So how good is the Clio V6?
Discussion
Sammyturbo said:
Defcon5 said:
Probably not as good at anything as your 911 is.
Attracting attention ?? Have you owned one?Much prefer the styling of the ph2, not sure if they made any other changes apart from the exterior. Going to spend the rest of the evening readin up on them now!
That is a pretty good thread you linked to Ali is a dedicated owner and has a lot of good experience with the V6 so anything said by him should be listened to !
I owned one for a year as an only car and it was brilliant never put a foot wrong get onto V6Clio.net for the best info and tech and you cant go wrong.
As far as being better than a 911 I cant say as I have never driven a 911 but I will tell you this you wont ever get a drving experience like the Clio V6
I owned one for a year as an only car and it was brilliant never put a foot wrong get onto V6Clio.net for the best info and tech and you cant go wrong.
As far as being better than a 911 I cant say as I have never driven a 911 but I will tell you this you wont ever get a drving experience like the Clio V6
I WROTE THIS REVIEW ON ANOTHER WELL KNOWN CAR ENTHUSIAST WEBSITE AFTER SELLING MY BMW E46 M3 TO BUY THE V6.......... Not looked back since.
"The Long and Short of the Clio V6 story (Phase 1), was that they were concieved as a bit of a promotional oppotunity by Renault Sport for something different with a motorsport theme. They were also built with the intention of producing 200 of the cars purely for a one make race series to be run in Europe. All the cars (Road versions and race versions) were hand built by TWR on behalf of Renault Sport for a race series, and they had to build the required amount to homologate them for international motosport. Renault sent TWR a Clio Shell, a 3.0ltr V6 quad cam engine & gearbox, and told them to build a mid engined car capable of racing in a one make series. TWR did this, and produced a great little one make series race car. The remaining cars which needed to be sold to the public in order to Homologate them, once sold were found not exactly suitable for your average Joe Public to handle, and proved close to the point of dangerous due to a few issues, plus the added Pendilum Affect of the engine being in the back of the car and the race inspired suspension settings.
However, the race series though really took off, and any remaining Clio Trophy Cars (The ones made purely for racing) are both very collectable and attract attention wherever they go. The remaining (Phase 1's) that Renault needed to sell to homolgate the race cars went on sale to the public, and wern't too well put together much like anything from TWR ! ! ! They had reliability issues (Weak gearbox when used to it's full potential, electrical gremlins as the loom was basically a cobbled together item which TWR put together and the supension settings (Alignments) which had been designed for the circuit, not the everyday road. When the same suspension pick up points and alignments were used on the road cars and now on road tyres, the car became a real handful in the wet.
So....... the Phase 1 was a great little racer, but the ones that went on public sale and were snapped up by people who thought it looked cool (Which they do), but weren't exactly petrolheads or track day hero's.......but "thought" they were. The Result - Lots of accidents and bad mouthing that the car was a death trap, when in reality it was the same a taking any proper circuit car, putting road tyres on it, and selling it to your everyday chav........It wouldn't last long.
The road cars however sold out quickly in both France & the Uk, and Renault picked up on this and decided that they would build a second generation of the V6 .... referred too as the Phase 2 (Of which mine is one of them) and produce the car as a road car, not a circuit car. Again all the cars were handbuilt, but this time at the Renault Sport factory in Dieppe (I'm sure I've spelled that wrong). The wheel base was lengthened, the suspension angles were changed, the track was increased and it became a much more road friendly car.
The body panels were all reproduced to production standards, as oppossed to race car standards (made using the same process as the dodge viper), basically a high tech plastic composite, and attached to the shell with a new bonding process which also adds rigidity to the shell which is already extremely stiff. Non of this was present on the Phase 1, which had poorly fitting panels and not really built to production car standards. The Quad Cam 3.0ltr V6 was given to Porsche to extract both more power, torque and a flat power curve, which they did a very good job with, the bhp doesn't sound too much (255bhp) but the torque curve is fantastic, they just pull from very low rpm, and after 5k rpm they howl. At the end of the day, they produced a proper road car with the same build quality as the rest of their production cars. The gearbox was strengthened, and 6 close ratio gears were fitted. The engine came back from Porsche with modified cylinder heads, cams, inlet manifolds & plenium and is a VERY reliable engine............ Let down by the Coil Packs, which gave up the ghost at about every 5k miles ! ! ! Most owners have now swapped these for the later Bosch items and the engine reliablity problems no longer exist. The engine is easily capable of 100k miles as is any modern engine providing it's serviced properly. So...... There is NO reliability problems at all.
THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS WERE IN RELATION TO SOME QUESTIONS THAT HAD BEEN ASKED...........
Speed : About the same as a mildly modfied Cosworth (I was replying to a Cosworth Owner), 0 - 60 in 5.8 seconds, Over 150mph. Not stunning by todays modern standards......... but that's not what this car is about. Think back to the Metro 6R4........ What an amazing car, what a motoring Icon. But in standard production form, it won't reach 150mph, and it won't do 0 - 60 in under 5.8 seconds......... But it's not what cars like this are about.
Production Numbers : There were officially 347 Clio V6 Mid Engined Cars Shipped over to England, a few arrived later, but very few. A car like this will probably NEVER be built again by a major motoring manufacturer........ They were the last of the breed, as was the Cosworth.
Collectability : Defnately........ In another ten years time, the best ones will be selling for more than they were new...... The left hand drive cars are already selling in Europe for BIG money.
Rareity: Very rare
Road Presence : It's a petrol heads dream - The previous owner decided to take it to Goodwood to go to the SuperCar Breakfast Club Meeting..... Obviously arriving at goodwood he was in a convoy of Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, and Supercar Exotica, of which he didn't consider himself to be one of, and fully expecting to go and park in the public car park and then go and view the exotica. As he arrived at the entrance and started to take the left hand turn into the public car park, he was met by gesticulating marshalls pointing him in the direction of the tunnel, and he was instructed to park with "The Other Supercars"......... Meanwhile Porsche 911's, Lotus's and cars worth many times what the Clio is worth were sent into the public car park. What more can I say.
Drivability : You have to know what your doing, these cars can be driven fast, but if you don't respect them and appreciate how mid engined cars handle on the limit, then you'll end up pointing the wrong way and sitting in a ditch. These cars are ideally for petrolheads who've done some track time (Not blowing my own trumpet), and are willing to take the time to understand how they have to be driven to get the most out of them safely. Put someone in the drivers seat who's come from a high powered hot hatch and races his mates in Tesco Car Park, and he'll have an accident in it in no time. Put it in the hands of someone who understands circuit cars and has some experience under his belt, and it's fantastic fun and fast enough to embarrass most cars.
Edited by Jim Green on Saturday 1st January 14:21
Edited by Jim Green on Saturday 1st January 14:45
Edited by Jim Green on Saturday 1st January 15:47
Edited by Jim Green on Saturday 1st January 15:50
No and it doesn't need it to be fair. Only time you notice it is when parking in a Tesco carpark or the like. And lets face it who the heck should worry about that when buying one. lol I have the only road legal Nocturne v6 and am selling it at the momoent. The only reason I am is to buy another one. They are great cars and Ive never once been bored of mine. Would cost me much much more to get the same driving experience they offer.
Mk1 or Mk2? Turning circle on MK2s can be improved IIRC by shimming rack. MK1 cannot without very serious work.
More power; can of worms. You can get more from them but it's a deep rabbit hole and will require serious committment in terms of time and money. Do not believe claims of +20bhp from a zorst and a filter.
Live with it for a bit, see if the power is really compromising your enjoyment of the car and then look at the possibilities for increasing it. Your best resource is v6Clio.net where some members have a very good understanding of the challenges involved in coaxing power out of these cars.
More power; can of worms. You can get more from them but it's a deep rabbit hole and will require serious committment in terms of time and money. Do not believe claims of +20bhp from a zorst and a filter.
Live with it for a bit, see if the power is really compromising your enjoyment of the car and then look at the possibilities for increasing it. Your best resource is v6Clio.net where some members have a very good understanding of the challenges involved in coaxing power out of these cars.
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