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Should have done this ages ago, not a great deal of pictures and probably forgot half of what's gone on but here goes....

Purchased the car back in January 2016 from a nice chap in Warrington, didn't come with much history but being fairly clean, low(ish) miles (101k) and a 182 FF I took a punt as it was cheap enough, sadly don't have any pictures of the car on collection but we all know what they look like standard, only mod was a RS192 exhaust

So first track day booked at Oulton for the February and was on the hunt for a few mods, found myself a fatty induction kit local and also sourced a set of 15" track wheels with R888's as well as a set of Compbrake 4 pots with DS3000 pads so was well excited to get them fitted and attend my first track day (3rd overall) in the Clio. My mate was coming along to do a few laps as well as its pretty boring on your own.

So went to fit the Compbrake kit and thought I'd check to make sure the callipers fitted inside the new wheels and nope, not even close...grrrr! So no choice but to fit the OE cup wheels with Pirelli P-Zero Nero's with the Compbrake kit. So a few days before got cracking on fitting and the supplied braded lines wouldn't fit for toffee, so got some make up quickly from a local specialist and got them fitted...phew, so all good now...NOPE! Car nearly killed me on taking it out as the rear was trying to overtake the front but noticed the ABS, SERV, HANDBRAKE light on so that was it, sold the track day to a follow member for peanuts. Not a good start to my Clio Journey so far!

Next set of problems came thick and fast with the car needing new injectors, leads, coilpack and plugs and when I'd finally sorted and brake issue which turned out to be the ABS pump the 4 pots turned out to be way to aggressive for my liking anyway, so ended up swapping them for a set of freshly powder coated OZ F1's with nearly new RS3's.

No idea why the guy specified 2 yellow and 2 black but there you go, I just wanted rid of the crappy Combrake kit!
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Looked even worse on the car as well...
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So next up was the April 2016 Renaultsport day at Oulton, the car was ready and so where we, once again due to a school boy error from myself the day didn't turn out the way we planned solely down to us destroying the Brembo OE pads before dinner and resulted in myself getting black flagged as the brakes set on fire as they where metal on metal, also ruining a new set of Brembo HC discs in the process, stupidly we had no spare pads, wont be making that mistake again!

Started on the OE wheels
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Them arch gap, full on monster truckin!
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You can see the brakes starting to spark braking into Lodge, it was game over 2 laps after this.
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So next on the calendar was Aintree in May, first time we'd ever done this track and didn't know what to expect so booked in the Novice group, again the curse of the Clio struck again a few days before the day where the NSR ABS sensor gave up so this time I thought f*ck it we're doing it!

Turned out to be a really good day and the 50/50 bias really didn't cause us much issues on the day and probably helped with the longevity of the Ferodo premier OE front pads that where in this time.

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Mike in his pyjama bottoms 😂
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Me looking pleased with myself.
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Crap quality video of the day.


Also you can see the 50/50 bias in full effect here from my mates camera in his 6MPS on the same session as above, I didn't even realise it was locking up that bad whilst driving, got worse the more I pushed through the session.


Will update the rest tomorrow...
 

JamesBryan

ClioSport Club Member
  Titanium 182
You've done a lot to this in a short space of time, will be good to see if you can remember to document it all mate 😂
 

Coops Mk1

ClioSport Club Member
  Lots of Scrap...
nice work and good little write up so far! trackdays always lead to trials and tribulations but the first completely clear and mechanical gremlin free one I ever had still feels so good even now! lol!
 
So next up was Oulton in August and the Toyo's where starting to get worn, so searched ebay and found a bargain set of 888s for £100 with loads of tread. Only downside was they where 10 years old but again took a punt.

Few more mods again this time, used bargain set of CL5+ pads and scorpion decat as well as a full fluid refresh. Also got the ABS sensor replaced and was confident of a good day to come...

Turned out to be a scorcher on the day, just what I wanted to get some heat into the 10 year old Toyo's, to which preformed just as well as the 3 year old set previously for reference. The new pads where also a big confidence booster as they had better coefficient and where more fade resistant than OE pads used previously.

My mate was also in attendance again in his newly modded 6MPS, with remap, NS2R 120 tyres, Bilstein B14 coilovers, Stoptech pads and a few other bits so he was very confident that he'd get the better of me this time after me pulling away at Aintree. Thing is I'd owned and tracked a 6MPS previously at Oulton with more power and better tyres (R888's again...Toyo boy!) just on standard brakes and suspension though. I knew how capable the little frenchy was though and only on tyres and brakes thought it'd be closer than he thinks...

See if you can spot his error leading to terminal damage and my petulance when he won't lift off, lol.



My mate Mike also had a little moment 😊

 
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Ok so next up was Aintree beginning of October, again felt the novice group was still the right group for us. After Oulton I thought the suspension was feeling a bit tired so it was time for a refresh so bought new cup dampers and took at punt on ECP's AMAX 40mm springs for £30, these are supposedly rebranded APEX springs. Car immediately felt better on the test drive after fitting the new suspension, much stiffer than the tired OE springs and dampers so was happy with the set-up going into Aintree. Pic of the car below with AMAX springs vs OE, don't think they're a 40mm drop but looks better than the OE springs.

AMAX
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OE
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Turned out to be a good day with just a few downpours but even on the 10 year old Toyo's the car felt good in the damp conditions. By the end of the day we where thinking we'll move up a group next time as in all honesty it was full of morons who were just making the session dangerous letting their ego take over and not letting anyone past them by not lifting off when pulling over. Had one guy in a Fiat coupe turbo not lift off down the start/finish straight and just out braked himself and came off the track into the greenery...not one for hoping for bad things to happen but glad this douch bag got what he deserved as he was at it all day to everyone, you can see this in the below vid below from around 7 minutes (please excuse the wiper noise :tired:)



Few more pics of the car on track at Aintree and my hot lap from the October day...
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Best crack on with this then, as in the first post I've probably forgotten half the stuff I've now done but hey ho...Next up was Oulton again at the end of October...

Nothing really to report in the 3 weeks from Aintree apart from me getting rid of the passenger and rear seats, rest of the interior was in situ. Turned out to be a really good day, perfect track condition as it was dry with average temps with little wind and it was fairly empty so I was planning to really put the car through its paces as it was the last track day of 2016 for us.

Sadly no pictures from this day but below is a vid of my hot lap. Car felt great all day and I just kept pushing and pushing, overtaking much more exotic machinery and feeling like I was finally getting to grips with the car and track.



And with the day over and car checked over it was time put her to bed for the winter...Such a mixed bag of emotions in the first year of owning and tracking the little Clio, but I was hooked and had some nice plans for her going into 2017 :wink:

20170219_130655.jpg
 
So over the winter I was like a little squirrel foraging parts left right and centre. Firstly I needed a set of front tyres as the 10 year old R888's where really worn after the abuse of the last track day and again searching through eBay came across a pair of 205/50/15 Kumho V70a tyres for a bargain price of £55 delivered with one new and the other nearly new so was well pleased with this, I was also looking forward to the extra grip of the 205 on the front axel. So they arrived and initially they felt a bit wooden and hard to the touch but the advert stated this and thought I'd just get a tin of grip tyre softener so stored them away, we'll come back to this later with another school boy error from myself...

Next on my list was a cage, as I was really starting to push the car near its limits and just wanted that extra security. Didn't want a show cage and didn't really have the cash for a full cage but fortunately a MSV rear cage come up locally and a snapped it up. With this I also wanted a bucket seat and harness to really give us that confidence on track as with the OE seat and belt you really do get thrown about under braking a cornering, my mate especially being 18st and not really fitting in the car with the ride on feeling of the OE seat set-up. So purchased a Corbeau Clubsport XL, OMP 4M (3") harness and Jon Foz X-Low sub-frame.

Turned out to be a bit of a faff fitting it all with the MSV cage as it bolts directly into the OE seat belt points, so first of I had to chop part of the sub-frame off to accommodate the cage at the front mount points and then had to go and source some sort of brackets to fit on the inner mount points to attach the harness's to, so a quick thread on here explaining my issue the CS massive came up with this...its a Schroth B23A bracket.

88_0_Schroth-B23A-Bracket.jpg

I just got a pair of them and fitted them either side, with the inner bolted under the rear frame bolt, excuse the crap pic's.

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Next up was new pads, I liked the CL5+ but I was getting them to fade when really pushing on at Oulton previously so went on the search and found a used set of RC8's on here, was really looking forward to trying these. I also fitted a Scenic gear shifter as in the seat and harness my mate was struggling with his T-Rex arms, lol.

Few bits of maintenance as well like new Ramair filter for the fatty, handbrake cables, xenon ballast and a full service, and with that she was ready for Oulton in Feb, just needed to get the Kumho's fitted before the day....
 
OK so back on these damn Kumho's, they turned out to be 17 years old FFS! So my advice is always check the DOT code when buying used tyres. Anyway they got skipped! So I now needed new rubber to replace them, found a pair of R888's on eBay and went with them. So up next was a dry but greasy Oulton due to work being carried out over the winter, again and I was well excited to try out the CL RC8's, seat and harness.

My excitement soon turned into disappointment when I very nearly binned it braking into Old Hall in the AM sessions as the RC8 where just to grabby and would lock up far to easily even with hot tyres, but my confidence was shot due to the near miss and I was 2s a lap slower than my pervious track day, so wrote this day off for progression and just concentrated on different lines.

Few pics and my pussy footing hot lap from the day!

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Right Oh, up next a dry but overcast Aintree in May. No real changes to the car except going back to the CL5+ pads, car felt great and we decided next time we would move up a group to the intermediate as the standard of driving in the Novice was becoming a little dangerous, as there was a handful of cars that where really starting to take unnecessary risks, no thanks!

No pics but a half decent video of my trying to keep pace with a really nice tricked out mk1 could be mk2 escort (2:12 onwards)..@Danith is this your mate?



Not bad vid of my mate having a tussle with a CTR...

 
2 days later I was back at Oulton for their family fun day with a few lads from here..@JamesBryan @Danith @Niall.

No real changes apart from fitting Mintex M1155 front pads and a service. We had a right laugh though, we just did the PM sessions which where 20 minutes each. Good day as I brought my family along to watch where my little boy loved watching me on track.

Few vids from the day, first one me trying to keep up with a McLaren and a few other nice toys (Supra, new CTR, Scirocco R). Second one was me just trying to get through the pack, lol.





Screenshot_2017-11-20-11-26-40.png
 

Danith

ClioSport Club Member
  MX5 ND2/220 Trophy
2 days later I was back at Oulton for their family fun day with a few lads from here..@JamesBryan @Danith @Niall.

No real changes apart from fitting Mintex M1155 front pads and a service. We had a right laugh though, we just did the PM sessions which where 20 minutes each. Good day as I brought my family along to watch where my little boy loved watching me on track.

Few vids from the day, first one me trying to keep up with a McLaren and a few other nice toys (Supra, new CTR, Scirocco R). Second one was me just trying to get through the pack, lol.





View attachment 1354980
Really don't get the hate for sessions. Thought it was great. Gutted I never got any shots of my R26 on track before I sold it though.
 
Blyton next in August for the CSF17. Booked the Friday off work and headed down with Mike following me in his van, was a bit of a trek in the Clio but we got there for the gates opening. We set the tents up and got the BBQ going with a few cheeky ones, which ended up turning into a full blown session which was the worst idea ever. Woke up to Mike snoring his head off at 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got as much water down me and tried to get my sh*t together before the briefing at 8:30.

Changed a few bits to the car as well with Avon ZZS tyres and Ferodo DS1.11 pads, the latter being the best mod so far as they are epic. So first session came about and I was OK (not really) and 1 lap in the car went into limp mode, came back in gutted that it was over before it had even began. Turns out it was just a loose HT lead and I was straight back out. Really good weekend and loved the track. Will defo be going back this year.

Screenshot_2017-08-31-20-20-56.png


 
Back to a wet Aintree for the September track day, tired to book the intermediate sessions as mentioned above but they where full as were the novice so the expert session it was :fearscream:. This time I came armed with newly fitted (used) AST 4100 coilovers with full on race spec spring rates of 9kg front/11kg rear as well as the RARB hooked up so I was a little nervous of it being far to stiff for the bumpy wet Aintree track as well as being bullied by the cars in the expert group.

Turned out to be the best Aintree day yet as the coilovers where a whole new level even in the wet, I just threw Rainsport 3's on the rear and the Avon ZZS's on the front and wow, it felt like it was dry it was that planted. I was only half a second a lap slower than my previous best time in optimal conditions. The expert group was brilliant as well, everyone giving each other space and no hero's even though there was some serious machinery in the group.
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I cant see us being able to run slicks, as even if its dry it will be greasy and cold. Last Feb was horrible as the track looked dry but was so greasy all day. Chance to test the new AD08R's though.
 

JamesBryan

ClioSport Club Member
  Titanium 182
I cant see us being able to run slicks, as even if its dry it will be greasy and cold. Last Feb was horrible as the track looked dry but was so greasy all day. Chance to test the new AD08R's though.

Have to drive harder to warm them up then :tongueclosed:
 
So over the winter I was like a little squirrel foraging parts left right and centre. Firstly I needed a set of front tyres as the 10 year old R888's where really worn after the abuse of the last track day and again searching through eBay came across a pair of 205/50/15 Kumho V70a tyres for a bargain price of £55 delivered with one new and the other nearly new so was well pleased with this, I was also looking forward to the extra grip of the 205 on the front axel. So they arrived and initially they felt a bit wooden and hard to the touch but the advert stated this and thought I'd just get a tin of grip tyre softener so stored them away, we'll come back to this later with another school boy error from myself...

Next on my list was a cage, as I was really starting to push the car near its limits and just wanted that extra security. Didn't want a show cage and didn't really have the cash for a full cage but fortunately a MSV rear cage come up locally and a snapped it up. With this I also wanted a bucket seat and harness to really give us that confidence on track as with the OE seat and belt you really do get thrown about under braking a cornering, my mate especially being 18st and not really fitting in the car with the ride on feeling of the OE seat set-up. So purchased a Corbeau Clubsport XL, OMP 4M (3") harness and Jon Foz X-Low sub-frame.

Turned out to be a bit of a faff fitting it all with the MSV cage as it bolts directly into the OE seat belt points, so first of I had to chop part of the sub-frame off to accommodate the cage at the front mount points and then had to go and source some sort of brackets to fit on the inner mount points to attach the harness's to, so a quick thread on here explaining my issue the CS massive came up with this...its a Schroth B23A bracket.

View attachment 1349681
I just got a pair of them and fitted them either side, with the inner bolted under the rear frame bolt, excuse the crap pic's.

View attachment 1349714

View attachment 1349715

Next up was new pads, I liked the CL5+ but I was getting them to fade when really pushing on at Oulton previously so went on the search and found a used set of RC8's on here, was really looking forward to trying these. I also fitted a Scenic gear shifter as in the seat and harness my mate was struggling with his T-Rex arms, lol.

Few bits of maintenance as well like new Ramair filter for the fatty, handbrake cables, xenon ballast and a full service, and with that she was ready for Oulton in Feb, just needed to get the Kumho's fitted before the day....

I need one of those Snap-off stickers 😂
 


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