so I had an order in on a clip and cancelled it as I had a dilemma over that and a megane, x amount of months later and I still can't decide (even tho I nearly bought a 1.6 elise during that time!) So it's 100% out of these 3 but my head is putting the Elise at no.3 for practicality I've driven both and still can't make up my mind. I'm in a r26 Meg at the min and have had an r27 Clio in the past. What are people's thoughts on here!?
Do you want a manual gearbox + LSD? I was expecting Renault to come up with a manual option for the facelift Clio, after all, you can get the same engine in a Nissan Juke with a manual gearbox.
That's the thing, I like the gearbox! As both a track and daily drive it will work well for me. And to be honest the grip on the Clio is amazing and I couldn't really feel much difference between that and the Meg. I also thought the Clio brakes are better. Meg is more stable I found.
I guess in the end you'll be most happy with the option you like the best... if that turns out to be the Clio, go for it!
That's a good point in terms of tuning, something to consider. The Meg seems to come with a lot of options so it's finding the right one (yellow!) I miss my r27 and always felt it needed a turbo, now is does. The trophy Clio gear change is a lot better that the efforts of the 1st gen 200t And maybe I'm getting lazy but sat in traffic the thought of no clutch is appealing
I drove both back to back same route, and found the clio suspension a bit bouncy, clio is more up to date and modern as megane showing its age both great cars thou ,i did think of buying a trophy and putting clio 200 cup suspention on it,bought the megane in the end,but after 8 months the megane clutch was getting on my nerves being heavy.I have now got a 330d with paddle shift gearbox ,no way I'm having a manual again.
Have a read of my thread in the Other Automotive Brands section. I replaced my Megane 250 with a Clio 220 a couple of months back and don't regret it one bit. The gearbox is great, the handling fantastic and the launch control is hilarious. The only real downside appears to be the brakes have been overheating for some people on trackdays. On the road however, they're brilliant. I actually feel the stability under braking is better than the Megane, but the servo is a little strong and can feel a bit jumpy until you get used to it. Suspension wise it's harder the Megane at low speeds and around town, but if you're driving it faster, it seems to iron out bumps a lot better.
If it was my choice, it would be 3 doors or 5? Nothing else. Does this not matter to you? Having said that, if I didn't need the practicality and had another car, it would be the Elise.
The 3-5 door is of no matter to me at all, it's more things like the ability to take my grass to the tip etc! So the Elise is 3rd for that reason It really is a hard one!....
For me the Clio is too woolly on track. Had zero feedback from the steering and the paddles don't move with the wheel which annoyed me trying to grab a gear and couldn't find it. The Megane is a more focused car for me out of the box also more practical and where my money would go.
I do croft quite regular, not sure about other tracks but I wouldn't be gearing mid corners anyway (there at least anyway!) On a slightly other note, I could always get a 265 maybe 3 years old and save myself a few grand. Or if I was going Meg is the only right option to go for the cup-s!?
There's really not much difference between the 250/265/275 (unless you get a 275 with the Ohlins). If you're doing trackdays a lot it makes sense to go for a cheaper 250.
I wouldn't say a lot, try to do 4 a year. I also loved the akrapovic exhaust on the cup-s tho The car is definitely 80% road use to 20% track. That's why I think I'm 60% Clio 40% megane
Cheaper Megane and have some money to enjoy it on track. Less of a worry if you kiss the barriers or beach it in the gravel.
There were just a few big fast corners on the Bedford GT layout that the clio never felt happy with gear wise. Overall I'd be a lot happier with the Megane and the relatively cheap performance a remap brings to the table. Add to that recaro's are about aswell as brembo brakes just makes more sense to me. Don't get me wrong I imagine the Clio to be ALOT of fun on the road.
There seems to be a high spec black megane at ktec at the moment on a 2013 plate, I might have a look at that one. I took the cup-s out but it's just a bit too expensive for me
Half decent meg about 14 to 18 grand ,clio used about 17 to 19 grand ,plenty of warranty ,breakdown cover etc on clio , no hidden bills.
No mot fart on for a couple of years also, but there is a risk with depreciation as they are too new to tell at the min
I've seen used clio trophy for about 18 grand with leather 2500 miles, list price 24 grand ,all cars lose money .
I will say as a road car the Clio has been brilliant. Looking forward to using it over the winter since I was always jealous of the other half and her heated seats when I had the Megane! (not sure why Renault don't do heated seats with the Recaros while other manufacturers do). Everyone thinks they'll have it in manual all the time, but the reality is for most day to day driving, auto (normal mode) is perfect. I flick it into Sport if I'm on a busy roundabout (or just turn off stop start so I can join quickly). On a good road though the manual mode is great and the changes are instant. Not sure what my next car will be (2 years away most likely). I've been toying with the idea of an Exige for years but I keep on coming over all sensible before buying! I'll be interested in the new Megane though, and if it's offered with an EDC, I'd probably go for it over the manual. Why don't you try one of the Renault trackdays? Don't they offer the opportunity to drive the current range of cars?
My input: I drove the 220 Trophy at the RS track day and it was utterly 'Meh' on track. It felt very soft and downchanges were a non event even using the paddles (my Evora would at least blip the throttle for that 'check out my awesome downshifts' feeling!). It may be better as a daily driver but compared to my RS265 it was very disappointing. It didn't feel tight, exciting or even slightly hardcore, it actually felt like a mid range Clio - fine for road but no hot hatch. I expected it to be much much better, despite the reviews, but it wasn't, at least for me.
An Exige is awesome but no daily driver, you'd need another car. I had an Elise S/C for 7 years and just drove older BMWs daily which made getting home and getting in the Lotus even more of an event. I would warn you though that after a Lotus everything will feel big, soft and lardy!
My other car is a Caterham so most things feel soft and lardy after that . My difficulty in justifying a Lotus is that I've already got one horribly impractical car and probably don't need another! There's no daily commute for me at the moment so apart from the odd trip with the dog (which I could realistically use the other half's car for), I don't need anything particularly sensible .
Sounds like you are talking yourself into a more trouble free softer Clio. I always wonder why people pay much more for a newer car just to avoid the very low probability they may have to spend a bit more on maintenance.
For me the clio is more hardcore ,gearchange ,launch control,firmer suspension but the ability to put it into auto for the cruise so more of an all rounder aswell and no bills
I've always questioned your actual existence, presuming you might be some computer based psychological experiment.
Decided! Picked up a 13 plate 265 black with what I think is just about all the optional extras. Feels in a different class to my old r26
