clio trophy 220, purchase advice please
Discussion
Hi chaps
im keen to buy a small super mini - my panda is too slow but a perfect size.
Looking at a clio 220, the reviews are mixed from what research i have done.
for driving around sw18 and generally having fun in, while being 5 door and 5 seats,
will it fit the bill? is there anything else i should consider?
Thank you in advance
im keen to buy a small super mini - my panda is too slow but a perfect size.
Looking at a clio 220, the reviews are mixed from what research i have done.
for driving around sw18 and generally having fun in, while being 5 door and 5 seats,
will it fit the bill? is there anything else i should consider?
Thank you in advance
I ordered a 220 Trophy (with Trophy seats) between Christmas and new year and it arrived in April. I bought it to replace my Megane 250 Cup which I've had from new for nearly 6 years.
I considered loads of other cars (Leon Cupra, Focus RS, Mustang V8, Lotus Elise), but eventually decided that I didn't want to spent Leon/Focus money on the car and that given the narrow lanes where I live, I'd be better off with something smaller than the Mustang and more usable everyday than the Elise. I've got a Caterham too which gets weekend and trackday use so the new car was intended mostly as a road car.
I test drove the 220 before buying and thought it felt very much like a smaller Megane (good thing!). I left the gearbox in auto and was genuinely impressed with it and ordered the car that day.
Fast forward to now, I've just come back from Le Mans in it and I've got just over 2000 miles on the clock. The gearbox takes a bit of getting used to, just because I've never driven an auto before and you need to learn how to make the most of it. I tend to leave it in normal/auto most of the time on dual carriageways and in traffic - occasionally switching into sport on roundabouts if I need to get out into a space (and don't want stop-start to cut in!). Originally I hardly used the paddles to change gear at all, but I'm finding I use them quite a bit when it comes to overtaking now - and then leaving the car to switch back to auto on it's own once the overtake is done.
On a good road I'll tend to stick it in sport/manual or race. It covers ground very quickly and apart form the smoother mid-range I haven't noticed it any slower than the Megane - the numbers on the dash stack up pretty quickly! Ride wise, it's firmer than the Megane at low speeds, but seems to smooth out bumps better at high speeds. It also feels more grippy in corners thanks to the PSS tyres. Worth noting too that I'm enjoying not having an LSD in it. I've had no issues with the inner wheel spinning up and it just feels more "real" when you're really throwing it through a corner whereas in the Megane you could feel the LSD working (which is nice, but it does corrupt the steering feel - I'd still always spec and LSD on a RWD car though).
I see Renault now have the Ph2 MK4 on the horizon and given they've now added a manual to the GT they might well offer it on the Clio too. Would I tick the manual box if ordering a new car? I'm not sure! The EDC is brilliant in the 220 and for a daily driver the auto is very useful when stuck in traffic on the M4. The shifts are instant in sport/race too, it's clearly faster than I could shift in a manual and does give that race car feel when you're flicking through the gears. I'm not convinced it does take away from the experience.
Interior wise I was impressed by the car. The plastics are far nicer than in the MK3 Megane and the seats are just as supportive as my old Recaros. RLink is pretty good too but the speakers are just as useless as the Megane and seem to lack the midrange needed to really hear the music.
I'm really happy with the car though and haven't missed the Megane one bit.
My advice would be to go and test drive one. Renault Cardiff had one in stock and most RS Specialists should have one for you to drive.
Anyway, quick pic of the car parked up on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans:
https://goo.gl/photos/MSYVDacX5BjbGd5x9
I considered loads of other cars (Leon Cupra, Focus RS, Mustang V8, Lotus Elise), but eventually decided that I didn't want to spent Leon/Focus money on the car and that given the narrow lanes where I live, I'd be better off with something smaller than the Mustang and more usable everyday than the Elise. I've got a Caterham too which gets weekend and trackday use so the new car was intended mostly as a road car.
I test drove the 220 before buying and thought it felt very much like a smaller Megane (good thing!). I left the gearbox in auto and was genuinely impressed with it and ordered the car that day.
Fast forward to now, I've just come back from Le Mans in it and I've got just over 2000 miles on the clock. The gearbox takes a bit of getting used to, just because I've never driven an auto before and you need to learn how to make the most of it. I tend to leave it in normal/auto most of the time on dual carriageways and in traffic - occasionally switching into sport on roundabouts if I need to get out into a space (and don't want stop-start to cut in!). Originally I hardly used the paddles to change gear at all, but I'm finding I use them quite a bit when it comes to overtaking now - and then leaving the car to switch back to auto on it's own once the overtake is done.
On a good road I'll tend to stick it in sport/manual or race. It covers ground very quickly and apart form the smoother mid-range I haven't noticed it any slower than the Megane - the numbers on the dash stack up pretty quickly! Ride wise, it's firmer than the Megane at low speeds, but seems to smooth out bumps better at high speeds. It also feels more grippy in corners thanks to the PSS tyres. Worth noting too that I'm enjoying not having an LSD in it. I've had no issues with the inner wheel spinning up and it just feels more "real" when you're really throwing it through a corner whereas in the Megane you could feel the LSD working (which is nice, but it does corrupt the steering feel - I'd still always spec and LSD on a RWD car though).
I see Renault now have the Ph2 MK4 on the horizon and given they've now added a manual to the GT they might well offer it on the Clio too. Would I tick the manual box if ordering a new car? I'm not sure! The EDC is brilliant in the 220 and for a daily driver the auto is very useful when stuck in traffic on the M4. The shifts are instant in sport/race too, it's clearly faster than I could shift in a manual and does give that race car feel when you're flicking through the gears. I'm not convinced it does take away from the experience.
Interior wise I was impressed by the car. The plastics are far nicer than in the MK3 Megane and the seats are just as supportive as my old Recaros. RLink is pretty good too but the speakers are just as useless as the Megane and seem to lack the midrange needed to really hear the music.
I'm really happy with the car though and haven't missed the Megane one bit.
My advice would be to go and test drive one. Renault Cardiff had one in stock and most RS Specialists should have one for you to drive.
Anyway, quick pic of the car parked up on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans:
https://goo.gl/photos/MSYVDacX5BjbGd5x9
I placed on order for a liquid Yellow with the trophy seats back at the end of April.
Its a fun little car and had me hooked the moment i finished the test drive!! Ignore the hate the press has given it and go in with an open mind.
one thing i found with the test drives was the dealers reluctance to go further than 5 miles, push to take the car further as you cant get a feeling for the car and the interior on such a short journey!!
Its a fun little car and had me hooked the moment i finished the test drive!! Ignore the hate the press has given it and go in with an open mind.
one thing i found with the test drives was the dealers reluctance to go further than 5 miles, push to take the car further as you cant get a feeling for the car and the interior on such a short journey!!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I still laugh out loud at full throttle - it's a fun car to drive 
I think the generally negative response from the press has been because of how much the old 200 was loved. This is a different car entirely but it's so much more usable everyday. I'm sure the Fiesta ST is great (I had the previous model), but it seems it's always quite lively to drive, while the 220T is much more of a 2 character car. Calm and quiet when you're just pootling and very sharp and quick when you start pushing it - which suits me much better.
EDIT:
Just to add, given the Megane I had before the Clio gets praised as being the best hatch around, I'm enjoying the Clio just as much, so that has to say something about it!
I think the generally negative response from the press has been because of how much the old 200 was loved. This is a different car entirely but it's so much more usable everyday. I'm sure the Fiesta ST is great (I had the previous model), but it seems it's always quite lively to drive, while the 220T is much more of a 2 character car. Calm and quiet when you're just pootling and very sharp and quick when you start pushing it - which suits me much better.
EDIT:
Just to add, given the Megane I had before the Clio gets praised as being the best hatch around, I'm enjoying the Clio just as much, so that has to say something about it!
Edited by framerateuk on Friday 1st July 13:01
abidr500 said:
Hi chaps
im keen to buy a small super mini - my panda is too slow but a perfect size.
Looking at a clio 220, the reviews are mixed from what research i have done.
for driving around sw18 and generally having fun in, while being 5 door and 5 seats,
will it fit the bill? is there anything else i should consider?
Thank you in advance
Yes there is something else you should consider, the Peugeot 308 GTI 270 by PS.im keen to buy a small super mini - my panda is too slow but a perfect size.
Looking at a clio 220, the reviews are mixed from what research i have done.
for driving around sw18 and generally having fun in, while being 5 door and 5 seats,
will it fit the bill? is there anything else i should consider?
Thank you in advance
Its 5 door, a fantastic 1.6ltr engine producing 270bhp, plenty of boot space and you can pick them up for silly money on delivery mileage!! (even with 3-4k on the clock you can get them for around 20k!).
These also come fully loaded with reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, electric folding mirrors, sat nav, dab radio etc and those fantastic 380mm Alcon 4 pot brakes and front LSD (not available on the 250 version).
Its one you should look at.
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