New Member - Clio RS

[nicf23]

Hi everyone

I bought a 2015 Clio RS 200 Cup on Friday. I have been using my R35 GT-R as a daily for a year which to be honest was a little too long. I am a big fan of DCT gearboxes which meant that once I had decided a hot hatch was the way to go, my options were the Clio or a Golf R.

Loving the car. I also have a 504 Ti and my wife has a DS5 so we are very French at the moment.

I have my first track day booked for three weeks time. Another issue with the GT-R is it was really too fast for regular track use (mine is modded to 600bhp). It was absolutely petrifying and as I can't bring myself to drive my cars other than hard so taking it easy was not an option. Really looking forward to getting the Clio on track! I haven't been for a proper blast yet but even around Auckland it is proper fun.

Here is the car.


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[Wally]

We bought a Clio last year perfect for city driving, good move

[Lincooln]

Welcome aboard. Good Choice of cars

[rolly]

Welcome.

RS's are awesome - but I am biased 

It will be interesting to see what you think of it on the track after the GTR! You will certainly have more time to think about placement and braking points.

Let us know how you get on.

[nicf23]

So I thought I would write a brief update, having used the car on road and track for a while now.

In short, I am really enjoying it. Ok, it needs more power, but everything else is great, including the much-maligned DCT gearbox. In particular it has genuine twin personalities. In normal mode it rolls lazily around town, with a decent ride and the gearbox slurring away. But after pressing RS it really comes to life, making various bangs and pops and outrunning most other road users.

On the track it is slow but fun. Absolutely no understeer, and instead very pointy. It rotates around the driver, leaving you pointing at the apex, and then off you go. It would be a little quicker with a proper LSD as you can sometimes feel the brakes trimming the line and taking some speed off at the same time but the gearbox is brilliant. Ignore the nonsense on pistonheads- in race mode the shifts snap home quickly and consistently and the car is much much faster than it would be with a manual. In particular the lack of torque interruption means gear changes midcormer are possible, which saves a lot of time at Hamptons where there are several corners demanding an upshift just past the apex.

And for daily use it is so much better than the GT-R- quiet and easy to park. I routinely take parking slots outside my house or school that are only free because nothing else will fit in them! And while the other Dads are less taken with it, the Mums don't look at me like I am not responsible enough to have children, which is a common effect with using the GT-R on the school run.

So the GT-R has been mainly sitting in the garage. I am still using it for the odd open road charge though and pleased to report it has lost none of its bite. Familiarity will never breed contempt with that car.

So I am very pleased with the Clio. I can't think of anything that would perform its role better, except a Golf R and that is more than twice the price (and bigger). You just don't see Clio RSs on the roads though, unlike Meganes. I guess the crazy list price is the reason for that.


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[RS]

Welcome.

I leased one in Europe for the last few months, same colour as yours. Did just over 15,000km and it was a brilliant car for the job.

My thoughts are that it needs a transmission mode somewhere in between Normal and RS mode, maybe a bit sportier but without the harsh down shifts and indecisive moments because you are not going fast enough for RS mode. I found RS mode only works if you are hard up it.

I was impressed with its durability and ability to take on any weather, road, temperature and anything else I through at it.. it never once missed a beat.

Enjoy.

And please post pictures of GTR.

[nicf23]

As requested... The first outside my house with the Clio, the second at Peregrine Vineyard over summer, the third at Dodsons when it was delivered.






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[nicf23]

Agreed it can be indecisive occasionally, but never found the downshifts a problem and I quite like the crackle and pop on the overrun. The GT-R has a similar problem but much less smooth. Of course much faster shifts when you are on it though.


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[RS]

Awesome garage there. I would have the GTR in red also, best colour IMHO.

Will have to upload a vid of me in my Clio through the Swiss and Italian alps, it loved it, even passed a new Jag F type R.

[nicf23]

So another update, having had the car remapped by Renault today.

In short, the extra 50bhp and 70nm is exactly what it needed. Gone is the slightly lazy feel in normal mode and it is now properly quick in Race mode. A genuine little terrier.

I have a track day on Monday and I think it is going to surprise a few people. At the last one (organized by Renault) I overtook a Monaro, and best of all, a 458. He blew by me then fluffed the sweeper and I edged past him again. In fact he was so not expecting me to be there he nearly hit me! The biggest problem had been the lack of puff on the straight but no more I suspect.

So for $900 the remap is no-brainier, especially as the warranty is intact. It also needed pads and the rotors skimmed after the last track day but they were only $170 and all in they only charged me for an hour of labour. Total bargain.

By comparison the GT-R has just had the gearbox out for the third time, after fifth gear disintegrated following four tracks in a week in the South Island. Less said the better. It has hardly moved for a month. 


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[rolly]

Awesome stuff on the remap.

Keen to hear what the lap times are

[eye.double.you]

I was at Hampton Downs today and you looked to be keeping plenty of other cars honest out there! Nice pedalling.

I got a couple of action shots, but I won't post them unless you're interested - not everyone appreciates photos of their cars lapping a race track being posted on the interweb...

[Lincooln]

I'm somewhat surprised they skimmed the brakes. A good friend of mine who does the servicing for Renault down in Wellington says in there books that no Renault brakes should be skimmed. People do, including dealers, but they shouldn't.

But sounds like the car will be real fun now with some more power.

[RS]

They don't normally do it. A mobile guy comes to the dealership and does them upon request from customers who don't want to fork out for new disks.

I did mine on the RS250 and we got near 100,000km out of them, thats two sets of pads.

Nice work with the Clio, always fun driving a RS at a trackday.

[nicf23]

Great to read your comments and thought you might like an update.

Very happy. The car is much, much better on track. Now it pulls up the main straight without feeling like you want to get out and push. Much more punch out of the tight corners too. The only thing that overtook me all day was an Evo 10 on semis and I went by most everything else. The car is all over the other stuff in the corners and now can almost keep up in a straight line. So the remap has turned it into a really great track car, as the same virtues of neutral to over steering handling, strong and unfadable brakes, and the DCT are still present but now with extra speed.

The only downside is the pads are wearing very fast. I expect that is not just down to the greater velocity they are arresting, but that the e-diff which uses the front brakes is now working much more.

So I am very happy and the GT-R is likely to be in retirement ahead of sale sometime this year. Now I have the Clio for track use I plan to replace it with a four seat convertible. Open to suggestions but nothing German. I thought you guys might like to see some photos of the GT-R on the South Island tracks last month though...

And eye.double.you, I would love to see any photos you have. Don't mind them being posted and if you have high-res copies I would happily pay a fair price for them. 


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