Clio 200 tidy and improve - with some of my other projects

[Matt Scarbro]

Right, project thread time, copied across from the introductions section...

For as long as I've been driving, Renaultsport have been making drivers' cars and I've always deeply admired them for it. As a Honda man I felt like they had taken over the mantle for making exciting and engaging affordable cars. With the low income of a student I read Evo magazine cover to cover and built up the iconic cars such as the Clio Trophy and then R26.R as real working class heroes; the sort of cars I would aspire to own once working full time.

Jump forward a decade and despite being a massive driving enthusiast and having owned quite a number of different cars, I've never dipped my toe into the Renaultsport pool until now.

A little about my motoring past, I started off with classic Minis as my father spent his working life building engines for them. I had (and rolled) a 998cc as my first car before progressing, having learnt to drive a bit, to a well modified Clubman.
From there I went Japanese with a series of mk2 Honda CRXs, modified to varying degrees, then an S2000 and more recently I got into trackdays and started a love affair with MX5s.

My partner and I are now fortunate enough to have a lovely BMW 435d as our nice car, I have a fairly ridiculous, borderline time attack, Honda-powered MX5 track car and a share in another MX5 as a cheap winter track slag. Our second car, used mainly for running to the train station and about town has been an Audi A2, but I desperately missed having a small, fun, manual road car.

That brings us up to date and we have replaced the Audi with a Clio 200 Cup.
I was looking at R26s (couldn't afford the .R) and other similar hot hatch alternatives, but decided I preferred the more modern feel and mechanical simplicity of the Clio.

Despite the car having utter crap tyres (why do people do this on drivers cars?), I've been thoroughly impressed with the little terrier! It's just so much fun and I can't believe Renault make something so focused as a normal, full production road car! For the first time in a while I keep going out in the evenings and just driving!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I've got a terrible habit of having cars become projects and projects running away with themselves. For this one the brief is a fairly simple one, tidy up and improve. The latter part is a bit open ended but there won't be extensive modifications here, the purpose of this car is to be fun and useable on the road as well as being able to do the odd trackday if other cars aren't working.

In order to provide some variety I'll pop in the odd post about my other cars, I enjoy reading about all sorts so maybe you will too!

First impressions of the car are very good, it's such an eager little thing, more muscular than I had expected and it feels like it's trying to bite into the road to find traction where other cars might slide across the surface.

The ride is hard, perhaps more so than expected but that's no problem - it's dynamic talents are worth a bit less comfort. I was expecting the brakes to feel great but the pedal is a bit long, rear pads were marked as an advisory on the recent MOT so they will be the first port of call. I've bought some genuine pads and a caliper wind back tool, I just want to find a good touch up pen for the calipers as there are a few small chips I want to correct at the same time.

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks great, these are starting to grow on me

 

[Matt Scarbro]

The Audi this replaces has sold today so I can get the steering wheel retrimmed now.

Hoping Snappy is still about as his work looks excellent, thinking plain black leather, silver/grey stitch and a red centre marker.

 

[Steve]

Hi Matt found a new home away from Nutz?
I used to have a few RS models before swapping to mx5s.

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Great intro, love a good backstory




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Euan94]

I thought I recognised the name on the thread, your MX5 is absolutely fanatastic!

Looks lovely, enjoy it.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Hi Matt found a new home away from Nutz?
I used to have a few RS models before swapping to mx5s.

Hi Steve, seems to be plenty of crossover between the two doesn't there, have always thought the Clio guys seemed a good bunch at trackdays.

MX5 isn't going anywhere, just need to get it working! Happily I found a way to get another driver's car into the 'fleet'!

 

[General Dave]

Welcome to the club and a good write up! - Interested to see the Honda engined MX5, guessing its got an F20c in it??

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Welcome to the club and a good write up! - Interested to see the Honda engined MX5, guessing its got an F20c in it??

You got it, it's an F20c S2000 engine and gearbox mated to the MX5 rear end. Has been going well and seen lots of track use but having fitted a supercharger I've now got a high-rev misfire that's proving a devil to diagnose. Very frustrating but will be worth it in the end.

A couple of pics and a vid:

Good stuff from about 2:45!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Made the most of the fair weather today and changed the rear pads and touched up the calipers. Think they were about due...

Hopefully this will improve the slightly long pedal.

Will pop some new ATE fluid in shortly and I might pop the front pads out to see how they look. I'm going to try some EBC Orange pads once they're ready to be changed but I don't have any immediate track plans so no need to do it right away.

Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to pop out and give it a good clean tomorrow, I have an Evo magazine sticker for the rear screen to as I'm a bit of a fanboy!!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Daily updates at the moment as I'm off work and the new car novelty hasn't worn off!
Gave it a good clean and affixed the Evo fanboy sticker.

Brake pedal still feels a bit long but maybe it will just take a little time for the pads to bed. Or maybe it wants some new fluid and a bleed.
Going to try and find a punch that's the right size for the Brembo pins and get the end machined concave to make pad inspection and replacement a little easier, I have a feeling if I try it with a normal punch the caliper paint will soon be a mess!

Might give the engine bay a clean tomorrow if I'm short of something to do, I don't normally wash cars myself so I must like it!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Did the engine bay and underside of the bonnet this afternoon. It wasn't in a bad state but just grubby in places, looking much better for 45 mins of effort.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Back at work now so less time for going out and tinkering!

I've been planning to change the head unit as I just can't live without the Bluetooth connectivity I'm so used to.
There's a Pioneer mechless Bluetooth unit at £67 at Halfords at the moment so I will likely go for that. I had a similar previous generation unit in the old Audi and was very impressed with the reliable connectivity and useability.

I have been weighing up options for a mild audio upgrade at the same time as I've been spoilt by other cars in that department.
I think one of these rascals along with some better speakers will give a nice improvement together with the new head unit...
https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-pioneer-gm-d1004_p-32858.htm#

I had been looking at sensibly priced speakers and thought I'd check to see if the car had factory tweeters or wiring that might make components in the front a bit easier.
I watched a video for some pointers for removing the tweeter covers but it didn't really reveal much, luckily there were some useful comments left below the video that proved more useful.

I got the passenger side tweeter cover off without too much of a fight and there was no tweeter there, so I had a broggle around for the wiring. I found a wire and pulled it to find the end but instead pulled an aftermarket tweeter through!

Maybe someone had added a couple of tweeters to the factory wiring...
I pulled the wire some more and out popped a Hertz crossover, nice!
Of course I went straight for the door speaker grill to see if the woofer was still in place which happily it was:

Thought I had best check the rear speakers too, just in case...

So a couple of nice finds! It's a good job I checked before ordering any speakers!
The plan now is to buy the Pioneer head unit and mini amp, should hopefully be nice little system and make the car much nicer place.

 

[Mr Burns]

Nice motors!
I'm another Clio/MX-5 crossover guy!
Very jealous of your MX-5, I need one with one with more power!

Edit - Your rear-view mirror is spoiling all the action lol.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Nice motors!
I'm another Clio/MX-5 crossover guy!
Very jealous of your MX-5, I need one with one with more power!

Edit - Your rear-view mirror is spoiling all the action lol.

So annoying isn't it, must try harder with camera angle!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Bit more tinkering on Saturday, thankfully in the car as the weather was rubbish!

I ordered the audio parts last weekend for a budget sensitive and discreet upgrade with Bluetooth connectivity.

Head unit £67 (when I bought it)
http://www.halfords.com/technology/car-audio/car-stereos/pioneer-mvh-390bt-bluetooth-car-stereo

Steering wheel control harness and patch lead £40
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271990994706

Mini amp £73
https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-pioneer-gm-d1004_p-32858.htm

So £180 total for parts including delivery.

In theory it was an easy installation and happily it was very much so. A quick google told me how to remove the glovebox which made the job so much easier. I routed the microphone wire up the passenger A pillar to save messing about under the steering wheel and affixed the mini amp behind the glovebox.

The short-case mechless head unit meant there was plenty of room for all the cables which can be a headache with normal units, it went together very simply and worked as it should first time!

The beauty of this sort of amp is that it requires no traditional 'amp wiring kit' and instead fits between the car loom and the head unit harness. It's nice and compact too which makes finding somewhere to mount it easy.

For fairly modest outlay I've brought the cars media system up to date and the sound output is now very respectable, I'm chuffed with the results.

 

[Akay]

I fancy one of those Amps, does it make a noticeable difference?

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I fancy one of those Amps, does it make a noticeable difference?

Yes, very noticeable, well worth the money. I should think I will ditch the rear speakers and bridge the rear outputs for an under seat sub eventually.

 

[Akay]

Cool. Love the car by the way!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Lots of lubricants have arrived ahead of a good servicing session...

 

[Numbnut]

Yes, very noticeable, well worth the money. I should think I will ditch the rear speakers and bridge the rear outputs for an under seat sub eventually.

The sound stage will be poop if you do it this way. The rear cavity will have no sound being produced there so you'll hear the music from the middle and the front of the cabin.
Wire the rears to the head unit, then you can do the underseat sub with those freed up amp channels.

Tidy Clio and love that MX5 btw :up:

 

[Rojer]

Nice car the 200 is slowly growing on me, I have been a Honda fan and had an MX5 (great cars) will be keeping an eye on this!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I went for a ride around North Wales one Sunday and took some pics. The Clio felt great on the country roads despite the very British roads and budget tyres.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I had been doing well with spending sensibly on the Clio until it went horribly wrong...

I had been considering a seat refurb so when these stunners popped up I couldn't resist. They really are lovely, I'm delighted with them.

I have also bought a spare steering wheel so I'm dropping that off at Snappy's this evening for him to work his magic. I think plain leather with silver stitching to match the seats and a red centre marker is the way I'll go.

 

[mossyv6]

Them seats are awesome

 

[Stay Puft]

Lush seats.. price tag though

What you doing with your old ones out of interest?

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Big money but not crazy once I've sold the normal 200 Recaros.

Will be something I can enjoy every single time I drive the car! 😌

Old ones will be in the for sale section once I've cleaned them up and taken some pics.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Bringing this up to date again...

Another consideration when I bought the car was that it had budget tyres fitted. Why on earth do people do this on driver's cars, such a shame!

So I knew I needed to buy a new set from the outset. The alloys were also in poor condition so I reasoned that this would be an excellent opportunity to get them refurbed at the same time.

I was caught between going for ContiSport 5s, Toyo R1Rs and AD08rs. In the end I chose the Yokos as I don't think the others would stand up to dry track sessions. I was a little concerned that the AD08rs might be a little louder and harsher riding but I was hopeful having spent time in other cars with them.

Old vs new...

And on the car with the wheels powdercoated gloss black:

With thanks to those that helped in the thread about blowing manifold options I took the plunge and ordered a ToyoSports manifold.

I think I will order Powerflex lower engine and gearbox mounts too given the tendency for the TS manifold to knock against the subframe.

I'm in Crewe, Cheshire but don't mind travelling a little for the work, any recommendations?

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Powerflex lower engine and gearbox mount inserts arrived today.

I've never used Powerflex before and they're very nicely packaged with neat little freebie key rings.

 

[Archiebald]

Right, project thread time, copied across from the introductions section...

For as long as I've been driving, Renaultsport have been making drivers' cars and I've always deeply admired them for it. As a Honda man I felt like they had taken over the mantle for making exciting and engaging affordable cars. With the low income of a student I read Evo magazine cover to cover and built up the iconic cars such as the Clio Trophy and then R26.R as real working class heroes; the sort of cars I would aspire to own once working full time.

Jump forward a decade and despite being a massive driving enthusiast and having owned quite a number of different cars, I've never dipped my toe into the Renaultsport pool until now.

A little about my motoring past, I started off with classic Minis as my father spent his working life building engines for them. I had (and rolled) a 998cc as my first car before progressing, having learnt to drive a bit, to a well modified Clubman.
From there I went Japanese with a series of mk2 Honda CRXs, modified to varying degrees, then an S2000 and more recently I got into trackdays and started a love affair with MX5s.

My partner and I are now fortunate enough to have a lovely BMW 435d as our nice car, I have a fairly ridiculous, borderline time attack, Honda-powered MX5 track car and a share in another MX5 as a cheap winter track slag. Our second car, used mainly for running to the train station and about town has been an Audi A2, but I desperately missed having a small, fun, manual road car.

That brings us up to date and we have replaced the Audi with a Clio 200 Cup.
I was looking at R26s (couldn't afford the .R) and other similar hot hatch alternatives, but decided I preferred the more modern feel and mechanical simplicity of the Clio.

Despite the car having utter crap tyres (why do people do this on drivers cars?), I've been thoroughly impressed with the little terrier! It's just so much fun and I can't believe Renault make something so focused as a normal, full production road car! For the first time in a while I keep going out in the evenings and just driving! :smiley:

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Lovely car there

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Now booked in for 29th Mar for the exhaust manifold and engine mounts.

Total cost with labour quote so far:
Manifold (eBay) £175
Engine mount insert (eBay) £25
Gearbox mount insert (eBay) £25
Labour (Birchdown Autos) £145
Total: £370

So a much more cost effective repair than I had initially expected. :blush:

Whilst it's there I've also booked the following:
Engine oil change (only 5k since I did it but it can't hurt)
Gear oil change
Front pads with R-clip pins
Brake fluid change

So it should be in fine fettle when I collect it! :grimacing:

Just need to source some of these caliper pins and buy some brake fluid.

 

[Paul.M]

This was a good little read, nice to see you enjoying it.

I've heard a fair bit about your mx5 too, I'm good friends with Iain Brooke, it sounds like it must be geat fun

 

[Christopher]

Those seats are gorgeous

 

[Matt Scarbro]

This was a good little read, nice to see you enjoying it.

I've heard a fair bit about your mx5 too, I'm good friends with Iain Brooke, it sounds like it must be geat fun :smile:

The MX2000 will be awesome once it's working Paul, I've got a misfire at high revs that's proving very tricky to find so I ha net used it since the charger went on! 😢

The Clio is providing a lovely distraction in the meantime though!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

For anyone interested, a vid I popped together of our shakedown at Blyton in Dan (brother's) VX220:



In case anyone notices, Dan's helmet strap isn't fastened in one of the clips. It wasn't a deliberate thing, we're normally very safety conscious.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Drove the BM soon after the Clio the other day on unlit roads. Ordered new bulbs soon after!! Should look a bit nicer too!! :smiley:

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Got the bulbs fitted, indicators make a nice difference and the light is vastly improved on unlit roads! 😌

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I have switched insurance to Greenlight given that it's being modified.

Also have the option of track cover with them so I've booked Blyton on the 8th April for the first outing, can't wait! :grimacing:

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Back on topic and I now have all my bits to get the brakes ready for track action!

Experienced some, erm, budget creep on the pads! In the end I couldn't convince myself that any of the track options wouldn't squeal so I've just gone for a good track pad that I can swap back to OEM Pagids for road use.

I've been wanting to try CLs for a while so this was a good opportunity and as I've got some more Brembos for the MX5 I could technically use them on that if I ever needed to! That was the justification anyhow! 😂

I'm keen to try it with the standard hoses before going braided, hopefully it won't need them.