Forgiving Clutch? 182
Discussion
First post!
So I test drove a 182 the other day and noticed the clutch pedal was pretty tough, but the clutch itself was extremely forgiving. I wasn't used to the low inertia of the powertrain (flywheel upwards) and so on blipping for downshifts, the revs would dip below the gears rpm! Rather than the car lurching, the clutch just gobbled it up and everything was all dandy.
Is this normal? Because if the same happened in my Yaris TS, the engine would have eaten the car.
Also a side question, the 182 checks out HPI clear, but if it has had an accident in the past and was not written off, is there any way to know? Insurance companies note this down right?
Thanks
So I test drove a 182 the other day and noticed the clutch pedal was pretty tough, but the clutch itself was extremely forgiving. I wasn't used to the low inertia of the powertrain (flywheel upwards) and so on blipping for downshifts, the revs would dip below the gears rpm! Rather than the car lurching, the clutch just gobbled it up and everything was all dandy.
Is this normal? Because if the same happened in my Yaris TS, the engine would have eaten the car.
Also a side question, the 182 checks out HPI clear, but if it has had an accident in the past and was not written off, is there any way to know? Insurance companies note this down right?
Thanks
Clutches are pretty meaty on any MK3 Clio, the 182 more so. I'm not too hard on clutches myself but mine was faultless in 4 years of ownership. Exhausts are expensive and fronts tyres tend to fade off pretty quickly giving some 'exciting' torque steer. A brilliant car and you'll have loads of fun. I miss mine.
172/182 are known to have a heavy clutch. As to how robust it is I dunno, I suspect they are designed to take some stick!
RE rev-matching on down shifts you do have to allow for a slight delay on throttle response as its a drive by wire system. Becomes second nature once you get used to the car, I only noticed I had been doing it when I ran a cable throttle equipped S1 alongside a 172 Cup for a couple of months. Switching between the two cars I felt 'out of sync' on the first few down changes. So that may be part of what you were experiencing, if the delay on your Yaris is different (I presume it is drive by wire too).
RE rev-matching on down shifts you do have to allow for a slight delay on throttle response as its a drive by wire system. Becomes second nature once you get used to the car, I only noticed I had been doing it when I ran a cable throttle equipped S1 alongside a 172 Cup for a couple of months. Switching between the two cars I felt 'out of sync' on the first few down changes. So that may be part of what you were experiencing, if the delay on your Yaris is different (I presume it is drive by wire too).
R182 said:
Also a side question, the 182 checks out HPI clear, but if it has had an accident in the past and was not written off, is there any way to know? Insurance companies note this down right?
Plenty of cars out there have been in an accident and the insurance company have never got to know.All you can do is be as vigilant as possible.
John D. said:
172/182 are known to have a heavy clutch. As to how robust it is I dunno, I suspect they are designed to take some stick!
RE rev-matching on down shifts you do have to allow for a slight delay on throttle response as its a drive by wire system. Becomes second nature once you get used to the car, I only noticed I had been doing it when I ran a cable throttle equipped S1 alongside a 172 Cup for a couple of months. Switching between the two cars I felt 'out of sync' on the first few down changes. So that may be part of what you were experiencing, if the delay on your Yaris is different (I presume it is drive by wire too).
I expected the clutch to be heavier, but it was very manageable. As for blipping, if anything I was slower than the engine. In my Yaris, there's a delay in the engine revving up to speed because of the power/inertia combination, whereas the 182 is so fast. As I say though, the clutch was forgiving even if I was off by a good amount! RE rev-matching on down shifts you do have to allow for a slight delay on throttle response as its a drive by wire system. Becomes second nature once you get used to the car, I only noticed I had been doing it when I ran a cable throttle equipped S1 alongside a 172 Cup for a couple of months. Switching between the two cars I felt 'out of sync' on the first few down changes. So that may be part of what you were experiencing, if the delay on your Yaris is different (I presume it is drive by wire too).
rb5er said:
Plenty of cars out there have been in an accident and the insurance company have never got to know.
All you can do is be as vigilant as possible.
What if they do know though? I dunno why I am too worried, the car was tight and gave me nothing to worry about!All you can do is be as vigilant as possible.
Thanks guys
Just drove the car again, with 3 less people in the car and I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the power in the low band... It's pretty tame until you hit the upper limits. Bearing in mind I drive a Yaris TS, I expected to be blown away.
Also engine seemed to be tickering a bit with pretty much no rhythm, a mechanical sound. Should I be concerned?
Also the gearstick, what a rower! It's so soft and sloppy. Again, should this concern me?
Also engine seemed to be tickering a bit with pretty much no rhythm, a mechanical sound. Should I be concerned?
Also the gearstick, what a rower! It's so soft and sloppy. Again, should this concern me?
Edited by R182 on Wednesday 9th November 17:31
R182 said:
Just drove the car again, with 3 less people in the car and I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the power in the low band... It's pretty tame until you hit the upper limits. Bearing in mind I drive a Yaris TS, I expected to be blown away.
Also engine seemed to be tickering a bit with pretty much no rhythm, a mechanical sound. Should I be concerned?
Also the gearstick, what a rower! It's so soft and sloppy. Again, should this concern me?
You have exactly the same concerns as I had when I test drove my first 182. I too felt the car lacked a lot untill you got the 5k rpm kick. You can get a remap to give it a bit more grunt mid-range which helps a bit. The tickering is probably the dephaser pulley. Quite an expensive job - cambelt off etc which is an expensive job itself. What mileage was the car on. As for the greabox, no need to be concerned, typical French.Also engine seemed to be tickering a bit with pretty much no rhythm, a mechanical sound. Should I be concerned?
Also the gearstick, what a rower! It's so soft and sloppy. Again, should this concern me?
I ended up buying a 182 with 27,000 miles on the clock. You would not believe the difference between the one I bought and one I test drove. It is like two different cars. I came from a 300bhp MR2 and Turbo'd MX5 back to the Clio, and the Clio is by far the most fun I have had in a car in a long time. It is an outstanding little hothatch. Just make sure you buy one with plenty history and one with a recent cambelt & Aux kit change done at a specialist.
The one I'm most in interested in has done 37k, and the independent dealer is happy to swap both belts, though I'm not sure if that includes the tensioners and dephaser. I suspect that will get rid of the ticking/mechanical tapping sound if done right. Thing is they're not specialists so I am unsure of how well the job is done, I've heard it has to be perfectly precise, is this possible with specialist tools?
Also the exhaust has a similar mechanical tapping, I've heard exhaust mounts can cause this. Again no service work has been done yet, and they say it'll be checked when the time comes.
It also has 3 months warranty so if the timing is done badly I assume they'll have another look/cover expenses from a specialist....
Forgot to add that the engine tap was while it was cold. Forgot to check after I'd driven it a little.
Also the exhaust has a similar mechanical tapping, I've heard exhaust mounts can cause this. Again no service work has been done yet, and they say it'll be checked when the time comes.
It also has 3 months warranty so if the timing is done badly I assume they'll have another look/cover expenses from a specialist....
Forgot to add that the engine tap was while it was cold. Forgot to check after I'd driven it a little.
They're all lumpy on idle, if it sounds like a diesel then its the dephaser.
Theres not a lot of power below 5k but when your having fun your never below 5k anyway
Gear feel can be improved with polybushes and/or upgraded gear linkages/joint.
A remap can improve throttle response (you'll be over-reving on downshifts for a while)
ETA: If you can get money knocked off for the belts and get them done somewhere reputable.
Theres not a lot of power below 5k but when your having fun your never below 5k anyway
Gear feel can be improved with polybushes and/or upgraded gear linkages/joint.
A remap can improve throttle response (you'll be over-reving on downshifts for a while)
ETA: If you can get money knocked off for the belts and get them done somewhere reputable.
This particular example sounds more and more like a walk away candidate to me.
I owned a car that was involved in two accidents that was never recorded and never went near my insurance although was repaired faultlessly both times to an oe standard by the other party. Not uncommon and unless something is obviously wrong not something to worry too much about. Obviously be aware of shut lines, inner/outer wing joint, boot floor, overspray/crap paint, airbag lights and pretensioners etc. Quick little cars that are sometimes falling into the hands of fools so if it has been crashed bad repairs should be fairly obvious.
I owned a car that was involved in two accidents that was never recorded and never went near my insurance although was repaired faultlessly both times to an oe standard by the other party. Not uncommon and unless something is obviously wrong not something to worry too much about. Obviously be aware of shut lines, inner/outer wing joint, boot floor, overspray/crap paint, airbag lights and pretensioners etc. Quick little cars that are sometimes falling into the hands of fools so if it has been crashed bad repairs should be fairly obvious.
Gearbox's are s
te, almost as bad as my gf's old 206... Selecting gears should be a lottery!
Slow in the lower revs... Yes very! You have to be in the right gear otherwise the derv boys have a field day. Once you learn how to extract the best from the engine it's pretty easy to keep it there!
The clutch should be heavy and fairly on/off. A "forgiving" clutch sounds like a slippy clutch to me.
1*2's are fun little hatchbacks and I've said this before but... They're over rated IMO. Nearly a 10 year old French car and most are showing their age / fragility IMO.
te, almost as bad as my gf's old 206... Selecting gears should be a lottery! Slow in the lower revs... Yes very! You have to be in the right gear otherwise the derv boys have a field day. Once you learn how to extract the best from the engine it's pretty easy to keep it there!
The clutch should be heavy and fairly on/off. A "forgiving" clutch sounds like a slippy clutch to me.
1*2's are fun little hatchbacks and I've said this before but... They're over rated IMO. Nearly a 10 year old French car and most are showing their age / fragility IMO.
rb5er said:
R182 said:
Does anybody know what a subtle clicking on full lock indicates?
Possible knackered drive shaft unless someone knows better.I have a 182 FF which I love.
Thanks for the further comments guys. I eventually bought one from a guy at work, bit cheaper but had more miles on it. Engine sounded much better as it had the belt kits done, exhaust sounded fine too.
The clutch is also the same as the other, despite a difference of 20k miles. Pretty damn sure there's no clutch slip having tried a few WOT tests under diff. circumstances. Bite in 1st/rev is also pretty sharp. I guess the Yaris TS clutch behaves in a more no nonsense way, I think the springs fairly linear whereas the 182 isn't as much.
However with the clutch pedal depressed I have noticed a quiet, high freq. buzzing (almost constant pitch)... I didn't notice until a few days of driving. Sound familiar to anybody?
As for being overrated, I can't say I have a huge roster to compare to, but I'm pretty impressed at its stability. It's not a question of rubber either, their setup works nicely.
Thanks again for contributions.
The clutch is also the same as the other, despite a difference of 20k miles. Pretty damn sure there's no clutch slip having tried a few WOT tests under diff. circumstances. Bite in 1st/rev is also pretty sharp. I guess the Yaris TS clutch behaves in a more no nonsense way, I think the springs fairly linear whereas the 182 isn't as much.
However with the clutch pedal depressed I have noticed a quiet, high freq. buzzing (almost constant pitch)... I didn't notice until a few days of driving. Sound familiar to anybody?
As for being overrated, I can't say I have a huge roster to compare to, but I'm pretty impressed at its stability. It's not a question of rubber either, their setup works nicely.
Thanks again for contributions.
Edited by R182 on Sunday 20th November 20:31
iv owned mine for 2 years now. clutch pedals are rock hard. they just are. idle is abit lumpy, but renault just shrugged there shoulders and said, live with it. cam de phasers do go, but they sound like the end of the world when they go, later ones are infinately variable (197/200), and when they pop ,distroy everything, earlier ones move only about 16 degrees or similer. basicly there no worse or better than any hot hatch, providing its not been bummed by a dot com dhead. you should love yours. unusally for a car of that timeframe, its clutch cable.
head. you should love yours. unusally for a car of that timeframe, its clutch cable. 
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