Clio RS MK4 On Sale

[Fernandez]

Still not a fan.. The Seat Ibiza Cupra was a fantastic car with a cult following, it had great chassis, great brakes and a great engine, then they bought out the new model with... Yes you guessed it multi manufacturer shared engine, flappy paddle gearbox, wagon wheels for brakes and a host of other features that "would appeal to a wider audience" No prizes for guessing that the car lost its loyal following and it bombed.

 

[shubz197]

If I could make it look anything like this, I'd have one!

 

[Jmax]

Kinda disappointed its only another 200.

 

[steve11]

5 doors is never an added perk! Its a huge detractor for me, and I'm sure many others.

Agree, no 3 door & no manual means i won't be bothering with one.

 

[Willis]

Kinda disappointed its only another 200.

Remap will see 230-245 minimum on that engine.

It's probably the amount of people who have p!ssed and moaned about the F4R engine being "too expensive" to tune or being "poor for MPG" that has actually directed them to go this way with the engine (and lesser extent gearbox) in the first place anyway (as well as platform sharing and following the current trends) so those lot are partly to blame in my eyes. People from RUK do read and frequent the forums, they do keep an eye on opinion and the biggest whinge about the 197/200 is tuning costs and poor MPG. Both of which they've taken a massive jump on with the new model.

 

[czechplastik]

Why would RS give a damn about tuning costs? They don't make any money from it.

 

[Fernandez]

Why would RS give a damn about tuning costs? They don't make any money from it.

I agree, and I also think Renault don't give a toss about what we and the forums think as they are chasing a much wider and bigger market. lose 5,000 loyal customers and gain 20,000 who's money is the same. For a financial director its a no brainer.

 

[Willis]

It's a billion pound a year market, people generally buy a hot hatch to tune it. If their cars are sh!t and untunable then they won't sell. Look at the latest Yaris SR, how many of them have you seen on the road? Great price, great spec', but absolutely no following or potential in the tuning circles. Then look at something like a Fabia VRS. Not particularly high spec', not particularly quick, but there's loads of them about because the price is keen and they're easy/cheap to upgrade.

There will be a degree of consumer opinion involved in technical decisions. Otherwise, who are they making the car for and how do they know if it will sell? Of course they gauge owners opinions and the easiest (and free more importantly) way to do it is via forums and such like. Hence why RS came out last week defending the new gearbox in a press release, if they don't keep an eye on things how do they know it needs defending? Social media is a very powerful business tool these days...

 

[lukeeddy]

Looks nice in the black me thinks

 

[Foxspeed]

I agree, and I also think Renault don't give a toss about what we and the forums think as they are chasing a much wider and bigger market. lose 5,000 loyal customers and gain 20,000 who's money is the same. For a financial director its a no brainer.

thats if those new customers will actually go for a tarted up clio with a paddle shift gearbox....dont think renault will get those that aspire to a jerman car look at an expensive clio

 

[Yiannis197]

[YOUTUBE]pRaevyp9pT8[/YOUTUBE]

I have to admit that it looks quick and planted, and it's not even on the cup setup.

 

[Foxspeed]

how can you tell its not on the cup chassis - its a test mule so could be running any type of suspension set up :bored:

 

[lild-200cup]

I have to say I really like the look of the white one

 

[930Tech]

Remap will see 230-245 minimum on that engine.

It's probably the amount of people who have p!ssed and moaned about the F4R engine being "too expensive" to tune or being "poor for MPG" that has actually directed them to go this way with the engine (and lesser extent gearbox) in the first place anyway (as well as platform sharing and following the current trends) so those lot are partly to blame in my eyes. People from RUK do read and frequent the forums, they do keep an eye on opinion and the biggest whinge about the 197/200 is tuning costs and poor MPG. Both of which they've taken a massive jump on with the new model.

I thought it was the emissions that has made them go the 1600 turbo route, it's the big thing now.

Mind you i thought the weight was going to be 100kg less so that would have helped too but in another thread it was saying @1270 kgs so that will not help.

 

[shotgunsjay]

I quite like it, car looks fair quick and planted in the vid, be good to bump these threads in 6 month time when the tuning games begin to see peoples change in opinion, like the 200 at first wasnt overly keen yet it was a huge grower, i get the flappy paddle and 5 door isnt appealing but people will drive it and adapt to it, and undoubtebly love it