Is the 172/182 now a charver bucket?

[Munson]

Opinions on this? I'm finding that as they get ever cheaper, I see more and more rolling around being driven by baseball cap wearing virgins, leaning back in their chair, arm outstretched on the steering wheel, banging out really really rubbish music. Probably not even properly insured in a lot of cases. It depresses me that such a fun little car has seemingly reached this status.

They were once driven by clued-up enthusiasts with taste. Now they are mainly seen littering Maccies car parks, and generally being the centre of anti-social driving.

Now, obviously this is a generalisation, so no need for twisted Y-Fronts, but there seems to be little doubt in my eyes that they are now equal to Saxos. Too many young guns with no skill, buying them and crashing them, putting insurance prices up and basically just ruining the image.

Let's not even get started on people spending twice the value of the car on a blower so they can 'race' better cars that cost thrice as much, and win, then selling it a week later because it's an unreliable shed, and realising no one else actually cares how fast their car is.

I'm aware that this has been discussed before, but it's 2011 now and would like to hear updated opinions. Not baiting at all. There's a fair few intelligent guys n gals on here who own them, and I'm genuinely interested to know what they think.

Without pointing any fingers, I have also noticed that the average IQ on the Cliosport forums is going downhill quicker than one of Skinny's jokes. Possibly a direct reflection of the people who now have access to these cars.

Am I wrong? I know it's inevitable, but it still saddens me. Happens to almost all cars of course. I put a fair bit of time into composing this post, and are be upset if it just gets spammed and deleted, so please play nice

 

[Revels]

It's got a 'big' engine and it's cheap.

I think it's the natural step from a Saxo/106/Clio to progress into something faster.

A lot of them are driven by chavs. A lot of them are on here. It's just the way it goes.

 

[Bodge!]

Once any car with a big engine falls to a certain level in price, it becomes a magnet to the unwashed.

Ergo my comment yesterday.

 

[jenic]

Inevitably they are a chav car because they are cheap, fast and look sporty.

But, I still rarely see one around me.

 

[Munson]

Of course it's inevitable, but it's still quite sad really.

 

[Turkish]

My struggle to find a decent EK9 is leading me to the point where I'm considering other options. I enjoyed the 182 when I had it and part of me thinks I may as well buy another but the image they're starting to get it putting me off. At this rate I'll end up being an old fart and buying a Diesel Golf :dapprove:

 

[MikeB]

I agree 110%, rarely used to see a sport where i live now everywhere i go i see one, unfortunatley they are mostly driven by complete chavvy t***s.

 

[chris_cup]

fully agree, it's the curse of the cheap/affordable quick/performance car. 106 gti, impreza, e36m3, astraG gsi/coupe turbo to name a few.

however i am guilty of looking a pr!ck in the cup. i sometimes catch myself with the windows down with the "chooons" loud and think WTF!

 

[Munson]

My struggle to find a decent EK9 is leading me to the point where I'm considering other options. I enjoyed the 182 when I had it and part of me thinks I may as well buy another but the image they're starting to get it putting me off. At this rate I'll end up being an old fart and buying a Diesel Golf :dapprove:

I was let out today by a driver in a minty fresh EK9 (no sunroof lol). It looked awesome, and the guy was super enthusiastic. Flashing me a few times after he'd let me out. Returned with hazards. Breath of fresh air. If he had been in a 182, he'd have probably let me out and then overtaken me to show me up. That was my thought at the time, hence this thread.

 

[Grigaaa182]

You can tell right away though, if the car is owned by a complete nugget or someone who looks after it and is'nt a ned!

 

[la21t]

I rarely see them near me, in fact there's a Trophy behind work that literally never moves and and Black 182 drives past me as I walk the dog every morning, aside from those 2 I seriously don't see them.

It is, however, somewhat inevitable that the cheaper they get the quicker they'll fall into the hands of the dickhead fraternity.......although in essence it's no different to me waiting for 21 Turbos to come down in price (they were £7k when I passed my test) and then waiting until 3 years ago to buy an E36 M3, if you can't afford it new, you wait until you can afford it. The difference being I could afford to run and appreciate both of them, as opposed to drive it until it died or looked like it'd sprung from Baghdad.

 

[jenic]

If you lived near bradford you'd soon realise an ek9 has a much worse image than a clio lol

"My first drug dealer car" iirc

 

[jezcharger]

Chavs I can deal with. Its people on here who buy them strip them out "track" prep them and never do a track day! I've slowly altered mine over 3 years and about 25 track days and only done things as necessary to improve the feel of the car, not just done it cos I read on here that you should do it.

 

[Munson]

I was going to mention the track cars that never see a track, but thought that was pushing it for hate

 

[Christopher]

Worst 'I've moved on to bigger and better things with 350bhp' thread ever.

M3.

 

[Turkish]

I was let out today by a driver in a minty fresh EK9 (no sunroof lol). It looked awesome, and the guy was super enthusiastic. Flashing me a few times after he'd let me out. Returned with hazards. Breath of fresh air. If he had been in a 182, he'd have probably let me out and then overtaken me to show me up. That was my thought at the time, hence this thread.

There are only a couple local to me (9's) and if anything I've only ever seen them cruising about never being raped. Conversely of the countless sports I see about a fair few are having their neck wrung by the bellend behind the wheel at every opportunity.

EK9.org has got some proper neds on it too though, thankfully most of the biggest tools reside North of Hadrians wall it would appear. One in particular is a mouthy s**t but as per usual with internet hardmen he looks like he'd struggle to win a fight with an 8 year old girl, that is of course assuming he's left his knife or skag needles at home.

 

[la21t]

Chavs I can deal with. Its people on here who buy them strip them out "track" prep them and never do a track day! I've slowly altered mine over 3 years and about 25 track days and only done things as necessary to improve the feel of the car, not just done it cos I read on here that you should do it.

That's why I'm not buying a Cup car, I appreciate it's worth but I wouldn't do it justice. I've never really done the hot hatch thing, I had an XR3i once as a scruffy 17year old who was earning too much lol - the Clio seems to fit the bill for weekend frolics ;-)

 

[alex-avfc]

People on cliosport don't realise how good they've got it lol! You should see ZSOC...good club, but even some of the the admin/mod's on there are seriously dumb! You would despair at some of the conversation on there, Munson.

Thats another 'fun little car' as you put it, that has suffered from falling into the hands of undesireables even more so.

I think the 172/182 is still slightly a class above the 106/saxo/fiesta lot, the cost to insure one has been keeping it that way for a long while.

 

[Christopher]

I was let out today by a driver in a minty fresh EK9 (no sunroof lol). It looked awesome, and the guy was super enthusiastic. Flashing me a few times after he'd let me out. Returned with hazards. Breath of fresh air. If he had been in a 182, he'd have probably let me out and then overtaken me to show me up. That was my thought at the time, hence this thread.

The choice of a hero.

 

[jack_kemp]

Most of the Clio's I see around here are driven by 30 somethings tbh. Very few chavs funnily enough.

 

[Munson]

Worst 'I've moved on to bigger and better things with 350bhp' thread ever.

M3.

Fully expected those responses, which was why I put some effort into the thread. Obviously not appreciated by some charvers.

 

[alex-avfc]

Also, sometimes a search brings up archived posts from the old forum and you see a few established members talking in a manner that would now see one labelled a chav! So I don't think theres been any great change really. Hot hatches attract enthusiasts, but they also are loved by chavs. Not forgetting that in general there is a fine line between car enthusiasm/chavvyness too.

 

[Munson]

Also, sometimes a search brings up archived posts from the old forum and you see a few established members talking in a manner that would now see one labelled a chav! So I don't think theres been any great change really. Hot hatches attract enthusiasts, but they also are loved by chavs. Not forgetting that in general there is a fine line between car enthusiasm/chavvyness too.

Very interesting point. Hell, I used to once post in racing tales. People change and grow up. Times change. Maybe I myself was once viewed as a newbie chav by the regulars. I've always had a triple digit IQ though.

 

[Clarkey]

however i am guilty of looking a pr!ck in the cup. i sometimes catch myself with the windows down with the "chooons" loud and think WTF!

See this is alot of peoples problem... :boring:
Why do you think this makes you look like a prick?
You have a nice car, in the sun, windows down, sunroof up, soaking it all in with the tunes, showing your sexy car off... You think this is a bad thing?
Jeez, one day everyone will be buying black diesels looking all depressed and removing their head units and all ICE incase they might look a pr!ck

 

[alanc1000]

Mostly i'd say no, as there are still some nice examples around my way still driven by MILFs, but its heading that way pretty rapidly.

EDIT - phase 1 172, yes deffo chav and scraping the bottom of the barrel TBH.

 

[Bodge!]

See this is alot of peoples problem... :boring:Jeez, one day everyone will be buying black diesels looking all depressed

Audi drivers?

 

[Shooter McGavin]

As you can see I'm new to this forum but not to Renaultsport.

I previously owned a V6 Clio 255 and all I got from people was that it looked a total chav mobile/ boy racer car. I got so fed up explaining to people how unique the car was and that it had been an ambition of mine to own one ever since I first saw it. Therefore certain cars attract negative attention by the way they look. Cars like Evos, Imprezas, Focus RS etc are seen by many in the same way.

However I do agree that certain owners don't help the image. Driving up the main high street on a Saturday afternoon flooring it for 50 metres then having to slam on the brakes, having ridiculous modifications that only serve to cheapen the look of the cars, all of these things are cringe worthy.

I'm in my 30's and have also owned an BMW M roadster and Jag and have never been into the car park scene and have no interest at all in car mods, but I love my 182 and adored my V6 Clio. Therefore there will always be certain people who give cars a bad reputation and equally those who will never like them, but the rest of us just have to appreciate the car for what it is and continue enjoying taking it out on B roads at the weekend.

 

[Clarkey]

Audi drivers?

Yes.

I'm 17 and I don't really care what I get labelled as, because at the end of the day I feel great when cruising with BassDrive FM, the windows down, sunroof up and soaking it in.
To be fair, what makes me feel a pr!ck is when I've got my windows up and no music on when its a nice day.

 

[Munson]

See this is alot of peoples problem... :boring:

Why is it a 'problem'? It's just their opinion. As it is yours that they boring. You don't have to be charving it up, playing your music loud, and driving badly, to appreciate your car and appreciate that others also appreciate it. In fact you get a lot more respect by being adult about it. Obviously this all depends on your viewpoint, which will be different depending on which social group you belong to. That leads me neatly back to my original point.

 

[Clarkey]

I didn't say anything about driving badly I was just saying its a good feeling, and for me, makes me appreciate my car more and want to continue driving it random places.
It also makes me smile when I see others enjoying themselves in their cars. Bit of community feel if you know what I mean.

Maybe 'a lot more respect by being adult about it', is actually what makes it boring.

 

[littlelise]

Mostly i'd say no, as there are still some nice examples around my way still driven by MILFs, but its heading that way pretty rapidly.

EDIT - phase 1 172, yes deffo chav and scraping the bottom of the barrel TBH.

I'm a 25 yr old accountant - not remotely chavvy - and I drive a ph1. I've only seen two other ph1s on the road since buying mine and both were driven by guys who looked about my age.

Around here it's the ph2s which are driven by chavvy teens as they're all gitty rich kids, they wouldn't be seen dead in a 10 year old car :dapprove:

Plus, what makes someone a chav? As a couple of other people have said, I'm partial to opening the windows and listening to some good music at a fruity volume on a nice day... And also to wearing a hoody on not so nice days... And the fruity music is sometimes DNB (although not at the moment as I've got the stock tape player - NOOOOO!), I also look too young to drive tbh, appearances can be deceiving

 

[alanc1000]

I'm 25 and not remotely chavvy and I drive a ph1. I've only seen two other ph1s on the road since buying mine and both were driven by guys who looked about my age.

Around here it's the ph2s which are driven by chavvy teens as they're all gitty rich kids, they wouldn't be seen dead in a 10 year old car :dapprove:

pics of the car - is it standard?

 

[Munson]

I didn't say anything about driving badly I was just saying its a good feeling, and for me, makes me appreciate my car more and want to continue driving it random places.
It also makes me smile when I see others enjoying themselves in their cars. Bit of community feel if you know what I mean.

Maybe 'a lot more respect by being adult about it', is actually what makes it boring.

Sadly, it seems you're probably one of the guys that unknowingly spawned this thread. You can't see it now but you will when you start growing nose and ear hair. If you live that long

That's cool though. I asked for opinions.

 

[littlelise]

pics of the car - is it standard?

I don't think I've taken any yet >_< Chances of sun and a clean car on the same day in winter = nil! But it's completely standard afaik.

In the next couple of weekends I might take it out for some scenic photography, will post up when I do

 

[p@blo]

Worst 'I've moved on to bigger and better things with 350bhp' thread ever.

M3.

Lol Chris.

Some good points Roy. Is the flipside that (some) owners of newer/pricier RS brands perhaps overstate the egotistical attachment? Are any of the road going RS range really that exclusive in all honesty?

Vive la différence

 

[Lagerlout]

The Chav contingent in 1*2's is still relatively low in comparison to other hatches (Saxo etc) where I live, although my first instinct on this was that it is more liekly to do with insurance than anything else. The money my apprentices pay for even bog standard motors is eye-watering tbh.

But overall I'd say it's no different to any hot hatch in that respect.... Type R's, RS's... they get cheaper, they get charver™

 

[realnumber 1]

Most Focus RS's I've seen on the roads are driven by rich middle aged baseball cap wearing chav's tbh. Fast Fords have always attracted that type...

A lot of 1*2's are defiantly falling into chav hands as do Evo's and scooby's etc. It's the way it is... Personally I don't see too much of it round my way and suspect that the people that say they do must hang around in typical "chav" places such as Mc D's...
I've never really see them when going about my normal business or when I go for a good drive out over the moors etc.

 

[Matt W]

On a daily basis I see more Focci RS being driven by chavs than 172/182's.

 

[Clarkey]

You can't see it now but you will when you start growing nose and ear hair.

I'll have you know my puberty has just ended so I'm entitled to my opinions

 

[alanc1000]

I don't think I've taken any yet >_< Chances of sun and a clean car on the same day in winter = nil! But it's completely standard afaik.

In the next couple of weekends I might take it out for some scenic photography, will post up when I do

Yes deffo post up pics if its standard, that reduces the chav factor significantly and there arent too many standard ones left. I'd like to see one just to prove myself wrong!