bimbeano
11809
20 years ago ...
.. I didn't know a lot about French hot hatches ... except for the 205 GTI which was and still is my ultimate dream car.
But then came the Clio 172 Renaultsport ... I bought a EVO magazine and back then they put it against cars with at least double the horsepower, there was a dvd along with the magazine. A friend of me started working at Renault and he kept on bragging about how good it was.
During summer I went to the South of France on a holiday with the family and suddenly there was this 172 driving ahead of me on some nice twisty country roads ... along with a Porsche Carrera GT ... dear God ... I was done 
.
When they introduced the Clio 197 3RS I knew that one day I had to have one.
I never regret buying my 201 3RS (facelift) back in 2010 ...
I FOREVER regret selling my grandfathers Merc W123 230E and also selling my 205 1.9 GTI for 1000 € ... because my wife wanted to get rid of it :-(.
Life might suck sometimes but as long as there are French hot hatches it's worth living that life ;-)
The last Renaultsport ......
Renaultsport was founded back in 1976, a merger between Alpine an Gordini which were owned by Renault. Some crazy cars came out of this factory, most of them build in the Alpine factory in Dieppe. But maybe one day I'll do a post on the history of the RS-...
In America...
In America, we have to buy a Ferrari to get a nice high performance wagon-style-glass hatchback! Is this Renault RWD or FWD or AWD? The Ferrari is RWD in V8 guise or AWD in V12 guise.
Well, that depends on the level of "high" performance...
We do have a GTI, a Golf R, an Audi RS6 Avant and even a Mercedes E63 wagon. No need to go to Ferrari and play their game...😉
Oops. Meant to add "compact sized" hatchback to those list of requirements.
But yes... That's a nice list of machines! I'd probably shy away from the GTI because it's FWD and even the AWD Golf R since it's a transverse engine which means it might revert to FWD when there's no need for AWD. Now, the RS6 and E63 are some serious ma...
This is FWD
1.8 turbo 300 hp 4 wheel steering Suspension with hydraulic bump stops and some other cool stuff for a relatively 'cheap' car.
4 wheel steering on such a small car!!!
Definitely one very advanced car. Probably not very reliable since it's got a lot of proprietary technology and it's made in very low volume. But nevertheless, it shows Renault really put in everything they could into this car if they put in 4 wheel steer...
I think Renault has been doing ..
4 wheel steering at the same time Honda did. I think the strength of Renaultsport/Alpine is they get a certain 'freedom' to change a standard car into an instant classic. If you look what they did with the Clio 3 RS .. or the V6 and .. actually any Renaul...
Gotcha...
We don't have Renault Clios in America, so I really can't say. I've been told that Golf GTIs are very good, maybe not the most reliable, but otherwise a very nice car to drive. I'm still a little skeptical. Why would Porsche GT3 owners like a Golf GTI so ...
They like the Golf GTI ...
.. because they haven't tried a Clio or Megane . I have never tried the Civic Type R yet ... something tells me not to because I could be tempted then There's always a 'better' car.
Well, they're in the USA, we don't have Renault in USA.
I haven't driven a Golf GTI. But I have driven the previous Mercedes CLA 250 FWD as a rental car, and the CLA wasn't bad. You could feel through the steering it was FWD, but it didn't have too much torque steer. And I imagine the Golf GTI drives similar t...
I guess ...
.. the CLA has a similar front to an old Passat VR6 probably . I remember driving the 2.8 FWD Passat back in the 90ies and there was loads of torque steer while accelerating, decent FWD 'sports' cars have lots of solutions for this problem. One was used b...
Interesting!
Good to know! I've never driven a Golf GTI. Maybe next time I'm in Europe I'll see if I can get a GTI as a rental. The last time I got an Audi A4 as a rental. Was not particularly pleased with that car - very boring to drive - and it was a FWD version. Bu...
Europe ...
.. and especially Belgium is very hard to understand for outsiders when it comes to the road. When I explained to a friend coming from Israel, the rules in Belgium ... he was afraid to drive. We have that thing called 'priority to the right'; this is basi...
Ok. You're sitting in the passenger seat!
And you have to look for speed cameras and to remind me what the speed limits are on the roads I'm on. I want to be certain I am in compliance!
Your Clio is made to withstand track driving more than a GTI...
But, at the end of the day, they are both street cars. That said, I know several people who drive a GTI or Golf R with success on the track with minor modifications.
True !
You can do some mods and have a nice track tool, I followed a build in Holland a few years ago of a 'normal' Megane 3 RS. They spend around 20K Euros and it was 4 seconds quicker than the Megane Trophy-R on a 2 minute track ... which was probably 4 second...
Mine is the 280 hp !
I tried the 300 hp a few years after I bought mine, the difference wasn't really noticeable .
Is the Electronics on the Dash the same?
I have a Mégane 2 RS Team F1 R26 and wanted to buy your version Mega 4 RS EDC 280. However I did not because I found the - electr. Gear changes mods strange. „Comfortable“ was grand-mother style and „sport“ and even „normal“ some kind of nervous with lots...
New electronics are A LOT better !
The 300 hp version shifts better/smoother. My 280 is as you say: Gearchanges can be nervous, I got used to it and it actually got better by the years. I also have a gearbox oil change every 50.000 km which helps as well. Yes the touchscreen response is a ...
If you keep the Megane 2 ..
.. put some more time, money and effort into it. When you do they are bulletproof and feel like new at any point. My Clio is now 13 years old, has 165.000 km and still feels like it was new, I had it detailed 2 years ago and I wash it whenever I have some...
Will see. Mine is also 13 years old and has almost 300kkm… 😅
The engine is still top! But it is getting difficult with other spare parts… ...
Such a cool beast !
I told you this before but I'm gonna say it again: I LOVE THIS MOEDEL/COLOR/WHEELS COMBO A LOT! Maybe a tip; I see you have the BEBOP wheels (17 or 18?) mounted, but they are rather heavy. I know this because I have the 17 inch ones mounted on the Clio at...
Thanks again! ☺️
Yes thiese are 18“ Beebop rims. And yes, they are heavy - I have no clue why they are so expensive! 🤦🏻♂️😂 Spacers and rims (different to the original) is a big issue in Switzerland. Not many things are allowed, and if, it‘s very strictly reglemented… As ...
Couldn't agree more in terms of enjoyment and fun
The Megane was top 3 of recent drives with the 308 gti 270 and the cayman GTS 4.0, that says it all!
The tAlpine factory in Dieppe …
Certainly made some wonderful cars … I had the green pleasure of owning enjoying three Renault’s. A Turbo 1 and two Turbo 2’s from the 80’s.
I wish I still had it …
It was a great car, especially once it had been considerably tweaked 😉
160 HP
Was the standard output, Ragnotti's racer had 350 hp. I guts since you are based in the UK yours had plenty over 200
Dear God ... competition car ?
... Only 20 made I read somewhere. Is that correct ? So 300+ hp LOL.
I came close to getting a trophy
Test drove one two times with the 6 speed and dare I say I found it more engaging than the alpine but the ride was too stiff and the body was too wide for my liking, a disease shared by the civix type R. A shame they didn't offer electronic dampers.
The Trophy ...
.. is indeed quite stiff, I have the 'sport' suspension which has the 'soft' setup .. but actually still pretty stiff. Electronic dampers are a blessing indeed, my friend has a Hyundai i30N and it is pretty comfy in comfort setting .. on the other hand th...
Not knowing much about ..
… Renault or French cars I will be looking forward to your post Amazing RS btw BR Hans
20 years ago ...
.. I didn't know a lot about French hot hatches ... except for the 205 GTI which was and still is my ultimate dream car. But then came the Clio 172 Renaultsport ... I bought a EVO magazine and back then they put it against cars with at least double the ho...
My wet dreams also
included a 205 GTI that my girlfriends mothers friend had.. I’m white But so far I have never had/owned a french car Best regards Hans