Right so after being a member for well over a year and having recently started to modify my car after my recent bump in the snow and icy weather last year (I buckled 2 alloys and bought a set of 172 cup turini's of a cs member) I've finally been pushed enough by TomGardie and Ksykes23 to create my own project thread (Thanks guys lol).
I would appreciate and iideas and feedback from the rest of the Cliosport community to aid me in my project.
So abit about me. I have always loved cars but for some reason held of taking my driving lessons untill I was 20 (2011).
Living in a shitty post code and my first year of insurance costing over £3000 for anything but a 0.9 ltr Citroen C1 put me off I guess untill I was earning a full time decent paypacket.
Anyhow while shopping around for cars on autotrader one day I noticed Clio mk3's were a decent price and looked miles better then the other cheap to insure hatchback I was looking at. A Citroen C2.
I told a work colleague who was also looking for a car that I was going to buy a Citroen C2 so he went ahead and bought one. I jumped ship and purchased a Clio Mk3 and my god am I glad I made that decision lol.
Anyway lets move onto the car, that's why you're in this thread after all :smile:
I purchased this Renault Clio 1.2 (75) Extreme Tom-Tom on the 7th of January 2012 and passed my test on the 24th of January. There was nothing EXTREME about it except the body roll. It's basically the poverty spec Expession model but with 15" alloys and blue themed upholstery on the seats. I was told it also came with a seperate Tom Tom device that plugged in but the previous owner, a little old lady in Edinburgh, had kept it. It wasn't untill the MK3 PH2's that the tom tom was built into the dashboard. Oh well :smile:
Here's how she looked in all her standard goodness.
My first experience in my own car was sitting in the passenger seat as my stepdad drove it home where I continued to stare at it every day untill I passed my test two weeks later lol. Here it is back home after a good clean..
Shortly after in February I joined up to this site and used it for the next year to build up my knowledge about Clio's with its vast source of info.
My original plan was to keep it for atleast a year standard (minus the sound system that I fitted before I passed my test) just to build up my NCB and then part exchange it in for a Racing Blue RS 197. With my first year of insurance costing £3200 and insurance for a 197 still about £2000 with 1yr ncb and still 2 years of fiance left to pay that plan went out of the window.
The car stayed standard except for my kenwood headunit, pioneer speaker and Edge sub. The only advantage to the standard ride height was that it made a excellent off roader!
Here it is after a good clean up!
After 10 months of ownership I thought the sound system needed a bit of a upgrade so I purchased a VIBE Black Air 12" sub which I only ever have turned up half way so I may downsize again in the future.
And a PIONEER MVH-8300BT headunit which can display 117 different colours to match the orange leds and it's 3" screen and comes with better sound options then my previous headunit. Which you will see later on.
In December 2012 after finishing my late night shift in Rugby and driving home in 6 inches of snow I slid on some black ice and hit a snow covered curb with both passenger side wheels. I buckled them both and bent my steering arm and other components. AA wanted £160 to tow me 12 miles. Lets just say that was the slowest and most challenging drive home ever.
Knowing I needed two replacement alloys and tyres I found it cheaper to purchase a set of used 172 cup Turini's with tyres of of a member on here. This is when I decided to just keep the car untill the time is right for a 197 and to modify my non sport and get it to a place where I am happy with it.
Here's a pic of when I just had my steering all fixed up and Turni's fitted. The snow had begun to melt by now.
Being pretty skint after this untill next payday I decided to paint the front brake calipers red with a friend. We started this pretty late and it got dark really soon. To cope with the cold we thought straight drinking Russian standard vodka and Mickey fins would be a good idea. Next thing you know we're painting the rear brake drums red to at 1am in the morning and diving head first into snow. Somehow we didn't get paint all over the car and the wheels didnt fall off the next day. The brake drums are still painted at the moment. Let me know if I should keep them as they are or repaint them silver or black. Check that gap!
A few weeks later after payday and selling stuff on ebay I went a little crazy with the mods. I got my RS Grille's which is one of the most effective mods for under £60.
Next job was to get new brake pads as mine were nearly down to metal. The local garage wanted £160 to replace the two front pads where I kindly refused and told them to wait till next payday after just giving them £325 to fix my steering after the bump. I found a detailed guide to replacing the brake discs and pads on a Renault Laguna and figured I'd give it a shot. I bought a set of miltek brake discs and pads for £44 off ebay and succesfully fitted them within a couple of hours all by myself with no real knowledge. Tell a lie I did have a little help from a curious family member :wink:
Heko Wind deflectors on next
Then my new Vibe Black Air tweeters that sit flush on the dashboard replacing my broken tweeter case.
I also fitted a stubby aerial, Renault valve caps and the Holy grail of mods for non-sport mk3's arrived next :smile:
These sat around for a week untill I had Pro tyres in Warwick fit them. The guys are great and I would recommend the place to anyone, fixed my positive camber without camber bolts too. These completely transformed the car and I've had numerous comments on how smart the car looks now. First thing my Store manager said after noticing how different my car looked the next day was "Am I paying you too much?" Ha.
Can't recommend these highly enough. Firm but forgiving with hardly any body roll (my arse now slips out of the standard seats while cornering so I'm on the look out for some 197 seats) the car's handling and looks have been transformed! Heres how she sat the same afternoon back home.
Will continue in next post!
Wish i had them seats mate, bet its a nice place to sit now!
