182 as a daily driver
Discussion
HI all
I am considering a lot of different cars at the moment, one of them is the 182.
I am selling up my E36 M3 and looking to save money on insurance and travelling as:
a) I will be doing about 300 miles a week and
b) My mortgage rate has just ended
I think back to a hatch would suit me more, I was looking at saloons (Alfas and the like) and also diesels but to be honest I think diesels are too much of a jump from an M3 and saloons are not as practical for lugging bass amps and the like around in.
So, are the 182s a consideration? Are they comfortable, reliable (I had French for years so know the pitfalls, but thinking about engine etc) good mpg and able to be floored to good effect every now and then or am I looking at the wrong car?
Many thanks
I am considering a lot of different cars at the moment, one of them is the 182.
I am selling up my E36 M3 and looking to save money on insurance and travelling as:
a) I will be doing about 300 miles a week and
b) My mortgage rate has just ended
I think back to a hatch would suit me more, I was looking at saloons (Alfas and the like) and also diesels but to be honest I think diesels are too much of a jump from an M3 and saloons are not as practical for lugging bass amps and the like around in.
So, are the 182s a consideration? Are they comfortable, reliable (I had French for years so know the pitfalls, but thinking about engine etc) good mpg and able to be floored to good effect every now and then or am I looking at the wrong car?
Many thanks
No not at all the clio is an amazing car, I have now owned mine for about 6 months and loved it.
Now for the gritty bits.
Search around there are loads and loads on the market.
Spend some money once obtained to fix anything that crops up.
Bear in mind cambelt changes are VERY expensive find your self a good mechanic that will do it for a good price as not many will even entertain the job.
Wheel bearings as I have just found out go on them still and my word do they make a noise when they do. Cost me £60 fitted so not bad.
I travel about 60 miles a day to work on back roads and dont hang around. I average on the computer 35-38 mtg so your looking in real terms about 32-35 mtg which aint bad.
I am actualy looking at selling mine this december to make way for an S3 or CTR. The only reason I am doing this is I need more room in my daily and I WILL miss the clio badly.
Would I advise you to buy a clio 182 hell yeah. If you would like a drive of my 172 and live near ipswich you are welcome to try it out and give it a blat.
Now for the gritty bits.
Search around there are loads and loads on the market.
Spend some money once obtained to fix anything that crops up.
Bear in mind cambelt changes are VERY expensive find your self a good mechanic that will do it for a good price as not many will even entertain the job.
Wheel bearings as I have just found out go on them still and my word do they make a noise when they do. Cost me £60 fitted so not bad.
I travel about 60 miles a day to work on back roads and dont hang around. I average on the computer 35-38 mtg so your looking in real terms about 32-35 mtg which aint bad.
I am actualy looking at selling mine this december to make way for an S3 or CTR. The only reason I am doing this is I need more room in my daily and I WILL miss the clio badly.
Would I advise you to buy a clio 182 hell yeah. If you would like a drive of my 172 and live near ipswich you are welcome to try it out and give it a blat.
Great reply thanks, just the info I was looking for. Thanks for the offer of the 172 tryout, bit of a distance away or I'd have taken you up on it.
The servicing on the M3 is quite frightening when it gets to inspection 2, last one cost £600 so as long as it's less than that on the 182 that would be fine. Do you recommend keeping up the Renault history and is the ride reasonably comfortable?
The servicing on the M3 is quite frightening when it gets to inspection 2, last one cost £600 so as long as it's less than that on the 182 that would be fine. Do you recommend keeping up the Renault history and is the ride reasonably comfortable?
Good choice in my opinion, I use mine daily and average about 250 miles a week, petrol i average about 28-32mpg which i don't consider bad and servicing can be reasonably cheap if you find a good a specialist.
I've got the trophy and that has the hardest ride of them all but even this is still comfortable for daily sitting in traffic driving.
In my experience reliability is good it's just niggly little bits which is just french cars which you say you have experience with.
I've got the trophy and that has the hardest ride of them all but even this is still comfortable for daily sitting in traffic driving.
In my experience reliability is good it's just niggly little bits which is just french cars which you say you have experience with.
MrGman said:
Good choice in my opinion, I use mine daily and average about 250 miles a week, petrol i average about 28-32mpg which i don't consider bad and servicing can be reasonably cheap if you find a good a specialist.
I am glad someone agrees, my brain keeps telling me VAG diesel or something similar but my heart is longing to a fun hatch once more (I recently sold my project 205 Gti) and, perhaps rose tinted specs too as I loved the 306 dturbo and the big lump 309 I had before that.Most of the mileage I'll be doing is NSL on dual carriageway and long, long straights so I'd hope for about 35mpg to make it worth my while. I think I am talking myself into it!
We all talk our selfs into stuff!!!
35mpg is easily acheivable, i drive on a variety of roads at quiet times so i'm always driving quite briskly to say the least.
I looked at vag diesels once as i know where your coming from on that one but i think you'd very soon get bored of one, well i think i would, false economy!
35mpg is easily acheivable, i drive on a variety of roads at quiet times so i'm always driving quite briskly to say the least.
I looked at vag diesels once as i know where your coming from on that one but i think you'd very soon get bored of one, well i think i would, false economy!
Sambam said:
MrGman said:
Good choice in my opinion, I use mine daily and average about 250 miles a week, petrol i average about 28-32mpg which i don't consider bad and servicing can be reasonably cheap if you find a good a specialist.
I am glad someone agrees, my brain keeps telling me VAG diesel or something similar but my heart is longing to a fun hatch once more Dift said:
Sambam said:
MrGman said:
Good choice in my opinion, I use mine daily and average about 250 miles a week, petrol i average about 28-32mpg which i don't consider bad and servicing can be reasonably cheap if you find a good a specialist.
I am glad someone agrees, my brain keeps telling me VAG diesel or something similar but my heart is longing to a fun hatch once more See, there I go again, talking myself out of a reliable, solid German engineered piece of machinery and into another French tin can!
I'd say the Ibiza was the other end, and the Fabia in the middle.
A3 comfy, fabia slightly quicker and less comfy, ibiza quicker again, and even less comfy
(i suspect the fabia is better quality than the ibiza, although mine has no rattles and is solid)
You should be able to get an early 54 Cupra for 6k if you look around.
A3 comfy, fabia slightly quicker and less comfy, ibiza quicker again, and even less comfy
(i suspect the fabia is better quality than the ibiza, although mine has no rattles and is solid)You should be able to get an early 54 Cupra for 6k if you look around.
Edited by Dift on Monday 17th November 21:07
Dift said:
I'd say the Ibiza was the other end, and the Fabia in the middle.
You have surprised me there, I had thought the Seat would be the better car from a quality point of view. The Fabia interior could only ever be described as dull, even by the most optimistic of people. So with the Ibiza, are you paying the premium for the performance? Its a car I have never even glimpsed into the window of before to be honest.S/H yes I would and if you find yourself a good garage it does not work out to bad.
Comfort, they are all realy good tbh but the best is the stock 182 dont go for the cups or the tropheys.
Things that will miff you off but you learn to live with them are:
Auto wind screen wipers sound fun and cool but they aint
G boys trying it on ALL the time
Immobiliser can be tricky as
Switch under passenger seat needs a tap once in awhile
Rain will become your nemesis
All in all great cars I shall miss mine like mad when it goes.
The Fabias are real nice I had a Fabia Vrs and loved it in a straight line give it a corner and the thing would not go round it.
Comfort, they are all realy good tbh but the best is the stock 182 dont go for the cups or the tropheys.
Things that will miff you off but you learn to live with them are:
Auto wind screen wipers sound fun and cool but they aint
G boys trying it on ALL the time
Immobiliser can be tricky as
Switch under passenger seat needs a tap once in awhile
Rain will become your nemesis
All in all great cars I shall miss mine like mad when it goes.
The Fabias are real nice I had a Fabia Vrs and loved it in a straight line give it a corner and the thing would not go round it.
Sambam said:
Dift said:
I'd say the Ibiza was the other end, and the Fabia in the middle.
You have surprised me there, I had thought the Seat would be the better car from a quality point of view. The Fabia interior could only ever be described as dull, even by the most optimistic of people. So with the Ibiza, are you paying the premium for the performance? Its a car I have never even glimpsed into the window of before to be honest.Just to add to the bad points, I hate the seats in the 182: really unsupportive and uncomfortable after about three hours. I bought some Recaro Trendlines for my 182 and they're a big improvement in comfort and support, as well as sitting slightly lower. The driving position overall is pretty awful though.
I'd also go for the full-fat version (not Cup). The xenons, cruise control and speed limiter are well worth it over the weight saving of the Cup version. I've got both Cup packs and find the ride pretty supple, but I do tend to crawl over speed humps and avoid potholes.
Other than that, lots of grip, quick, fun to drive and rewarding in a frisky, old-school manner, yet pretty economical when you tickle along. Trophys are so cheap at the moment, if i was buying now, i'd look at one of those.
I'd also go for the full-fat version (not Cup). The xenons, cruise control and speed limiter are well worth it over the weight saving of the Cup version. I've got both Cup packs and find the ride pretty supple, but I do tend to crawl over speed humps and avoid potholes.
Other than that, lots of grip, quick, fun to drive and rewarding in a frisky, old-school manner, yet pretty economical when you tickle along. Trophys are so cheap at the moment, if i was buying now, i'd look at one of those.
I had a Clio 172 for 2 years and just swapped from a Lotus Elise to a Clio 182 recently.
Servcing.
Dead cheap, even the dreaded cambelt (due 5 years or 72k) is only £600 odd quid. Keep in mind that the cambelt will be due for any 2004 model next year as will be 5 years old. Most services 12,24,48k miles are around £250 at thats at a dealer!
MPG.
Around 35 mostly, although people seem to get better and worse than that.
Specification
What I would suggest is that you look at ones with the cup packs. Its a standard sport (xenons, half leather, cruise control, auto wippers, TC & ESP etc) but with the nicer (darker) cup alloys, cup suspension and slightly larger cup spoiler with a splitter. You'll find that most cars have these two cup packs and ones without tend to be a bit cheaper.
Only problem is that they are popular with chavs. I struggled for quite a while to find a decent one that hadn't been owned by one.
Servcing.
Dead cheap, even the dreaded cambelt (due 5 years or 72k) is only £600 odd quid. Keep in mind that the cambelt will be due for any 2004 model next year as will be 5 years old. Most services 12,24,48k miles are around £250 at thats at a dealer!
MPG.
Around 35 mostly, although people seem to get better and worse than that.
Specification
What I would suggest is that you look at ones with the cup packs. Its a standard sport (xenons, half leather, cruise control, auto wippers, TC & ESP etc) but with the nicer (darker) cup alloys, cup suspension and slightly larger cup spoiler with a splitter. You'll find that most cars have these two cup packs and ones without tend to be a bit cheaper.
Only problem is that they are popular with chavs. I struggled for quite a while to find a decent one that hadn't been owned by one.
Had a 172 for a few months now, had a few little niggles with it (supposed to have been done by place I bought it from..... not going back there...)
Ive put Eibach sportline springs on it - a tiny bit stiffer - and use it as my daily. Its such fun my missus nicks it to go to work in as well!
There are plenty about, and as said, if the mileage or age looks like it needs belts, get em done.
Ive put Eibach sportline springs on it - a tiny bit stiffer - and use it as my daily. Its such fun my missus nicks it to go to work in as well!
There are plenty about, and as said, if the mileage or age looks like it needs belts, get em done.
bones33 said:
Comfort, they are all realy good tbh but the best is the stock 182 dont go for the cups or the tropheys.
I couldn't disagree more. The standard 182/172 have poorer body control, with no imprvment in ride quality. As for the Trophy, fantastic car, a completely different beast to the other models in the range. http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Re...
An extract: "Lowered and stiffened are not words you would normally associate with improved handling on UK roads, but the Clio Trophy is a car with so much damping sophistication that it achieves the impossible. It rolls less than the Cup, has less suspension travel at the front, and yet it rides fully 30 per cent better than that car."
It would make a perfect daily driver in my opinion.
The best model is the trophy. You get all of the toys but also the best suspension setup (sachs dampers). The 182 cup is a token gesture, I think it lost 20kg of weight compared to the normal 182 along with all of the extras. the normal 182 also has a nicer interior over the cup. If you want a proper light weight version you need to get the 172 cup.
Servicing is easy; the only thing that needs a mechanic to do is the cambelt / aux belt stuff; this is an expensive job as its a tight fit under the bonnet and its a time consuming task to do; expect to pay about £450 for it.
Everything else can be done by yourself for a fraction of the cost if you have a basic tool kit. If you don't it's no big deal anyway; certainly going to be less than the M3.
you will easily get 35mpg out of it.
I currently have a 172 cup and its a brilliant little car; costs nothing to run, gives brilliant mpg even when you want to drive it like you have just stolen it.
Get one
The best model is the trophy. You get all of the toys but also the best suspension setup (sachs dampers). The 182 cup is a token gesture, I think it lost 20kg of weight compared to the normal 182 along with all of the extras. the normal 182 also has a nicer interior over the cup. If you want a proper light weight version you need to get the 172 cup.
Servicing is easy; the only thing that needs a mechanic to do is the cambelt / aux belt stuff; this is an expensive job as its a tight fit under the bonnet and its a time consuming task to do; expect to pay about £450 for it.
Everything else can be done by yourself for a fraction of the cost if you have a basic tool kit. If you don't it's no big deal anyway; certainly going to be less than the M3.
you will easily get 35mpg out of it.
I currently have a 172 cup and its a brilliant little car; costs nothing to run, gives brilliant mpg even when you want to drive it like you have just stolen it.
Get one
Well, I did get one in the end. Its a vanilla 182 bought at the right price (got £2k off the asking price).
Had it for a week now and I have to say I am really enjoying it. There is something "young" feeling about bouncing round in a little hatch that I had forgot about after driving larger motors for a bit.
Initially everything said is pretty true, coming from 2 German cars the build quality is pretty shocking but it handles wonderfully, pulls nicely and I personally find the seats really comfortable. I can imagine having quite a blast on clear roads in it, unlike the M3, it feels nice and nippy when doing the lower speeds, the M3 is just warming up at 70 whilst 40 can feel quite exhilarating in the 182.
I am averaging 32 mpg around town and 39 on the longer runs so I am pleased with that, especially with fuel coming down in price.
So far, so good!
Had it for a week now and I have to say I am really enjoying it. There is something "young" feeling about bouncing round in a little hatch that I had forgot about after driving larger motors for a bit.
Initially everything said is pretty true, coming from 2 German cars the build quality is pretty shocking but it handles wonderfully, pulls nicely and I personally find the seats really comfortable. I can imagine having quite a blast on clear roads in it, unlike the M3, it feels nice and nippy when doing the lower speeds, the M3 is just warming up at 70 whilst 40 can feel quite exhilarating in the 182.
I am averaging 32 mpg around town and 39 on the longer runs so I am pleased with that, especially with fuel coming down in price.
So far, so good!
Gassing Station | French Bred | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff