gear
£1500 off eBay and I’ve spent that again getting it right (dephaser, cambelt, service, bushes, engine mount, dampers, brake hoses, discs, pads)
Parts are cheap for most things and there’s a lot you can spanner on the driveway.
It rattles and squeaks but is such fun on the right road you just don’t care.
They are great fun on track too - just make sure your brakes are tip-top.
Remarkably resistant to rust too.
A great choice for somebody who wants a practical, cheap, fun car.
For me, when hitting certain corners in the clio, it tended to slightly understeer, where the 106 wouldn't, or would 4 wheel drift. I guess I just preferred the handling of the 106. Plus I never really got comfy with the seat and steering position in the Clio. Steering on an angle, where the 106 was right in front of you. The only thing with the 106 was a cramped offset peddles.
Best £160 I’ve ever spent on a car. It genuinely transforms the way it drives.
I also bought some used Recaro seats from a Mitsubishi Evo and a set of lower seat mounts off eBay which massively improved the driving position. Total cost was £450.
I now have a superb little car that I can’t see myself ever selling.
As a side note, due to knocking them off more often than I should, the plastic front 'splitter' can be expensive from Renault although the skoda fabia VRS of the same age uses a very similar one for around 10-15% of the price...
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