5th Gear Video: Renault Clio Cup vs the MCS
It’s a tough fight for the MCS due to the lack of sport suspension and the skinnier tires but it still makes a good showing…
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It’s a tough fight for the MCS due to the lack of sport suspension and the skinnier tires but it still makes a good showing…
No SS. What manner of rubbish is this. Give a chap a sporting shot. Bloody one second.
Seriously Sean! i mean how can they honestly put up a Clio Cup (very focused car) against a mini that’s basically just a flat out no real options MCS with the JCW Engine kit…. well if the clio is stripped out, and they already described it as “plush and pricey” why the HELL didn’t they give the mini a chance by getting on gee i donno… JCW Aero to help keep it planted as speed! oh.. and the JCW suspension!!!! that alone would have made a huge difference at the track! and don’t forget the brake upgrade either!!!
i mean seriously if you’re going to give two factory performance cars a head to head… makes sure they’re all using the shit they’re supposed to! i still agree with Sean… it was one bloody second. but without having similar performance mods on both cars you can’t seriously give a car bull over one second on stock suspension… that’s like saying i have my 5 gallon zippo that’ll run forever and has a picture of chuck norris oh it but my butane works better in the wind…
of course the damn renault is going to have a slight edge… IT HAD THE SPORTS SUSPENSION ON IT.. give the mini the same courtesy at least!
Well a completely unfair test with two differentyl skilled drivers and Tiff spending more time on the grass than track – poor MINI.
I’ve only watched a couple episodes of 5th Gear — and the same driver has won the head-to-head in each. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have one driver drive each car back-to-back? That would eliminate the BIGGEST variable in these tests — the driver.
considering how much time the MINI spent off-road, I think the R60 will do better in the same test.
And this is why good tuners never add power before first adding handling. We may see a lot more of this sort of thing if MINI doesn’t alter the JCW tuning package to include the JCW suspension (price be damned), particularly with the factory JCW R56’s that will soon find their way into the hands of journalists everywhere. Make no bones about it, the car NEEDS the JCW suspension for any sort of competitive driving.
Good point, this is FAR from scientific. Looks more like a couple of guys trying to out drive each other, and the Clio driver simply being the better driver.
Hmm first switch drivers but nonetheless the R56 is touted as being good right out of the box. Brakes are essentially JCW,it’s supposedly lighter, quicker accel and top speed. Rubber may had been the main advantage on the track, looks to be 205s vs 215 (or maybe 225).
If it doesn’t have sports suspension (not sure how you can tell) it’s a good indicator to get it.
Goat you hit at a Mini sore spot with me.
“And this is why good tuners never add power before first adding handling”
Completely true, unless your Mini releasing a Factory JCW that does exactly that. heh
This is dumb. Who would get a JCW kit and not SS (or JCWS)? No one. Makes no sense at all to use this car. Drop the $500 to give it a half way fair comparison.
The Clio is FUGLY. So who cares anyway.
EVO reviewed both together several months ago and gave the nod to the JCW Works. But then EVO can hardly be viewed as being objective….they admitted that the Mini was softer but that the Clio Cup was too erratic in its performance to be judged better.
I owned the previous generation Renault Clio Sport 172. I still believe the handling is a lot better than my R56 MCS with sports suspension. From first hand experience I can tell you these Renaults are good – just accept it!
Here is a link to Clarkson’s review of the old 182. Check it out – awesome care <a href="http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=tvyVnutjJYA" rel="nofollow ugc">http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=tvyVnutjJYA</a>
5th gear needs a Stig. you can’t have two drivers test two cars.
Yea so I agree with the whole needing the stig thing and if their is no sports suspension then yea it was decently unfair I just have one question though…. how can you tell it doesnt have sport suspension???? i mean maybe by price but im in the states so idk what the price minus the suspension is… so if anyone can tell me how they know theirs no sport suspension besides the article title it would kinda help with the whole seeing 5th gear as a crappy version of top gear thnx
I don’t think anyone is denying that the Clio has legitimate capability. The question here is the validity of this comparison. It is largely worthless, primarily because of the driver issue. But entertaining? Sure! I watched the whole segment, afterall.
I thought it was already determined that the JCW does have a “sport” suspension tuned for the car. In any case its not the stock R56 running gear. What it does not have is the JCW suspension, which would make more of a difference.
But a close match is so much more fun to watch than a JCW suspension fit mini walking all over the Clio. Come on Mini owners – lets be the bigger car and spot them the suspension!
Out of curiosity, how do you guys know what suspension the car had anyway? I don’t remember seeing it mentioned in the clip.
I’m almost positive that this is the same MINI UK press car that has been reviewed elsewhere that has the stock suspension. It certainly looks like it does.
On another note, why does EVO magazine continuously suggest that MINI stopped offering LSD on the coupe when the model switched over. They’ve mentioned it several times in their magazines and I can’t quite figure it out. It’s obviously offered, I have it on my car.
I’m from NZ and not 100% sure if my car has the limited slip diff. It wasn’t included in the option list, although both MINI and a local NZ publication state that it’s part of the “chili pack” – which I have. Certainly doesn’t seem like it has a limited slip diff…as the inside tyre always lights up if you accelerate hard through a tight corner. Perhaps this is what EVO are talking about?
No thanks for the tip? Ouch.
>No thanks for the tip? Ouch.
I think DB got quite a few emails about this before posting this so maybe that’s the reason. But since he’s at AMVIV and probably lost in a casino parking lot somewhere in Vegas, let me say thanks for all those who sent this link in.
…and I’m happy to say I actually saw this on TV while in the UK.
All these comments make me think the Mini cult is aspiring to be the Apple cult. Sure the cars are not spec’d the same. The Mini JCW was already about US$5,000 more than the Renault (Mini was 17,500 Pounds and the Renault about 15k pounds). I am sure they were not looking for ways to make the Mini more expensive. Remember they are comparing COMPETITORS. In fact from an actual customer’s point of view they should have been using the base MCS. So for everyone that says that if the Mini had the OPTIONAL SS it would have done better. Give me a Renault + US$5,000 in well chosen OPTIONS and the Mini would still loose.
Also some food for though… Even though it was not in the show, do you really think the two drivers did not each drive both cars? Do you think two actual race drivers and would pass up the chance. The reality is likely the shows segments are timed boxed so we only get to see one driver in each car.
The Mini is an amazing car, and I am in the US so couldn’t get a Renault if I wanted one (and I don’t want one) but let’s not be so defensive that we can’t give a car the credit its due.
The driver issue is a point well made. However, both Tiff and Plato are generally well respected. As much as you can tell in their shootouts they do seem relatively evenly matched.
The Renault will nearly always win out in a track focused text. They are pretty good cars.
Evo magazine has done at least three comparisons with the R56 MCS Vs the Clio and the MINI has won every one – <a href="http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/cargrouptests/211096/mini_cooper_s_works_v_renault_clio_197_r27.html" rel="nofollow">Here’s one</a>
They acknowledge that the Clio is a great car on the tarmac but “Mini wins because it’s more fun more of the time”
Top Gear is so much better than Fifth Gear. Fifth Gear, as someone said above, should have a Stig-like person do this with these cars. Two people can’t possibly be accurate. Perhaps they could call him Stag, or Stug. 🙂
Some say he uses petrol in his cereal. Some say his face looks just like a Ferrari Enzo. All we know is that he is called… the Stug!!!
For the money, the Renault is a steal. Just another cool non-US car for us to be deprived of.
But really, what is worthy of note is that the performance envelope that was Mini only is slowly but surely getting smaller and smaller. And the $5k price difference between the two puts that in perspective. With all the other suggested options that would be closer to $8k or so in price difference. Almost the cost of a used 01-02 Cooper to have street fun in! Makes you go Hmmmmmm….
Matt