Confused Clio. An introduction.

[R9UKE]

Evening all,

 

Another mini update in my fleet since my absence.

 

1998 Renault Clio 1.2 RN Zoom.

 

Nothing particularly special trim or engine wise, but it's got a little trick up it's sleeve.

 

 

Manual box, no clutch.

 

Renault thought at the time that an auto was "uncool", yet recognised they work really well in a city car given the success in sales of their standard Clio autos.  This was an attempt at bringing it to a younger market, who could still be in control and look like they're driving a manual, yet have what is essentially still an automatic gearbox.

 

 

 

Intrigued?  So was I.

 

So how does it drive?  Well, it's chuffing well bizarre.

 

You've got to kind of mentally prepare yourself before a journey.  The gearbox and shifting of gears feels absolutely identical to the standard manual Clio, there's a real feel about the gearbox and it's still quite chuckable.  It is essentially a standard 1.2 engine and gearbox, just with an automated clutch being instructed by it's own ECU.

 

It'll start only in neutral.  You slot it into first with your foot on the brake and the car doesn't creep like a standard auto.  Use the handbrake, gently press the accelerator and you can feel the car "bite" and move off.  To change gear, lift off the accelerator, the revs die and the car anticipates what you're doing and you can slide smoothly into the next gear.  Change gear a little too early and car will ride it's clutch a little to get it right.  Change far too early and there's a beep and the car won't go.  

 

The best way to go about it is let your left leg control an imaginary clutch and drive it like a manual - in which case it's brilliant.  Yet slightly pointless.  You find yourself a bit on edge for the first few miles after not having driven it for a while, then you settle into the swing of things.  Try and change gear too quickly and it'll crunch in anger reminding you you're playing with near 20 year old technology that didn't quite find it's niche!

 

This article sums it up very well.

 

http://theaa.com/staticdocs/pdf/carreports/AA_REPORTS/RENAULT_CLIO_RN_ZOOM_R9722A.PDF

 

Anyway, the car itself appeared on Gumtree back in June.  One elderly lady owner from new who had unfortunately had to give up driving because of Dementia, her son was selling it and was very honest with me "it's been up for a month and you're the only call I've had.... how do you go about selling something that isn't auto or manual!?".

 

Anyway, it was the perfect little oddball for my collection. It had 11 months MOT and he delivered it to me, all for £250.  Plus a bonus service kit in the boot, as well as the standard pensioner Axminster overlay and Gospel cassette.

 

Besides the bizarre gearbox, it's got the old remote locking with that awful Renault immobiliser, rev counter, pop up sunroof, original cassette and all four trims.  It's a really honest little car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MarvinsMom]

bizarre..... even for a renault!

 

i've never heard of a gearbox like that before, but, for £250 that is one hell of a bargain!!

 

stupid question though, on that pic of the dash boars, in the lower right, what is that gauge for? 

 

the petrol is on top, and the temp is on the left, but what is the one on the right, what does that one do?

 

that is a really nice looking thing, you must have like a sixth sense thing for finding unwanted/unusual old renners!

 

nice one, well done sir!!

[R9UKE]

Thank very much, very happy with it. That's on oil gauge, it's only active and shows the level for 30 seconds after the ignition is turned on and then it goes to sleep again.

[dollywobbler]

Wow. I never knew these existed! Clutchless manuals have been around since at least the 1950s, but they've never been particularly good - or desirable to be honest. Folk either want a simple auto or a full manual, not something that's neither. It's like the torque converter manuals you got with Triumph or Citroen, where you still had to keep changing gear, even though there's no manual clutch!

 

Perfect for your fleet!

[Lacquer Peel]

The picture of the manual gear shifter and two pedals really confused me.

Looks really sweet, Clios are a nice drive apart from the rubbery gearshift, I had a 1.9 diesel at the same time as my dad had a 1.2 van.

 

What's the story with the ROI-reg'd QX, is it a keeper?

[michael t]

I love little oddball motors like this, great buy!!

[bigfella2]

I bet it takes some mentally adjusting to drive a normal car with a regular clutch after driving that, plenty of crunched gear changes me thinks.

[R9UKE]

Summed it up very well DW! The answer to the question nobody asked.

 

The QX was bought at the beginning of the year as they are on my bucket list and it was cheap. It's a 2.0 V6 SE+ Auto. Brilliant V6 noise and the fuel consumption that comes with it yet very little shove. Overall a very American feeling thing. I do really like it, it has dodgy looking sills which I think would be an issue for an MOT but otherwise it's fine. The interior is massively beige, even the headlining. I'll keep it unless somebody actively wants it and has £300.

[lisbon_road]

I have driven a Mercedes A class with a similar enough set up.  Seemed to work fine once used to it, as you said.  A bargain for sure.

[tooSavvy]

When you open the drivers door, do you get the 'whirr' of the pump pressurising the shift slave?

 

Am I rong <expurt input rqd> is this QS5 ... Same as Alfa 'selespeed'.

 

TS

[Felly Magic]

It will be like driving a semi automatic bus I suspect

[Timewaster]

That must be as confusing as particle astrophysics to drive.

 

I always have to jam my left foot onto the floor to cope with driving an auto for the first few miles.

 

With this thing I'd either keep going for a clutch that's not there or wondering why it was revving is to its off and not changing itself.

 

I was lead to believe these had a microswitch in the gear knob to operate the clutch, or was that something to do with a Saab with a similar set up?

[tooSavvy]

^^^ Ro80

 

TS

[fairkens]

Well bought, looks lovely! I think a similar set up was offered on yarises (yarii?), in the late 90s

[tooSavvy]

...... NOPE ........

 

I see top of 'oil reservoir' under air inlet pipe.

 

QS5

 

 

... as you were

 

 

TS

[CHRIS1980]

I don't get the point of these. But its worth preserving.

[R9UKE]

TooSavvy - there is a kind of high pitched whir when it's started and from time to time at idle.

 

And yep, microswitch somewhere doing something. God only knows what happens when something needs replaced or fails to communicate!

[r.welfare]

Ford did something similar with the early Mk5 Fiesta. I drove one as a hire car in Guernsey. Reversing uphill was a massive pain in the arse.

 

Saab did something similar called Sensonic.

[DVee8]

That looks a very well looked after car.

All corners seem un-giffer damaged for an unusual system. Was it that tidy when you got it?

[Vince70]

An absolute steal for the price I can't remember the last time I've seen an early Clio on the road and from a time when Renault built decent cars..

 

That really does look like a genuine one owner motor and I love that radio

 

 

A great buy.

[Bren]

A renault with no clutch?

 

I had an auto laguna with no drive.

[R9UKE]

^ LOL

 

It was actually tidier!! Those photos were after about a month with me. I didn't even have to dust the dash, it was immaculate. There's a little bubbling starting around the rear arches. Apparently it was garaged most of its life.

 

I also forgot to add that the son's wife made a rather crude joke about the car's gearbox set up causing his mothers dementia!!

[HH-R]

Nice! Typical funky 1990s Renault interior. I can imagine smacking my face off the windscreen by trying to change gear with the brake pedal from here.

 

These seem totally unloved, can't remember the last time I saw one. I looked for one as my first car in 2006 and they were an oddball, old fashioned choice even then.

[406V6]

I test drove a Saab 900 with a similar gearbox back in, I think, 1996 when I was choosing a new company car. Weird thing to drive when you're used to a manual and quite expensive leasing cost. Eventually it was an easy choice - my company car budget could just get to the newly introduced Vectra SRi V6. Only manual boxes in these. Superb car, definitely not sh*te.

[155V6]

Another great find  ,maybe one for How many left?

[Pillock]

My friend has a VW Squareback with a similar manual-with-wizardry setup. In those it dips the clutch when you press down slightly on the gear lever, there's a switch at the bottom of the mechanism.

[3VOM]

Well bought, looks lovely! I think a similar set up was offered on yarises (yarii?), in the late 90s

Don't know about Yarises but wasn't this also an option on Mk1 Twingos? (Presumably because same reasoning and same parts).

[lincolndanny]

These mk1 Clio's are all kinds of cool, there doesnt seem much love for them, even the PH1 172's don't seem to command much coin?

 

edit:Oh shit yeah I forgot about the Williams, woops.

[twosmoke300]

Ford did a smiley transit with a similar system too

[Timewaster]

Thinking about it, I remember about 1985 a kid at school said his dad had "Clutchless manual" V8 P6

 

Everyone called bullshit, but I knew his dad and it was true.

 

The auto box was buggered and you had to start in 1 and work your way up to D