ABS is for wimps? The Clio says ‘non!’
Dan Trent writes:
You might hear some motoring hacks moaning about ‘electronic nannies’ and ‘lack of purist appeal’ with reference aids like ABS and ESP. I won’t be one of them after my Clio taught me a harsh lesson in what life was like in the days before anti-lock brakes and electronic brake force distribution became the norm on modern cars.
Now, my 2002 Clio 172 Cup isn’t exactly an old car. But in a laudably extreme piece of weight saving Renaultsport famously stripped the Cup version of the 172 of its ABS, apparently losing 15kg in the process. Impressive. And, said many, proof of how hardcore this little car’s intentions were.
Sadly as I locked my brakes at Paddock HIll bend yesterday on my first track outing in the Clio its intentions seemed more focused on flinging me into the armco. My fault entirely though. I’ve driven here loads of times before and honed my last of the late brakers technique into Paddock. Fine in the more stable 197 I was in last time I was here, with its acronym armoury of ABS, EBD and ESP.
Not in the 172. Too hard on the brakes, the unweighted rear end skipped over the bumps and writhed around as I struggled to hold my line. I kept it out of the gravel but ended up stranded on the escape lane at the turn-in for Paddock as hordes of hard driven Renaults approached at 100mph-plus. Not ideal!
I should have known the 172 wasn’t going to be as forgiving as the 197 but, lesson learned, the rest of the day passed without further drama but plenty of excitement.
I’ll pop some more pictures up later on but – forgive the sales pitch – if you’ve got a hot Renault and fancy taking it on track I can’t recommend these Renaultsport days highly enough. Loads of tracktime, opportunity to drive new products like the new Clio 200 (mere weeks after the press launch) and amazing R26.R in a beginner-friendly atmosphere all adds up to a great package. Go to Renaultsport.co.uk for more info. And see you at the next one!
Dan
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Posted: May 28th, 2009 under Long Termers.
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