My 1 owner 172 cup

[IW365]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on the forum for a little while and asking the odd question. I thought I might do a thread on my 172 cup so here goes:

I bought it new in November 2002 and paid £11653. The car came from Milton Keynes and I was surprised that the guy who delivered it just drove it over rather than trailering it so when it turned up it was filthy and had a few miles on it already. Cheeky sod even asked for a lift back to the railway station. Here it is on day 1:

I'd come from a background of classic minis and sold a 1996 Rover mini cooper to get the Clio. Kind of wish I'd kept it now, the price of those have gone mad.

I used it as my daily for about 15 years and apart from it shedding its exhaust every now and again I had no trouble with it until at about 120K the cambelt slipped and all the inlet valves got bent. I'd foolishly been holding off getting it done to combine the job with a service and it had gone a couple of months over the belt interval, an expensive lesson. I had the head rebuilt and had another 20 odd thousand miles before it developed a misfire which proved a bit difficult to diagnose so I tucked it away in the garage and bought a 2008 Civic Type R FN2 (cracking car, don't care what people say about them!) And there the Clio sat for 2 years until I decided to get it back on the road.

Off it went to AW Motorworks and Alex did his magic. It's had belts and dephaser, rocker cover reseal, gearbox oil, new sump and seal, PMS exhaust amongst other things. I drove it home with a massive grin on my face. I've since fitted the obligatory Fabia splitter, new boot struts and have been giving it a real good tidy up including a headlight restore.

The plan is to keep it as original as possible as a weekend toy, although some tasteful mods might be in the pipeline. Aswell as the PMS exhaust, which sounds great I'm thinking Cooksport lowering springs which I'm told improve the look and handling.

Next years jobs will be new front tyres (recommendations please for a good summer tyre, got ps4s on the Civic), track rods and a new clutch. It's never had a new clutch and sits on 159K which I think is good going?! The release bearing is noisy now though.

I've found some of the dreaded rear arch rust so I'll have to deal with that soon, I'm not confident to deal with that myself, so I'll probably refer it to a specialist and maybe get the front bumper and bonnet resprayed at the same time. If anyone can recommend a decent body shop in the Cambridge area I'd be grateful. Theres also a few dents and dinks which need doing, but they are well down the priority list.

I'm so glad I kept hold of this one, it's such a fun, honest car to drive, when I was debating whether or not to plough the money into it, just about everyone I spoke to said just do it. Looking at the numbers of these left I think it's well worth keeping another one on the road, especially as close to original as possible.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions over the coming months so apologies in advance for that but I've already had such a lot of positive advice on here I might aswell carry on.

Anyway, heres a couple of pictures as it stands now, thanks for reading.

Ian

 

[imprezaworks]

Great you have kept it this long 👍

 

[Iain C]

Great stuff. Looks great. you've had your moneys worth.
I've had mine from new too. April 03

 

[David Stuart]

You are in good company here. I’ve got a clio and a classic mini. I’ve had minis for 15 years and absolutely love them. Just got into clios about 3 years ago and there is a definite relationship with them in my head. Both have great character. Make you smile when you drive them.

As for wishing you kept your 1996 mini. What was it? There were a few special editions around that time as well as the standard SPI cooper. But if you kept that and dailied itfor 120k would easily have spent £20k on body work and probably a gearbox rebuild as well [emoji23]

The cup is a great story. 100% keep it and spend a little money tidying it up.


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[IW365]

Great stuff. Looks great. you've had your moneys worth.
I've had mine from new too. April 03

I've got a big file of receipts for work done over the years.... I'm too scared to add it all up!!

 

[IW365]

You are in good company here. I’ve got a clio and a classic mini. I’ve had minis for 15 years and absolutely love them. Just got into clios about 3 years ago and there is a definite relationship with them in my head. Both have great character. Make you smile when you drive them.

As for wishing you kept your 1996 mini. What was it? There were a few special editions around that time as well as the standard SPI cooper. But if you kept that and dailied itfor 120k would easily have spent £20k on body work and probably a gearbox rebuild as well [emoji23]

The cup is a great story. 100% keep it and spend a little money tidying it up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was a MPI cooper 1.3i in red with white roof and bonnet stripes. Inside was a half leather interior and walnut dash with a mini disc player! Sold it to a guy in Norfolk and nearly cried when he drove it away but the Clio more than made up for it. You're right about the similarities between the two, both will put a smile on your face, but none as big as the grin on my late father in laws face when he saw me turn up in it to pick up his daughter and unfold myself out of it (I'm 6 ft) 🤣🤣

It was on the road as recently as 2016 and I often wonder about tracking it down but I just dont have the room for another car and I couldn't make the man maths work having the Clio too....

My first car was a 1985 998cc Mini Chelsea special edition. It was basically a mini mayfair with a radio cassette as far as I can tell!

The dream if money was no object would be a properly restored 1275 GT or a van/pick up.

What Mini have you got David? I'm jealous...

Cheers Ian

 

[IW365]

Great stuff. Looks great. you've had your moneys worth.
I've had mine from new too. April 03

I'm so glad I kept it Iain. How is yours shaping up with regard to arch rust etc, have you had to spend much on it over the years?

 

[David Stuart]

It was a MPI cooper 1.3i in red with white roof and bonnet stripes. Inside was a half leather interior and walnut dash with a mini disc player! Sold it to a guy in Norfolk and nearly cried when he drove it away but the Clio more than made up for it. You're right about the similarities between the two, both will put a smile on your face, but none as big as the grin on my late father in laws face when he saw me turn up in it to pick up his daughter and unfold myself out of it (I'm 6 ft) [emoji1787][emoji1787]

It was on the road as recently as 2016 and I often wonder about tracking it down but I just dont have the room for another car and I couldn't make the man maths work having the Clio too....

My first car was a 1985 998cc Mini Chelsea special edition. It was basically a mini mayfair with a radio cassette as far as I can tell!

The dream if money was no object would be a properly restored 1275 GT or a van/pick up.

What Mini have you got David? I'm jealous...

Cheers Ian

I’ve got a last edition 2000 Mini Cooper Sport. I spent £10k restoring it a few years ago. It doesn’t get driven as much these days but I’m making as effort to change that.

I love original cars. But appreciate tasteful mods as well.
I’ve went down the sleeper route with this one and supercharged it. I’ve got a thread on this forum actually. In recent news it will be featured in mini mag soon. Photo shoot in the next few weeks.

If you ever get the urge to get back into a mini give me a shout. It’s a hard market to navigate now. Everyone sees a 60s cooper go for £50k and thinks their 94 Mayfair must be worth £10k. You can get a similar car to the one you had for £5k ish.


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[IW365]

I’ve got a last edition 2000 Mini Cooper Sport. I spent £10k restoring it a few years ago. It doesn’t get driven as much these days but I’m making as effort to change that.

I love original cars. But appreciate tasteful mods as well.
I’ve went down the sleeper route with this one and supercharged it. I’ve got a thread on this forum actually. In recent news it will be featured in mini mag soon. Photo shoot in the next few weeks.

View attachment 1507148

If you ever get the urge to get back into a mini give me a shout. It’s a hard market to navigate now. Everyone sees a 60s cooper go for £50k and thinks their 94 Mayfair must be worth £10k. You can get a similar car to the one you had for £5k ish.


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Wow that looks amazing! I'll take a look at the thread and keep my eyes peeled for the mini magazine.

Found a couple of pics of my old one:

I'll be in touch if I decide to scratch the mini itch again... it's very tempting !!

Ian

 

[dave120]

Looks great mate and I think you are making the right choice in spending some money on it. The rust you have shown doesn’t look too bad so hopefully wouldn’t be too costly to repair and would be worth getting done.
I’m loving the orange side repeaters and am going to get a set for my car. As I understand it they are correct for 52 plate cars only.

 

[IW365]

Looks great mate and I think you are making the right choice in spending some money on it. The rust you have shown doesn’t look too bad so hopefully wouldn’t be too costly to repair and would be worth getting done.
I’m loving the orange side repeaters and am going to get a set for my car. As I understand it they are correct for 52 plate cars only.

Cheers for the comment, feels like I've definitely made the right decision to keep it going.

I never knew that about the side repeaters... I've noticed the clear ones on other cars but assumed they were aftermarket ones.

Just need to find a decent body shop locally to take a look at the rust.

Cheers

 

[dave120]

Cheers for the comment, feels like I've definitely made the right decision to keep it going.

I never knew that about the side repeaters... I've noticed the clear ones on other cars but assumed they were aftermarket ones.

Just need to find a decent body shop locally to take a look at the rust.

Cheers

Be patient with regards to the body shop choice as I’m sure someone will come up with a good recommendation.

 

[IW365]

Be patient with regards to the body shop choice as I’m sure someone will come up with a good recommendation.

I will mate, to be honest I've not got the budget now until next year. Its safely tucked away in the garage now and wont be coming out until the spring 👍

 

[Coops Mk1]

Top work and great to see you keeping the car so long despite the trials and tribulations along the way.

Clutches last forever treated well, I had mine replaced at 153k but tbh what came out looked no older than the new one going on, was still basically immaculate.

 

[IW365]

Top work and great to see you keeping the car so long despite the trials and tribulations along the way.

Clutches last forever treated well, I had mine replaced at 153k but tbh what came out looked no older than the new one going on, was still basically immaculate.

I probably wouldn't bother with the clutch if it wasn't for the noisy bearing. It doesn't feel any different to the day I got it and I probably dont drive it as hard as I used to!

 

[Krarl]

Nice! Looks like a cracking car tbf

I'd go for Grams springs over Cooksport ones. I've seen at least 15 sets of Cooksport springs snap and had mine snap too, gone to Grams ones now and they feel slightly better. Not much but definitely better

 

[IW365]

Nice! Looks like a cracking car tbf

I'd go for Grams springs over Cooksport ones. I've seen at least 15 sets of Cooksport springs snap and had mine snap too, gone to Grams ones now and they feel slightly better. Not much but definitely better

Cheers for the advice... I was leaning towards cooksport as they have 20% off at the moment until 2nd December. I'll check out the Grams ones too. Round my way the roads are so bad theres a very good chance I'll crack them 😡

 

[Krarl]

Cheers for the advice... I was leaning towards cooksport as they have 20% off at the moment until 2nd December. I'll check out the Grams ones too. Round my way the roads are so bad theres a very good chance I'll crack them 😡

Even at 50% off I'd still rather buy something better like Eibach/Grams lol. I'm not sure what the rave about is with them tbh, I'd rather spend an extra £50 over having to replace a spring again

I had Apex springs on my old dCi and they did me proud for over 100k without a single snap. I did 3k and 1 trackday on my cooksports and one snapped 😂

 

[Coops Mk1]

I sold my cooksports for this exact reason. Ran H&R for 50k and they're still fine, surface rust and now on grams which seem decent too

 

[Iain C]

I'm so glad I kept it Iain. How is yours shaping up with regard to arch rust etc, have you had to spend much on it over the years?

No rust on mine at all tho both rear qtrs have been replaced over the years to accident damage!
Not spent a huge amount in it. New rad, suspension, brakes etc.
Only real failures have been injectors, relays and a split rad. Still on its original clutch too. Love the car as much today as I did the day i got it. Sadly ive not had time to use it over the last 5 years.

 

[IW365]

I'm just wondering what tyres people might recomend to put on in the spring, I'll need 2 fronts 195/45/16.

Not bothered too much about wear rate as it'll be doing limited miles and only on dry summer days. I've got ps3s on the Civic and they're great but are there any at a slightly lower price point which might better suit my requirements?

Also, I see some people use 205/45/16s, forgive the stupid question but would these fit standard cup turinis and what would be the advantage to using them?

Many thanks

Ian

 

[IW365]

No rust on mine at all tho both rear qtrs have been replaced over the years to accident damage!
Not spent a huge amount in it. New rad, suspension, brakes etc.
Only real failures have been injectors, relays and a split rad. Still on its original clutch too. Love the car as much today as I did the day i got it. Sadly ive not had time to use it over the last 5 years.

I suppose having replacement quarters might be a blessing in disguise!

Hopefully you'll get more opportunities to use yours soon, it's one of the dilemmas I've had when deciding to get it back on the road, but now I've done it I'm determined to get plenty of trips out in it next year.

I think a suspension refresh might be a good idea with parts still reasonably priced.

Cheers

Ian

 

[MR2FC]

Could you give me a brief comparison of the Clio and the FN2? Both on my "possible" list...

Thanks in advance!

 

[dave120]

I'm just wondering what tyres people might recomend to put on in the spring, I'll need 2 fronts 195/45/16.

Not bothered too much about wear rate as it'll be doing limited miles and only on dry summer days. I've got ps3s on the Civic and they're great but are there any at a slightly lower price point which might better suit my requirements?

Also, I see some people use 205/45/16s, forgive the stupid question but would these fit standard cup turinis and what would be the advantage to using them?

Many thanks

Ian

I’ve just put 4 tyres on my Cup mate. I think there is no doubting PS3s are the tyre of choice for a road car. They are expensive though.

Plenty of other options out there but personally I’d rather have the best tyres I can afford.

With regards to the tyre width, 182s come with 205 tyres but supposedly the Cup feels more nimble with the 195s on. It probably sacrifices outright grip for a bit more agility.

 

[IW365]

I’ve just put 4 tyres on my Cup mate. I think there is no doubting PS3s are the tyre of choice for a road car. They are expensive though.

Plenty of other options out there but personally I’d rather have the best tyres I can afford.

With regards to the tyre width, 182s come with 205 tyres but supposedly the Cup feels more nimble with the 195s on. It probably sacrifices outright grip for a bit more agility.

Ok mate, I'll stick with the 195s then, cheers for the explanation, dont want to lose any of that nimbleness! 👍

Could you give me a brief comparison of the Clio and the FN2? Both on my "possible" list...

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

They are very different cars despite both being N/A 2.0l so I suppose it depends what you'll be using it for.

My FN2 is my daily driver and I have a 25 mile round trip commute. It's great as a daily, it has a great cabin, aircon and probably the nicest seats of any car I've driven. The Clio is a lot more spartan inside and hasn't got the quality feel of the Honda. Although it's not the first thing you'd think about with these the MPG for my commute comes out at around 32 but this reduces drastically when you get into Vtec! This is similar MPG to the Clio (I got about 34mpg in the Clio from memory when I was commuting in it)

The Civic has great performance but you really have to look for it. Vtec properly engages at around 5500 rpm and is an absolute hoot but you will find yourself changing gear frequently to keep in the Vtec power band. The gearbox in the Civic is great though, a real nice notchy throw whereas the Clio is less tight (that could be just mine with its 159k on it though!) In comparison the Clio has much more torque in all gears so you're not constantly having to find the right gear for the power if that makes sense?

Its chain driven so this will save you the regular belt costs. In terms of the reliability the Civic is great, I've had it serviced annually and valve clearances done in my ownership. The aircon failed and it cost me about £150 to put right inc. regas.

If you are looking at Civics, look for roof rust where the top of the windscreen meets the roof under the seal. Some cars have it and others don't and owners have reported lots of problems getting Honda to do a repair under their paint warranty. Also check for water in the boot (common problem with both cars I believe) i would also say that a good service history is more desirable than low mileage as these engines can go on forever. Make sure it's the GT spec with aircon etc. If you've got the budget the late models (2011 onwards I think) have a factory fitted LSD.

My Clio is the 172 cup model so has a lot of the creature comforts removed for a better driving experience. Maybe try both a cup and a non cup for comparison.

All that said if it's a fun, fast agile B road car you want the Clio wins hands down. If I'm going out for a blast then it's always the Clio keys I grab so it really depends what you want from the car. I would definitely look at a few of each and see which suits your driving style better.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers
Ian

 

[MR2FC]

Cheers, thanks for replying

 

[IW365]

Just thought I'd pop a quick update on with today's progress....

The wife got me some gtechniq C4 for Christmas so I thought I'd get out for some fresh air and get to work on the black plastics.

I wanted to do a good job so I removed as many of the bits as I could so I could bring them in and do a proper job indoors. I removed the wipers and scuttle panel and both wing mirrors so I could clean and treat them with the C4. I didn't bother removing the bumper to do the grilles so I did them in situ.

Heres a couple of before pictures:

And heres a couple of after:

I'll be re- attaching everything tomorrow when its had chance to cure, but so far I'm pretty pleased with the results.

While the wipers are off I'll rub them down and repaint them too.
Ian

 

[shiftspark]

Looks great 👍🏻 I have used C4 on my Mini and it brings plastics up like new.

 

[dave120]

Looking good. I use C4 also and find that it works well.

Fabric paint will make the bulkhead look 100 times better also! 👍🏻

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks great

 

[IW365]

Looking good. I use C4 also and find that it works well.

Fabric paint will make the bulkhead look 100 times better also! 👍🏻

That's one of the jobs left to do... is it straightforward to remove it or is it a case of spraying it in situ? I'm sick of breaking /losing the clips etc!

Lost one of these into the black hole of the engine bay this morning if anyone's got a part number?

Failing that does anyone do a set which contains all of the various clips and fixings as I think it would be a good idea to replace everything as most are either old and brittle or missing!

Cheers

 

[Clio182mike]

I came from classic mini to clios. I must admit that the 182 corners just as well but still not as fun as a mini. I'll be getting another one next year at some point. Nice cup btw

 

[MarcB]

That's one of the jobs left to do... is it straightforward to remove it or is it a case of spraying it in situ? I'm sick of breaking /losing the clips etc!

Lost one of these into the black hole of the engine bay this morning if anyone's got a part number?
View attachment 1512757

Failing that does anyone do a set which contains all of the various clips and fixings as I think it would be a good idea to replace everything as most are either old and brittle or missing!

Cheers

For a tenner Best Buy I have ever done.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500-x-Pl...4fe9b60a23cd3fc3cf85|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524

 

[IW365]

For a tenner Best Buy I have ever done.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500-x-Pl...4fe9b60a23cd3fc3cf85|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524

View attachment 1512885View attachment 1512886View attachment 1512887

Cheers Marc, I've ordered one of those today 👍

 

[IW365]

Just thought I'd update the thread with the latest work on the Clio.

After a winter of doing a few little cosmetic jobs, it went into AW motorworks yesterday for a bit of a suspension refresh. I've had new front cup shocks, grams springs, track rods and tracking along with engine mounts and a powerflex dog bone mount. I've also had a pair of yokohama v701s put on the front. Its made such a difference to the poise and handling of the car, and it looks really good with its slightly lower stance.

A snappy retrimmed steering wheel should be in the post today and then I'm going to stop spending money on and get out and enjoy it!

I'll post a couple of pics of the new ride height later.

Does anyone have any advice on steering wheel removal and refitting? Is it a difficult job?

Also, does anyone have any experience with this...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D0BMIO6/?tag=cliospnet01-21

I need to touch up a few chips and scrapes on the door edge and wondered if anyone's used it or anything similar.

Cheers, Ian

 

[dave120]

Just thought I'd update the thread with the latest work on the Clio.

After a winter of doing a few little cosmetic jobs, it went into AW motorworks yesterday for a bit of a suspension refresh. I've had new front cup shocks, grams springs, track rods and tracking along with engine mounts and a powerflex dog bone mount. I've also had a pair of yokohama v701s put on the front. Its made such a difference to the poise and handling of the car, and it looks really good with its slightly lower stance.

A snappy retrimmed steering wheel should be in the post today and then I'm going to stop spending money on and get out and enjoy it!

I'll post a couple of pics of the new ride height later.

Does anyone have any advice on steering wheel removal and refitting? Is it a difficult job?

Also, does anyone have any experience with this...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D0BMIO6/?tag=cliospnet01-21

I need to touch up a few chips and scrapes on the door edge and wondered if anyone's used it or anything similar.

Cheers, Ian

Hi Ian,

Great to hear about the updates. They must make a huge difference and will make the car even more enjoyable to drive I'm sure.

I've used that exact Touch up paint for a scuff on one of my mirrors and it looks pretty good to me. With these things, I think the rule of thumb is to put tiny amounts on and build it up over the course of a few applications.

Looking forward to seeing the pics of he front ride height to compare to my car, it has new Cup shocks with Cooksport springs.

 

[Gaz_]

Stone chip touchup, give it a good clean to get rid of any old wax etc then use a cocktail stick to fill it up

 

[Stay Puft]

I did my own steering wheel swap and i’m an idiot. There is a good guide on here somewhere. I just remember releasing the two tabs on the rear of the wheel was a pain in the arse!

 

[IW365]

This is before

This is after

Been out for a drive this morning and it's made such a difference to the handling. The tyres are decent too. I've got ps4s on my daily and they're great but the yokos seem decent enough and nowhere near the price.

Just ordered the touch up paint so that'll be my weekend job.

 

[dave120]

Quite a difference in height eh! Looks good Although I do enjoy the standard ride height on a Cup!

Interesting to hear your thoughts on the Yokos. Ive got PS3s on mine and they arent cheap but are very good.