Thinking about changing my Fabia vRS in a few months. Want a fast petrol hot hatch. Test drove the new vRS which was good but couldn't really go for it because the dealer was right next to me and it was raining heavily so couldn't really tell how good it was. Ideally I need another test. Test drove a Corsa VXR Racing on my own but again it was raining and looks a bit too chavvy for me. My cousin used to own a Clio 182 and said I have to look at the new Clio if I wanted a good hot hatch.

Went down to the local Renault dealer just to look at one at first. It was priced at £18k. I think they are cheaper than this but he offered 0% APR over 3 years and I could put as much deposit as I wanted down. I asked for a test drive and he brought the car round. It was the standard 200 but had cup suspension and Recaro seats. He stuck £20 in it and let me off on my own. It really surprised me. Never looked at Renault's before. Always thought they weren't that good, cheaply made, French carp, etc. Not sure how reliable it would be but fit and finish inside was good. Far better than old Clio's I've been in. It has buckets of grip and goes really well with plenty of power. It was so good I didn't want to go back!

I need to know a few things on it if people know. How reliable are Clio's these days? I know this is a facelifted one but the 197 has been out for a while. I also need to look at a good Renault forum to look into common faults, mods, etc. My heart isn't set on getting one yet. I won't be buying a new car until September time. This is just the one that has stood out a country mile from the others. Are there any other cars I should look at?

Thanks in advance.

Martyn

My mate got his Clio 200 for £15k brand new! His has the cup chassis and recaro seats aswell all in the price. He loves his but it's developed a problem with the oxygen sensor and has now been with Renault awaiting said part for almost 2 weeks!

His car has less than 7k on the Clock and is 8 months old. But it's still a fantastic car, it grips the road like glue, little and i do mean little bodyroll. Brakes are great being brembo 4 pots and the noise is phenomonal. I really want one

Another mate had a Corsa VXR remapped to 210bhp and a mates Fabia VRS spanked it, but Corsa VXR's are great cars aswell but they like wheel bearings and aren't all that great at handling

Out of the two i think i'd stick with my Fabia tbh, but if my Fabia wasn't mapped and didn't beat them both then it'd be the Clio 200 anyday of the week! The Autocar video on Youtube of the 200 vs the Focus RS speaks loads to me in terms of handling and all out fun!

After owning a 172 I'd love another Renault Clio again & I love the 200. As for reliability I never had a serious problem with the one I owned for the 3yrs I owned It from nearly new. You'll probably get problems with all makes & models, even the VAG range has had problems from new.

Yeah, I know two SportClio owners, one of whom never had any problems, and one whose car was seldom out of the fixers - pot luck, I guess. TBH, both the Clio and the Corsa look like the designers got a discount at the Ripspeed counter, but the Clio less so. Wouldn't even consider the Corsa because (on top of being a Vauxhall) there's the 6-second overboost thing, which is clearly just there to get the 0-60 time down and provide high bhp on paper...

mk1 FRS

mk1 FRS

What's an FRS?

What's an FRS?

Ford Focus RS?

I think this looks like a cracking little car and the motoring press rave about them. However your concerns about reliability, dealer service and customer care (never Renault strongpoints) are shared by me.

Yeah, I reported the faulty air con in my old Megane every time it was in the garage, but never even got an admission it was broken ('well, it's got gas in, sir!') Unfortunately, this was in the days when you still had to take it to the dealers to maintain the warranty...

My mates just got his back as Renault uk put a rush order from France for his oxygen sensor. The Renault garage lost his tow eye cover so Renault uk are paying for that and also paid his finance for the month his car was off the road. So to me Renault uk sound alright to me, they covered all his hire car costs aswell

My mates just got his back as Renault uk put a rush order from France for his oxygen sensor. The Renault garage lost his tow eye cover so Renault uk are paying for that and also paid his finance for the month his car was off the road. So to me Renault uk sound alright to me, they covered all his hire car costs aswell

Yeah they sound OK. You get good dealers and bad dealers from whatever manufacturer. The one I tested the 200 at had the Renault Megane 250, The Clio 200 and the Twingo 133 all in the showroom. Most dealers shy away from having RS models and normally have a more basic models, one they know they can easily sell. This dealer almost seemed proud to have all 3 in the showroom and one of each to test. Apart from the Corsa VXR they were the only dealers who let me go out on my own and the only ones that said I could take as long as I wanted.

I like dealers who do that, it's even better when you have a mate who works there lol

Done that a while ago, my car was in my mates work. He was bored so flung me a set of keys and said lets go i'm bored. So had about an hours drive of kicking the **** out a brand new Fiesta Zetec S lol

Nothing omg but when you had 1.3 8v at the time anythings a bonus haha

I had a Clio 197 for nearly three years. I now own a 200 which I've had for about 4 months.

First things first. These cars are extremely good fun to drive, as you found out on your test drive. Show it a twisty B road and you just grin from ear to ear. The handling, grip and braking are immense. As you noticed, the interior quality has improved five fold over the older models, still not up to Vag standards but nice enough. I have never had anything break or fall off.

The engine is a screamer, get it up into high revs and once again you will be grinning for miles, changing gears it like loading a well oiled rifle. The noise is very addictive but not intrusive at motorway speeds. The later 197/200's have different gearing which drop engine revs at 70mph by 500revs in 6th gear.

The 200 has to be driven hard to get the best out of it. I've heard a lot of compliants about lack of power low down. A friend of mine took a test drive and hated it. He owns a Corsa VXR. He was used to nigh on instant power when overtaking, something the 200 can't give. The engines torque was increased by 20% in the 200 in a bid to overcome the 197's lack of it low down, I must say, I can feel the difference but it could really do with a bit more. The cure is simply to drop a gear if you want to overtake quickly.

These cars are not easy to tune. Being N/A and already highly tuned, it is not cheap to extract more bhp. Sure, you can remap and gain 8/10bhp but thats your lot unless you go the throttle body route which will see you parting with 2-3 grand for something like 40bhp. Exhausts and air filters don't give much on these engines. More often than not, when rolling roaded they only seem to put out around 186bhp in standard form.

My main complaint is fuel consumption. It's bad, I mean really bad. I've had as little as 19mpg showing on the trip around town. Best I've managed on the motoway is 34mpg and that's really taking it easy. Best around town is normally 23-26mpg. Think about it before taking the plunge.

I've had no problems with the 200 so far, I bought it as an ex demo with 5000 miles on the clock for £14K. there's no way on the planet I'd pay £18K regardless of spec. My one is standard apart from the cup pack. Talking of cups, the ride is really hard, I don't mind it but some find it to much after a while. My 197 didn't have the cup pack and the ride was a lot nicer around town. The cup pack makes the car a lot sharper and you really can feel the difference, there's hardly any body roll. The trade off is a bumpy ride.

Servicing is every 12K miles or every year. Something else to bear in mind. IIRC was the Fabia every 2 years???

Problems with my 197 25.000 miles on clock.

1. Cracked rubber seals around the rear glass (common problem).

2. Kangaroo. Cold start problem where the car will not run smooth for the first 5 minutes of driving. (ECU patch released by Renault but not 100% cure) I haven't had this problem with the 200.

3. Melting steering wheel.

4. Difficulty engaging gears when cold. (My Octavia had this problem too). Not no 200 so far.

5. Keyless entry system played up a bit in that snowy winter we just had.

6. Delamination of glass (milky stains). Again, I had this on my Octavia.

7. Engine managment light came on a couple of times when stuck in heavy traffic. Went off within seconds and again it seems a common thing. Not on 200 so far.

8. Loud metalic clacking noise when changing from 1st to 2nd gear (engine cold). Common problem again, seems they all do it. Not on 200 so far.

Overall, I'd defo recommend buy one. I part exd my 197 when I bought the 200. I got £8200 for it which I didn't think was to bad for a three year old car with 25.000 miles. They seem to be slow shifting on the second hand market, but prices are not to grim. I don't buy much into the depreciation thing, all cars lose value so I don't worry about it to much.

Here's some web sites that I use (if you haven't found them already).

http://www.clio197.net/forum/

http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/community/login/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/community/forum/Default.aspx It's nice to see a manufacturer's web site where you can freely post problems and issues. There are mods who work for Renault posting and helping owners resolve issues with dealers and customer services. You get to see how Renault deal with the problems owners are posting. Very helpful site.

Yeah I've heared the fuel consumption is bad. I signed up on Clio197 a few days ago. I heared about the steering wheel melting. How?

My mates 200 averages 32mpg around town and 40 - 45mpg on the motorway cruise controlled at 60

My mates 200 averages 32mpg around town and 40 - 45mpg on the motorway cruise controlled at 60

Now I could live with that. I know it's not vRS fuel consumption but I want a car that handles and goes well. The Clio ticks both boxes.

You need to drive like a granny to get that mpg but it is do able. I've had two fiesta ST's and they're well known for being greedy, but driven correctly I got 31mpg average constant in town and 48mpg on the motorways so a petrol can be economical if driven right

First things first. These cars are extremely good fun to drive, as you found out on your test drive. Show it a twisty B road and you just grin from ear to ear. The handling, grip and braking are immense. As you noticed, the interior quality has improved five fold over the older models, still not up to Vag standards but nice enough. I have never had anything break or fall off.

The engine is a screamer, get it up into high revs and once again you will be grinning for miles, changing gears it like loading a well oiled rifle. The noise is very addictive but not intrusive at motorway speeds. The later 197/200's have different gearing which drop engine revs at 70mph by 500revs in 6th gear.

The 200 has to be driven hard to get the best out of it. I've heard a lot of compliants about lack of power low down. A friend of mine took a test drive and hated it. He owns a Corsa VXR. He was used to nigh on instant power when overtaking, something the 200 can't give. The engines torque was increased by 20% in the 200 in a bid to overcome the 197's lack of it low down, I must say, I can feel the difference but it could really do with a bit more. The cure is simply to drop a gear if you want to overtake quickly.

I hired a Clio 200 for the day to horse round the Nurburgring and although it was only a day I'd agree with everything you've said, initially I was disappointed with performance as I'm used to the effortless pull of the VAG TDI engines but once I got the hang of the keeping the revs high it was much better. The handling however was where it really stood out as you could just throw it through the corners and it just gripped so well and didn't drag its nose with understeer as I expected it to. I'm not sure I'd ever drive a car like that on public roads and have to admit the interior didn't feel great but as a track car I was really impressed with it, didn't regret it at all.

John

I had one of the original Clio 16vs and loved it to bits:). It never missed a beat and nothing ever fell off. Changed the way I thought about Renaults. But as for the 200, I have seen one going cross country at a huge rate of knots, followed a few seconds later by a Focus RS that appeared to be struggling to keep up with the Clio. Great little car from what I saw.

I don't think they look as nice as my old 16v though (think of the Clio Williams shape)

Yeah I've heared the fuel consumption is bad. I signed up on Clio197 a few days ago. I heared about the steering wheel melting. How?

The steering wheel looks leather, but isn't. It has the perforated holes which you find on most most sporty cars. The combination of hot weather and holding the wheel with a tight grip make the holes melt and fuse together. In the end, you get wrinkling and then the wheel just looks ****. My 197 was in the early stages of this melting process. Some dealers have been changing the wheel under warranty. Most, but it seems not all, have had a good outcome from Renault CS. Take a look at an old Clio 172 and that will give you an idea of what the wheel will look like in 10 years time My Son has a 172 and his wheel is nearly down to the metal in some places

RE the MPG - A diesel Fabia vRS will return around 50MPG (i had one too). If you think you will see 45MPG from a Clio 200 you will be disappointed.

Edited 1 August, 201015 yr by Chris197

Ford Focus RS?

Do this!

Towards the bottom of this page (clicky) you might find a couple of videos that are interesting. I can’t get the third video to play however.

My Megane's steering wheel did that - it was one of many reasons it wasn't a keeper... :(

One of my mates at work just took delivery of his

Very nice

I like the piano black front bumper and the subtle RS badge. Like the side repeater blended into the bump strip on the door.

Going for a drive on Friday morning, will see if he can keep up

EDIT: cup chassis, think it's the track car version (no aircon if i remember right!)

Edited 2 August, 201015 yr by Mute

It's certainly a temptation for when I replace by car next year however the low torque delivered high up the rev range might be a deal breaker. Took the Fabia VRS out last week and loved the low down pull it had while still being willing to rev to 7000 rpm. Coming from a Mark one Fabia VRS I think the lack of "grunt" would be frustrating. Would probably be able to get a better deal on the VRS too but not ruling one of these out. My local dealers in Maidstone are crap though so may wander down to the one in Sevenoaks. That's another problem: Renault dealers and customer care