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mid life crisis 172 build attempting all the uk tracks..



  182 arctic
Graham, thank you for part numbers will speak to renault parts to cross check and get them on order...... those top mounts certainly were mot hand tight when removed them !
will slaken them off a touch...
got a fair bit interior stripped tonight and found £2.12p wedged under the multi cd box on the passenger side... thats at least another two kinder eggs by my reckoning..:)
 
  182 arctic
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saturday update
removed original front brake discs - refitted with Brembo disks and ferrodo 2500 pads
removed front fog lights, in preparation for some brake cooling ductwork
removed carbon canister.
removed acoustic valve, removed one horn, & relocated the one left to the locating bolt for accoustic valve.
fitted fattys cheapo induction kit...
all straight forward enough, had to grind the back plate tabs on the 2500 pads to get them to fit... as per other peoples experience.
the 2500 pads are super thick so to get the caliper back over i had to compress the piston fully home.. to do this i placed a file across the piston and used a g clamp tightening slowly to clamp the piston back...
the brakes were binding a bit, so i whipped them off again, removed the existing shims, and gave the pads a light file... refitted and all is perfect...
whilst i had the drivers wheel off, i removed the fog light from behind the inner arch, i also removed the big carbon canister... i left the electrical connection in place and tie wrapped it up... the fuel vent pip is also tie wrapped... but not yet closed.. it all runs ok so i need to read if i need to close off the two pipes here..
with the passenger wheel off i removed the acoustic vale just tie wrapped the electrical connection up.. removed the pipe from the manifold and capped off the outlet here... i removed one horn and relocated the remaining one higher so that with the fog light removed a nice clean air flow over the brakes can be achieved...
The existing air box was next in the firing line... this had a pipercross filter in and looked nice and fresh (a good sign) ...my alloy 90degree bend and ram air filter was delivered in the week as per fattys thread. It took all of ten mins to fit and ive got to say sounds immense :smile:))))))..
over the years ive spent allot of money on various bits and bobs for cars and bikes.. for fun, improvemnet, looks, performance, & noise.... got to say that this is probably the best £35 ive ever spent... cant say it gives any more performance... but it sure does sound terrific..
 
  182 arctic
after getting some real nice new oreca/sparco seats , i went a little crazy and blew my budget on some Mirco RS2 special editions.. with bespoke stitching/colour.... not giving anything away... but heres a sneaky pic of the harnesses that have already been delivered..
hopefully my seats will be here soon... i have a shakedown evening session booked at snetterton on thursday... which will have to be done in poverty spec RS seats...
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  182 arctic
Good work, keep an eye on the pads, mine and others haven't lasted long and crumbled to bits
Thanks for the heads up,,, ive read that a few times since purchasing them...some people have said there great some have said they pants, a bit to hit and miss for me .
For the money they cost youd think they would be ok/decent... what are you running now? will look at getting some spare alternatives..
 
  172 Turbo
I run RC6 now but I do very few road miles. Attached two pictures of mine, removed after 10 months and 2500 miles
 

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  182 arctic
the attacked the steering wheel.. got a bit frustrated with tryiung to do a neat job of sticking the resistors in the terminals, so yank the hole wiring out from the housing and soldered the resistors with the heat sink for a proper job..
ive got a cheapo £20 boss from ebay but ive found that my fingers clash with the radio controls :( and whilst ive not got my race seats in which will give a different lower seating position, i knwo the seteering wheel will need to come toward me at least 80mm ...( i got long legs!) so i think im going to order a removable quick release hub which should extend i hope the wheel toward me.... should be like touring car set up then :)
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  Clio 182 Cup
Made me laugh about the fabia splitter. I just did the exact same thing last week. I bought a cheap one on ebay, looked at it, thought about all the fiddly screws and the drilling required, the general awkward fitting, the potential for it not lining up properly, the potential for it grounding and maybe damaging the bumber and the minor difference it would make anyway and think it is destined for the bin.
 
  182 arctic
Well just got back from snetterton eve track session... a shake down for the car really....
was wet and damp.... all went really well... bedded the brakes in and they are no longer binding...
car seemed to handle pretty well with the contisport original wheels left on as it was wet handling pretty good id say...
the car turns real sharp, but going into a corner of throttle or coasting and turnurning quick makes the back go very light... i wouldnt say it was lift of over steer, because it was happening before i got on the gas...so much so i spun twice... one time leading onto the back straight, on the slower corners could get a nice induced almost powerslide feel if feeding the go peddle when the back starts stepping round.... great fun..
ive got the rear roll bar set to hard, and perhaps i should have had a play, but didnt have a garage and with the ground wet left it as is..
had a rotational knocking -? noise from what appeared to be front left on cornering right... but this had disappeared the second time i went out..
and didnt come back...
overall teh car was great, the steering wheel felt great.... looking forward to getting my seats harness and roll cage installed... when the seats arrive from poland :)
 
  Supercharged AG 200
Well just got back from snetterton eve track session... a shake down for the car really....
was wet and damp.... all went really well... bedded the brakes in and they are no longer binding...
car seemed to handle pretty well with the contisport original wheels left on as it was wet handling pretty good id say...
the car turns real sharp, but going into a corner of throttle or coasting and turnurning quick makes the back go very light... i wouldnt say it was lift of over steer, because it was happening before i got on the gas...so much so i spun twice... one time leading onto the back straight, on the slower corners could get a nice induced almost powerslide feel if feeding the go peddle when the back starts stepping round.... great fun..
ive got the rear roll bar set to hard, and perhaps i should have had a play, but didnt have a garage and with the ground wet left it as is..
had a rotational knocking -? noise from what appeared to be front left on cornering right... but this had disappeared the second time i went out..
and didnt come back...
overall teh car was great, the steering wheel felt great.... looking forward to getting my seats harness and roll cage installed... when the seats arrive from poland :smile:
the spin an a damp day is the rear anti roll bar on hard mate. in the wet we undo it :smile: all good fun though and progress is looking good :up:
 
  182 arctic
thanks Osspoop, that wdould be a great idea, as could do a compilation of 1 lap each track i do...
should have been in my office this evening drawing, but couldnt resist a quick mount up of the seats...
position is real nice on first guess, it also feels that the standard omp mounts drop the seat about 70mm which feels realy nice.... i would want it any lower for sure..
really excited how the car feels now the driving position is so much improved... with the extended removable steering wheel, i think i can tweak the fixings to be perfect....
all got to come out again to dry fit roll cage, and harness but at least i know the where the final position will most likely be...
the all important piccys.
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  182 arctic
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Works been really crazy.. So my priorities have been with my company for the kadt few weeks, but with bedford rs track evening booked for friday. I needed to crack on with progress..
Roll bar painted and fitted.. Seats fitted, drivers harness fitted.. Havnt decided if the shoulder straps will just wrsp the roll bar, for tge momenti just anchored them into exisying bokt locator points.. The lap belts ive drilled two new fixing points, but i had imperial sized nuts to lock off tge eyelets.. As a temporary measurei drop in two buckles thst came out the interior strip.. I thinkni may need to widen the mount points??
 

GrahamS

ClioSport Club Member
  335d
Those seats look comfy!
For the harnesses have a read of this http://www.msar.co.uk/pdf/UsersGuideRacingHarness.pdf

The rears have to be wrapped around the bar, the other way looks like is could twist the belt and cause horrible angles on your back in an impact. The lower mounting points probably should be further apart as you want to minimise the lap belt length. In the above guide this is what it says RE lap belts. Something the width of the seat usually will stop the belt chafing on anything. You should also be able to use the angle of the opening in the seat as a guide for angle. Page 21/22 should help.
 
  182 arctic
brilliant, thanks Graham..... so busy i just had to crack on, and research after.....
seats are amazing...... perfect position and comfort... can just about get 1st and 3rd when tightened in.. whilst i could move the seat forward a touch my leg positions are perfect...
note to self.... always shut door before doing harnesses up :)
 
  Supercharged AG 200
Good work, keep an eye on the pads, mine and others haven't lasted long and crumbled to bits
And they really aren't up to hard track use.... Used once, never again.... Can't fault the DS 1.11s so far but need a good dry. Learn your car on the DS 2500s and get rid of them Andy
 
  182 arctic
have read mixed things on those, thanks for the heads up... may get some ds 1.11s and take them as spares..... only takes a few mins to swap ..
 
Graham, thank you for part numbers will speak to renault parts to cross check and get them on order...... those top mounts certainly were mot hand tight when removed them !
will slaken them off a touch...
got a fair bit interior stripped tonight and found £2.12p wedged under the multi cd box on the passenger side... thats at least another two kinder eggs by my reckoning..:smile:
Damn I thought I did well at £1.20 wedged in the lower centre console :D
 
  182 arctic
@andyj007 Is that a quick release boss on your steering wheel? Which one did you get? I have a new wheel but looking at how to fit it now and I fancy a quick release!
yes it is its epic also i also got a seperate adjuster kit on it aswell..

the removable steering was from here
http://www.jjcraceandrally.com/oval/quick-release-bosses/motacorsa-quick-release-steering-wheel-boss

but to be honest after looking its no different to ebay ones, for half the price i would get it from there there if buying again.. it extends forward about 40mm i then got an adjustable middle spriggot 20-60mm from ebay... which i fitted aswell, not needed but i like my chair quite a bit back fopr my long legs and wanted the full touring car look :) .
one slight problem i can only just push 1st 3rd and 5th gears.. so gear lever mod coming soon..
 
  182 arctic
yeah i did,,, you said you wouldn't make me one :(.... oustanding work chap...
going to mod mine... im going to crank the lever back and up... so same height just back, i want to cut the plastic reverse selector down and leave that there..with enough to left the reverse selector...then crank and join/extend it from this point. might need two hands to get reverse until i rig up a pulley over the winter..
how does the shaft itself come out? whats the best way to remove? to weld on the extension part..


 
yes it is its epic also i also got a seperate adjuster kit on it aswell..

the removable steering was from here
http://www.jjcraceandrally.com/oval/quick-release-bosses/motacorsa-quick-release-steering-wheel-boss

but to be honest after looking its no different to ebay ones, for half the price i would get it from there there if buying again.. it extends forward about 40mm i then got an adjustable middle spriggot 20-60mm from ebay... which i fitted aswell, not needed but i like my chair quite a bit back fopr my long legs and wanted the full touring car look :smile: .
one slight problem i can only just push 1st 3rd and 5th gears.. so gear lever mod coming soon..
Cheers. So do you have a regualr boss and then the quick release fitted? Pretty clueless to it!
 
  182 arctic
Attended the RS track evening at bedford last night,,, what an epic track... car performed faultless, and boy does it fly & handle well..
the seats & wheel just make the experience epic..
will do a mini review on the bedford track and car performance shortly.. meenwhile everyone loves a few pictures so here is a few more of teh seats & steering wheel, and a few phone snaps from the night.
 

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  182 arctic
Bedford Track RS Evening..
South west Circuit - 2.8miles..
after a nice sensible 10min safety briefing (take note snetterton not the half hour of rambling experienced at your track) we headed across to the garages to make our way for a couple of sighting laps.... ive driven this track before but in two halfs when i completed in the plamer sport porsche and single seater evening event (well recommended) but they had joined the two tracks together and that makes the south west circuits..
there were about 30 cars of all various RS versions, a nice mix. plus some retro cars RS had brought along in addition to the latest rs cars to try for 15min sesions (free!!!)
the event was really well organized, with freindly chatty rs sport and motorsport vision guys, along with free tea/coffee & cold drinks...
no looney muppet drivers, or boy races in stripped out BMW driving beyond their capability....

The first shakedown was at snetterton in a wet/damp situation, where the car was a little lively to say the least... as some pointed out o should have disconnected the rear ARB for way less lift off uncontrollable oversteer :)
no issues with that here though sunny and warm, a few rain clouds all around but missed us completely bar the odd few spots at one point..
mods since last time are the instalation of roll bar, seats, harness, plus full strip out..
car performed faultless, brakes didnt cook, tyres TR1 didnt melt although was limiting to 15min on off sessions..
top speed was 118 (speedo rear) down the back straight standard 172 with no mods yet to anything at all.. with a self imposed redline of 6200..
after first session i checked the tyres and they were about 40PSI!!!! so we dropped the air out to 32...
the handling of the clio is just EPIC, its so much fun.. through the fast corners with tremendous change of direction... the track has some amazing sequences which excite & thrill.. see below.
the clio builds up confidence the faster you go, a dab on the brakes and turn into the faster corners, the car squirms feels on the edge, drifts, but always pulls through,,, the new seats belts add to the thrill keeping you in check inspiring confidence to go faster.. through the corners..
i dont think you actually realise just how much energy you have to put in to keeping yourself in the standard seats & belts when corning hard on track.. racing seats, harness & steering wheels just add to the touring car feel...
i do think that i may need to stiffen / lower the car as a future mod... but i will have to take a ride in a car already on trick suspension, as at this stage the car is so much fun to drive , i wouldnt want to make it sterile..
no oil used, tyres look great with the obvious rubber track use look.
Track and my lap review.. (see pic) Im no racing driver but we all like to think we are :)
into the first corner with hard brake at at the 100-75m mark, too fast and you will run out of corner on the exist, acellerate to through west two, lift off and throw it into west three scrub off some speed into west 4... get this right you get a great exit from 4, come into three to fast and you compromise the exit line... flat out through 5 & 6 lovely sweeping g force pulling corners, lots of lines and nice high speed direction changes...
pick a braking point into 7, for quick left right, easy to run on in the first part.. blast up to west 8, stay to the right much longer than you think turn in by or past cone (turn in cone position feels unnatural)and then accelerate out, this is definitely the fastest line. obviously you couldnt do this if you were racing as your competitor would sling it up the inside i would imagine. the difference between the this tight in and accelerate out, against my own just sweep it round the corner in a big arc was a whopping 10mph at the end of the straight!!!
down the straight, plenty of time to big your self up for a late brake for the best sequence of corners on the track..
hit the brakes hard, the car squirms left to right off the brakes, pick the line , turn, turn, accelerate, move over to the right and through south three..
this was soooooo much fun, on the edge of adhesion, high g load, this is where bucket seats and harneses, just give you the proper support you need. you dont have much time to control your grin/laughter, shouting before south 4... easy to scare yourself here after the epic previous bends, found myself way to hot on several occasions, but actually the car just took it.. so lots more time to be found.. south 5 has a nice small dipp in the apex which kind pulls the car into the tarmac, gives a terrific scrub, slight bounce feeling when on it.. photographer was on the outside here... needless to say tried special hard and cocked it up completely. lots of tyre noise, and over shot the exit by an embarrassing amount... (tarmac run off here :)))))
hoon along the straight before a what feels like a tightening right.. you need a good exit here to accelerate up to west 12, did get this flat out on the last few laps, heart in mouth, for sure, along the short straight and hard on the brakes into turn 1 again.... EPIC
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MarkCup

ClioSport Club Member
Sounds like a lot of fun. The South West circuit is a really good mix of corners and a lot less to get your head around than the full GT circuit. Sounds like your 172 is shaping up nicely.

Last time I was on that layout was also on an RS day in my Clio 172 Cup...I had a high speed off on the fast left after the chichane at the end of the straight...straight onto damp grass I ran on for a couple hundred metres but hit nothing! Airfield circuits are wonderful things LOL
 
  182 arctic
blimey that is high speed off there.... that was in my mind when thinking going down the straight!! is there a bigger circuit.. will have to look that up,,
 

MarkCup

ClioSport Club Member
blimey that is high speed off there.... that was in my mind when thinking going down the straight!! is there a bigger circuit.. will have to look that up,,

There is, the GT circuit which is basically the entire place...3.5 miles long I think it is.

I caught my moment on camera on the day, it's at 3:55 below...filmed long before high definition was even an idea LOL



Watching this back makes me realise just how much I miss that car. Sniff.
 


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