May 12th edition of Autocar

[talkingfish]

surprise!!







Clio Williams vs. the following for Autocar's verdict of the greatest hot hatch... Golf Gti MkII, Focus RS, Megane R26R, Pug 205 Gti, Honda Civic Type-R. (There was also supposed to be a 5 GT Turbo but it didn't turn up!)

Thanks to Northy and Renault UK for letting 0425 be used. (Autocar wanted a Williams plus owner, hence why 0001 was not wheeled out again!)

[Anders]

surprise!!

Autocar wanted a Williams plus owner, hence why 0001 was not wheeled out again!

Is that the car or the owner??

[Coops]

i'll be buying this mag then, see how the old girl looks in print

[northy]

pictures look great mate, will get the magazine tonight

[Wobba]

Excellent! I cannot believe the Williams has had so many comparative tests of late. I hope your car is in top tune Mr Fish-that-Talks! Tired of hearing journos say how saggy the car feels (0001 usually!).

[MatrixGuy]

Awesome. When you see stuff like this it really makes you realise how much you want to keep the car, even with all the money you spend on it.

For a 15 year old car it still looks amazing IMO.

[talkingfish]

not seen the article yet... fingers crossed it will be OK... car had a few niggles as it had only been finally put back together the previous weekend... (exhaust was blowing at the end of the test - joint between manifold & downpipe, clutch peddle was very sticky and ecu was still "resetting" itself after not running for a long time, causing the odd idle issue)
Not really sure how 0425 would compare to 0001, most of my wear & tear items have been replaced over the past couple of years so theoretically should offer a fresher experience than parts that are 16 years old, even if they have covered zero miles - yes? Coops has driven 0425 and says it feels pretty tight so we'll see...
The lady who did the review gave it some beans when she took it out for a spin and she seemed quite impressed - we'll see what the write-up says tomorrow eh??

[Warby]

looking very good, lets see how she gets on, fingers crossed. What was the outcome with the gearbox in the end, did you have it reconditioned?

[talkingfish]

looking very good, lets see how she gets on, fingers crossed. What was the outcome with the gearbox in the end, did you have it reconditioned?

gearbox ended up turning into a bit of a nightmare really - got it back after getting the bearings done but the input shaft seal was not seated correctly so it was leaking oil everywhere so it had to come back off again to get that sorted... in terms of cost I've ended up spending pretty close to what a new box would have been...

[LEIGH-ANNE]

Wobba pick me up a copy. And vise versa.

Very good talkingfish....u must feel really proud :D