My Inferno Story...

[t90_lle]

As the title suggests this is the story of my Monaco thus far, it is my 2nd Renault Sport Clio the 1st also having been a Monaco 172 which i had for 5yrs, sold for a 2.5 ST Focus and instantly regretted for 6 months until this little beaut came along.

2 owner 73k full dealer history, I had been looking all over for a decent low miler 182 and this came up locally so had to have it. Even though I said I would never have a 172 in Monaco again.

 

[t90_lle]

1st thing to be done was the dephaser, cambelt, pulleys, water pump and a full sevice, then fit my BMC off of my old 172.

 

[Stay Puft]

Last one was lovely iirc. Good luck!

 

[t90_lle]

The noise from the BMC CDA was loud but I wanted louder!! I took the original Fatty intake setup an changed it to my own "k-Tec" design/style for half the price!!

What to do when your car sounds like its on bodies?? meet up with mates who also own Sports...

 

[t90_lle]

Parts started coming fast as I tried to make it my own car with my own little mods... some sheepish one haha
Fabia VRS Splitter, Iridium and silver vision indicators, full LED bull upgrade... sides, glovebox, map lights, boot and numberplate all changed.

 

[t90_lle]

Next to come along was a Cup spoiler for the massive price of £60, it was the wrong shade of blue and the light had the tiniest chip in it, so of to the paint shop and local dealership to order a new light.

Fitted...

Its suprising how just a little spoiler can change the arse end...

 

[Stay Puft]

How much was it to paint the spoiler mate?

 

[t90_lle]

Next on was the private reg on local Renault dealer plates and a battery cover, nothing major but all the little details count haha

I was after an enclosed on but was unable to source one at the time... Still tidies the bay though

 

[Mr Plums]

Nice car, why dont you put all your updates into one post?

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks

 

[t90_lle]

How much was it to paint the spoiler mate?

Think I gave £50?

 

[imprezaworks]

Great

 

[t90_lle]

Nice car, why dont you put all your updates into one post?

Too many pics as straight from PC not image hosted and last time I tried it only let me put 10 pics in at once.

 

[Stay Puft]

Think I gave £50?

Crazy! I'm booked in for £80, had quoted up to £350 iirc.

 

[t90_lle]

Next up was a full brake re-fresh, Brembo HC discs, Mintex 1144 pads, OEM rear Brembo discs and pads. At the same time I managed to source
some 16" OZ F1's for £180.

These were promptley set off to the local powder coaters...

And who couldnt resist a test fit again... before being wrapped in new Pirelli P-Zero's

 

[imprezaworks]

I think 16" ozs would suit mine.

 

[t90_lle]

Crazy! I'm booked in for £80, had quoted up to £350 iirc.

Thats mad!! Mine was done at my local Renault bodyshop too, took a couple of tries to match the paint but he got there in the end:up:

 

[imprezaworks]

Did you find those by chance? Seem rare

 

[t90_lle]

What was lacking in the engine bay was the cover... sourced from fleaby for £20 and rattle can painted 432 Monaco complete with new 2.0L 16V sticker

 

[t90_lle]

Did you find those by chance? Seem rare

yeah pretty much mate, see a set on ebay and they only up the road from me so I had to have them, not seen another 16" set anywhere

 

[t90_lle]

At this point another good mate of mine also brought a 182.. you all know him as @182_steve and you know how he loves to have a picture or two taken...

It was this last image that finally made my mind up that it needed lowering...

 

[t90_lle]

Whilst saving for a suspension refresh other little mods were done... Bee sting ariel, washer blanks and bullets
Someone for an unknown reason removed the bumper jets... Ignore the bug splats haha

Changed to regular gromets as im not a fan of the washer blanks...

My own attempt at colour coding the bullets, not the best finish in the world but I'm happy with them.

At the same time as painting the bullets I got some clear side repeators from a local scrap yard for £2 and fitted them. Who wants to pay £18 for one from Renault!!??

 

[t90_lle]

Finally!!!

To be put with brand new OEM 172 Cup shocks

Before and after picture, happy with the set up but kind of wished I'd gone with the Bilstein B14's

 

[t90_lle]

Another little bargain mod, RS badge RRP £35-£40, new picked up from a mate for £10!!

 

[t90_lle]

This next one is not going to be to eveyones taste but I had to do it!! Cup racer style headlight... as for the legality of this mod... errrrrr I never got stopped for it :tongueclosed: It was however promptly taken out as the winter nights started to draw in and I needed to see at night when driving lol

 

[t90_lle]

Again next change will not be to everyones liking but i prefer it... PH1 lights look far better than having a big chrome blob in the middle of the light.

 

[t90_lle]

It was at this point in the summer another owners group held a East of England meet and the photo whoring began...

And some of my own...

 

[imprezaworks]

Girl in shot, expect the thread to go wild.

Car looks great

 

[t90_lle]

During the summer I noticed that my exhaust system was blowing at the rear box, upon getting under the car it was dicovered that the whole system was knacked. The cat had split, it was blowing at the centre join and the rear box had more holes in it than material was hold it together. The issue is there are not many choices for the 172 systems so a call was placed to K-Tec for a full 2.5" SuperSports Stealth System including a sports cat.

Shortly after fitting the common mount issue showed itself as the new OEM I had failed after 2 weeks, on to ebay and order a PowerFlex bush.

What chew to put in!!!

Much better postioning...

 

[t90_lle]

With the Monaco breathing right and exhausting well the next option was to see what damage I had actually done to the engine with my "mods", a trip down to Essex to see Andy at Engine Dynamics would reveal all.

She pulled 150.1lbs ft and 170.3bhp Peak on her 1st base run... 2 and a half hours later Andy had smoothed my power drop off and gained me 10.5lbs ft and 12.5bhp peak whilst raising my engine limit from 7200rpm to 7550rpm. Not big numbers by any means but it has transformed the car and quote from Andy "one of the strongest stockish engine he's seen in a while" I was made up :grin:

 

[t90_lle]

With winter impending the stock 172 wheels where put back on but looked hidden in the arches, a deal was done with @182_steve for his 16mm hubcentric spacers after he had got his hands on some Turini's and the combo wasn't working for him.
Before an afters... not sure if i'll keep them on when the Oz go back on in the summer due to the difference in ET's

 

[t90_lle]

Lastly and the most recent upgrade was to the engine, a PowerFlex upper mount was fitted in 10mins on the drive last week. I like the way its made the engine feel under acceleration but idle ensive:
I am unsure if i should do the Dog bone mount as yet as I hear this can cause even more vibration??

Just before christmas I treated her to a good bath as it hadn't been washed since the remap in November...
De-contaminated with Muc-Off Spray, washed with Juicy shampoo, dried with an Auto Finesse Aqua Deluxe Towel, Meguiars Clay barred, rinised and dried again, trims and grills blacked, Glass inside an out, 2 coats of Auto Glym Ultra Deep shine polish for dark cars, 2 coats of G3 Supergloss wax then buffed to within an inch of its life!! No more baths till spring!!

Future plans are:- Steering wheel, Buckets, Cage and possibly a set of 197/200 Brembos...

 

[t90_lle]

Girl in shot, expect the thread to go wild.

Car looks great

Thanks mate! It's getting there slowly

 

[imprezaworks]

Mine was mapped at efi and pulled 183 and 162, very happy with that tbh

 

[bloke]

Did you find those by chance? Seem rare

i've got two sets, one of each type.

 

[t90_lle]

i've got two sets, one of each type.

15" and 16"?? Your the 1st person I've heard of with a 16" set too

 

[LeeRS]

Soooo... you didn't go to Monaco and get a smashing on a yacht?
Thread title disappoints.


I like the ph1 rear lights on Monaco blue I must admit.

 

[bloke]

15" and 16"?? Your the 1st person I've heard of with a 16" set too

nope, there are two different variations of the 16" oz. one has oz racing (?) around the rim.

 

[182_steve]

At last we have a thread :laughing::kissingheart:

Great read buddy and just shows how much you've done to the car since you bought it, good stuff! Looking at that graph again that power figure is fantastic, all equals a good healthy engine mate................ keep this updated :up:

 

[t90_lle]

nope, there are two different variations of the 16" oz. one has oz racing (?) around the rim.

I didn't know that, mine are smooth around the rim

At last we have a thread :laughing::kissingheart:

Great read buddy and just shows how much you've done to the car since you bought it, good stuff! Looking at that graph again that power figure is fantastic, all equals a good healthy engine mate................ keep this updated :up:

I will mate, about time I pulled my finger out an done one haha