My 2001 Phase 1 v6

[Will 172 Cup]

I thought I would start a progress thread for my 2001 Phase 1 V6. I have owned the car since July 2011, at the time the car had covered 30k miles and had led quite an interesting life. It was originally purchased from Renault London West in September 2001 but by October 2002 it had found it’s way to the Isle of Man where it stayed until 2006 when it appears to have been brought back to the UK mainland by a now defunct Renault dealer, Kings of Taunton. It then changed hands a few more times over the subsequent years before finally arriving in my ownership.

Here are some of the pictures of the car from when it was for sale:

It was largely standard except for having a Janspeed back box and BMC CDA fitted, the wheels had also been re-sprayed anthracite, the brake calipers were painted red and the mesh had been removed from the front and rear bumpers and the side pod mesh had been replaced with an expanded metal mesh I really wasn’t keen on.

I went along to my first meeting with members of v6Clio.net in September 2011 at a Pistonheads Sunday Service at Mercedes-Benz World and had a great time:

I kept the car as it was until early 2012 when I decided to return it’s exterior appearance to that of a factory standard example. I had the wheels refurbished in the correct silver, I painted the brake calipers black and then I also found the correct mesh to replace what was either missing or wrong. By the spring of 2012 the car looked like this:

Over the next few years I just enjoyed using the car and kept it good mechanical and cosmetic condition whilst attending various events and also using it as my everyday car after I sold my 172 Cup, but as time went on and I became more and more of the opinion this is a car I want to hold onto indefinitely I decided I wanted to make some changes to the car that I felt could help to improve it or just help me enjoy using the car more.

So In September 2014 I had the standard brake lines replaced with Goodridge Braided brake lines:
　

　
Following that in May 2015 I purchased a set of barely used Recaro Pole Position seats with custom lower sub frames from an owner of a Phase 2 v6 in Northern Ireland who was looking to return his car to standard before selling it.
One of the biggest issues I had with my car was the factory seating position, I just felt like I was sitting too high but this modification certainly changed that. I now sit nice and low and the seats offer great lateral support when cornering.
The seats are currently finished in Recaro Ambla Leather Black/Dinamica Suede Black but the long term plan is to have them re-trimmed in the dark blue leather and Alcantara of the Phase 1 Renault Sport seats complete with the embroidered Renault Sport Logo so that they better match the rest of the interior.

A picture from when I had just fitted them:

　
The next modification was replacing the standard steering wheel with a slightly smaller one in August 2015, I could have gone down the route of fitting the Sabelt RenaultSport wheel but I fancied something different that I could be fairly certain nobody else was likely to have fitted. As some of you may already know the Phase 1 V6 were built by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, so I looked to their previous road car creations for inspiration and settled upon choosing the same wheel as that fitted to one of my all time favourite cars, the Jaguar XJ220-S of which just 6 were produced, here is a picture of an XJ220-S interior showing the wheel:
　
　

A little bit of research revealed that the steering wheels fitted to these cars were 345mm Italvolanti Imola finished in dark grey/black Alcantara with a carbon fibre effect horn push surround. A short search on eBay yielded a lucky result, a genuine 1993 Italvolanti Imola wheel (the correct year) finished in black leather with a starting bid of just £10.00, I was the only bidder and felt quite pleased as similar examples listed previously were all starting in excess of £90. I sent the wheel off to Jack at Royal Steering Wheels and a week or so later the wheel was back with me finished in the correct Alcantara.
The wheel was missing the correct horn push and surround but I managed to find a plain black one which I then hydro-dipped myself to give the carbon fibre effect before finally creating a quick design for the centre badge in Photoshop which I then sent off to be turned into a domed sticker to match the original.

Overall I was very pleased with the final result:

I much prefer the feel of the slightly smaller steering wheel to that of the original.

November 2015 saw my next modification, albeit very minor but more on that in the my next post...

 

[Will 172 Cup]

So as above, November 2015 saw my next (very minor) modification. I saw the metal foot rest covers available for the Mk.2 Clio and liked them but what put me off fitting one was that the Clio v6’s pedals are unique in the Clio range and they don’t really match the design of the foot rest covers currently available on the market, I decided therefore to create something unique again that would match the v6’s pedal design.

I took measurements from the original pedals and drew up a design that would match them before sending it off to be laser cut from 3mm thick aluminium.

The design features over 50 small holes which I then inserted individual rubber ‘bobbles’ into so they match the original pedals and also offer extra grip, the finished result can be seen below:

You might also notice I had finally got around to replacing the old black floor mats by this point with a set of dark navy blue mats that match the cars carpet. I have also subsequently gone on to polish both the new foot rest and the pedals to a high shine and I will try to get a picture showing this shortly.

My most recent modifications are that in February this year I purchased a set of KW V3 Coilovers, which I installed myself before sending the car off to Scott at SG Motorsport to set up properly. Scott said solid front top mounts may also help to sharpen up the handling so I opted to purchase a set of Pure Motorsport items which Scott fitted for me. He has done a fantastic job and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending him to any other v6 Owners on here.

A criticism I had with the v6’s OEM set-up was that it had quite a lot of body roll which could sometimes feel a little unnerving, the KW V3’s have removed this and although it now rides a little bit harsher over the bumps it’s not something I regret in the slightest, and along with the solid top mounts I can safely say that I am enjoying driving the car now more so than at any other period during my 4 and a half years of ownership.

A quick picture showing the car at it's new height, Scott reckons it's around 20mm lower than standard now:

And the new top mounts:

(sorry the picture is a bit blurred).

Not a modification but yesterday I removed the rear bumper and polished the exhaust, I also took the oppurtunity to mask up the rear bumper whilst it was off the car and give the mesh a fresh coat of gloss black as it had started to fade.

Some pictures for you:

^ Before.

^ Bumper removed and masked up, ready for the mesh to be painted.

^ During painting.

^ Mesh painted and masking tape removed.

^ Bumper refitted to the car, with the polished exhuast.

At the same time I was doing this I also removed the Side pods and cleaned behind them, and as the mesh in them had also begun to fade I took them off the car and gave them a quick coat of gloss black too before finally refitting both sides:

That brings us up to date, there are a few bits here and there over the last few years I have missed out but nothing major. I’m sure there will be some out there who can’t understand me wanting to modify a v6 given their rarity and increasing value, but as it’s a car I intend to keep and I didn’t buy it as an investment (though that has been a pleasant bonus) I bought it to use it and enjoy with others along the way I figured I may as well make it my own and make it even more enjoyable to use. Thanks for taking the time to read this if you have got this far, I can’t promise regular updates but if I do anything else to the car I shall try to keep this thread up to date.

 

[Chris_Beer]

Fantastic changes!

I see them as more of an improvement, or well up kept, rather than modifications. They are all very OEM+

Nice job and car

 

[barnesautos]

Very nice subtle OE changes / looks fab .
Very nice indeed .

 

[Clio_fool]

Very nice car mate. You've done an excellent job of adding to it without it being blazingly obvious.

 

[imprezaworks]

Awesome

 

[Stefan.]

Lovely v6

 

[dann2707]

Not often you see a v6 progress thread on here.

Kudos for you doing something different and actually driving it!

Looks brilliant buddy.

 

[cat171]

Nice work !!

Can you tell us how the remove the rear bumper ? & side pods ? and what paint you used ? (pm me if you like) I want to paint the mesh on my one too (I also have a Phase 1 V6) as I feel that's something that lets my car down.
I'd quite like some KW's for it too, arrrgghh!!!

 

[Mr R.]

Wow, amazing.

Bloody good work. [emoji106]

 

[banther]

Tidy.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Very nice!

 

[Typhoon]

A++

 

[Poopensharten]

Love that.

It'd be in your interest to keep this updated, i know you said you have no intention to sell it but its handy to have incase the oppertunity arises to move it on, showing someone this allows them to see the care and attention to detail!

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, I really appreciate it.

@cat171 I will write a little guide to removing the bumper and side pods this evening and PM you it.

 

[cat171]

Thank you everyone for the kind words, I really appreciate it.

@cat171 I will write a little guide to removing the bumper and side pods this evening and PM you it.

Cheers! You're a legend!

 

[VIICarCare]

Great car, it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference

 

[Rob_Willow]

Two years ago my local garage had a used Mk1 V6 in for £7995... Bloody wish I bought it.

I missed out on a good investment opportunity there and the chance to own an iconic car

 

[Will 172 Cup]

As I said, I can’t promise regular updates to this thread but today I have a small one. In an effort to ensure the solid top mounts remain in good condition I decided to design a set of covers for them using a free online CAD program I found, as existing covers suitable for the OEM top mounts don’t fit.

I had a couple of different ideas but this was the more successful design of the two, I sent the CAD file off to a 3D Printing company and this morning received the finished product:

The covers fit very securely over the top mounts without the need for any additional adhesive tape, but can also be removed easily to allow for quick inspection of the top mounts or if I want to make any adjustment to the damper settings on the coilovers. They also don't interfere with either the underside of the bonnet or the top of the coilovers.

A couple more pictures showing the covers fitted:

I’m pleased with the result as they don't stand out too much and all being well they should protect the top mounts and keep them in good working order for a long time to come.

Also as I mentioned earlier in the thread I had gone on to polish both the new metal foot rest and the pedals but had yet to take a picture, so I also took one showing that:

I’m not sure when or what the next update will be, but thanks for reading what I’ve been up to so far.

 

[imprezaworks]

Great stuff

 

[cat171]

Nice update mate, thank you for the info you sent me the other month. I still haven't got round to doing anything though

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Great stuff

Thank you.

Nice update mate, thank you for the info you sent me the other month. I still haven't got round to doing anything though 😧

Thanks again, Just yesterday I was speaking to the owner of a Mars Red Phase 1 explaining which bolts had to come out to remove the side pods and what tools he would need as he was interested in doing the same. It would be great to see some pictures if you do get some free time to do it to yours, there aren't enough pictures out there of iliad Blue Phase 1's.

 

[182_steve]

Just started at the beginning with this thread and wow, great additions on what was already an awesome car. The attention to detail on the more oem+ changes on the car really are great, the foot rest may be something some people don't even notice and I love that haha! The steering wheel though :up::up:

Even if you did want to put it back to standard (unlikely), there's nothing that can't be changed anyway!

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Just started at the beginning with this thread and wow, great additions on what was already an awesome car. The attention to detail on the more oem+ changes on the car really are great, the foot rest may be something some people don't even notice and I love that haha! The steering wheel though :up::up:

Even if you did want to put it back to standard (unlikely), there's nothing that can't be changed anyway!

Thank you, I try to keep the modifications fairly subtle and try to add things that look like they belong. Like you say many people probably wouldn't even notice the foot rest is different but it's just a little thing that helps brighten the interior up (in my opinion). The steering wheel is one of my favourite changes, I wanted a smaller wheel but I didn't want to go down the Sabelt route and I thought this choice would be nice nod to TWR and their role in the development and manufacture of the Phase 1 v6.

Even if you did want to put it back to standard (unlikely), there's nothing that can't be changed anyway!

Yes that's true and something I try to consider before making any changes. I've got everything bar the original air box as that wasn't included with the car when I bought it to return the car to standard if I ever change my mind and fancy having everything original again.

 

[cat171]

Thanks again, Just yesterday I was speaking to the owner of a Mars Red Phase 1 explaining which bolts had to come out to remove the side pods and what tools he would need as he was interested in doing the same. It would be great to see some pictures if you do get some free time to do it to yours, there aren't enough pictures out there of iliad Blue Phase 1's.

Oh cool!:smile: I'll try mate, I keep meaning to do a thread on it too. I'll get on to it at some point

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Not a major update but I took the V6 for it's M.O.T today and I'm pleased to say it passed. It had the usual advisories it seems to get every year as a result of it's quirky design, they state some components are obscured because of the various engine covers, under tray and the plastic under bonnet storage area. All of which the testers are apparently not allowed to remove during the test to inspect behind.

The only other advisory was that the handbrake may need some adjustment so that's something I shall have to look into, although I can't say I've noticed any issue with it.

On another note next Friday will be 5 years since I bought the car, I can still remember when I first saw it rumble into view before going for a test drive :smile:.

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Well I did say that I couldn’t promise regular updates but I didn’t mean to leave it this long before posts. Following on from the MOT advisory I mentioned in my previous post in 2016 adjustments were made to the handbrake. They worked as it passed its MOT in July of last year with no issues relating to the handbrake. They just mentioned again the fact that the car is fitted with underside covers and engine covers, I always find this a bit strange given they are factory fitted items but it’s not just this MOT Centre that mention it and I have heard of other owners receiving the same advisories so I assume it’s just part of the regulations to include it.

At the beginning of September 2016 the windscreen washer pump stopped working so I had to replace that, I also noticed that the bottom of washer bottle itself on the inside was quite dirty/stained so I decided to remove it and thoroughly clean it to make sure that the new pump was in a clean environment.

Before:

After:

Then in mid-September 2016 I purchased a new rear wiper arm window trim piece as the original was quite faded and trim restorer made little difference, so at just £4.00 it seemed like the thing to do.

Before:

After:

Around the same time I also changed the oil, oil filter, sump washer and removed and cleaned the BMC airbox before reinstalling it so here’s a picture of the engine bay without the covers from whilst I was doing that:

I also adjusted the settings slightly on the KW coilovers, I kept the height the same but just softened things a little bit as although initially I felt the ride quality was fine (certainly harsher than standard, but not unbearable) I found myself driving down a local street that was particularly rough/bumpy and it was quite uncomfortable. Since making this change in September 2016 to writing this in March 2018 I haven’t felt the need to make any further adjustments.

The next and altogether more interesting thing I did was in late February 2017 I purchased a set of Phase 2 18” wheels from the owner of a Phase 2 in Poland who had a spare set. There are two main reason I wanted to change to the Phase 2 wheels, the first of which is the fact that it meant I would be able to fit Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres which aren’t available in the correct size for the factory 17” wheels, and secondly they help to fill the arches on the phase 1 a lot better. It’s fairly noticeable with standard height suspension but particularly so when the car is lowered that the Phase 1 front wheels sit quite far in from the edge of the wheel arches. I took this picture to try to show it:

The dimensions for the wheels are:

Phase 1
Front 7J 17 ET20
Rear 8.5J 17 ET55

Phase 2
Front 7J 18 ET6
Rear 8.5J 18 ET68

As you can see there is a fairly significant difference in offsets between the two wheels, this means you can run the Phase 2 front wheels on the Phase 1 without the need for any wheel spacers and the outer edge will sit 14mm closer to the edge of the wheel arch than before.

However it also shows that for the rear wheels to be fitted you need to use a spacer to correct the offset. Most people who have done this swap seem to opt for a 20mm spacer and I was no different, ordering a pair of 20mm hubcentric spacers along with a set of extended wheel bolts for the rear. It took a little while for everything to arrive, funnily the wheels were much quicker in arriving from Poland than the new tyres were from UK based retailer.

In the next post I will attach a couple of pictures I took shortly fitting the Phase 2 wheels to show how the car looked as I'm nearing the image limit for this post.

 

[Will 172 Cup]

As you can see below the Phase 2 wheels do a much better job of filling out the front arches:

I’ve also found the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres to be very good in both the dry and wet. I carried out another oil and filter change in October last year and fitted new wiper blades all round (exciting stuff haha! :wink. Then most recently in December I bought a new battery for the car as the one in there was now quite old and in need of replacement. I opted for a Bosch S5 007 (74Ah) battery and to ensure it stays it good condition I also invested in a Ctek trickle charger. I also bought a new positive terminal cover as the original had long since disappeared.

Because the battery in the Clio v6 is located underneath the front storage compartment tray it makes accessing the battery to attach the charger a pain so I bought a Ctek extension cable and decided to see if I could make a neat solution that meant attaching the charger would take only a matter of seconds. I bought some automotive grade split plastic conduit which matches what was used elsewhere on the vehicle by the factory to protect the wiring and some cable clips which are designed to be attached with double sided foam as I didn’t want to be drilling into the car to attach anything to hold the cable in place. The double sided foam the cable clips came with was ordinary white double sided foam but I removed that and replaced it with heavy duty black double side foam so that it blends in and also more importantly so that it is strong enough to remain in place.

The charging cable is now simply rolled up when not in use and stored in the front storage compartment with a waterproof cap on the end of it. You may also notice I have removed the 3d printed front suspension top mount covers I had fitted in a previous update, they did the job I had intended them to but I went off how they looked and ultimately it doesn’t get very dirty underneath the bonnet so I decided to keep them off.

And that brings everything up to date, sorry for the long post. I’ll try to keep things updated more regularly. Thanks for reading.

 

[moktabe]

Looking good :up:
I did the same with the Ctek, routed mine so the plug sits next to the nearside strut top, makes it much easier to use.

 

[danward]

Awesome thread. Great car you've got there.

 

[Ricardos]

My gosh, what a car

 

[182_steve]

Nice updates, amazing the difference between the phase 1 and phase 2 wheels, looks so much better at the front now

 

[Will 172 Cup]

Thanks for the nice comments :up:, since my last update I removed the rear bumper again to polish the exhaust and give the mesh a fresh coat of gloss black paint as it's been two years since I last did it in my first post of this thread. The process was the same as before so I won't bother uploading any pictures of the process but here is the finished result again:

(Sorry the picture quality isn't great it was taken on a phone).

I also decided to replace all the nuts and bolts that hold the rear bumper on with stainless steel items whilst I was at it as the originals were becoming quite rusty and making the already slightly fiddly job of removing the rear bumper more of a pain:

At the same time I also removed the side pod mesh again and gave them a fresh coat of paint, I haven't taken any pictures of that but the results are very similar to that of two years ago and pictured in my first post.

I might remove the front bumper next and repaint the mesh in that but that's a much bigger job than the rear so I might leave it for a while.

 

[Chris V6 255]

Ph1’s look soooo good on 18s!

Think I prefer the looks to my ph2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Willliams]

Great thread Will.. lovely attention to detail, as ever with your cars.. Hope to see it sometime soon, be great to have a catch up! :beers::up:

 

[cat171]

They look soo nice on the phase 2 wheels! The front ones are lost on the OE 17's! 😞

Will, since you messaged me all that time ago with the rear bumper removal guide, I'm ashamed to say I've done absolutely sweet fa! I really ought too, especially as summer's coming so I can get it out in the sun (for the odd week we have it lol!)

 

[Mr R.]

They look soo nice on the phase 2 wheels! The front ones are lost on the OE 17's! 😞

Will, since you messaged me all that time ago with the rear bumper removal guide, I'm ashamed to say I've done absolutely sweet fa! I really ought too, especially as summer's coming so I can get it out in the sun (for the odd week we have it lol!)

Heat wave coming up, chop chop.

 

[Coops Mk1]

lovely car and lovely work

nice