Treza360's Ride (aka What Trent Went And Did)

[drewr]

Nice, Trent!
Fantastic cars these! And a special edition *wolf whistles*. I'd say it's a very nice little replacement for the .:R! Well done!

As others have said, what modification have you got planned? I don't want to hear you trying to convince yourself out of spending every weeks pay on it, neither! =P

[Treza360]

sweet dude!!!
have a massive soft spot for the Renault hot hatches, they do the best in the business
hope you still pop in and say hi!

Cheers mate. Yeah I'm not really going anywhere. I'll still be here.

congrats on the car. it looks nice
i've seen those on the road. they look awesome. black/ white is such a good combo, especially given that the white is a pearl.
i've never researched the clios- what kind of modifications have you got planned for it? no doubt the handling is awesome already- are there many power mods that you can do to stretch things a bit? or are there folks out there doing turbo/ supercharger conversions? it'd be interesting to know
keep us updated!

Nice, Trent!
Fantastic cars these! And a special edition *wolf whistles*. I'd say it's a very nice little replacement for the .:R! Well done!
As others have said, what modification have you got planned? I don't want to hear you trying to convince yourself out of spending every weeks pay on it, neither! =P

One of the other reasons I went with this choice was due lack of a need to mod anything (insurance and savings will thank me for it).

Power mods are an interesting prospect but at the moment there doesn't look to be much available for the 197/200 models.I know there are some turbo kits for the previous model. Maybe a green cotton filter and Superchip tune in the future might be possibilities. Milltek do have an exhaust for the 197 but really any non FI gains are minimal and for something that's highly tuned and pretty much spot on from the factory and the worry I have is that any improvements in one area will ruin another (how badly will weight and distribution of a turbo kit blunt the handling)?
For another example the 197 Milltek (which doesn't fit the 200 from what I understand) creates a nasty hole down low which requires some form of tuning to try and rectify from what I've read.

I'm more than happy to not be the fastest in a straight line (I did have a MkIV R32 remember), but at the end of the day I'm more than happy with my choice and keeping the car stock aside from window tinting which is to come and the lights as above and anything else I decide needs improving (see how wide I left the door open there).

[Treza360]

Oh and I have to laugh at how Renault do a special edition. Let's release a limited number of special editions on a car that we already sell in limited numbers in only a limited number of specifications (two).
Apparently they'll be doing a Gordini Special Edition before the end of the year as well.

That said I'm not complaining, it's not that much more than a "standard" Trophee model but has the pearl/metallic paint (white is not an option on the normal model anyway but the other pearl/metallic colours they offer are extra) plus the black roof etc and wheels which are also normally $$$. And it's the pick of all the colours and in a spec that I wanted but is normally not offered here in Australia.

Cheers,
Trent

[Rybky]

Nice choice! One thing French car makers do well is the "hot hatch" and great to see them making a come back.

Adam

[gavs]

Congratulations Trent, you are a very wise man in your choice!

Last year I was looking at buying a new car and after driving copius amounts of hot hatches, everything from HSV VRX(THAT is an animal of a car!) to GTi, the 2 cars I settled on were the RenaultSPORT Clio R27 (in the magnificent RenaultSPORT Yellow Pearl!) and the RenaultSPORT Megane Cup 225 (in red).

The Megane ulitmately was my choice and was going to put ink to paper until the grown-up in me decided on buying a house instead (dammit!). The R27 Clio though, wow. I think you will find your car just as rewarding once it is run in as these things eat corners for breakfast. I had the priveledge of taking the Megane through the back of Warrandyte here in Melb for a 1.5hr, flat out test drive. The sheer cornering forces and grip that Renault have extracted from the chassis of these cars is truly mind bending and (litteraly) vision bluring!

You will not regret your purchase, watch out for the interior squeeks after a hard, windy-road fang though, they will normalise again after a week or so though

[Water Boy]

Nice purchase mate!

[WABIT]

YEAHH!!! i love these things, almost bought the clio sport 197 F1 last year! they have the best interiors!!!

great pickup!

dom

[sir_camel]

What a great pickup Trent! Love the white. Love the F1 styled front diffuser. I had a 205 GTi before the R32 (white as well) and i concur with some above that the French can properly do a hot hatch. Especially when it comes to a bigg NA engine in a small hatch. Best of luck with it.

[AusScare]

I love this thing, and they get raving reviews from anyone and everyone.

Let me know if you want to have Brisbane french car get togethers, because I know a few 206 people and the scene is very quiet!

[Treza360]

Thanks guys.
In addition to the standard package I also optioned the following:

• Floor mats (why manufacturers don't include these as standard I still don't understand)
• RenaultSport steering wheel insert (covers up the twin bottom spokes)
• RenaultSport decals in black (I think these add so much to the car)
• Alarm system (all the other security boxes are ticked but just no alarm system)
• Boot liner tray (molded plastic tray with movable aluminium dividers, worth it's weight in gold if you transport anything dirty or messy)
• Boot storage tray (molded plastic tray which sits just below the parcel shelf, I can't get over how handy this thing is)

These are all dealer fitted accessories as opposed to factory options.
I ticked over 600km today and hit 5000rpm for the first time today, only 2500rpm to go.
I'm starting to feel the chassis and engine willing me to have a bit of fun. Must resist.
Cheers,
Trent

[goodfella]

Fantastic choice Trent... I also once considered a Clio RS but family required a bit bigger interior... never the less they are a fantastic chassis and wins in the low weight/hi output combination!!

[maca]

No comment.

Just kidding, looks mad as! Love the black and white paint scheme. Can't wait to see how it goes.

[sabloke]

I ticked over 600km today and hit 5000rpm for the first time today, only 2500rpm to go.
I'm starting to feel the chassis and engine willing me to have a bit of fun. Must resist.
Cheers,
Trent

So why don't you? The engines are factory ran in so just jump in and drive as it is meant to be driven! That was the advice I got when I left the dealership in my Trophee

Looks great in white I have to say. Too bad it wasn't available in May when I got mine...
My consolation is that silver coordinates very well with anthracite

[Treza360]

So why don't you? The engines are factory ran in so just jump in and drive as it is meant to be driven! That was the advice I got when I left the dealership in my Trophee

Yeah VW say that too. What it really means is that the engine has been started and run up all the way to the redline once.
The manual even says that you can't expect top performance until 3000km and to not exceed 3500rpm in 6th for the first 1000km.
I'd rather run it in properly by not thrashing it but at the same time constantly varying the revs and keeping the engine loaded up as much as possible. There's discussions all over the place here about running in cars the most recent of which is in the MkVI section. Exercise restraint now and reap the benefits later.
Cheers,
Trent

[Treza360]

Picked up the rear Philips Silver Vision indicator bulbs today (same size). Easy as to install. Both front and rear bulbs are a breeze. I still remember scraping up my hands when I changed the parkers on the R32.

Before:


After:


Giggity giggity...

Cheers,
Trent