Iceberg 172 Cup

[Will16V]

Ok, so after owning a Mk1 Clio 1.8 16v in 2002, I vowed I'd never buy another Renault again. The valver was to that point the most enjoyable car I had driven, but the worst for things going wrong.

In hindsight, I don't think I cared for it particularly well at the time, so maybe I had myself to blame.

Anyway, a bit older and wiser now, I started looking at Clio's again and couldn't help being drawn to the idea of a 172 Cup. So after a bit of searching I came across what is now my 172 Cup:

Its in Iceberg silver which i found unusual as most of the Cups about were in the usual blue colour.

The car is pretty much standard except for a Cobra twin exit cat back exhaust system, and a Simota air induction box thing - both of which are going shortly for a stealth system and either a standard airbox or something else, undecided yet though.

The car had window tints and K-Tec stickers on it when I got it, now removed those now to go for a more OEM look.

So far, I've changed the thermostat and temp sensor with genuine e Renault items as it was running too cool, but all sorted now. Other than that, just given it a good clean and polish.

More plans are to include getting the wheels refurbished, replace the ditchfinder tyres, polish or get some new front lights, replace the splitter as mine is cracked, maybe lower it slightly, new badges and just look after it really, no twin turbo rear engined transplant track beast here, just looking to get this tastefully back to OEM with a few subtle mods :tongueclosed:

 

[Kyle beresford]

Very nice,really like the iceberg cups.

 

[Will16V]

Very nice,really like the iceberg cups.

Cheers buddy, I only saw this one in silver when I was looking, all the rest were blue. I don't know how many silver ones there are though, but they seem fewer than the blue ones to me at least!

 

[leeds2592]

Looks great bar the exhaust!

 

[Will16V]

I know, straight out of the DTM touring car championship lol :tongueclosed:
It'll be off within the next couple of weeks once the new one is here though.

 

[Jekyll]

Iceberg cups are quite rare too iirc.

 

[jamesycc]

Lovely. I love the iceberg cups, so rare. Should take it to next years French car show and show it off.

 

[Will16V]

Iceberg cups are quite rare too iirc.

Yes, I had read that somewhere too, but not sure how many there are TBH, is it 90 or something?

 

[Jekyll]

There was 99 iceberg ph1's but I believe it's less for ph2's. A search on here will clarify that though.

Iceberg can look boring in some lights but looks great when clean and the sun hits it. Mine has a very slight purple tint to the blue which is nice.

 

[yeecup]

Nice. Liking your plans too.

 

[Jekyll]

Is it a genuine cup front splitter too? Rare to see them these days if so. Most people opt for the fabia one as its 10% of the price!

 

[Will16V]

Is it a genuine cup front splitter too? Rare to see them these days if so. Most people opt for the fabia one as its 10% of the price!

AFAIK it is a genuine one, but its cracked at the front, so I was thinking of maybe getting a K-Tec carbon one, but I think that's as far as I'd be going in fitting after market styling parts, other than some slightly lower springs, maybe some Eibach Sportlines.
How much are genuine front splitters BTW?

 

[Will16V]

Not sure on the springs though, I'd just like it to sit a bit lower on the front end without ruining the ride, purely for aesthetics 🙈

 

[Jekyll]

They used to be around £130 but on Renault parts direct they are considerably more!

http://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/products/Renault-Clio-172-Bumper-Spliter.html

I'd be looking at eibach sportlines springs for your needs.

 

[Will16V]

They used to be around £130 but on Renault parts direct they are considerably more!

http://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/products/Renault-Clio-172-Bumper-Spliter.html

Feck me!!! Someone needs to start churning these out in flexible polyurethane! You could make a killing knocking those out at £85 or so!
Maybe the K-Tec one for me then.

 

[Jekyll]

The Ktec ones look great but are prone to chipping. I didnt find it a problem as i just flattened it down and re-lacquered it. Just a heads up.

I sure there was a company (perhaps streamline?) that used to make grp ones and came in 2 halfs so if one side cracked, you could buy just that half.

 

[Will16V]

Just having a read through some old topics on here, and found that there were only ever 90 Clio 172 cups made in Iceberg Silver.

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/silver-172-cup-how-many-made.298894/

I didn't know when buying that they were so rare, but I'd not ever come across a silver cup before, so that explains it!

Anyway, I took off the old splitter. It's a genuine Renault one, but it fell into two pieces when I removed it from the car. I've put it in the back of the garage for now, but replaced it with the K-Tec one, which looks ok and freshens up the front end a bit.

Just waiting for some elf 5w40 to arrive, then I can change the oil. Need to crack on with getting the exhaust ordered and get a new airbox and filter. Or maybe a K-Tec induction kit. Can't decide at the moment.

Also, thinking of getting some Uniroyal Rainsport 3's next week, as it'll be mainly a road car, and ive heard good things about the Uni's, a good combo to say the car has no ABS or TC I'm thinking.

Unless my thinking is wrong??

 

[Will16V]

Just a quick update, I managed to give the car a good service this weekend with some fresh Elf 5w40 oil, as I wasn't sure when it was done last. Also replaced the oil filter with a genuine Renault one, along with genuine sump plug and washer, also new Renault/NGK plugs and auxiliary belt, which all went ok, no major problems at all managed to get most of the parts from Wolverhampton Renault on here - top service BTW.

I swapped the lights over, replaced all the bulbs with 5000k units, silver indicator bulbs and tinted the fogs yellow. Not sure on the fogs at the moment but I could always take it off at any point in the future. But, along with the front splitter, the front end looks much fresher now.

I also read the thread for Fatty's induction kit. Initially, I was in two minds as to whether get a standard air box or go for a K-Tec induction kit, but when I saw Fatty's thread, I thought I'd give it a whirl for the sake of £40 or so. All the bits arrived, but I had to get a new Bosch S3 battery, as the current item was to big (Type 075). All I can say is it sounds immense. The car definatley pulls better, more so over the old induction system that came with the car. It is bloody loud though!

But, after completing the work, the car seems very appreciative and runs very very well now.
Next up, 4 x Uniroyal Rainsport 3's, Supersprint Stealth cat back, H&R springs, maybe some new Cup shocks.

 

[Will16V]

 

[Matthew]

It's a lovely colour.

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Looks well that mate

 

[Will16V]

Thanks gents, the colour is a strange one, in some lights it looks just silver, but in others it looks a like the blue ice colour you see on glaciers.
Suppose that's why it's called iceberg silver ☺

New tyres should be on next week, I don't trust the budgets on it right now in the wet!

 

[Jekyll]

I have a itg filter on my fatty kit. Not as loud as others which is nice for a daily but sounds great when throttle is flat, but not over the top.

 

[Will16V]

Cheers buddy, do you have a link?

Anyway, went for a bit of a drive tonight after work, this car shifts and runs so much better than it did prior to the service and addition of the induction kit. Nearly found the limit of the f@ckwang tyres or whatever they are on a semi damp corner though, not good!

Anyway, a few moody pics.

Need a 3/4 size plate on the front I think.

 

[Jekyll]

Got to say I'm not feeling the yellow fogs. Car looks nice and oem and the fogs take it away a bit.

 

[ADS_V6]

Looking good will agree clear fogs for me but we all like different things,when are you ordering the exhaust and did you order wishbones.

 

[Will16V]

Yes, not sure on the fogs myself, it's only that laminex stuff, so may remove.
Tyres next week, then exhaust to be ordered as I haven't done it yet, I've had to divert some car funds to my other car this week.

Once they're done, I'll get the suspension bits sorted, looking to do a bit of a refresh all round.

I reckon the plate destined the car to be nothing other than OEM :smile:

That reminds me, I also need some cup 172 pillar decals, another steering wheel and various other bits..

 

[Will16V]

Ok, so not updated this thread in a while, but the Cup is still going strong. oil change and service just completed, new genuine Renault Cup rear shocks installed, and new front OEM Cup shocks awaiting install along with Eibach lowering springs, hopefully to be completed tomorrow.

I also installed the fatty induction kit and it sounds immense :smile: along with the K-tec stealth exhaust system.

I had a bit of paint work also corrected on the drivers side rear arch, which seems to have come up pretty well.

 

[Will16V]

Hopefully the car wil be lowered by the end of today, so here's a quick 'Pre Eibach' pic:

 

[Will16V]

Ok, so new OEM Renault 172 Cup shocks all round, new top mounts front and rear, along with Eibach Proline springs.

Don't think the rear has dropped that much, if at all really, but the front is certainly lower. The car feels much more responsive in the bends now, it was pretty twitchy before. I also took the car for a wheel alignment today sesh, which appears to have pretty much transformed the cars handling, combined with the new shocks and springs.

Mixed feelings on the carbon fuel lid, sort of matches the carbon splitter, and rear carbon bumper insert, but its all easily reversable back to OEM. Got a new rear wiper blade and some new wheels nuts too to tidy things up a bit :smile:

Brakes and 3/4 sized front plate next i think.

 

[dann2707]

When are you getting the fuel cap painted?

looks great

 

[Will16V]

When are you getting the fuel cap painted?

:wink: looks great

Weight reduction bro!

Seriously, don't know if I'll keep it on or not, the cars colour is maybe too light for it. I think of it as a kind of beauty spot :tongueout:

 

[Iain C]

Tidy. Not a fan of the carbon cap tho.

 

[Will16V]

Yeah, may take it off, it doesn't look as clean does it, I'll have a play about with it tomorrow.

I installed some new Alpine SPG-13CS component speakers today in the front. The front door speakers went in fine along with some DEI speaker baffles to enhance the weight of the bass and also protect the speakers from the elements, should any wet get in the door. They sound pretty good actually for 13cm speakers, but think I need some sort of small amp to power them, maybe the Alpine KTP-445U is an option as it will fit in the glove box no problem. Saying that, the only bass you can hear at 5500RPM is the Ramair filter and the exhaust to be honest Besides, I didn't fancy chopping bits out to fit bigger speakers.

Then went to fit the tweeters and crossovers. Oh my god, who the hell designed the Renault electrical loom for these cars?? Or were they all just hungover on the day they made mine?? The wires were all different colours at the speaker end compared to the loom at the back of the headunit. I
ended up taking the top dash and front pillar trims off just to get in to get the new tweeters installed, and I had to cut into the Renault loom and the head unit loom to install and wire in the crossovers, which fit nicely under the dash next to the head unit recess, passenger side.

It also gave me a good chance to clean the dash top and all of the heater vents etc, so it all went back together looking much fresher. The tweeters are so much better that the standard Renault items, the sound is very crisp top end wise now, 100% better than the Renault OEM stuff! I'll post some pics tomorrow, still got a few bits to finish off and need to clean out the car fully to complete, but a good day and got to know more about the Cup's internals

 

[Chris15]

Coming along nicely! Looks great!

 

[Will16V]

Thanks Chris :smile:

A few pics of bits and bats, new tweeters:

I had to trim the original tweeter mounts in order to get the Alpine's in nice and snug so they sit just fine under the OEM speaker grilles.

Door speakers:

And all back together looking stock:

Probably a little more time consuming than other installs I've done in terms of wiring and equipment location, Renault didn't make them to be very easily upgraded, but got there in the end. It sounds much better while retaining the OEM look, apart from the head unit, but kind of like that it continues the silver trim theme from the passenger and drivers sides.

 

[Jekyll]

Looking to upgrade my speakers soon. Won't bother with the tweeters, but definitely do the door ones.

Cars looking great will. Need to remove the yellow fogs though

 

[yeecup]

That filler cap.....🙈oo: Why did you not get eibach sportlines? Would of lowered it more. Apart from that I like it. :up:

 

[Will16V]

Lol both of you :smile: I will probably take off the yellow wee wee fogs and the fuel cap at some point, I was just messing with bits that 'stuck on' haha. I think I'm following my 'JDM street' past, which this is obviously not. I'll maybe get it back to stock, as I think that's where the beauty is with this car.

Re. the springs, they are the red sportlines, not the black prolines, my bad.

Seems to be settling a little more now though. I was thinking of some H&R springs too before I got these, but went with the Eibach's as I've had them on another car before and loved them. Need to give the seats a good clean this weekend so with try and do a full interior detail at the weekend.

 

[182_steve]

That's really interesting hearing about the speakers as my 182 is having my alpine headunit fitted Thursday but also getting some component speakers with separate tweeters like yours in the front and some co-axials in the back! Looks great to be honest and a definite 'high five' for doing it all yourself, what I just read makes me pleased i'm paying the local experts to do it all haha! Oh and by that I mean experts, I am NOT taking it to Halfords lol!