2000 Renault Clio 2: the Oppo Review

"Clemsie McKenzie" (thestirringcolumn) 10/05/2016 at 12:16 • Filed to: oppo review

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The second generation of the Renault Clio is the standard economy car here in Europe, and has been the best selling car for years here in France. But since most of you guys are in the US and will probably never get to see one, I figured I’d do a review of it here!

As I said, the Clio 2 is very common here. But my particular car is quite a rare version of it: it has a gas engine, whereas around 80% were sold with a diesel engine; it’s also the three-door version, where most where sold as five-doors hatchbacks. It also has a horsepower boost in the form of an Oppo sticker, which makes it 1-of-1. Pebble Beach 2048, here I come!

At nearly 160,000km (around 100,000 miles, which is quite a lot here in Europe), it has sadly amassed its collection of dings and dents, although most of them where there when I took ownership of it 5 years and 50,000km earlier. It’s also my only car, and for all intents and purposes, my first one as well.

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Nothing crazy or outstanding here. Simple lines and curves, all of which seems to fit together quite well. It sits firmly in th “bubble era” of car design, without going Multipla with it. The very small wheels seem a bit lost under the rear arches, but nothing you won’t see on a comparable car from that era. I quite like the gunmetal paint and the bubble rear-window, though.

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Yeah, that’s an economy car from the late 90s/early 2000s, and the see of grey plastics certainely shows that. Doesn’t look or feel great, it has to be said. However, the build construction is surprisingly good, and after 16 years of daily abuse, you can hear no squeaks or rattles, and there’s only one piece of trim that I have to put back into place every so often. I know of many higher end cars who can’t say the same.

Everything is laid out in a way that makes sense, and the instrument cluster is easily readable, so there’s that.

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My car has the 1.4L 16V gas engine. It produces 98hp for 94 Ib/ft of torque. In other words, not much. However, the car is very light by modern standards, at 1,060kg (2,337 pounds), so it can still move around. The real problem is the lack of torque, which makes it pretty hard to just stomp it and go. Peak torque is at around 4,000 rpm, so you have to rev it out quite a bit to get going.

I topped it at around 105mph, on a closed road of course.

It does enjoy to rev though, and all in all, I think the linear NA power curve can be quite enjoyable. It can be a bit of a pain when you get humiliated by diesel vans though.

It gets a great fuel economy, with around 44mpg combined.

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It’s a 5 speed manual, and it does its job. It is pretty short though, and you’ll navigate highway cruising speeds (legally at 80mph) at 4k rpm, which can be a bit annoying.

On a side note, my synchros for 1st, 2nd and 3rd are pretty worn. And the pedals are so far apart that it makes it hard to double declutch. Still, more fun than an auto!

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240kph top speed? Yeah, right...

As I said, it’s very light, and that’s what makes it fun! That and the ridiculously thin tires make it quite chuckable, and you can make it rotate a bit on lift off, if you know what you’re doing. Great fun on smaller roads! With the classic NA engine and the manual gearbox, it’ll stamp a smile on your face more often than you’d expect, even if the controls are all a bit soft and squeashy. Not much feedback from the very large wheel.

However, if you push it too hard or if you try to corner too quickly in wait conditions, you’ll be met by terminal understeer.

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Yeah, thin tires, small discs at the front and small drums at the back... You won’t stop a jumbo jet with that. It does the job, but don’t ask too much from it, or it’ll overheat or just send the ABS to have a nice chat with you.

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Will you take a bit of camembert and baguette with your French car?

Being light and from an era when Nurburgring lap times where just a silly thing to measure, it has a very soft suspension. It’ll ride bumps very gracefully. Seats are quite comfy too, but finding the perfect driving position can prove quite challenging. I’m 6', and I don’t like how high the seat is. But it’s acceptable, nothing dramatic.

It’s also quite roomy and will fit 5 adults, although the three in the back won’t be comfortable. Three persons with their luggage will fit perfectly, though, as proven by the multiple trips I’ve taken across France and back with two passengers.

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A nice surprise here. Because the car was developped with big, noisy diesel engines in mind, the soundproofing from the engine is quite thorough. Couple that with thin, low resistance tires, and you get a surprisingly silent car below 60mph. Above that, wind noise takes over to more expected levels for a car this cheap.

The stereo is quite good, too.

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Again, economy car, not much to see here. No cruise control, for example.

It does have a trip/mpg computer embedded in the instrument cluster, and controls for the radio/CD player behind the wheel, which is quite practical. Audio level can be coupled to the speed of the car.

Also, I love CDs and I have a dozen around in the car at all times, but I realise this is likely not the case for everyone.

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I bought this car of a thousand bucks, and it has proven pretty much bulletproof. Ony serious job I had to do was redo the drum brakes, and also change the battery. That’s it! It has never stranded me, beside that dead battery issue.

The driver’s side window’s engine is kaputt though, I will have to replace it at some point, so the window is stuck in closed position. Not a big deal, but slightly annoying. I does have AC.

Economy wise, as I said it gets great mpgs. Small tires are cheap, and so are parts. Very easy to insure.

I can see myself selling this for about 1 grand too, so nothing lost there!

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It’s a gas, NA, manual, sub-2,500 pounds car. Pretty much a Miata, right? It’s also surprisingly reliable and comfortable. So sure, it’s not very flamboyant or interesting, but for a first car it does the job remarkably well.

If only it could have that cuteness/craziness of the Twingo from the same period, it’d be pretty much perfect.

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Price paid : € 1,000

Price when new : €13,000

Type : Hatchback

Doors : 3

Engine : 1.4L, 16V, gas, front-mounted

Transmission : 5-speed manual, to the front wheels

Power : 98hp, 94 Ib/feet

0-62mph in 10,5 seconds

115mph top speed

44mpg combined

duurtlang > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 12:34

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Interesting how taxation can shape consumer preferences. These Clios sold in huge numbers here in the Netherlands as well, but 80% diesel? Looking at the most popular used car site here I found 88 Clios from 2000. 85 gasoline, 3 diesel. That’s 3.4% diesel.

Also: 160k km is a lot? I’ve never owned a car with such low kilometerage (currently own 5 cars). I bought my 2000 Peugeot (not a diesel) with more and then added an additional 113k in the last 4 years. And I’ll probably add another 100k in the next few years.

Clemsie McKenzie > duurtlang 10/05/2016 at 12:37

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Yeah, basically until the last couple of years, 70-80% of all cars sold new in France were diesels, because as you mentioned, diesel is taxed much more lightly than gas. It’s changing though, as I think in 2016 so far about 55% new cars were sold with diesel engines. There’s hope.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 10/05/2016 at 12:41

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The French do adore their diesels though - a diesel Clio is almost the archetypical French car. Diesel is, or was, considerably cheaper than petrol there.

For Sweden > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 12:41

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Should have bought the Twingo tbqpfhf

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 12:42

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Nice! I’m honestly jealous we don’t get these types of cars in the U.S. anymore. I used to have a ‘92 Civic with the 1.5 and you could copy and paste this review for it and it’d be accurate. Although I’d bet the Civic handled better ;-)

Cé hé sin > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 12:44

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Oooh, une Clio grise!

I’ve only ever driven one Clio and it was grey and petrol too - but the new model. It was fine. Came with sat nav (not much good) and cruise control (not that useful with a manual box as it cancels whenever you change gear).

Clemsie McKenzie > For Sweden 10/05/2016 at 12:48

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The sad story is, I did. I got one as my first car just before passing my licence, for practicing. I crashed it, and I miss it since then. Loved that thing. Sure, it’s less practical and stuff, but it look so cool!

duurtlang > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time 10/05/2016 at 12:48

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Although I’d bet the Civic handled better ;-)

You’d probably be right, however the Clio has comfort, rust prevention and cheap parts on its side.

Clemsie McKenzie > Cé hé sin 10/05/2016 at 12:50

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Very original, I know! That grey is pretty nice, though. Not very funky, but quite deep.

Clemsie McKenzie > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time 10/05/2016 at 12:50

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Oh yeah I’m pretty sure the Civic handles better. The Clio is probably more comfy though!

Cé hé sin > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 12:53

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Found it!

Clemsie McKenzie > Cé hé sin 10/05/2016 at 12:54

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Man, these things look big now.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 10/05/2016 at 13:01

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Diesel is considerably cheaper here too. However, ownership taxes on a diesel are prohibitively expensive if you don’t drive much. Break even point looking at fuel and ownership tax only tends to be 20k km a year. More if you include maintenance and depreciation.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 13:25

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Great Review!

Funnily enough, I recognize a lot of the things you describe, like the chuckability, and the sometimes vague controls. But also the high seating position, I’m also around 6ft (wait why am I using freedom units while communicating with a fellow European?) 1.80m tall, and the seats in the Twingo are way too high too.

So it looks like Renault just copied the Clio 2, cut it a bit shorter, stretched it up and called it a day. I could probably do the same for an Oppo review of the Twingo, haha.

Clemsie McKenzie > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 10/05/2016 at 13:36

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Thanks!

Yeah it seems they just ported the platform over, tinkered with the details and voilà! Twingo 2.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, these are perfectly good cars!

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 13:42

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Yeah, i’m perfectly fine with what they did. To be honest it’s ideal to base a cheap city car on a proven ‘bigger’ chassis, it keeps the costs nice and low, while giving it the feeling of a bigger car. I’m sure that’s the reason why the Twingo 2 is the ‘enthusiasts’ city car, it’s just way more fun to drive than a 107/C1/Aygo or Ka.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 10/05/2016 at 13:45

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Get RS seats! Can sit nuch lower and in better comfort.

Jonee > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 13:51

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Very cool. As a Renault 5 owner, I approve this message. Renault’s always known how to make a solid, practical, and just fun enough economy car.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 10/05/2016 at 13:53

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But they’re so hard to find! Here in the Netherlands at least.

Do you know if the more luxurious seats are lower too? Like this one:

https://www.onderdelenlijn.nl/auto-onderdelen-voorraad/onderdeel/kenteken/89sjz3/modeltype/18212/onderdeel/voorstoel-links/onderdeelid/6499637/

Clemsie McKenzie > Jonee 10/05/2016 at 13:57

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Oooh you have an R5? I want an early one so much!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 10/05/2016 at 13:58

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If they have height adjustment theyre moderately better but not massively so. Honestly while the RS seats are considerably lower theyre still a touch too high.

You can drop the stock seats about 1.5cm by removing the spacers they sit on and stacking nylon washers to level the seat again. I did that at first and it did help a bit.

Jonee > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 14:04

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Yeah, I have a U.S. Le Car version. I’d love an early one, too, but we didn’t get them until ‘76. Here’s mine.

Cé hé sin > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 14:06

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Want to make a small car better? Make it bigger.

The new Micra is 17cm longer than the current one which is quite a change.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 10/05/2016 at 14:13

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It doesn’t seem like they a handle for height adjustments, but I’ll look into it.

The spacer removal sounds like a great idea, thanks for the tip! I might just try that this weekend, if I have time for it.

Clemsie McKenzie > Jonee 10/05/2016 at 14:38

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Sweeeet! It must be pretty rare, too!

Jonee > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 14:48

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Yeah, they’re hard to find now. They were considered disposable so not many were saved.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 10/05/2016 at 15:03

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Yeah it does help. The four bolts for the rails are under the car under rubber covers. Take them off and lift the seat. Then remove the plastic spacers and use your washers to make it sit right (the spacers are different thicknesses on each side so the seat will sit wonky if you dont address it). Took me about 20 minutes to do.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 10/05/2016 at 17:22

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Ah, but France does not into road tax anymore so there’s no reason not to get a diesel there unless your annual driving is low. They also have a bonus/discount system which increases or reduces the purchase price of a car depending on CO2 figures which obviously benefits diesels.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 10/05/2016 at 19:22

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I wish we’d get rid of those silly ownership taxes here as well. €96 a month is what I’m paying for my 406. It would’ve been more had it been a diesel. Less had it been an unmodified gasoline one (it’s LPG converted).

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Clemsie McKenzie 10/05/2016 at 23:47

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Great article! It’s fun to see reviews of ‘everyday’ rides, rather than all the fancy stuff. Your Clio reminds me a lot of my Accent - just a basic, decently put together small car with not a lot of features. :)

Also, your CD player - is the screen for it in that pod up at the top center of the dash?

I’ll have to do a review of mine sometime. I know most of Europe had the i10, and not my generation of Accent, so it might be of SOME interest to some of you...? Who knows!

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 10/06/2016 at 04:56

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That’s a tad expensive. My 2 litre FTO (registered before mid 2008 so engine size based) costs me €710 per year. Newer cars are CO2 based so diesels gain.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 10/06/2016 at 05:06

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Ownership taxes based on bullshit theoretical CO2 emissions... That’s almost as bad as our theoretical CO2 emissions based new-car tax.

Volvo XC90 D5 diesel. €15k CO2 based new car tax (not bad really, relatively). Ownership tax (based on fuel type and vehicle weight): €2264 a year. A T6 gasoline would be €1284 a year (and €19k in new car CO2 tax). They do levy a different €/g CO2 tax for diesels than gasoline powered cars.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 10/06/2016 at 05:11

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We have both of these....annual and initial taxes are both CO2 based. When we changed from engine size in 2008 it had the unexpected effect of causing a BMW 520d to drop in price by about €7,000. BMW have hardly sold a petrol car here since.

bhtooefr > Cé hé sin 10/06/2016 at 15:02

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Although, in the wake of Dieselgate, Renault has said that diesels will soon be dead for things like the Clio and Megane...

Cé hé sin > bhtooefr 10/06/2016 at 17:22

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Not for a while yet!

The latest version of the Nissan Micra (built on a Clio platform) will have a 1.5 Renault diesel.

Svend > Clemsie McKenzie 10/11/2016 at 05:55

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Where I am the Mk2 phase 1 and 2 were predominantly petrol, more than half were silver metallic and three door.

My old apartment had six or seven silver three door petrol Clio Mk2 Phase 1s in the car park and when living with a lass who was a little ditzy, it meant going to work (we worked together too) started with a game of hunt the car as she often forgot where she parked.

They are a great car and would go on forever pretty much but as soon as one issue happened, you got shot of these cars as they would develop fault after fault in rapid succession, not expensive fixes in the most case but an annoyance.

Clemsie McKenzie > Svend 10/11/2016 at 06:38

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Funny how different markets give such a wildly different trim distribution! Here I have never been able to spot an identical car in 5 and a half years.

I hear certain model years can have distribution problems, which, with a high mileage car probably isn’t worth fixing. Thankfully these apparently start with 2001 MY and mine is 2000.

Svend > Clemsie McKenzie 10/11/2016 at 08:05

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If I remember correctly most were 1.2 Dynamiques on 51, 02 and 52 plate cars (2001 to 2002).

I really quite liked them at the time and even now I’d take one as a run about if in good enough condition at a cheap enough price.