My search for a Ph1 car is over, and I'm the very happy new owner of 416, a Mars Red car.
A deal was done before Christmas to sell the car to somebody else, but last Friday the deal fell through, and the owner, Ivan, contacted me to see if I was interested. I was up in Utoxeter at 9.30 on Sunday morning, and it took about 30 seconds to see that this was quite a special car.
It's still in it's original paint, with a few stone chips on the front. The rest of the body is unmarked. It is completely standard apart from the silver side pods, so makes a really interesting contrast to my Ph2 car with Tredline seats and harnesses, induction kit, very noisy exhaust and modified brakes.
It has all MOT's from the first one showing that the current 25k mileage is right, and has service history showing it was serviced every 5k miles or so. It has only recently had the cambelt service at BTM Performance Ltd at 23k miles / 12 years, and apparently the original belt looked perfect when it came off! It had a new clutch and waterpump at the same time.
All the manuals are present in the correct opaque wallet with riveted 'Clio Renaultsport V6' plaque, and all contained in a chequer-plate aluminium box, which again is apparently correct for the Ph1.
I drove the car back from Uttoxeter to Gloucester yesterday afternoon, and it feels very taught and like new, with no rattles or creaks. Both the clutch and accelerator feel quite different to my Ph2 car, with the Ph2 controls being much more progressive, and the Ph1 ones being more binary and more eager to get on with it! It didn't take long to get used to the difference, and finding the right position for the seat to suit my 6ft 5inch frame helped.
It has new Pilots all round which do contribute to the smooth ride. When Ivor got the car at the beginning of last year it still had the original, or very early, set of tyres, which has flatted due to storage and gave some strange handling characteristics.
The gear linkage was modified by Fred at BTM last year, taking the slop out of it, and is now very similar to the Ph2 linkage.
The standard seat was uncomfortable before tweaking it to fit, and now it's fine. I would be amazed it it were as good as the Tredlines after a few hours as those are about the most supportive seats I've ever sat in.
The biggest difference is the sound of the car. It is so quiet with the standard airbox and exhaust when pottering around, and even getting on a bit, but the V6 growl does kick in at 3500 rpm or so, and just gets better as the redline approaches. I think it will stay standard as a contrast to the hooligan setup on my Ph2!
This is another keeper for me, and I really would say to anybody buying a Vee to snap up a Ph1 now whilst there is a price differential.. It really doesn't make any sense at all that the Ph1 cars are 30% to 50% cheaper than the Ph2 cars, and it surely is a situation that won't last. And the Ph1 cars have that great bug-eyed face!
Mark
A deal was done before Christmas to sell the car to somebody else, but last Friday the deal fell through, and the owner, Ivan, contacted me to see if I was interested. I was up in Utoxeter at 9.30 on Sunday morning, and it took about 30 seconds to see that this was quite a special car.
It's still in it's original paint, with a few stone chips on the front. The rest of the body is unmarked. It is completely standard apart from the silver side pods, so makes a really interesting contrast to my Ph2 car with Tredline seats and harnesses, induction kit, very noisy exhaust and modified brakes.
It has all MOT's from the first one showing that the current 25k mileage is right, and has service history showing it was serviced every 5k miles or so. It has only recently had the cambelt service at BTM Performance Ltd at 23k miles / 12 years, and apparently the original belt looked perfect when it came off! It had a new clutch and waterpump at the same time.
All the manuals are present in the correct opaque wallet with riveted 'Clio Renaultsport V6' plaque, and all contained in a chequer-plate aluminium box, which again is apparently correct for the Ph1.
I drove the car back from Uttoxeter to Gloucester yesterday afternoon, and it feels very taught and like new, with no rattles or creaks. Both the clutch and accelerator feel quite different to my Ph2 car, with the Ph2 controls being much more progressive, and the Ph1 ones being more binary and more eager to get on with it! It didn't take long to get used to the difference, and finding the right position for the seat to suit my 6ft 5inch frame helped.
It has new Pilots all round which do contribute to the smooth ride. When Ivor got the car at the beginning of last year it still had the original, or very early, set of tyres, which has flatted due to storage and gave some strange handling characteristics.
The gear linkage was modified by Fred at BTM last year, taking the slop out of it, and is now very similar to the Ph2 linkage.
The standard seat was uncomfortable before tweaking it to fit, and now it's fine. I would be amazed it it were as good as the Tredlines after a few hours as those are about the most supportive seats I've ever sat in.
The biggest difference is the sound of the car. It is so quiet with the standard airbox and exhaust when pottering around, and even getting on a bit, but the V6 growl does kick in at 3500 rpm or so, and just gets better as the redline approaches. I think it will stay standard as a contrast to the hooligan setup on my Ph2!
This is another keeper for me, and I really would say to anybody buying a Vee to snap up a Ph1 now whilst there is a price differential.. It really doesn't make any sense at all that the Ph1 cars are 30% to 50% cheaper than the Ph2 cars, and it surely is a situation that won't last. And the Ph1 cars have that great bug-eyed face!
Mark
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One of the most cared for Vees. So well cared for that I borrow pics of it to show to newbies when they're asking questions.
