I never knew there was such a thing as a 'sporty' clio until a friends brother got a 172 cup, and I always thought it was a smart car with a fair bit of poke, then he moved to 'murica and it sat on his dads driveway for over a year looking in a sorry state. Next thing I know his younger brother (my friend) turns up at mine in it, all insured etc... And the more I saw it the more I loved it! I still didn't know much about them and one day I stumbled across Cliosport.net and the more I saw the more I knew it was a car that I would one day own, little did I know it would be the one I ended up with.
So time goes on and I start getting sick of commuting on motorbikes getting soaked and cold all the time, not to mention it's getting more and more dangerous every day being on two wheels, so I did my car test and started saving for a car. I had a grand saved up and didn't know what to get, and looking at insurance quotes for your typical 1.2's etc it wasn't going to be anything special! Next thing I know I'm getting quotes on 172's and 182's and they were cheaper than all the other boring typical first cars I'd been looking at! Straight away I'm looking on the classifieds but start to lose hope very quickly as everything was out of my budget.
I'd always been into pedal bikes and rode downhill at the time, it was the one thing that let me escape the crap that life throws at you but I knew I had to sell the bike to pay for insurance for whatever car I was going to get, so a few days later the bike was gone.
I'd put so much blood, sweat and money into the bike, it was almost heartbreaking seeing someone else take it away, but greater good and whatnot.
Up to this point My friends 172 cup was used to get us and the bikes around and got filthy every weekend and he quickly lost interest in it, and wanted a small van for some reason.
I asked him how much he wanted for the cup and he just said give me an offer, so I offered him a grand and later that day I was the proud owner of a 172 cup!
He delivered it in it's typical state of cleanliness -
Straight away I started filling buckets and peeling all of the s**t stickers off, what a nightmare!
So after a clean the cup was starting to look presentable -
I instantly fell in love with it after seeing it (what I thought was at the time) properly clean and retreated to a cuppa with my bank card in hand and ordered a solid engine mount, panel filter and dogbone bush kit as there was the typical knocking under hard acceleration, and a new exhaust as the standard one was rotten.
A couple days later I got my bits through, engine mount, panel filter and dogbone were obviously as described but the exhaust, an ebay bargain at £60 for a stainless cat back was a bit on the, lets say.... big side. The seller obviously hadn't figured out how to read a tape measure as the tip was a 4.5" not a 3.5" as described. So I called it a day on the car front as I'm already frustrated and come out the next day to this -
My ever so helpful stepdad has fitted the awful exhaust and told me it looks 'fine'. Not to worry as I got a Cobra stainless system for another bargain £60 and proceeded to fit it, finding out it needs to be cut into the bumper (which I didn't want to do) So back to the drawing board on that, again.
Once again, helpful stepdad has helped out, but this time crossed the line and seriously annoyed me -
That's right, he's cut the bumper. Nob.
In the end I just lived with it, it sounded alright and wasn't too in your face, so it lives to see another day.
So I got round to fitting the engine mount and dogbone bushes, finding out one of the bolts for the dogbone was completely rounded off and I couldn't get it to budge so out came the grinder, and not long after I had both fitted.
Then I found the engine bay thread and ordered an engine cover, some paint and got to work -
I also did the front brake calipers in the same cadburys purple.
Next I took it for an MOT as it had run out so off it went, and it failed on n/s/f shock leaking and emissions, so after sorting that out I got the ok to come pick it up so after a call to the insurance company I left to go pick it up, massively excited! I couldn't believe it driving back that I'd got myself a car that I thought I wouldn't have for a long time and loved every second.
I went through a stage of wanting a better supporting seat so got myself a bucket but after a month or so I started to get irritated with the hassle of getting in and out of the car so that's now my office chair. I then realized that the reach for the steering wheel just didn't feel right so I got myself a deep dish wheel and it's made it so much nicer to drive!
I didn't do much for a while other than get a full scorpion system (cheap as chips too!) as I wanted to get the belts done so money needed to be saved, then found out on a bank holiday monday that I had 4 VERY bald tyres. So due to my stupidity for not keeping an eye on the tread levels I was stuck with needing 4 tyres there and then and had to break into the cambelt funds.
So after braking into the cambelt fund the brakes became terrible, and I mean you couldn't lock up the wheels in the wet. So discs and pads ordered from G172 I set to work changing the fronts. Drivers side, nice and quick with no problems and then I set to work on the passenger side... and one of the carrier bolts sheared off as it was seized solid. Did I mention this happened at about 8:30pm the night before the car was booked in with Dan at SJM to have the belts changed? Massive panic! Luckily my mate's a welder and he said he'd sort it out asap, and it held up the next day! Phew.
So Dan dropped me off at clarkes village and I was sat in costa and I got the text I had been waiting for... 'the timing's out'.
I had my suspicions as my mate told me he got the belts done cheap but at least it was in capable hands. The water pump didn't need doing but one of the rear shocks was dead so Dan changed them for me, and he was kind enough to sort out my exhaust as it was blowing.
Later on I get picked up by Dan and he explained what he'd done and that the previous belt job was a bit of a bodge but all was well and he thought it had a pretty strong engine which I was very happy to hear. We get back to SJM and part ways, I couldn't believe what a difference it had made, it felt like a new car! I didn't think I could like this car any more but now I really loved it!
Since then I attended the rolling road day with the southwest lot and eagerly awaited my turn, and finally get the go ahead.
I didn't know what to expect after what Dan had said but I was made up with the results, 183.6bhp!
That's up to date now but I have plans for next year, some power focused, some not, but I'll mainly be trying to sort out all the little dents/scrapes along the way. Thanks for reading.
Here's some of my favorite pictures I've taken of it since owning it to finish off.
So time goes on and I start getting sick of commuting on motorbikes getting soaked and cold all the time, not to mention it's getting more and more dangerous every day being on two wheels, so I did my car test and started saving for a car. I had a grand saved up and didn't know what to get, and looking at insurance quotes for your typical 1.2's etc it wasn't going to be anything special! Next thing I know I'm getting quotes on 172's and 182's and they were cheaper than all the other boring typical first cars I'd been looking at! Straight away I'm looking on the classifieds but start to lose hope very quickly as everything was out of my budget.
I'd always been into pedal bikes and rode downhill at the time, it was the one thing that let me escape the crap that life throws at you but I knew I had to sell the bike to pay for insurance for whatever car I was going to get, so a few days later the bike was gone.
I'd put so much blood, sweat and money into the bike, it was almost heartbreaking seeing someone else take it away, but greater good and whatnot.
Up to this point My friends 172 cup was used to get us and the bikes around and got filthy every weekend and he quickly lost interest in it, and wanted a small van for some reason.
I asked him how much he wanted for the cup and he just said give me an offer, so I offered him a grand and later that day I was the proud owner of a 172 cup!
He delivered it in it's typical state of cleanliness -
Straight away I started filling buckets and peeling all of the s**t stickers off, what a nightmare!
So after a clean the cup was starting to look presentable -
I instantly fell in love with it after seeing it (what I thought was at the time) properly clean and retreated to a cuppa with my bank card in hand and ordered a solid engine mount, panel filter and dogbone bush kit as there was the typical knocking under hard acceleration, and a new exhaust as the standard one was rotten.
A couple days later I got my bits through, engine mount, panel filter and dogbone were obviously as described but the exhaust, an ebay bargain at £60 for a stainless cat back was a bit on the, lets say.... big side. The seller obviously hadn't figured out how to read a tape measure as the tip was a 4.5" not a 3.5" as described. So I called it a day on the car front as I'm already frustrated and come out the next day to this -
My ever so helpful stepdad has fitted the awful exhaust and told me it looks 'fine'. Not to worry as I got a Cobra stainless system for another bargain £60 and proceeded to fit it, finding out it needs to be cut into the bumper (which I didn't want to do) So back to the drawing board on that, again.
Once again, helpful stepdad has helped out, but this time crossed the line and seriously annoyed me -
That's right, he's cut the bumper. Nob.
In the end I just lived with it, it sounded alright and wasn't too in your face, so it lives to see another day.
So I got round to fitting the engine mount and dogbone bushes, finding out one of the bolts for the dogbone was completely rounded off and I couldn't get it to budge so out came the grinder, and not long after I had both fitted.
Then I found the engine bay thread and ordered an engine cover, some paint and got to work -
I also did the front brake calipers in the same cadburys purple.
Next I took it for an MOT as it had run out so off it went, and it failed on n/s/f shock leaking and emissions, so after sorting that out I got the ok to come pick it up so after a call to the insurance company I left to go pick it up, massively excited! I couldn't believe it driving back that I'd got myself a car that I thought I wouldn't have for a long time and loved every second.
I went through a stage of wanting a better supporting seat so got myself a bucket but after a month or so I started to get irritated with the hassle of getting in and out of the car so that's now my office chair. I then realized that the reach for the steering wheel just didn't feel right so I got myself a deep dish wheel and it's made it so much nicer to drive!
I didn't do much for a while other than get a full scorpion system (cheap as chips too!) as I wanted to get the belts done so money needed to be saved, then found out on a bank holiday monday that I had 4 VERY bald tyres. So due to my stupidity for not keeping an eye on the tread levels I was stuck with needing 4 tyres there and then and had to break into the cambelt funds.
So after braking into the cambelt fund the brakes became terrible, and I mean you couldn't lock up the wheels in the wet. So discs and pads ordered from G172 I set to work changing the fronts. Drivers side, nice and quick with no problems and then I set to work on the passenger side... and one of the carrier bolts sheared off as it was seized solid. Did I mention this happened at about 8:30pm the night before the car was booked in with Dan at SJM to have the belts changed? Massive panic! Luckily my mate's a welder and he said he'd sort it out asap, and it held up the next day! Phew.
So Dan dropped me off at clarkes village and I was sat in costa and I got the text I had been waiting for... 'the timing's out'.
I had my suspicions as my mate told me he got the belts done cheap but at least it was in capable hands. The water pump didn't need doing but one of the rear shocks was dead so Dan changed them for me, and he was kind enough to sort out my exhaust as it was blowing.
Later on I get picked up by Dan and he explained what he'd done and that the previous belt job was a bit of a bodge but all was well and he thought it had a pretty strong engine which I was very happy to hear. We get back to SJM and part ways, I couldn't believe what a difference it had made, it felt like a new car! I didn't think I could like this car any more but now I really loved it!
Since then I attended the rolling road day with the southwest lot and eagerly awaited my turn, and finally get the go ahead.
I didn't know what to expect after what Dan had said but I was made up with the results, 183.6bhp!
That's up to date now but I have plans for next year, some power focused, some not, but I'll mainly be trying to sort out all the little dents/scrapes along the way. Thanks for reading.
Here's some of my favorite pictures I've taken of it since owning it to finish off.
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