Help me decide!

rjkoneill said:
see, I would agree to an extent given both cars in their stock form.

my civic has a FRSU which cost £150 and transforms the feedback you get from the whole vehicle. this does edge it away from the clio in the handling stakes imo. £150 is hardly breaking the bank.

the 172 I drove was a complete nail so discounting that and only considering the 182 I have driven, I do like the clio. but for me, the seating position was uncomfortable for my height and I didn't like the way the car felt to drive.

all personally preference I guess but considering the OP mentioned his height [and with it being around the same as mine] I thought it best to mention.

I would just drive all three as internet conversation will only result in opinion.

also, just as a real world comparison, my Civic averages 21-29mpg whereas my Fiesta ST used to net 28+

the main gripe with the ST is that it needs a 6th gear. it is geared well but a 6th would make long jouneys a lot more pleasant and also improve the economy.
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He really just needs to test drive the three and decide from there. I have a 182 and I'm 6ft 4" and don't have any trouble fitting in my 182 for instance. For me though the Fiesta is the weakest out of those choices.

Housey said:
Surely if you are considering an Oder Clio it must be a Trophy? I'm fairly confident that if handling is important a Trophy will come out better than all above. Not sure how much they are these days, but still one of the sweetest handling cars I've driven.
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The trophy demands quite a premium over the other versions. Also as the OP has pointed out repair costs its probably not a good idea as the Sachs dampers have a tendency to fail and require a full refurb.

Clio wise, I'd be looking for a Clio 182 full fat in that price range.

A trader over at cliosport has one without cup suspension but cup aero for £4800 with 15k miles.
 
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The biggest improvement to the MX5 when Centre mavity did a set up was to the steering. The other changes all helped, but they were not night and day but the steering had a much nicer weight and feedback to it once it was finished. Simply driving it out of his car park it showed itself.
 
There's loads of choice in the 6K realm. Don't know how they fare in the "fun to drive" category, but you can get a Golf R32 within your budget if you're prepared to look at 8-9 year old cars. Nice size engine and V6 smoothness :)
 
I don't mind turbo cars, the only unreliable ones I've owned have been diesels. My petrol turbo was perfectly reliable.

I'm guessing the ctr's have all the reliability of the s2000 with slightly less power?

Fox I realise they are in a different league, but you seem to have quite liked the clio you drove - is it chalk and cheese to your bmw?
 
-Mike- said:
Fox I realise they are in a different league, but you seem to have quite liked the clio you drove - is it chalk and cheese to your bmw?
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Very much so :D

I took it up on Dartmoor and had a great time with it - loads of fun to through around. Sadly though it really wasn't my sort of car as once the fun stopped and you drove normally it was just a cheap plastic Clio. But great fun on the right road.
 
[TW]Fox;22876293 said:
What is an FRSU and how does it change the handling of the car?

The Clio I drove was a brand new 182 with about 500 miles on it, I can imagine one with ruined springs and dampers doesnt handle as nicely.
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fast road set up in its most basic form is a pair of adjustable camber bolts at the front and the rear camber is set up as aggressively as the rear camber arms will allow after being modified.

for me there was a noticeable improvement in the way the car handles and the feedback through the wheel was markedly improved. my steering was quite dull and lifeless when i first got the car. turns out that most CTRs come out of spec quite easily and need putting back within factory tolerances anyway. It just felt 'alert' if that makes any sense :o

Im sure someone like MilanoChris, Ad or Muffin can point out the pros of this better than myself as I have only read the facts i needed to know :p

my FRSU was paired with the common mod of the stiffer, thicker rear ARB from the JDM EP3 which makes a huge difference in the way the rear of the car communicates positioning during cornering and higher speed cornering feels a lot more settled.

in all, i spent £150 on the FRSU and £110 on the rear ARB which are both affordable mods that offered a huge improvement for me.

i am not aware if a similar procedure could be carried out on a clio but this seems to be standard practice with hot hondas.

as peter mentions, you can go to the length of fitting adjustable rear camber arms and progressive springs also but i opted for a basic FRSU as I wished to retain OEM ride height and suspension components.
 
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