182 and tow bar!?is there..can you?

[koevoet]

I am intending buying a trials bike and a trailer to drag it around on,Can a tow bar be fitted to the 182 bearing in mind the position of the back box on the exhaust..ie where the wheel well should be?!Will a standard Clio `98 onwards bar fit?

 

[msa197]

Should beable to fit one, but it's not recommended by Renault.

Don't think a 98on Clio one will fit though, may have to get a different one!

 

[rory182]

Go to your nearest Indespension dealer and ask them to have a look, they seem to fit the tow bars for most dealerships cause I see audis, renos, fords, vauxhalls etc at the one next my work with the sold stickers on them waiting to get tow bars fitted.

Try and get a removable one (swan neck) so you dont have a horrible lump permanently attached, someone enquired ages ago and gave up iirc, not so sure it can be done!

 

[Rich]

Yeah I remeber that thread, no one seemed to be able to sort it due to the exhausts.

 

[GordonD]

Renault did not offer a tow bar on the 172. It offered it on all the lower-spec Clios, but not the 172. The one with the biggest most powerful engine that you'd think would be the best for towing things. I wanted a car with a tow bar so I could tow a light trailer for things like taking rubbish down to the tip, and towing around a kart trailer. The dealer said there was no reason one couldn't be fitted, and supplied the car with a standard Clio towbar fitted. The first time I tried to tow a trailer I realised why Renault doesn't offer a tow bar. Because the Clio is front-wheel drive and the Sport has so much power and torque it has to have a tall low gear to prevent it wheelspinning. That plus the fact that it is fairly highly tuned means that its a real pain to launch off from a standing start with a trailer on the back, and doubly so on a hot day with the A/C on, and doubly doubly so if you're caught in stop-start traffic creeping forward uphill. In those circumstances you have to really torture the clutch. The engineers at Renault realised this and didn't offer a tow bar for a good reason. Take that as a warning from someone who found out the hard way. The Clio Sport 172 is NOT a good towing car. I don't expect the 182 would be any better. I actually got the engine chipped not to increase top end performance, but because it adds torque right through the rev range, even at the bottom, and that improves the 172 from a really terrible tow car to one that's at least OK.

The other issue is legality. I don't know what the law is where you are, but I moved states here in Australia, and found that in the state I moved to the law says that the factory handbook says what weight you can legally tow. So I have a car fitted with a Renault towbar by a Renault dealer, but the Clio Sport handbook says "no tow bar", so its illegal for me to actually tow anything. Check the law where you are.

 

[edde]

Gordons right its illegal to tow with the 182 as Renault never certified it with one. There are a few possible reasons for this but theres no good reason the shell is the same the engine (bar cams and head etc) is the same as Lagunas which can tow. The clucth isn't stunning so maybe that as a reason but its not worse than Willaims towing so its not a huge issue.
If you have a tow bar fitted the insurance companies can refuse to pay out in the enven of a crash as your car shouldn't be fitted with one. Also fitting a standard one (ie from a 1.2 etc) won't work as the exhaust in the place where the brackets should go to. You can and I've seen 182s with stock exhaust and tow bars but they have to be made to fit.
Its interesting though this none tow bar rule on hot hatches the Skoda Fabia is the same no tow bar is allowed as its not certified with one and but the Seat Ibiza (the same car to all intents) is allowed to have one.
I've seen a ew Cups with tow bars though infact there was two identical ones last week at a track day towing idential Caterhams I never found the owners though to ask them.

 

[koevoet]

Thanks for all your help guys! I believe the phrase is "bugger!".So some sort of rental van is in order.....once again lady luck poohs in my Tea! I suppose it retains some sembalance of cred not having a bent ball sticking out it's bum.

 

[M.C..]

i enquired at renault and they did'nt have a clue and when i went to a tow bar garage they cheacked the VIN sticker on the inside of the door and that tells you the maximum weight the car can tow and it says 0000kg.
and if a copper pulls you over with a trailer they can do you and insurance co's can refuse to pay.
and having one made is illigal as well as they have to be type approved

 

[GordonD]

And one more warning about tow bars for Clio Sports.

I had gearbox problems. Problems that would have been very expensive for me if Renault hadn't paid for it under warranty. At one point the dealer pointed at the tow bar and said you're not supposed to have one of those on one of these ... we've only seen these sorts of problems on Renaults that tow trailers. It was only that I could point back at them and say if I'm not allowed to tow anything YOU shouldn't have fitted the #$%^ towbar that I got the gearbox fixed under warranty.

So that's:
1. suitability as a tow vehicle,
2. possible legal and insurance problems, and
3. possibly warranty issues if you get a 3rd-party towbar fitted.