A couple of the cars at Donington yesterday were the latest versions of the Clio Cup, & whilst I was out on track at the same time as them, I found them to be going/handling very well indeed.
They are not road legal, but are fully kitted out racecars, immaculately prepared by Renault, & costing, in round figures, �25K*. Obviously, you need a trailer to cart them around.
In my opinion, although the Lotus 211 can be (& most will be) road registered, they are just not a practical proposition, unless being trailered to a track (as most circuits are not just around the corner), or on the road, except for the very occasional run on a nice day (wind buffeting without wearing a helmet is a nightmare). Factor in the inevitable lack of comfort on a rainy, or cold day (or a combination of both!) without a roof or heater. Cost is in round figures �40K.
I know where my money would go, if I wanted a pure track car… & I’d save �15K.
I hope Gav understands what I’m saying - he’s using his as a racecar, & I KNOW that he will be extremely quick in his beauty (yep - I really do like the looks/build of the 211).
PS Don’t get started on the Atom - I’d be pi$$ed off to find one
Edited: should read �26.5K, as a result of Benja’s posted link.
I have seen one in the flesh at JPS in newcastle, Dan had one in there for ages as the girl that was driving it was having a lot of problems with the brakes if I remember correctly!
It is a very good package for the price, as you say every thing is ready to go! Looks nice to. My Clio F1 R27 was the road going version, great going round corners, but it was french and the build quality really sucked balls!
It’s more than a few moons ago but Palmersport had some some Clio Cups cars as part of their corporate package and they were very capable & fun cars. I didn’t appreciate that they were so “cheap”.
The 211 is a really ugly car butif it gives the thrills from the inside who would really care? I’ve heard about the wind buffeting issues and thought that Lotus were bringing out a mod to remedy. if true that would be typical of Lotus, let the 1st customers do the real R&D and then charge they for any mods!
There was a 211 as rockingham last Sunday, but unfortunately it had a little coming together with another car and so didn’t make the best of the day. i had been looking forward to seeing just how fast it could be.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the 211 is a very fast & capable car - in the right hands (eg Tarmac Terrorist).
To put my views into context, I wouldn’t even consider owning a 340R, an Xbow, an Atom, or a Radical for the same reasons - even if I really liked the way they look (which I don’t (apart from the Radical), but then that’s very much down to personal taste anyway).
As an “all rounder” ie new car for road/track @ under �40K, I really can’t think of anything better than an Exige/Elise or at a pinch, a Caterham.
Surely if you can afford 26.5k for a dedicated track car you can go to 40k for the 2-11, which at least you can take for a blast on the road on the couple of nice, sunny days a year we get.
I would of thought with your monster Exige and past Sevens, you couldn’t entertain a front driver.
No problem in agreeing to dissagree I fully recognise that my views are only my own (albeit perhaps, peculiar) views, & are not intended to offend those who have different outlooks
After being on track with a few of those trick Clios (last year & this), I don’t see a problem with fwd - however, I haven’t of course driven one, so I can’t really comment with knowledge
Wearing my UK trackdriver’s hat (& not a racer’s hat), with a budget of �40K, there is absolutely no way I’d spend �40k on a car with no weather protection, period!
I have driven one of the Palmer sport Clio’s and they really are awesome, Proper, proper race car with sequential box and everything. Really really nice to drive. You can get a few year old one for about 10k as well.
There is presently no pit wall access at Donny - contractors are working along the whole length of it, so if you weren’t out on track, you were chatting in the garages/pitlane as you couldn’t really see what was happening on the circuit.
In any event, it’s not easy to say a particular type of track orientated car is faster than another, as there can be such a difference in driver skill/experience.
The 2 Clios yesterday were going very well when I came across them on track - but I was only able to get 4 or 5 laps in at a time because of an intermittant fault, which meant having to keep coming in! I remember easily passing one early on, but he may well have been in the process of “setting up”, or even on a cooling down lap. Later on, I was behind the other Clio for a couple of laps - I had a passenger in with me, & there wasn’t any difference in pace, but then again I wasn’t driving flat out, & I obviously don’t know if he was! However, neither of us were hanging about, & the way he was cornering, in particular, impressed me enough to make me start this thread
I have driven one of the Palmer sport Clio’s and they really are awesome, Proper, proper race car with sequential box and everything. Really really nice to drive. You can get a few year old one for about 10k as well.
Sounds like the same car I drove, on slicks or semi-slicks - it was certainly a real surprise how good it was.
What would a repair to a sequential box set you back though? One of the trackday companies hires our a Renault Spyder with a sequential box and at both trackdays I saw it, it retired due to issues with the g/box.
What would a repair to a sequential box set you back though? One of the trackday companies hires our a Renault Spyder with a sequential box and at both trackdays I saw it, it retired due to issues with the g/box.
Given the ham-fisted abuse the Johnny Palmer ones get at his corporate jolly facility in Bedford, they must be pretty robust.
spyder has got to be a classic and at the bottom of the bathtub right now…they will be racing forever and go up in value as they become more rare! I`d have one in my garage