Andyano12
ClioSport Club Member
172 cup + more
So I've owned my cup for nearly 10 years and thought I should really do a bit of a write up so I have a record for myself and if anyone enjoys reading it then even better. I did do a introduction a while back see here https://cliosport.net/threads/new-172-cup-owner.802349/ and a couple of photos but will bring them all in here.
Back to December 2016 and I had been looking for a 172 Cup for a while, I had always liked them and remember being very jealous of a guy I knew whose father bought him one brand new back in 2002 (his dad also had a Clio V6 at that time too). I had noticed they were cheap, really cheap and started to look into the specs of them a bit more. Homologation special, lightweight, different camber set up wider track, etc, etc. I was completely smitten even more so, so began the hunt to try and find one.
Looking through eBay one evening I stumbled across a cup and the bidding was at £900 with a day to go, it was a bit rough around the edges, needed various bits doing but I realised most cars would be needing some love so decided to bid thinking I probably won't get it, I can't remember what my maximum bid was but I managed to secure it for £970. Fantastic I thought.
Now the reality of what I have just bought starts to hit...
Location Swansea, ok so only a couple of hours away, I have not even seen the car, can I drive it back? should be ok... should be ok...... please be ok! I turned my mindset into, It was cheap so don't expect too much and I can always move it on if required.
Having spent 3 years in Swansea whilst I was at Uni, I knew there were nice parts and not nice parts, the car was in the latter, however the chap selling it was great, showed me around it and it was as described, discs needed doing and tyres were pretty much gone. I did notice that the car was not in his name.... turns out it was gifted to him to pay a debt off, now usually alarm bells would be ringing so loud my ears would be bleeding, however I had already paid him via eBay, was standing in front of the car, it was sold on eBay and through Paypal, so suck it up and get on with it, got a receipt and began the drive home..
It actually drove really well apart from the brakes which when applied just made a horrific noise and made no apparent affect to slow the car at all. Much anticipation of traffic slowing I got the car back home and stuck into all the things it needed....
I changed the discs and pads, dampers and springs, gave it a service and used it, binned the wind deflectors, refurbed the wheels and added some Pilot Sports along with replacing the black Renault badge.
I actually used it as a daily and it was great, so good that my brother and dad both bought one each, (my brother sold his but my dad still has his) used them for an event at Silverstone and it was really good, could have done with a LSD coming out of slow corners but for a standard road car really good.
A few things over the time were required, an injector failed, throttle body failed but Mick at Diamond Motors was able to diagnose and sort without too much issue as well as the cambelt.
Did a sprint at Castle Combe in 2020, again really happy with the car..
Got married and children came along so the car was parked up and used sporadically, would occasionally use it for events or a weekend blast.
Fast forward to last year where I used it again at a Silverstone event, this was an event called The Pomeroy Trophy, basically an event where you carry out an auto cross style sections which are timed in the morning then a high speed test where you are placed in groups and based on your cars performance you have to complete a set number of laps. Richard Hammond and his daughter were also doing this and the Clio made an appearance in the Youtube clip about it (I was actually trying to get changed as I was lining up for scrutineering and didn't realise i was being filmed-thankfully he didn't film inside the car!)
The morning sessions were fine if a little slippery and then waiting for the afternoon sessions to start.
I had been placed in the fast group along with 911's, Audi TT's, all sorts of cars really as well as a race prepped GT40 which was lovely. I did my usual check over the car, oil, tyre pressures, coolant, quick check on the wheel bolts.....hmmm that feels like it needs just a little nip more....snap!........................ many expressive words later, I had around 20 minutes before needing to get out, quickly I find a drill and some new drill bits and attempt to drill the bolt out, my plan was to drill a hole so that I could hit a allen headed socket into the hole and hope to turn the remains of the bolt out... and with many prayers later it was removed with plenty of time to spare..
Event went well, the car was quick, I was only overtaken by the GT40 and a race spec BMW 2002 on slicks, finished 7th overall out of 50 something and won my class.
So after all this excitement, I set off home, this was February and it gets dark so on with the lights and radio on, then I noticed the lights getting dimmer, the radio stopped working then it started misfiring until it decided enough was enough and I fortunately managed to find a layby to stick the car in. Battery dead and the cause was the alternator, thank fully I wasn't too far away and was able to get recovered in a trailer and eventually the car was home.
After this I changed the alternator but I think it was actually the wiring had become brittle and was breaking up so wasn't being able to put charge back into the battery.
The car sat not doing anything until around a month ago I decided to go for a quick trip down the road and this week I thought as the weather was decent I will take the Clio to work. I have also changed the reg.. its now coming up to 10 years since I bought my Clio and I cannot ever see myself selling it, I've had lots of cars during this time but nothing sticks like the Clio, its a proper lightweight giant killer.
Thank you for reading and if you made it this far well done!
Back to December 2016 and I had been looking for a 172 Cup for a while, I had always liked them and remember being very jealous of a guy I knew whose father bought him one brand new back in 2002 (his dad also had a Clio V6 at that time too). I had noticed they were cheap, really cheap and started to look into the specs of them a bit more. Homologation special, lightweight, different camber set up wider track, etc, etc. I was completely smitten even more so, so began the hunt to try and find one.
Looking through eBay one evening I stumbled across a cup and the bidding was at £900 with a day to go, it was a bit rough around the edges, needed various bits doing but I realised most cars would be needing some love so decided to bid thinking I probably won't get it, I can't remember what my maximum bid was but I managed to secure it for £970. Fantastic I thought.
Now the reality of what I have just bought starts to hit...
Location Swansea, ok so only a couple of hours away, I have not even seen the car, can I drive it back? should be ok... should be ok...... please be ok! I turned my mindset into, It was cheap so don't expect too much and I can always move it on if required.
Having spent 3 years in Swansea whilst I was at Uni, I knew there were nice parts and not nice parts, the car was in the latter, however the chap selling it was great, showed me around it and it was as described, discs needed doing and tyres were pretty much gone. I did notice that the car was not in his name.... turns out it was gifted to him to pay a debt off, now usually alarm bells would be ringing so loud my ears would be bleeding, however I had already paid him via eBay, was standing in front of the car, it was sold on eBay and through Paypal, so suck it up and get on with it, got a receipt and began the drive home..
It actually drove really well apart from the brakes which when applied just made a horrific noise and made no apparent affect to slow the car at all. Much anticipation of traffic slowing I got the car back home and stuck into all the things it needed....
I changed the discs and pads, dampers and springs, gave it a service and used it, binned the wind deflectors, refurbed the wheels and added some Pilot Sports along with replacing the black Renault badge.
I actually used it as a daily and it was great, so good that my brother and dad both bought one each, (my brother sold his but my dad still has his) used them for an event at Silverstone and it was really good, could have done with a LSD coming out of slow corners but for a standard road car really good.
A few things over the time were required, an injector failed, throttle body failed but Mick at Diamond Motors was able to diagnose and sort without too much issue as well as the cambelt.
Did a sprint at Castle Combe in 2020, again really happy with the car..
Got married and children came along so the car was parked up and used sporadically, would occasionally use it for events or a weekend blast.
Fast forward to last year where I used it again at a Silverstone event, this was an event called The Pomeroy Trophy, basically an event where you carry out an auto cross style sections which are timed in the morning then a high speed test where you are placed in groups and based on your cars performance you have to complete a set number of laps. Richard Hammond and his daughter were also doing this and the Clio made an appearance in the Youtube clip about it (I was actually trying to get changed as I was lining up for scrutineering and didn't realise i was being filmed-thankfully he didn't film inside the car!)
The morning sessions were fine if a little slippery and then waiting for the afternoon sessions to start.
I had been placed in the fast group along with 911's, Audi TT's, all sorts of cars really as well as a race prepped GT40 which was lovely. I did my usual check over the car, oil, tyre pressures, coolant, quick check on the wheel bolts.....hmmm that feels like it needs just a little nip more....snap!........................ many expressive words later, I had around 20 minutes before needing to get out, quickly I find a drill and some new drill bits and attempt to drill the bolt out, my plan was to drill a hole so that I could hit a allen headed socket into the hole and hope to turn the remains of the bolt out... and with many prayers later it was removed with plenty of time to spare..
Event went well, the car was quick, I was only overtaken by the GT40 and a race spec BMW 2002 on slicks, finished 7th overall out of 50 something and won my class.
So after all this excitement, I set off home, this was February and it gets dark so on with the lights and radio on, then I noticed the lights getting dimmer, the radio stopped working then it started misfiring until it decided enough was enough and I fortunately managed to find a layby to stick the car in. Battery dead and the cause was the alternator, thank fully I wasn't too far away and was able to get recovered in a trailer and eventually the car was home.
After this I changed the alternator but I think it was actually the wiring had become brittle and was breaking up so wasn't being able to put charge back into the battery.
The car sat not doing anything until around a month ago I decided to go for a quick trip down the road and this week I thought as the weather was decent I will take the Clio to work. I have also changed the reg.. its now coming up to 10 years since I bought my Clio and I cannot ever see myself selling it, I've had lots of cars during this time but nothing sticks like the Clio, its a proper lightweight giant killer.
Thank you for reading and if you made it this far well done!
