Mike Rotch's RenaultSport Clio 200T

[Mike Rotch]

Small update.

I am quite pleased with the results of capping off the intake tube - the interior is much quieter now, which means the exhaust popping in sport/race mode is more evident to the extent that I might not bother with the reso delete anymore. The extra silence has brought to attention an initially attention grabbing noise when the 'box goes 2->1 in comfort mode. Sounds like I've run over a plastic cup. Seems like it is a common foible with other Clio RS drivers and there have been no reported DCT issues....so meh. 👍 for 5 year warranty.

I spray painted the spare wheel cage stain black, so it looks more at home in the boot now - quite pleased with that overall result.

The interior plastics are a bit hit and miss though. I notice the other day that there is a weird mark on the driver's door inlay near my hip. It took me a while to work out how it was being generated; turns out when I reach into my right pants pocket with my right hand, my knuckle hits the door....enough to leave a strange mark .

My weekend jaunts may have to take a different form....a recent encounter is NSW's finest requires a rethink

 

[Mike Rotch]

Not a tremendous amount to report, other then adding a bit of blue to the engine bay to cap off the firewall end of the removed "noise amplifier" intake pipe (the other end of the pipe is double clamped silicone pipe with an alloy pipe end, as there is boost pressure at that end).

Still mulling a Supersprint cat back, but, dithering...

Other then that, just a good day for a cruise to the beach

 

[homeforsummer]

Would heartily recommend a slightly noisier exhaust, as that's something most modern hot hatches are lacking. And I really liked the difference the optional Akrapovic made to the latest Trophy.

However, if sound is the only real concern I'd also be tempted to search for a replacement intake of some sort. Induction noise > exhaust noise as far as I'm concerned, and better having the real thing than the piped-in and amplified noise that seems to be popular these days.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Would heartily recommend a slightly noisier exhaust, as that's something most modern hot hatches are lacking. And I really liked the difference the optional Akrapovic made to the latest Trophy.

I think I am dithering on two fronts:

1) I paid a lot of cashola for this car, NEW. So part of me reluctant to start sawing off bits and welding stuff on just yet. It's probably a bit of a slippery slope once it starts too. The induction tube removal has lifted interior exhaust noise a lot happily .
2) Akra don't have the pipes here in Aus sadly, remains to be seen if they ever will. That leaves a myriad of Supersport, Remus, Ktec, Inoxcar, Bastuk etc options, all of which are only represented on poorly recorded YT clips most of the time. Given #1, I don't want to crack some eggs and then find the cake tastes like sawdust....

However, if sound is the only real concern I'd also be tempted to search for a replacement intake of some sort. .

Interesting take - the Clio seems to be almost all induction noise once its in race mode and revs get above 4500 - the apt "blast furnace" you mentioned. I'm probably ok with it at the moment tbh.

On a separate note, 👍 👍 for Collinite.

It's been a month since I last washed and it's dusty.... and went for a drive to do some errands in the rain today. Came home, hosed down the car whilst it was still wet and the dirt literally dropped off (coagulated dust, no droppings). Bloody ripper!

 

[homeforsummer]

Interesting take - the Clio seems to be almost all induction noise once its in race mode and revs get above 4500 - the apt "blast furnace" you mentioned. I'm probably ok with it at the moment tbh.

The blast furnace noise is the exhaust - at least on the Akrapovic-equipped models (Meganes are the same). I don't recall the Clio having particularly loud induction noise, but that may just be my poor memory...

 

[Mike Rotch]

So with it being the holiday period, I have been spending a lot more time in the car and I'm still learning it's strength and weaknesses.

I discovered that the DCT can be used in full manual mode in any gearbox setting - mr Salesman was talking garbage when he said in Comfort the ECU would inevitably override your preferred gear. Slip the shifter to the left and in any of the 3 settings, you can be in any gear you like at any time (barring trying to downshift to 2nd at 120kph sort of thing). Brings a whole new dimension to the car, especially as I can keep all the ESP/ ABS on in sports mode and still enjoy the noisier exhaust (previously it had to be Race mode).

I took it for a ride through the Blue Mountains yesterday and found some amazing mountain roads - nothing super fast, some as low as 50kph due to the narrowness of the road, but as if I needed reminding, it absolutely demolishes sweeps, curves and switchbacks. On a few downhill sections I was firmly sticking to the limit of 80kph due to heavy policing over this period, and some yokals were sitting on my ass as a result. Well, until the road got windy - I stuck to 80kph and they disappeared out of sight behind me unable to keep the pace.

I have a lot of pics on the way, but need to get my roll of Portra developed. No use taking b&w of a yellow car

The one doubt I have gnawing a bit is whether I should have done the 1,000km oil flush - which Renault said wasn't needed (all RS car's first service is recommended at 12months or 10k km new) and generates a fair bit of heated debate on RenaultSport forums. I've been keeping an eye on oil levels and it's fine, but the oil colour has turned amber from light honey just as I've hit the 3,000km mark. As far as I am aware, it's not like M-cars which have mineral oil and need to be babied and then changed at 1000 miles....the RSC has 5w-40 synthetic from the get go. I don't have facilities at home to do it myself, so it means a trip to the stealership (who themselves said a 1,000km service would be a fluid check not replacement...)

 

[homeforsummer]

By the dealer saying it'd override gear choices in Comfort, was he actually referring to the 'box changing gears itself when you hit the red line? I know in Race particularly the gearbox won't shift up no matter how often you run into the limiter, but it may be configured to change up at the limiter, even in manual, in other modes.

 

[Mike Rotch]

By the dealer saying it'd override gear choices in Comfort, was he actually referring to the 'box changing gears itself when you hit the red line?

Nah, I recall him saying it would override the driver's manual change (e.g. it thinks I should be in 3rd doing 30mph, I want to be in 2nd, it will let me select 2nd and then after 10secs revert back to 3rd) and of course that is what I had experienced in practice.

The assumption I tripped up on was that applied to using the paddles in 'auto' mode and when the shifter is moved to the left to engage manual shifting with the center stick.

When one keeps it in auto and shifts using the paddles, the ecu will eventually override one's gear choice in Comfort and Sport. The latter is annoying as at 60kph the ecu thinks 3rd is right (to keep the powerband ready for action) but that's can be a pain as that's spinning the engine at 3-4k and chewing fuel and sounding like I am learner driver.

When the center shifter is slid to manual, it will hold revs in comfort/sport/race. I have bounced the redline in Comfort once before it changed up, I haven't tried in Sport (obviously Race won't). Not only can I get the benefit of pop and farts more readily now on downshifts, but it also makes driving around carparks easier and it's no longer prone to hunting between 1st/ 2nd when I tackle ramps

 

[Mike Rotch]

He also gave me a ride in his RS - he has done a center resonator delete and gotten rid of the muffler and done a 2-into-1 pipe at the back. Smokes, sounds like a racecar. He is happy to do an exchange with me for mine, but my gut is telling me the novelty may wear off quickly....

The above is what I wrote after a ride in another guy's Clio. Mad, mad sound on a budget.

I was not far off from pulling the trigger on a SuperSprint setup over December....but kinda glad I didn't. Another Clio driver on the Aussie RS boards installed the set up and it's......pretty much like the budget one I tried i.e just a bit anti-social!

 

[Mike Rotch]

So with the 6 month anniversay and about 3,500 km done, maybe apt for a report back.

I guess the acid test is whether I still find excuses to drive it and whether it puts a grin on my dial when I do. Probably surprising me is that the emphatic answer is 'yes' and 'yes yes'. I was expecting the fun factor to dry up once the honeymoon period ended, but it just keeps on delivering

That's not to say it doesn't have some quirks that one might not see in a German or Japanese car. Ah French cars.

• The designers seems to have lost interest in interior quality finish once they finished with the driver's quarter. The front passenger and rear get a few things thrown in, but generally will feel short changed vs the driver. E.g. the drivers seat as a drop lever, but the front passenger sits considerably higher and .... no lever drop
• The windscreen wiper stalk seems unnecessarily complicated. I need to re-read the manual on how to get the rear windscreen spray to work, as it seems impossible to figure out using common sense.
• The media unit can't shuffle tracks on a USB...so you have to live with alphabetical play order
• Touchscreen keyboard is a-b-c-d-etc not Qwerty....brain takes a few moments to adjust every time.

On the plus side, I find it to be a bit of an onion car. The more you drive it, the more you find a next layer of things. I am not quite sure how, but took me months to work out in manual, it means, 'manual', regardless of comfort or race settings. That's a massive win, as I don't have to always have the ecu doing the changes for me, even when I want to keep ESC on.

Performance is plenty, probably too much for a city tbh. Torque of the FI is just brilliant, I know there are people lamenting the loss of the old 2l screamer, but this is much more usable and it's hardly wheezy at the redline. Economy is pretty good too - 70% urban and 30% highway is giving me around 8-9L/100km (27+mpg) on primarily short trips.

The two standouts for me are the colour and the handling and ride. In a sea of white and grey cars, having a pearlescent yellow is the biz. Nobody here gives a Clio a second look, but I love it. The ride dampening is just brilliant over bumps; it absorbs it all and doesn't crash about. The handling is also something else. I haven't chucked it about a track, but I have been on some jaunty drives on some windy roads and the grip and feel really blew my mind. It's limits are far beyond my capabilities.

The unexpected bonus has been the Renault community. It's alive and kicking online and getting waves from RSM265 and other ClioSport drivers on the road is not uncommon 👍

Anyway, here are some pics from a trip I made over January to some mountain roads. Shot on Kodak Portra 160

​

 

[axletramp]

• The media unit can't shuffle tracks on a USB...so you have to live with alphabetical play order
• Touchscreen keyboard is a-b-c-d-etc not Qwerty....brain takes a few moments to adjust every time.

Sure this isn't a Chrysler? I feel your pain.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Sure this isn't a Chrysler? I feel your pain.

I feel like such a tool when I jump in the car with someone to head off somewhere, get the GPS up and running (which is surprisingly good) and then freeze for a few seconds as my brain computes the keyboard layout. I suppose now I find it quaint, down the line I'll be roaring with anger....

 

[axletramp]

I feel like such a tool when I jump in the car with someone to head off somewhere, get the GPS up and running (which is surprisingly good) and then freeze for a few seconds as my brain computes the keyboard layout. I suppose now I find it quaint, down the line I'll be roaring with anger....

I know you shouldn't do it, but doing a street search in the Sat Nav while driving is very frustrating - even for a passenger to do it. Every other device with a screen uses a QWERTY layout, so why not my Sat Nav! The Chrysler also only plays tracks from it's internal HDD in alphabetical order too, meaning that you need to add a number to the front of track names to get it in the right order. Grrr. This is easily solved by connecting the iPhone via Bluetooth, which you really should need to do.

 

[GDII]

Amazing shots with the film camera. The composition of the first 2 are great. I like the way the film gives that washed out look to the colours.

Glad you still like the car it still makes you happy. I've owned my MR2 since mid 2008 and still love it each time I get in it. Sure I have changed the suspension around a lot but it's still the same car I fell in love with on my first test drive.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Good times and less good times.

The good - seems like the engine has loosened up a bit. Other then 'feel' and more pops coming out of the exhaust on downshift, I have no evidence but it does 'feel' a bit different of late. Not complaining - I have resolved to get the centre resonator removed in two weeks to get some more snap, crackle and pop liberated.

Not so good - Hit some curbs today

. I was pulling into a petrol station on a busy road with cars up my ass, and a Mazda 2 ahead of me. I was about 2 car lengths behind her following her in in first gear when she decides to stop dead in the "in" lane.

Rather then be stuck half in and half out of the petrol station lane and the busy road, I make the split second decision to go around her to the left, as there looks like there plenty of room. Half way around there a massive bump on the left front, which I slow almost to a stop from out of shock, followed by a massive bump on the left rear. A quick glace in the rear mirror confirms an angled curb jutting out thoughtfully for no reason at all.

Mortified, I got out not expecting what to see....flat tyres? Chunks of alloy missing? Sideskirts adrift? Mercifully, none of the above! I had the massive luck of having the curb hit and grip the rubber sidewell right between alloy and the wheel arch. Phew! Just a few scuff marks on the sidewall and a bit of tyre dye where the rubber has 'given' and kissed the top of the rim lip. Massive relief! Stupid me and stupid bird for stopping where she did I did what I could on the way home to convince myself the alignment is ok - car doesnt drift from the straight...but not sure that hides toe-out?

Anyway, a pic from the other week shot on medium format Fuji 160 Pro which I mostly woefully overexposed.

 

[Crash]

I'm surprised that your photos in here aren't black and white with a bit of grain.



Oh, and nice car. What a lovely yellow.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Story time!

So I decided enough was enough, and decided to do a reso delete. Not knowing any local mechies, I opted to use the same blokes MCM use They are 20 mins drive from me, so I booked them in for this morning, headed over there, handed of $100 and stood around like an expectant father.

Starting position:

Surgery:

End game:

End result:

Sounds just brilliant. More bass on idle/ startup, almost endless pops and bangs on the over-run in sport mode (and a bit in comfort). ROI vs a full catback is off the chart. Can't see the radio getting much of a look in for the next while

'N just cos....another pic from my roll of Fuji:

 

[Watchman]

 

 

[Mike Rotch]

Looking great! Are you planning on recording a sound video?

I don't have an action camera but I may give my work iPhone 6 a try 👍

 

[Mike Rotch]

Had the pleasure of having a co-ordinated high speed mountain jaunt with @Boffin and his mad 182, which has criminally good intake noises.

More pics to come once film gets developed, but here is a ropey mobile phone pic in the meantime.

 

[Pete05]

Had the pleasure of having a co-ordinated high speed mountain jaunt with @Boffin and his mad 182, which has criminally good intake noises.

More pics to come once film gets developed, but here is a ropey mobile phone pic in the meantime.

The only two colours I'd have a Renault Clio in and, the respective models & colours too 👍

 

[Boffin]

Had the pleasure of having a co-ordinated high speed mountain jaunt with @Boffin and his mad 182, which has criminally good intake noises.

More pics to come once film gets developed, but here is a ropey mobile phone pic in the meantime.

It me! Hahah wish you got to hear it in the higher speed sections, but it still puts a smile on my face. Doesn't have the pops and crackles of your new system though!

Looking forward to the film being developed, I still need to have a rifle through this thread, and maybe start my own. 👍

 

[Mike Rotch]

I finally finished scanning the pics from the aforementioned ride. Less over-exposed this time! Dappled light is a pain...

​

Still pleased as punch with the exhaust sitch; fuel economy has worsened a bit since as now it's manual gearshifting or bust

Took the opportunity to give it a re-Collinite today, as the last round was probably November with only spray on maintenance since. Still water beading like a biyatch but the silky touch is long gone.

Disappointingly, the re-application didn't bring the silky finish I was after. I am willing to trade protection for finish I guess, I don't have time for carnauba wax it too. Time for replacement wheel cleaner and spray on wax though. Probably going to try some Carpro stuff now.

 

[Pete05]

I finally finished scanning the pics from the aforementioned ride. Less over-exposured this time! Dappled light is a pain...

​

Still pleased as punch with the exhaust sitch; fuel economy has worsened a bit since as now it's manual gearshifting or bust

Took the opportunity to give it a re-Collinite today, as the last round was probably November with only spray on maintenance since. Still water beading like a biyatch but the silky touch is long gone.

Disappointingly, the re-application didn't bring the silky finish I was after. I am willing to trade protection for finish I guess, I don't have time for carnauba wax it too. Time for replacement wheel cleaner and spray on wax though. Probably going to try some Carpro stuff now.

Nice pics 👍

 

[GDII]

What Pete said.

That first photo is awesome. I really like how the cars are both placed.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Fan 🤬-tastic.

Was the victim of a minor rear-ending today, thank's to 1) an asshole in a Pajero who decided to merge into two lanes of traffic doing 60kph, from the other side of the road and a dozy lady in a yaris who doesn't know what following distance is.

I spotted the idiot 3-4 secs before I had to throw out the anchors as he was stop start non-committal to his illegal merge, and only decided to go ahead when I was almost on top of him. That was followed by a squeal and a bang from behind.

Then the Pajero driving muppet drives off as nothing has happened

Anyway, exchanged details blah, thankfully the plastic panels did their job - and thanks to the low profile of the Yaris there was no body paint damage, rather skin taken off the diffuser. An SUV would have been calamity.

One of those annoying ones that might be more expensive to fix through insurance

 

[Pete05]

Fan 🤬-tastic.

Was the victim of a minor rear-ending today, thank's to 1) an asshole in a Pajero who decided to merge into two lanes of traffic doing 60kph, from the other side of the road and a dozy lady in a yaris who doesn't know what following distance is.

I spotted the idiot 3-4 secs before I had to throw out the anchors as he was stop start non-committal to his illegal merge, and only decided to go ahead when I was almost on top of him. That was followed by a squeal and a bang from behind.

Then the Pajero driving muppet drives off as nothing has happened

Anyway, exchanged details blah, thankfully the plastic panels did their job - and thanks to the low profile of the Yaris there was no body paint damage, rather skin taken off the diffuser. An SUV would have been calamity.

One of those annoying ones that might be more expensive to fix through insurance

Mate, sorry to hear that.

Gotta love the standard of driving on our roads these days

 

[GDII]

That's not good at all. Shocking drivers on the road cause so many problems.

An unrelated question to @Mike Rotch ,@Punknoodle and @Pete05 , why does the rego plate in Australia have a shiny cover on it? I've seem ones with horizontal lines on them too. I assume the plate with the numbers on it is actually an embossed seperate plate based on the first image.

 

[Punknoodle]

That's just a cover you can buy to protect your plate. The actual plate is much the same as the ones in NZ apart from the colours.

 

[SVX]

Can confirm