Marc's Racing Blue 182

[Marc87_RB 192]

So after searching for something that will be relatively cheap for track days I settled on this. I believe it was owned by a member of the forum previously.

In general it's not a bad one having only covered 64,000 miles with the all important belt change completed earlier in 2016, it requires a little bit of tidying up but im hoping to get my first track day in this year. The brakes require immediate attention so Brembo high carbon discs and pads were ordered and arrived today ready for me to fit early next week.

First impressions are all positive after a run up to the cat and fiddle I was left rather impressed by how much fun I was having, plenty enough grunt for such a small package without having to risk your license to feel involved in the experience.

Im looking to carry out most of the work's myself and future plans include a cage, braided lines, ds2500 pads, 15" lighter wheels with some decent track rubber and some more supportive seats with harnesses.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

So I've made a little progress on the clio today with a full refresh of the front brakes, it turned into a bit of a nightmare as most of the bolts had seized, plenty of wd40 and perseverance later and I managed to get it sorted. I'm a total novice where mechanics are involved, apart from the seized bolts everything went to plan.

How they looked at the start of the day, plenty of life left in them.

And how they finished up.

These are Brembo high carbon discs with brembo pads, I will be purchasing some ds2500 for track use but these should be more than adequate for road use. Just need to tackle the rear's tomorrow, they don't look to be in the best of nick and are far worse than the front, let's see what tomorrow brings...

For now I'm having a well deserved lager.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

This has been copied from my thread over on pistonheads, hence it probably not making sense in terms of dates. Thanks to those who have posted the guide's on brake changes, made my life a lot easier. Time to tackle the rear's.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

Some of my previous car's.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

Current daily.

 

[imprezaworks]

Looking good mate. What makes you want the ds2500? I personally rate other pads to be better, not that I'm a hero at driving lol.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

Just that they are rated quite highly amongst friends who do the occasional track day, what would you rate for similar money?

 

[imprezaworks]

I rate the
Mintex 1155
Carbone loraine rc5+
And dont laugh, the £20 pagid pads from ecp.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

I've heard good things about the rc5+ but they are a little more expensive looking around, are they worth the extra? Have you used the pagid pads on track, how do they hold up?

Cheers

 

[imprezaworks]

I personally think they are worth the extra, never rated the ds2500. Pagids were bought as i needed discs and pads for a day in an old track clio, few years back. Found them spot on and did two days with them fitted. Sold the car a short while after.

@JB21 has used cheap ferodo on track with great effect too.

 

[JB21]

I personally think they are worth the extra, never rated the ds2500. Pagids were bought as i needed discs and pads for a day in an old track clio, few years back. Found them spot on and did two days with them fitted. Sold the car a short while after.

@JB21 has used cheap ferodo on track with great effect too.

Yep Ferodo premiere OE spec pads are great for the money (£20) and as long as your not the last of the late brakers then they would be fine for mild track use. I used them at Aintree recently and they were brilliant and didn't fade all day. Aintree doesn't have hard braking zones mind so thay may struggle at other tracks.

Worth a try for £20, i even had them as back up to my CL5+ yesterday at Oulton.

 

[182_steve]

Great looking car, looks a good base for a project especially with that mileage :up:

Looking at the pics of other cars, what engine was in the E46? That's EXACTLY the same as my daily lol, M-Sport, colour, wheels, mine's the 325i

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

Great looking car, looks a good base for a project especially with that mileage :up:

Looking at the pics of other cars, what engine was in the E46? That's EXACTLY the same as my daily lol, M-Sport, colour, wheels, mine's the 325i

Cheers Steve, I really enjoyed my e46 this was a 330d, ideal for the 60+ mile a day commute I was doing at the time I've also had a 323I.

The clio is fantastic fun but requires a general overall, it's got a small leak that requires attention, looks like it could be the cam cover gasket and sump gasket (I was hoping that somebody had not tightened the sump plug properly). A couple of nasty stone chip's on the bonnet that have rusted over, new tyres as it's on budget's and then I can get on with the things I want to do.

 

[182_steve]

Cheers Steve, I really enjoyed my e46 this was a 330d, ideal for the 60+ mile a day commute I was doing at the time I've also had a 323I. :wink:

The clio is fantastic fun but requires a general overall, it's got a small leak that requires attention, looks like it could be the cam cover gasket and sump gasket (I was hoping that somebody had not tightened the sump plug properly). A couple of nasty stone chip's on the bonnet that have rusted over, new tyres as it's on budget's and then I can get on with the things I want to do.

Ahh nice! I was looking at maybe getting a 330D but went for the 325i in the end and luckily found a low miles one..... it's a 52 plate and still only on 53k now :smiley:

Sounds like the Clio has had as little money spent on it as possible sadly but that'll all change now, plans sound good!

 

[Clio_fool]

Clio looks nice, are you going full stripped out track slag? Where are you based mate? I'm sure there will be a member close who can provide inspiration and help as you progress.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

That's a seriously low mileage e46, mine had both done well over 100k when sold and they were still really strong with little in the way of reliability issues.

I'm located in Stoke on Trent, would be nice to attend a few meets to see some others, I'm not 100% on fully stripping it, a cage of some sort but I would like to keep an oem sort of feel to it, recaro's from the trophy, retrimmed wheel in alcantara etc, wheels im thinking Turini's for daily use and oz F1's for track.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

So the rear brakes have now been changed, you can probably tell from the photograph that they were in dire need of replacement, the calipers got a lick of paint at the same time so it's looking a lot cleaner behind the wheels now and it's at least stopping how it should.

The oil leak is looking mainly like a loose oil filter after closer inspection, so a nice simple job on the driveway.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

My eldest lad has been asking to go camping for the last year or so and with North Wales not a million miles away I decided I could kill a few birds with one stone and combine a driving trip with it. The perfect opportunity to enjoy the car, the scenery, the fantastic roads and some bonding time without my wife breathing down our neck's. The weather was fantastic throughout and the Clio was in it's element on the tight twisting b roads surrounding the national park, it really is superb and it still induces a smile at lukewarm speeds.

I managed to get some better photographs along the way.

 

[dann2707]

Great pics mate. Where in Wales did you stay?

We just came back from a driving Road trip and ended up at Bala for a bit. The roads there are amazing as you said.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

We stayed at shell island but I stopped off at Bala on the way, we also did the triangle and b4391 amongst others. It really is lovely that way and the roads are superb.

 

[Marc87_RB 192]

Time for a little update, I purchased a set of cup turini's with AD08R's off a forum member a couple of weeks ago and got them fitted immediately. The tyres are fantastic and have transformed the handling, seem to perform reasonably well in the wet too. I took it out over some local b roads earlier for a drive and to get some photographs. It's a hoot.

 

[imprezaworks]

Tyres are ace, once warm they are epic