2001 Renault Sport Clio 172 Ph1

[Braintax]

After a couple of years of bangernomics, I thought I'd try and step into something to rekindle my passion for driving.

A friend of mine had this car for sale, I really liked the way it looked but was clueless on Clios other than having a 1.2 example from this era as my first car!

Decided to take a punt knowing that the car needed a bit of work including the all-important belts service.


Work done so far:

Cambelt replaced including water pump, dephaser pulley, aux belt and tensioner
Full service with new plugs, filters, oil change
New Nissens radiator after the original developed a leak
Gearbox oil changed
New set of Michelin Pilot Sport 3s
Sills professionally rebuilt (thankfully the rest of the shell is particularly good)
Four new speakers

The Clio has now covered a couple of thousand miles in my ownership and it hasn't missed a beat.

I think this car really strikes a happy balance between old-school and modern motoring. There's no doubt it's a fatiguing car to just pootle about in, but as soon as the roads open up everything just comes together and it's an absolute joy to steer.

The F4R lump has a surprising amount of character, doing its best work above 5,000 rpm but never really feeling wheezy below that thanks to the low overall kerb weight of this car. It sounds great too.

I love all the weird quirks that these early cars had, many of which subsequently were dropped for the later examples. I'm quickly learning that finding parts can be a bit of a mission though!


Haven't actually got it out for a proper photoshoot yet but here are some phone snaps

[Galveston]

On Tuesday I drove my 172 Cup for the first time for a couple of months. They’re such lively and fantastically fun little cars, within 200yds of leaving the driveway I was grinning like a cheshire cat.

[chris116]

That looks great. Can't remember the last time I saw a phase 1, still my favourite shape Clio.