182 cup's

[NASH81]

Just wanted to know if anyone thiks a 182 cup's is a 'chavs' car for 18-21 year olds ? i have just bought one and im 27 my missus reckons that im an idiot!!! please reasure me that she is wrong and it is just a lovely little pocket rocket!!!

[Steve Evil]

Provided it's relatively standard then I say it's cool, looking at 172 cups at the moment myself as I figure they've got to be cheaper to run than my MR2, even taking the legendary French build quality into consideration.

[NASH81]

yeah im a bit scared of this reliability issue! but i suppose if you service regular and look after it i cant see it being too bad!?

[bones33]

If you spend money on it and keep it in top condition then it will be fine.

IMO they are not chav cars the biggest chav cars are the moment are 3 serries BMWs

[John D.]

Why is everything 'chav' these days? Starting to do my nut (no offence to the OP).

Yes I do have a Clio before you ask Nearly 26, had it for 3yrs. Could'nt really give a toss if it does'nt fit some rule as to what I should drive.

Steve Evil said:

Provided it's relatively standard then I say it's cool, looking at 172 cups at the moment myself as I figure they've got to be cheaper to run than my MR2, even taking the legendary French build quality into consideration.

Legendary French build quality has proved pretty decent on my 172 Cup. Only expensive thing to expire was the exhaust back box (it fell off!). The interior has disintergrated somewhat but I did'nt buy it for that. The car has never let me down and has sustained some pretty serious use without complaint. For the performance they are incredibly cheap to run.

[Steve Evil]

John D. said:

Why is everything 'chav' these days? Starting to do my nut (no offence to the OP).

Yes I do have a Clio before you ask Nearly 26, had it for 3yrs. Could'nt really give a toss if it does'nt fit some rule as to what I should drive.

Steve Evil said:

Provided it's relatively standard then I say it's cool, looking at 172 cups at the moment myself as I figure they've got to be cheaper to run than my MR2, even taking the legendary French build quality into consideration.

Legendary French build quality has proved pretty decent on my 172 Cup. Only expensive thing to expire was the exhaust back box (it fell off!). The interior has disintergrated somewhat but I did'nt buy it for that. The car has never let me down and has sustained some pretty serious use without complaint. For the performance they are incredibly cheap to run.

Good to hear and well worth considering then, I have heard that the exhausts on these tend to be made of cheese, and that aftermarket ones are usually just as cheap as OEM ones, so probably worth going for.

[John D.]

Steve Evil said:

Good to hear and well worth considering then, I have heard that the exhausts on these tend to be made of cheese, and that aftermarket ones are usually just as cheap as OEM ones, so probably worth going for.

Thats correct. The OE exhausts often don't last past 40k (mine dropped off around 35k IIRC). Replaced it with a custom stainless cat-back 'stealth' (hidden behind bumper as OE) from Pro-speed in Cardiff for £300. Lifetime guarantee. Job done!

Definately worth looking at these cars. I've had so much fun in mine. Can embarass a lot of much more powerfull and expensive cars with ease. They are seriously cheap now too. There are a few known issues/common problems that you should be aware of - do a search on here, theres a few threads where they've been listed in the past.

[OllieTrophy]

i have owned my 182 Trophy for two years and very little has gone wrong, the O2 sensor and abs brake switch (both fixed under warranty).
If your going to look at taking it on track then deffo upgrade the brakes, most owners go for Brembo HC or MAX discs on front with ds2500 pads all round and braided hoses. Standard discs on rear are usually fine.
Make sure you hunt around for a good one and check belts done on time!

[B.J.W]

OllieTrophy said:

i have owned my 182 Trophy for two years and very little has gone wrong, the O2 sensor and abs brake switch (both fixed under warranty).
If your going to look at taking it on track then deffo upgrade the brakes, most owners go for Brembo HC or MAX discs on front with ds2500 pads all round and braided hoses. Standard discs on rear are usually fine.
Make sure you hunt around for a good one and check belts done on time!

Agree with the brakes. I uprated the fronts on my 172 Cup to Brembos, with a decent set of pads all round, and the stopping power, and the confidence I have in the car as a result, is much improved. I am 34 and have owned my Cup for 3 years. I do not consider the Renault Sport Clios to be chavvy (although it is unavoidable that more will fall into the hands of the boy racer brigade as prices drop). What I do consider mine to be is a supremely capable point to pointer which never fails to put a smile on my face when I am pressing on.

I have made a few subtle modifications to mine which you might want to consider.

Re-Map - Ok, so you are not going to get the improvements that you would get on a Turbo car, but don't underestimate the improvements that you get with the Clio. I have always considered 2nd gear in the 172/182's to be too short, particularly when cornering fast as the rev limiter comes up too soon. The re-map gives you much more flexibility and 70mph can be hit in 2nd with the modifications if you really need to. Equally, the extra 1000rpm you get takes your limiter up to an impressive 7800rpm. Acceleration and mid range flexibility is better and on a recent twisty road run I barely needed to change up to 4th at all. Difficult to quote actual performance figures, but I have conducted an informal timing and the 0-60 time was around the 5.5 second mark. Putting this into context, there is dual carriage way run near to me that is used by a lot of people as a benchmark for car acceleration. It is an uphill stretch, the finishing point being an overbridge. A friend of mine has a standard Focus ST and hits the bridge just shy of 100mph, The Clio will be going some 10mph faster.

Fit a decent exhaust. The standard Clio systems are not much cop and I replaced mine when the back box fell off (as stated above, a common problem). I had one built as I did not want to have the tailpipe drop below the bumper line. Everything looks standard until you fire it up and when all hell breaks loose at 5500 RPM

Suspension/Dampers. I have an adjustable kit fitted front and rear. The car has been lowered ever so slightly (barely noticeable) which gives me a little more tautness but I now run with a softer set up via the adjustable dampers. Some might say that this detracts from the deliberately hard suspension that the Cups are supposed to have. My view is that the actual driveability of the car has been improved a fair bit. The roads around my way are not the best and caused me a fair few problems with pitching when driving over average road surfaces and potholes. This is something you may want to look at because the Cups can be a bit unpredictable on poorly tarmaced (which seems to be most of our roads these days) surfaces.

Other than that, and a decent air filter, the car is standard and looks standard. Hard pushed to find another 4-5k car that offers as much performance and fun for the money. Build quality ain't the best - my front offside bumper paint has 'crazed' a little, and the front end seems to pick up stone chips all to easily, but when the day comes to sell it will be a sad one.

HTH

BJW

[mrben]

I have a clio 182 cup and they are not chavy at all ! As long as you dont make it look like you have crashed in to a halfords store !

[Mag1calTrev0r]

Forgive me, as I'm sure it's probably been answered a million times, but can somebody clarify my understand of the 172/182 range.

Am I right in saying that there are:

• 172
• 172 with Cup pack
• 172 Cup
• 182
• 182 with optional Cup packs (2 different packs)
• 182 Trophy

So there isn't a 'proper' 182 Cup? Just a 182 with 1 or 2 cup packs therefore having ABS, Aircon, Part Leather.
I'm toying with the idea of a 'proper' Cup for a track toy so I don't care for ABS, Aircon, Leather seats or anything like that as it's all going to be stripped out.

[John D.]

Mag1calTrev0r said:

Forgive me, as I'm sure it's probably been answered a million times, but can somebody clarify my understand of the 172/182 range.

Am I right in saying that there are:

• Phase 1 172 (pre-facelift)
• 172
• 172 with Cup pack
• 172 Cup
• 182
• 182 with optional Cup packs (2 different packs)
• 182 Cup
• 182 Trophy

I've edited your post to show the actual range of 172/182s' that was available. Basically 'Cup packs' were not invented until the 182 came along.

Mag1calTrev0r said:

So there isn't a 'proper' 182 Cup? Just a 182 with 1 or 2 cup packs therefore having ABS, Aircon, Part Leather.
I'm toying with the idea of a 'proper' Cup for a track toy so I don't care for ABS, Aircon, Leather seats or anything like that as it's all going to be stripped out.

No there was a 182 Cup offered. The general consensus was it was a bit of a waste of time as it did'nt offer as significant a weight advantage over the standard 182 as the 172 Cup had over the 172, and you could get all the good bits on a standard 182 by specifying Cup packs and still retain the nicer interior and toys. It kept ABS, ESP, AC the lot but had cloth seats rather than leather.

Personally if I was looking to build a trackcar I'd look at Ph1 172s' as they are cheapest and had a cable throttle rather than drive by wire like the Ph2 172 and 172 Cup (response is supposed to be a little better). If you're going to strip the car out and junk the suspension the 172 Cup does not have any real advantage as the basis of a trackcar - except it has less to strip out first! or if your planning on tracking it standard for a while, which they are very capable I can attest

Actually I'd look for a 172 already track prepared by someone else first! Theres loads about.

[Mag1calTrev0r]

John D. said:

Mag1calTrev0r said:

So there isn't a 'proper' 182 Cup? Just a 182 with 1 or 2 cup packs therefore having ABS, Aircon, Part Leather.
I'm toying with the idea of a 'proper' Cup for a track toy so I don't care for ABS, Aircon, Leather seats or anything like that as it's all going to be stripped out.

No there was a 182 Cup offered. The general consensus was it was a bit of a waste of time as it did'nt offer as significant a weight advantage over the standard 182 as the 172 Cup had over the 172, and you could get all the good bits on a standard 182 by specifying Cup packs and still retain the nicer interior and toys. It kept ABS, ESP, AC the lot but had cloth seats rather than leather.

Personally if I was looking to build a trackcar I'd look at Ph1 172s' as they are cheapest and had a cable throttle rather than drive by wire like the Ph2 172 and 172 Cup (response is supposed to be a little better). If you're going to strip the car out and junk the suspension the 172 Cup does not have any real advantage as the basis of a trackcar - except it has less to strip out first! or if your planning on tracking it standard for a while, which they are very capable I can attest

Actually I'd look for a 172 already track prepared by someone else first! Theres loads about.

Thanks, that helps a lot
I keep hearing about Phase(Ph)1 and 2 cars, I take it, from what you've said, there wasn't a Ph1 172 Cup?

By the sounds of it, I ought to be looking at Ph1. If I end up with a 172 then the first things planned are:

• Strip everything out including the back seats
• New seats, possibly Clio 197 Race cars ones which seem reasonably priced and in keeping with the 'RenaultSport' feel to the car
• New steering wheel (I'm 6 foot so I will probably have to reposition the wheel to get comfy
• Shortly after that fit a Roll Cage (proper one from OMP, Sparco or ideally Safety Devices)

Then I shall see about suspension, brakes, exhaust, engine mods.

With regards to pre-track prepped examples, part of what I'd like to do is to enjoy tinkering with the car, pre-track prepped ones aren't ruled out unless they have only had minor tinkering done to them.

[John D.]

Yes, there was no Ph1 172 Cup.

I can understand you wanting to tinker with the car but I'd be inclined to let someone else shell out for all the basic mods and do the donkey work stripping it out. Then content myself fiddling with suspension settings at the track

The Ph1 also has the advantage of 15" wheels as OE rather than 16" so tyres are cheaper. Many people 'downgrade' to 15" wheels for trackwork on the other 172/182s' for just that reason, something I'm considering myself.

[Mag1calTrev0r]

I'll keep my eyes peeled for either an unfettled or, if the mods are right then, a track prepped 172.

Cheers for the advice

[Mag1calTrev0r]

sorry, another question and still a little OT.

Ph1 172s start from around the £1.5k mark, are these likely to be dogs? What price should I realistically start consider the starting point? Just want a nice honest car that's not going to fall to bits.