2004 Renault Clio Renault Sport 182 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Can't decide between a seat cupra pd 160tdi or the clio 182?? My mate owns a seat cupra tdi and I have to say its rapid! How would the clio compare?

I think maybe the 182 is a bit quicker, but you would have to rev the bollocks off it to make it even a close race, and rev it a bit more to win. The 160 would have effortless pace with all that torque.

Also wasn't the RS Focus quicker than a WRX Scooby round their track? Quite an impressive feat considering the scooby is what it is.

I like the RS Focus, although judging by that diff, it might be a bit harsh day to day?

A VXR has 240bhp, where did you get 300 from, I was talking about stock vs stock, a 182 would smoke it around the twisties.

On a race track maybe, where you can push both cars to the limit. But on public highways you are not going to be pushing the car to the limit, too many things could happen. Where as you can push the VXR to the limit on a good straight.

These roads are used by a local motor club for time trials, and trust me, the quickest car they ever put across them had 180 bhp.

A little tip for you - handling cannot be measured with a stopwatch.

I have been contemplating getting a Clio 182 for some time now, and being a 106 GTi owner, I was hoping it would have the same characteristics as so to carry on the torch. After reading these comments, I am more enthusiastic about getting one as all of the owners seem to love them!

I love hatches, and used to own a Saxo VTR as well, which is also a sorted 'old school' warm hatch, and my 106 certainly puts a smile on my face. But I want to step up now to a hotter engine, and I can't wait to try a 182 out! The only hiccup I've had along the way with my searching for one has been the insurance, :( Being 20 it has been quite steep as you can imagine. However I picked up a quote the other day for approx £1200! So Clio 182 here we come, wish me luck peoples! :)

Good for you mate, I've got a phase 1 172 and they are truly brilliant cars in there own right, as long as you can put up with one or two rattles the rest of the car is solid (having a 106 your probably used to this anyway).

And they certainly can give supposedly 'better' cars a run for there money.

And the cornering must almost if not better the 106 gti/vts cars.

I won't sell mine for this very reason as its light and really quick.

All I'm going to say is if you are going to buy one, look out for leaky sunroofs unless they've sorted it out now.

Whats the remark above with Vauxhall and Lotus?

Lotus have a tuning house that manufacturers use to develop their models - hence the Carlton.

Ford used them.

Vauxhall used them back in the 70's, used the Elise recently.

Chrysler used them.

Proton (!) used them.

This is just bragginh rights in the pub talk, totally pointless.

I've got a 172, and to be honest, as long as it puts a grin on my face when I use it, it's irrelevant what the 0-60 time is of anything else. Unless you're on a track racing, though judging some of the posts on here, Sainsburys car park would be a better place...

I've just 'down-sized' from a VW Golf R32 MK IV to a Clio 182 with both Cup Packs & I can honestly say that the Clio is much more fun & confidence inspiring on B Roads than the Golf. Where my R32 would roll & scare the living daylights out of me the Clio just makes me smile & want to do it all again!

The steering on the R32 was so numb it was only after driving the Clio 182 that I realised just what I had been missing.

The Golf had a really heavy clutch too, with an awful sticky gear change (particularly 1st to 2nd) & the gearing was far too short- you could only get 55mph in 2nd for example before the rev limiter kicked in to ruin the fun & you had to change up again with that crappy box.

The Clio's gearbox on the other hand has a much easier change & lighter clutch making it easier to drive around town plus you can get 60+ out of 2nd!

Having owned the R32 for a year I also think the Clio 182 (albeit with a couple of mods) will actually get to 60 quicker than the Golf and would lose all but the bravest R32 driver on a back road.

So in summary: The Clio 182, half the bills & double the fun!

5th gear did the VXR vs Clio 197 test on their track, and the 197 was 2 tenths of a second slower than the VXR. Needless to say I don't own a 197, which is heavier than the 182, no doubt the VXR is quicker in a straight line, but the 182 is deadly on corner, especially the 182 trophy, which is what I own currently. And on a track it hammers VXRs, which is unsurprising as you can push a 182 to the limit in the corners.

You're not really comparing a VXR and a Focus ST to a Clio 182 are you?

A Clio is MUCH less reliable, MUCH less attractive, absolutely SLOWER than either the Focus and Astra, has an out of date interior and seats, is LESS comfortable and refined to drive and has brittle plastics. Why would you want one over an Astra if you could afford an Astra?

Both the Astra and the Focus justify their price tags well enough. And this silly debate over, "Evo, 5 stars" this is subjective to the personal opinion of the driver at that time, I.e not everybody is the same person. It may be a brilliant drivers car, but as an all round prospect it is very much out of date now, and with our roads calling upon turbo charged cars, which give their power instantly, I can't see the logic of n/a engines remaining in future hot hatches. Hence the reason why most manufacturers choose turbo charged applications for their hot hatches today, and that's not just because of the added weight either. Turbos are faster, don't have to be revved to get progress, are easily tuneable and the power delivery is well suited to our modern day roads where revving an engine to get it up to the speed needed to be competitive is not as feasible.

That is all completely subjective. There are nasp cars that will give modern hatches a run for their money. The EP3 Civic Type R will lap most tracks faster than a VXR or Focus ST, same for the Clio 182/172's.

In my humble opinion hatches are getting too bloated and fat with safety measures, and as a result are less involving and moving further and further away from what a hot hatch should be. Surely a hot hatch is about feeling nippy and nimble in a small hatchback? If I wanted a big car with a big engine, then I would look at saloons.

Yeah the bloated meat wagon Focus ST and Astra VXRs maybe a better option for middle management executive types.

But as a drivers car and all around fun go kart, the Clio is better. So what if the Astra is a bit quicker in a straight line, show it a corner and it falls over and so do onlookers at its pathetic attempt haha. But seriously, how are these new 'hot hatches' even classified as such.

I'd be more pointing towards fast family car as they are no longer cheap to run shopping cars that are rapid, they're much too complex and you'd be hard pushed to service them yourself.

Too bloated and numb, hail the last generation Clio Sports as being the very last of the true hot hatches.

I think the 205 GTi is still the original and the best.

All the new stuff has lost the plot of the original hot hatch, I've had a go in the new Megane R26r, Focus RS and Astra VXR, and quite frankly although they were quick in a straight line, they failed to impress anywhere else, they weren't particularly brilliant in the corners (the Focus and Megane were very close), felt too insulated, bloated and numb and not particularly exciting.

Fair enough, they had nice interiors and were much better built than the old school stuff, but so what? I'd just buy a Mondeo or BMW for the same money and get an even better interior if that's all I was bothered about.

Really I mean, why even buy a hothatch in the first place if you're after comfort? That sounds like the priorities of an exec car buyer to me.

It should be raw performance and handling first, quality and comfort (to a degree) second, you get the picture, I'm not saying race car hard jarring suspension, but the feel of a car is just as important as its straight line oomph, and I'm sorry none of the new stuff delivers that spark or excitement that the old school stuff does, and probably never will.

I do understand why people buy the Astra VXR; you gotta have the flashy bodykit and looks etc. But as for driver dynamics, you're paying a huge sum of money for something which is outdone massively in this department by a big percentage of older hot hatches, which are a fraction of the cost.

Please don't take this as me having a dig at the new crop of hot hatches. I didn't intend it to sound like that, they are good for what they are, but I can't stand by and listen to people disregard the Clio Sport because of its 'sub par' interior as you make out; as a drivers car they offer far more than any 1250kg+ bloated pimp mobile from mars with a good powerplant. Seriously, they will weigh more than a 5 series beemer soon, and then the 530d will make a better 'hot hatch' LOL, I'm only kidding here.

OK I don't wanna keep ranting on, that was just my two penneth and merely an opinion of mine, feel free to disagree, it is not intended as a 'dig' at anybody. If you are happy with an Astra VXR or Focus ST, then fair play to you, but some people are happy with the Clio 182/172, each car has its merits and bad points, just like anything else, and we should all appreciate the car we have instead of trying to insult each others purchase, because really we could all pull apart each others cars and say this and that, but it's just a pointless argument.