BIFCAIDS
ClioSport Club Member
340i M-Sport & 182
So, last week I got myself over to Lincolnshire for a leisurely drive around Cadwell Park on a lovely August day.
The Clio needed a bit of prep, bearing in mind it hasn't seen a track since November 2021 and had sat looking sorry for itself until Feb/March at my parents. Firstly I had to service it, replace all the brake discs and pads and give it a full nut and bolt check. Brembo discs all round with CL RC6 pads in the front and OE Brembo pads in the rear. I also purchased a new pair of Nankang AR-1's, after looking at the drivers front inner shoulder and noticing I'd shagged it last time out at Oulton Park.
Now, some may remember a few months ago I reported getting a weird vague steering feel, turns out the rack was indeed lose, lets say, finger tight. So, that explains that problem and the cause was powder coat ands it's now LFE.
Anyway, once all that was done, I went about fixing a couple of cosmetic issues, like replacing the tailgate after my Dad let it run down the paddock at Cadwell last time we were there. I actually still had the original tailgate from this car (some may remember I totalled my original 182 at Spa) and this one was "de-badged", but I love the OG Renault Sport badges, so swapped them over. I also went about touching up all the stone chips on the bonnet and giving it a good polish. The bonnet had lost all gloss (cheap paint job and blistering summer last year), so that looked infinitely better after spending 30mins polishing it. Replacing the mirror glass in the passenger mirror after hitting a bollard at Oulton (hero) and I also fitted a wiper blank from eBay (£10), added some new stickers to the wheels to highlight the valves... Because RACECAR, obviously.
So, Cadwell Park. I love this circuit, it's fast, technical and you need momentum, not only that but it's home away from home due to my partner being from Cleethorpes and we're there quite often. The day itself was an absolute success, now this can't always be said, you're either plauged with red flags or driving standards are poor, but I can confirm it was a good day. There were a small handful of Clio's, a Racing Blue 182 (very quick), a left hand drive Arctic Blue 182 (French plates), another Arctic Blue 182 (J77 TDM) and two Silver 197's. There were also a large number or Mini's, Aerial Atoms, Caterhams and a couple Civic EP3's.
There were some really quick drivers and some slower drivers, but as I say, driving standards were quite high and the only red flag incidents we had were very minor and dealt with quickly.
Early in the day, I had a bit of a battle with a Gen 2 Impreza, weirdly, we were very well matched. He was quick on the straights and I was quick through the twisty stuff, had a good chat with him afterwards and him and his friends (who race in 750 and were taking part) said I was quick, which was confidence inspiring. I always think I'm a bit average to be honest, so it was nice to know I'm doing something right.
I did try to have a play with the gent in the RB 182, but I'd been out for 20minutes already and things were hot. In all fairness, he was a quick driver and I'm not sure I could have kept up even if we both went out together.
Other than those, I had a 1 lap battle (long session and at the end) with a gent in an EP3, this was the best of the day and absolute shame it happened when it happened because I'd have love to have spent more time battling.
I had caught a gaggle of sunday drivers, stuck behind another EP3 (Silver one, pedestrian speed all day) and none of them would "push past" shall we say. The line up was EP3, Mk2 Golf, Mini Cooper S, Clio 182 and no one at the front would give an inch. So, this put my "new friend" with me for our battle, but first things first, we need to navigate these guys. I can only post the low res vid from the Civic, but you get the gist.
It was once I was released from the Golf we had our 1 lap battle (insert "Running in the 90's").
Plenty of improvement to be made and adjustments to the suspension to remove that bounce through Hall Bends but other than that I had an absolute blast in that session. The chap in the "camera" car did his lastest lap round Cadwell chasing me in that video of a 1:46.08. He said it was nice to have finally had a play with someone who was decent 🥰 ha ha ha.
Anyway, here's some pictures from the day (paid for them, so I'm gonna show them).
The Clio needed a bit of prep, bearing in mind it hasn't seen a track since November 2021 and had sat looking sorry for itself until Feb/March at my parents. Firstly I had to service it, replace all the brake discs and pads and give it a full nut and bolt check. Brembo discs all round with CL RC6 pads in the front and OE Brembo pads in the rear. I also purchased a new pair of Nankang AR-1's, after looking at the drivers front inner shoulder and noticing I'd shagged it last time out at Oulton Park.
Now, some may remember a few months ago I reported getting a weird vague steering feel, turns out the rack was indeed lose, lets say, finger tight. So, that explains that problem and the cause was powder coat ands it's now LFE.
Anyway, once all that was done, I went about fixing a couple of cosmetic issues, like replacing the tailgate after my Dad let it run down the paddock at Cadwell last time we were there. I actually still had the original tailgate from this car (some may remember I totalled my original 182 at Spa) and this one was "de-badged", but I love the OG Renault Sport badges, so swapped them over. I also went about touching up all the stone chips on the bonnet and giving it a good polish. The bonnet had lost all gloss (cheap paint job and blistering summer last year), so that looked infinitely better after spending 30mins polishing it. Replacing the mirror glass in the passenger mirror after hitting a bollard at Oulton (hero) and I also fitted a wiper blank from eBay (£10), added some new stickers to the wheels to highlight the valves... Because RACECAR, obviously.
So, Cadwell Park. I love this circuit, it's fast, technical and you need momentum, not only that but it's home away from home due to my partner being from Cleethorpes and we're there quite often. The day itself was an absolute success, now this can't always be said, you're either plauged with red flags or driving standards are poor, but I can confirm it was a good day. There were a small handful of Clio's, a Racing Blue 182 (very quick), a left hand drive Arctic Blue 182 (French plates), another Arctic Blue 182 (J77 TDM) and two Silver 197's. There were also a large number or Mini's, Aerial Atoms, Caterhams and a couple Civic EP3's.
There were some really quick drivers and some slower drivers, but as I say, driving standards were quite high and the only red flag incidents we had were very minor and dealt with quickly.
Early in the day, I had a bit of a battle with a Gen 2 Impreza, weirdly, we were very well matched. He was quick on the straights and I was quick through the twisty stuff, had a good chat with him afterwards and him and his friends (who race in 750 and were taking part) said I was quick, which was confidence inspiring. I always think I'm a bit average to be honest, so it was nice to know I'm doing something right.
I did try to have a play with the gent in the RB 182, but I'd been out for 20minutes already and things were hot. In all fairness, he was a quick driver and I'm not sure I could have kept up even if we both went out together.
Other than those, I had a 1 lap battle (long session and at the end) with a gent in an EP3, this was the best of the day and absolute shame it happened when it happened because I'd have love to have spent more time battling.
I had caught a gaggle of sunday drivers, stuck behind another EP3 (Silver one, pedestrian speed all day) and none of them would "push past" shall we say. The line up was EP3, Mk2 Golf, Mini Cooper S, Clio 182 and no one at the front would give an inch. So, this put my "new friend" with me for our battle, but first things first, we need to navigate these guys. I can only post the low res vid from the Civic, but you get the gist.
It was once I was released from the Golf we had our 1 lap battle (insert "Running in the 90's").
Plenty of improvement to be made and adjustments to the suspension to remove that bounce through Hall Bends but other than that I had an absolute blast in that session. The chap in the "camera" car did his lastest lap round Cadwell chasing me in that video of a 1:46.08. He said it was nice to have finally had a play with someone who was decent 🥰 ha ha ha.
Anyway, here's some pictures from the day (paid for them, so I'm gonna show them).
