Clio 182 - road car / track car / race car

[Hyperhatch]

Santa came early for me! The tow car has arrived. My first hybrid car. Combined 218ps with 8 speed gearbox. It’s a strange sensation moving with no noise. It definatly doesn’t hang about! Compared to the equivalent petrol/diesel car this will save me around £1000 a year on company car tax! So more money for the Clio :grin:

Someone fire up a coal fire power station, I need to charge the battery......

 

[Hyperhatch]

My mind had wondered abit over the Christmas period. I found myself in Halfords and came out with some crap that won’t make the car any faster!

First up was some white side lights. I now have the urge to replace the rear number plate light. As you can see the new number plate is on. Fair play to green light insurance as they didn’t charge me to change the ref on the documents.

Next up was some paint. I’m a fan of the car looking standard (as mentioned at the beginning) but as it’s evolved I want it to look more individual. Worryingly I was looking for florescent yellow paint but on my two visits they didn’t have any. So I am now going with anthracite to match the strips and decals. I thought I was only going to do the mirror caps as they are scuffed in places. I tested my painting skills on the drivers side and to be honest i’m well happy with the result. Time to put it on the car and see the results.

Result i’m Happy! This is were things have got out of hand. I decided that it would be good to paint the side trims and the roof scoop (which needs painting due to me damaging it). Off they all came so it looks like i’ll be busy for the next few nights.

I also want to do the side skirts and bumpers. That’s time dependant so I will see how it goes over the next few months.

Anyway this is how the car will look when i’m finished.......

 

[Hyperhatch]

Managed to finish off painting the trim parts. I also have managed to cover up the paint blemish on the roof scoop with a grey Unionjack sticker!

 

[Hyperhatch]

Booked Bedford 5th Feb. Was only £99. Weirdly I don’t think i’ll mind if it’s wet as I haven’t had the Clio out in the wet yet. Bedford one of the better tracks with some weather?!

Ordered some new rear brake discs/bearings at the weekend as somethings grumbling since the last trackday. Need to get them on ASAP as the trackday is not far away! Also mount the display and fit the new rear number plate light I ordered in the end

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve been fiddling a bit with silly bits due to the rubbish weather and dark nights. Had some of the stripe material left so wrapped the Renault badges the same colour.

Also ordered some other bits including a tow hook. I ordered one and they send two:smile: Also an extra big mirror so hopefully the GoPro will pick up what’s happening behind as well

But for me the biggest surprise is when I woke up one morning and found that my first upload photo to Instagram had been posted by @Trackobsession. Since then the old girl has recieved 260 likes! I didn’t ask them to post it so it’s all a bit bizare!

I’m @chris_stead88, i’ll be using it for car (clio) related bits. I see a few familiar faces are on there.

Sunday is drag the car out and fit the rear discs/bearings and some other bits. Weather forcast........... heavy rain:anguished:

 

[haimsey]

Union Jack sticker doesn’t look out of place at all, good save! :up:

 

[Hyperhatch]

Great day to work on the car?!

Decided to stay warm and dry so backed the clio into the garage. This made the job a little longer but we had the heater going aswell to keep us motivated.

Changing he rear discs and bearings actually turned out to be a nice little job for a change as all the nuts and bolts have been apart in the last two years so no swearing at things. As mentioned I brought the discs with the bearings in for £75 delivered. Worth doing instead of pressing out the old bearings.

To be honest the longest part was removing he old studs and the putting them in the new discs which wouldn’t be a problem on a car with the standard wheel bolts.

Also managed to change the rear number plate light (I have an led lamp to put in this), install the new rear view mirror and put the front grill back together. All in all nice little day.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Track day tomorrow in the morning and the weather prediction is dry :grinning:

I taxed the clio (cost the same as a 2011 X5 which is insane!) and then took it for a drive. Result the new wheel bearings have fixed the rumbling. Time to sort out a couple of bits.

Binned of the cheap tow hook and brought the PMS stainless steel one.

Fitted the display to the dash by running a cable tie through it and then through the window vent.

Then the big one........... fitted the Heskith bear the the boot!

Looking forward to tomorrow. My mates are taking the blue/yellow race clio so it should be fun.........

 

[Hyperhatch]

Excellent day at Bedford today but didn’t start well. Went up in convoy with my mate who help build the Clio. Nice journey up when just before we came off the dual carageway then boom. He hit a dead badger in th road (unsighted from another car) which threw all sorts of garbage over my car. Manage to stop and found the front of his 944 turbo smashed to bits. Heart break as the bits on the old Porsche aren’t cheep! Thankfully it didn’t stop he using all day.

Still we made it there to find that I left my driving licence at home. Elementary fail! Still, sorted that out then on with the sighting laps. I never done a track day with large patches of ice in the track!! These stayed for along time as the day went on.

But after all that we managed to knock out plenty of laps. Wierdly there was only 45ish cars so a lot of time was spent on our own.

The end of the day I let my mate have a go on in my car. It was wierd watching it go around. He loved it! I got some drive by videos. Can’t work out how to upload them!

I have loads of videos. It will be strange watching the car out without me in it. Hope he didn’t drive it faster than me?!

One slight downer. Once off the motorway near home the car started banging from the front suspension. Probably something loose. Let’s hope so!

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve uploaded all the vids from Monday. Funniest/best moment is in this session just after 5.15. I’m surprised we didn’t end up facing the other way! GoPro did the usual job of making things look less exciting than they are



The clio feels controllable when the back starts to move. The ARB has made such an inprovement in how the car drives.

The next change for the car is upon us. My Team Dynamics 1.2s are up for sale in the parts section if anyone fancies them?

https://www.cliosport.net/threads/team-dynamics-pro-race-1-2-16x7j-with-nsr2s.815663/

 

[imprezaworks]

What wheels you going for

 

[Hyperhatch]

Same but 15’ in anthracite probably. Want to get a few sets so I can run slicks, cut slicks and wets. I have the brackets already for the conversion back to a 280mm front disc.

Someone just shared a link to 50% off @ euros (2 hours only!) so i’ve just purchased some brembo discs for £44! Result

 

[AdamCup]

Nice catch @ 5:25 :up::up:

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve been busy, thought I had the car ready to use this year but the quest to make it faster, better and eventually a race car has seen me make some changes and dig deep into some funds

First off removing all the wheel. So hard to do in a single garage!

These were collected which released the funds for these....

I went for Calibre Suzuka with 888r tyres. These came fitted from Demon Tweeks. It was hard choice between them and the TD1.2 but I need three sets and these were considerably cheaper. I can always get some TD 1.2s later. Also I like the look of these more personally!

I need to get them on the car ASAP but also need to convert the front brakes down to 280mm spec to get them to fit. I have all the parts but will need the callipers machining a little bit. Unfortunately i’m busy with work and other things so this will have to wait for the moment.

The big expense is being picked up tomorrow after a fairly long road trip. I’ve wanted one for ages, it’s going to accelerate the conversion to race car but in a sad way might limit the days in which this car remains a road car......

 

[Hyperhatch]

400 mile road trip to pick this up last night

It’s now halfway home at my Mum and Dads as the timing for it was poor as the clio is sat in my garage on bricks and axle stands!

It towed really nicely behind the Passat. Didn’t even know it was there tbh. It will fit in my garage with about 10mm to spare each side. This one has a folding drawbar so I don’t need to remove my work bench at the end of the garage.

It going to be tight getting the Clio on it due to the Clios width. I’ll run space savers/smaller tyres to get it on. This was all planned.

For me this is a big step into making this car a more of a race car (my goal from the start of this project). Sadly once the MOT is up in a few months time I think it will signal the end of the car being a road car......

 

[Jimbob 2705]

Can't wait to see the Calibre's on it, they've always been a good cheap option - I've always thought they look fairly similar to OZ Ultraleggera's!

Get some pictures up when they're all fitted, looking forward to see how they compare on looks to the TD's

 

[Hyperhatch]

Managed to get the new rear wheels on the car. I had to buy some ‘tuner’ bolts as the bore of the hole is thinner than the standard wheel/TD1.2s. I also had to cut down the studs. Mine are stupid long from when I ran the 25mm spacers. When i’m happy with all 4 wheels on the car I will buy the correct length ones with shorter ‘tuner’ bolts.

Also I’ve been researching space savers as I need to reduce the width of the clio to fit it on the trailer. Turns out a Micra and a Mk3 Mr2 run the same pcd 4 x 100 bolt spacing as the clio. So I have a 16’ mr2 space saver coming for the front (16’ to clear th brakes) and a 14’ micra space saver for the rear. I thought I’d have to do all 4 wheels but with the single rear space saver on I seam to have enough room (trailer bed is 1630mm wide)

Next job is pulling the callipers off so I can get them machined down.

 

[Sam Linssner]

400 mile road trip to pick this up last night
View attachment 1357513 View attachment 1357514 View attachment 1357511 View attachment 1357512

It’s now halfway home at my Mum and Dads as the timing for it was poor as the clio is sat in my garage on bricks and axle stands!

It towed really nicely behind the Passat. Didn’t even know it was there tbh. It will fit in my garage with about 10mm to spare each side. This one has a folding drawbar so I don’t need to remove my work bench at the end of the garage.

It going to be tight getting the Clio on it due to the Clios width. I’ll run space savers/smaller tyres to get it on. This was all planned.

For me this is a big step into making this car a more of a race car (my goal from the start of this project). Sadly once the MOT is up in a few months time I think it will signal the end of the car being a road car......

Looking good. Dont suppose you could tell me the weight of one of the alloys? Ive been thinking about ordering some lighter alloys and these seem like a good option.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Looking good. Dont suppose you could tell me the weight of one of the alloys? Ive been thinking about ordering some lighter alloys and these seem like a good option.

One wheel with a brand new 888r on is 16.0kg.

Always want to meet you again on a trackday as we were so even last time! Both cars have come along way since we met but i’ve seen all th trick bits you’ve been putting on yours so i’d probably be left for dust

Cheers

Chris

 

[Sam Linssner]

One wheel with a brand new 888r on is 16.0kg.

Always want to meet you again on a trackday as we were so even last time! Both cars have come along way since we met but i’ve seen all th trick bits you’ve been putting on yours so i’d probably be left for dust

Cheers

Chris

Cheers. Probably not far off the 2118’s in weight then. Yeah we will have to arrange some when I’m back. Going to be doing lots at brands/donny/Combe in preparation for racing this year. I’ll let you know :up:

 

[Hyperhatch]

Change of plans. I’m not going to lie, for the first time since owning the clio I got to a stage where I was ready to set fire to it! Basically the new wheels wouldn’t fit. To cut a long story short I’ve sent them back and purchased some 2118’s.

Result as a set came up for the right price with some 888Rs on them. When they came I tried them and they still didn’t fit. I had a bit more taken off of the callipers (7mm now) and when worked out what size spacer I would need by adding my 5mm spacers until the wheel fitted. 20mm it is.

I’ve rebuilt the brackets & callipers and bled the brakes so we’re ready to go once they arrive this week. I also have some rear camber shims coming.

When the 888Rs are totally worn (1 or 2 trackdays left in them) I will hopefully get the 2118s refurbished in Anthracite to match th rear of the car.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Finally the clios out the garage for the first time in 3 months!

It’s had the 300mm brembo conversion removed and replaced with the 280mm brembo conversion and new (second hand!) 15’ speedline 2118s with 888r’s places on it. Old wheels were 16’ TD1.2.

Pretty happy with the look of it. The wheels do need a refurb. I spent weeks wanting to change them to Anthracite but in the flesh I like the white ATM.

Just need to bleed the brakes again, install the rear camber shims and have it aligned. There’s also the small mater of the cambelt change (hate spending money on things that don’t make it go faster!)

Can’t wait to put some miles on her on track.

 

[H2MRK]

Like the new wheels and think white stands out well.

 

[Raceface_13]

Definitely white dude. Looks spot on :hearteyes:

 

[Hyperhatch]

Thanks to the weather the car is back together and ready to go..................... to get a new cambelt

Productive day starting with fitting the rear camber shims. Took an early decision to drill out the bolts as they were rusted in place. Bit of a pain job but it’s done now.

Photos don’t pickup the camber but it looks fairly extreme in real life.

Then on to brake bleeding. That’s fun:sleeping:. Took the car for a test drive and they were still a little spongy so decided to do them again. Two big points from the test drive - 1) no issues with the new brake set up catching within the wheels! Result! 2) The banging on the front left was still there.

Off with the front wheels again and bled some more air out. Must also mention we triggered the abs several times on the test drive as googling tells me this can be an issue. Brake peddle is now as good as it has ever been.

Then on to the banging. Found the whole nearside hub was moving. Turns out the two bold holding the track rod end were loose:flushed: Bit naughty of me as I haven’t check the tightness of the bolts since all the bump and roll centre bits were fitted. The car is always banging over kurb a on track so I will check them more often. Lesson learnt!

Last thing, loving the white wheels but this is what they look like after 6 miles

Can’t spend all my time cleaning them so undecided on colour still

 

[R29TJR]

Nice up date.

What pads you running to create that much dust? My CL RC5+ pads are mega dusty also.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Nice up date.

What pads you running to create that much dust? My CL RC5+ pads are mega dusty also.

Fronts are Ferodo DC1.11 pads with band new standard brembo discs. Rears are Ferodo DS3000 pads with standard discs. The front and rear wheels were as dusty as each other. Rear pads are two years old now and i’ve never noticed this much dust before. Fronts I can sort of understand as the new discs come covered in residue from the packet to stop them rusting.

Also I obviously ment the lower arm ball joint/rose joint was loose not the track rod as mentioned above!

 

[steviekyle13793]

Loving this mate. Read start to finish over the last couple of days, I think anthracite is the best colour for 2118s!

 

[Hyperhatch]

Another month down and the car has moved.......... onto the drive today. I’ve been waiting for some bits and the final part of the jigsaw arrived today.
Full cambelt change kit from Renault parts direct (I reccoment them, top service!)

And the new design a/c delete / alternator bracket from Pure motorsport (always had good service from Pure). The new design bracket is so light!

Those that have read this thread from the beginning will remember my first engine/cambelt change couldn’t have gone worse! It dropped a valve straight away. So it’s nervous times ahead!

The stripes are off! I know @imprezaworks will be gutted about this.

I’ve commissioned some graphics to be made and installed next weekend. They’re going to add at least a 25bhp. This stripes only gave me 5bhp more?

 

[Hyperhatch]

Double post

 

[imprezaworks]

See, looks about 2.34 million times better.

 

[Raceface_13]

Love this car, cant wait to see it with graphics on.

 

[20vKarlos]

This thread has las ways got better and better... I really Ned to pull my finger out!
I’ve only been out at Bedford once and that’s when the PAS shat itself.

PAS & AC Delete kit purchased... few more bits on the cards and I’ll be back out

P.S. at least one of your sets of wheels MUST be a really bold colour... I’m going yellow... plus a few other parts will Ben yellow too ?

 

[Hyperhatch]

This thread has las ways got better and better... I really Ned to pull my finger out!
I’ve only been out at Bedford once and that’s when the PAS shat itself.

PAS & AC Delete kit purchased... few more bits on the cards and I’ll be back out

P.S. at least one of your sets of wheels MUST be a really bold colour... I’m going yellow... plus a few other parts will Ben yellow too ?

Funny you mention yellow.......

 

[Briank_]

This thread has been (and is actually) a great inspiration for me, and for many others I’m sure! Updates always have some nice stuff and detailed pictures etc.

Looking forward to the graphics!

 

[Hyperhatch]

This thread has been (and is actually) a great inspiration for me, and for many others I’m sure! Updates always have some nice stuff and detailed pictures etc.

Looking forward to the graphics!

Thanks, I always try to be honest as i’ve said before. I have made mistakes but with help from a great mate we have done most of the work ourselfs. Most of it on a budget.

I find it crazy it still has a standard engine, clutch and gearbox! But for this year I need to use it more......

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ll update how it happen but.........


This is what my car looks now

I’m very happy

 

[Hyperhatch]

I wasn’t planning on changing the look of the car but always had a vision after seeing another clio at Mark Fish’s workshop. A mate of a mate did some work on his car so I explained what I wanted, if he could do it and how much it would cost. I was worried about the cost as I wanted it graded from one colour to another. He came back with a price and the below design so a couple of weeks I said let’s do it!

As you can see I removed the strips etc a couple of weeks ago ready for today. Dan ( the friend of a friend) sent over some photos of the graphics in production last night and turned up this morning.

It was interesting laying out the graphics. We moved a couple about as they fell in awkward sections of the trim, lights etc

To keep the Renault theme the yellow we went for as close to possible to liquid yellow.

The clio is having the cambelt change on Tuesday. If this goes well if finally time to book a trackday at last

 

[Raceface_13]

Looks awesome dude. How much did it cost if you dont mind me asking dude. Im after somthing very simlar but white lol

 

[Hyperhatch]

Looks awesome dude. How much did it cost if you dont mind me asking dude. Im after somthing very simlar but white lol

Cheers! In answer to your question, hoe long’s a piece of string.......

To have similar with different colours is £250. But it depends on where you live or if you take the car to his (he lives in Bedford). At your house he charges only for fuel costs. Also the ‘art work’ for this design is now stored on the computer. A lot of time and effort went into getting the blends to match and the ‘squares’ to land in favourable places. Also having a solid colour would make it cheaper.

I’ve had the eBays stickers on and this is a different league tbh.