10th Mar 2003, 09:55

A follow-up to my post of 31st. January and a response to the comments thereafter.

I've now had my Clio 172 Cup for about a month and am very pleased with it. I've certainly not had any problems with excessive feedback, movement or vibration through the steering as the earlier poster describes. In fact it barely tramlines at all compared to my Megane 2.0 16V Coupe. I am still running-in though so I can't claim to have taken mine up above 60MPH... Yet :-) As the original poster goes on to point out, perhaps there's some further damage that needs sorting to correct this problem.

Looking at the thread relating to the standard 172 I see various comments about rattles and rear brake binding. My Cup definitely rattles, but, to be fair, at the end of the day it is still a Clio; so despite Renault's improved build quality over the last decade or so rattles are to be expected. Yes, I have found my rear brakes binding when first releasing the handbrake from cold, but both my Megane and previous Clio 16V suffered from this phenomenon so I've learned to live with it.

For me, the fun factor outweighs the minor niggles by far.

27th Mar 2003, 16:11

Just to follow on from the previous two posts, a few more differences between the Clio 172 Cup and the standard 172:

The Cup is also slightly lower due to a different spring/damper setup. The steering and chassis have been tweaked, making the car feel more "pointy" if you know what I mean. Apparently the engine management system has also been modified to improve responsiveness. The big difference about the brakes is that there's no ABS so they've been adjusted to make them feel more progressive to help avoid potential lock-ups if braking heavily at speed.

There are also different tyres (supposedly capable of sustaining higher loads) and a few internal and external differences to the trim - deeper front dam, pronounced roof "spoiler" and a few bits of body coloured aluminium dotted around the cabin. Some of the sound-proofing has also been taken out to save a little more weight.

Oh, and you can order your Clio Cup in any colour you like as long as it's blue!

As to purchase price and insurance cost, all I can say is it's definitely worth shopping around. I got £1500 off the price of my 172 Cup by searching for no more than 5 minutes on the Internet.

Whether you choose the standard 172 or the Cup, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

2nd May 2003, 04:46

Hey guys.

I have just ordered a 172 Cup last week, and I'm expecting delivery of it on the 19th of this month.

Got the car brand new with a Renault warranty for £11,499.00.

I have been in the car and test driven it, and I have to say, my last car was a BMW convertible 2.5L, and this Clio kills it!!

Don't worry about no air con, come on, we live in England, when is the sun out!!! The car is standard, but that also means you can personalise it as much as you like!!!

Have fun. Will let you know how mine is when I get it!!

12th May 2003, 12:28

Hi Guys.

I pick up my Cup back in Sept 02 and it's a fabulous car...

I have done 7k miles and had to replace the front set of tyres (£59 each) I promised myself that I wouldn't modify my car for 6 months, have any of you guys made any mods to your cars, if so what?????? as I keep hearing about different places that do different things, but I would prefer to know someone who has actually done it.

9th Jun 2003, 04:58

Guys.

I am shortly about to place my order for a 172 Cup after test driving one at the local dealership.

I will add at this point that both of my previous two cars have been the latest shape Clio's, both of which have had various faults. Indeed in my current car I found 14 pints of water had leaked through the rear window into the spare wheel tray! Needless to say I've been back so many times I'm on first name terms with the entire service department!

To add to a previous comment, both cars have had windows that 'clicked' once they reached the bottom, I think the window hits the seal on the door.

But hey it's a Renault! And I'm afraid I'm hooked on the Clio.

The new car is due in September and I've also specified climate control, which is a new option. As for the insurance its not as bad as you might think, though as I'm under 25 its still a small fortune, even with 5 years no claims.

Roll on September.

22nd Jul 2003, 08:03

Hi.

I need some advice! I'm thinking about buying a 172 CUP, but I'm worried that it hasn't got the ABS braking system. How does it affect the handling of the car especially driving in winter? I'm really debating whether to go for the straight 172 instead, but the CUP looks so good!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

25th Jul 2003, 09:02

Regarding the lack of ABS on the Clio Cup, this is a sticking point for me too. I've got a 2000 Clio RSi at the moment and I find that the ABS kicks in regularly. I'm afraid that if I buy the Cup I will be dead within a couple of days!

I think maybe we're getting soft nowadays, but it is a very fast car and I'd like to think that I could stop it in an emergency.

1st Aug 2003, 18:16

Hi all.

I'm just about to order my new Clio 172 cup, but I've heard from different people that it is really sore on petrol. Obviously this depends how you drive, but I was just wondering how you guys found the fuel consumption.

Cheers.

16th Aug 2003, 07:31

To reply to the last three posters, fear not about the lack of ABS. The brakes (whilst remaining very powerful) have been tweked on the Cup to be more progressive than the standard 172's in order to help prevent potential lock-ups. I admit I haven't driven mine in winter yet, but I'd suspect wheelspin to be more of an issue then as the Cup does seem to need quite high revs to get going.

Fuel economy is actually very good for a car of this performance (I achieve around 25mpg in town and much better at motorway cruising speeds) - remember, the Cup is a lot lighter than the standard 172 so economy should be improved. Of course, when you take it to the track and really wind it up the fuel economy goes out of the window; but that is what the Cup was made for, it's a racer at heart and ideally should spend a good proportion of its time taking chequered flags rather than kids to/from school or groceries back from the shops :-)