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Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
So, my Trackshed R53 (http://www.cliosport.net/threads/another-mcs-the-track-day-toy.755737/) is currently smoking like a chimney & needing the valve stem's doing, so last month i bought a Lohen BVH. However, by the time id worked out that i also needed a Janspeed manifold, Tomcat, Catcam & 550cc injectors to make use of it all, i realised that that was a daft amount of money to spend, so will be simply be fixing the valve stems myself, at some point. Probably.

With that in mind, & not wanting to use my e90 M3 on track, i bought an R56 fJCW to use in the meantime as a runaround, trackcar, ringtrip vehicle. Makes sense to me at least 😂 So here it is, in all its British Racing Green glory :thumbup1:

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Upon the drive home i realised a number of things:

1. The standard seats are utter gash
2. The de-cat is f*cking loud at 3k rpm and needs to come off
3. The flywheel is most definitely juddering, but i knew that anyway
4. It torque steers all over the place


So, considering i had simply intended to drive it around as is, i started buying parts 🙈

Some before/afters:
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Much better, although even on their lowest setting, they sit higher than the standard things did. Odd.

I then taxed it and drove to Norfolk to sign up a customer. Not only is the tax f*ck all at £16 a month (the M3 is £50 lol), but it averaged 40mpg, i mean WTF, do these things run on fresh air or something? I wasnt exactly pootling along, its a new car!!
IMG_0813_zpsxy9dmv38.jpg


I really like it though, compared to the R53 it feels a million times more modern, a far better day to day car, but not ultimately as much fun i dont think. The steering/gearbox arent as precise and the power delivery is well, its turbo'd, so you dont get the N/A like rev hungry nature of the S/C engine. It does however feel like an utter rocketship for such a small car with only what 215bhp or so (assuming the de-cat gives 10bhp?).

Last week i bought an Airtec FMIC off MT, & today i ordered an AEM N14 Intake from Lohen. I also want some BC Racing RM coilovers.

Clearly im not modifying it all :tongueclosed:

With regards to the flywheel, ive emailed Lohen about the Helix SMF & Organic/4 Paddle but they are currently out of stock. Depending on where i go with the car, i.e. whether it stays/replaces the R53/M3/whatever, ill also get the front wishbone bushes (probably attributing to the wobbliness & torque steer) changed & maybe fit a Quaife. That is a all a very big job when it comes to labour however, so will be sticking to bolt on parts until i decide what im doing long term. Mainly as i spent £2k on FL g'box/Quaife/SMF & wishbone bushes just before the R53 sh4t itself & that irritated me :rage:

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Ill probably fit my Turinis & Whiteline rARB off the R53 as well at some point, seems rude not to really.
 
All these years of putting people off them and you buy one...:grimacing:

I have been trying to talk the OH into one of these but was worried about the coking issue. It looks really nice - love the colour!
It's not a problem anymore tbh. Easy to clean and no different to any VAG TSI engine.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
I have been trying to talk the OH into one of these but was worried about the coking issue. It looks really nice - love the colour!
This ones just been de-coked and had the timing chain done, so hopefully will be ok. Its likely i'll buy a catch can though.
What the f**k is wrong with you?!
My ISA earns no interest, so might as well have more things to play with lol.
All these years of putting people off them and you buy one...:grimacing:
I know, although its seems my years of doom-mongering has had a fantastic affect on their depreciation curve 😂
 
  Turbo 182 Alfa 159
Epic! Your modifying is bad as mine. Bought a 200T as a daily to leave alone, then bought scorpion exhaust, forge induction and cooksport springs. Now wanting Forge FMIC and RS Tuning to map it lol. Then i'll need a new daily haha!
 
  Countryman JCW
Love it, and really don't get the love for the R53's one bit?!! I owned a standard cooper s checkmate (the one with a diff) and it was hands down the most boring car I've ever owned/driven! Gutless and drank fuel like an alcoholic drinks special brew!

Seats have transformed the interior, fair play!
 

Daz...

ClioSport Club Member
  Inferno 182 Cup
Those standard seats are gash, love the replacements!

I've never been a fan of the R56 but seeing this makes me realise that the majority of them have been ruined with those bloody stripes. I like the wheels too :up:
 

Gally

Formerly Mashed up egg in a cup
ClioSport Club Member
Love it, the colour is ugly and awesome at the same time.... my first words were going to be have you ordered a timing chain yet... but alas someone else paid for that!
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
Lotta love for the Minis Dave. Great cars.

How much you pay for the seats if you don't mind me asking? Bet they wernt cheap.
 
  LY Megane R26 230
New seats are epic! Looks lovely mate I'm just concerned that you're gonna run out of space to park all these cars! :smile:
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
So went to the ring this weekend, car is brilliant. Ill do a full report later on with photos etc, but i saw 140 mph on the GPS (145 on the speedo), before i decided that looking at the road was more important, speedo went beyond 150 lol ... for a standard car, i didnt think that was too bad 😂
 

Sam

North East
ClioSport Area Rep
So went to the ring this weekend, car is brilliant. Ill do a full report later on with photos etc, but i saw 140 mph on the GPS (145 on the speedo), before i decided that looking at the road was more important, speedo went beyond 150 lol ... for a standard car, i didnt think that was too bad 😂
My R56 loved the ring. I desperately need to take the F56.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
My R56 loved the ring. I desperately need to take the F56.
There was quite few F56's out there actually, the one running a half cage certainly wasn't shy.
Is funny, no where else would you see ridiculous 911's & M3's being hunted by Mini'/Megane's seemingly travelling around in packs, nose to tail 🙈
Decided against the BC Racing coilovers in the end. Some Öhlins appeared on the forum, & well, the rest is history ...
 
  1.6 Focus, 1.6 122S
So instead of changing a set of stem seals on a saturday morning, you're building a new track car? While keeping the old one? Which got used on track 4 or 5 times since you bought and built that?

Makes perfect sense 😂
Man Maths + Dave Logic
Go figure.
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
So instead of changing a set of stem seals on a saturday morning, you're building a new track car? While keeping the old one? Which got used on track 4 or 5 times since you bought and built that?
Makes perfect sense 😂

Yeah, something like that, i want to try both on track on the same day, to see whether the much more road biased R56 will perform adequately. As you say, my track days are fairly minimal, & getting less & less, purely through a lack of time/availability of days off/weekend trackdays. The overall build cost for both will be quite similar, R53 was cheaper, but has had money poured into it, whereas the R56 cost more, but the work required is minimal. The R56, being more modern, is also far better as a daily driver, so could quite easily replace the M3 as well (its a lot of money going out for not much use), whereas the R53 is simply a bit old now i think. I took the R56 to the ring & it performed very well, so im keen to explore it further.

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Dave in small engined hathback is a better short trip commuter than a V8 M3 shocker 😂

Sounds like a plan though, and you've got some nice bits to fit!
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
Minis number plate made me chuckle 'yaay'
Haha, i thought the same 😂

So, at the weekend, i set about trying to fit some of the part id accumulated, the AEM/Airtec/Ohlins/Carbotechs, first off was the AEM, took a little while, but very straight forward and all incredibly well made. For an induction kit, its ruddy expensive i think, but you can tell in the R&D/manufacturing that a lot of thought has gone into it. It also makes the OEM dump valve much louder, which is always nice :tonguewink:

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Then onto the Ohlins/Carbotechs, which obviously involved removing the wheels. Problem, i cant find the locking wheelnut key. Doh. I think Richard gave it to me, so ive probably lost it, so will have to go to Mini to get another key, no problem i think. With that in mind, i decided to take some pictures of the dirty R53 & R56 together instead.
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Now onto yesterday, pop into Mini to order a new locking key, which is where the fun begins :rage:

1. Using the master keys, we discover that i have two different locking whee nut sets on the car, so they suggest they take off all 4 using the masters, then replace with a new set whilst i wait. 30 mins (free) labour, £50 parts, easy peasy ...
2. Upon trying to remove the lockers, it appears that when the wheels were off last (possibly to remove the coilovers/ultraleggeras) the nuts were gunned on/torque'd up by Superman. The locking key was going to be damaged pretty much instantly, so Mini said they'd have to drill them out (£60 a wheel lol). To make matters even more annoying, the locker on the front pass wheel had been put in at an angle/on the p1ss, so the thread/hub will be f*cked as well.
3. I then went home, rather irritated, to try the following: http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f274/locking-wheel-nut-removal-34155/ which doesnt work as they dont appear to be the splined ones, the 15/16 socket wasnt the right bit either & didnt want to destroy my tools trying. I did however undo all the other nuts (by jumping on my flipping extendable bar), then reinstalled with a little copper grease, to the torque i used on the R53.

The offending lockers:
IMG_1733_zpsq7s0wfvb.jpg

So, i am now faced with an R56 that needs a wheel bearing, new hub, new pads front/rear, coilover fitting and clutch & flywheel changing, with 4 pretty much welded on McGard style locking nuts. Short of buying one of these: http://www.dynomec.co.uk/locking-wheelnut-remover.html for £185, does anyone have any suggestions? And this was the car to use whilst the R53 was being fixed lol, FFS ...
Where it now sits, abandoned as i cant even use it for commuting in case i get a puncture :weary:
IMG_1633_zpshgr2dan8.jpg
 
  Fiesta ST3
s**t the bed Dave :dizzy: some crap luck there.

My mate works for Vauxhall and he constantly saying he cant believe how many people come in for locking wheel nut removal.
 

Daz.

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 200 RS EDC
I love it though! It looks so much better than the R53 which I wasn't expecting to say!
Get it fixed!
 
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Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
So yesterday morning i visited this chap:
Locking Wheel Nut Removal | Wheel Nut Remover - No.1 Locking Wheel Nut Remover
https://www.facebook.com/LockingWheelNutsRemoved/
Firstly he tried the Dynomec, which i was going to buy, & it simply snapped. Then he tired whacking a socket on, but again, it was not going to work, superman had the done the bolts up, then Thor had wielded his axe on the breaker bar to get them just that little bit tighter. So out came the ARC welder, a f*ck off great big lump hammer, & a breaker bar with a thing to be whacked on the end:
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An hour later, we had the 4 knackered ones off, & 4 new non-lockers on instead. For £50, very much happy days!!!
This meant i could try my Turinis, they've now been on the GP1 & the R53 MCS, but im really not sure they work on the R56. They are "small looking" wheel imho and whilst thats good on the smaller cars, so they dont look over-wheeled, i genuinely dont think they suit the 56, maybe with some lows, but the Ohlins will only drop it 20mm or so ...
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And on the standard wheels to compare:
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Of course, i could just be getting old & preferring the pure OEM look 😌
 


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