Clio RS 172 /Trafic
I've had my 172 for 18 months now. I bought it from a trader with no history and took a chance on it. The car had been standing for a while as it was covered in green from standing in a car park under some trees. I took it for a quick spin and just knew I wanted it. Unfortunately I didnt get a drive at high speed before taking it otherwise I might not have been so hasty. The car drove fine except for a horrendous howl from the Michelin Pilot tyres and a bad vibration from the tyres as well.
I took it straight to my mechanic for him to check it over, and we both decided the tyres were shot I replaced the fronts with Pirelli P6000's but wasnt taken by them so ended up buying a full set of Toyo Proxes T1-R's for the car and I'm still using them now. I managed to wear out the fronts within 6000 miles,after doing several track days and some long journeys to Northumberland and to Mull. I discovered the tracking was miles out which was why the tyres didnt last long. I've now got the tracking spot on and it isnt wearing tyres any more,not even on track.
The car is standard mechanically but I've a suspicion it might have been re-mapped at some stage in its life. It pulls really well and the engine is very responsive. It has a cone filter of some obscure make that I've not heard of. I tried swapping it to a Renault airbox with a green filter but that seemed to restrict the engine slightly so I went back to using the cone filter.
I've just fitted Brembo high carbon front discs and DS2500 front pads after trying the pads on the last set of discs and getting good results. The rear pads are EBC greenstuff on standard 172 discs. This set up seems to work very well and so far I've not experienced any noticeable fading. I changed the fluid when I got the car as the pedal wasnt very good after hard use. Since then its been fine on track and on fast runs over some challenging roads.
I have done 8 track days in the Clio,mostly at Oulton Park,where I marshal as well so know the track very well. I also did a marshals day at Brands Hatch in January which was good entertainment. The car hasdnt missed a beat and doesn't use any oil at all even on track. Very impressive for a car thats now got 100000 miles on it!
Its the best car I've ever had for sheer good fun. I'd certainly have another one!
I took it straight to my mechanic for him to check it over, and we both decided the tyres were shot I replaced the fronts with Pirelli P6000's but wasnt taken by them so ended up buying a full set of Toyo Proxes T1-R's for the car and I'm still using them now. I managed to wear out the fronts within 6000 miles,after doing several track days and some long journeys to Northumberland and to Mull. I discovered the tracking was miles out which was why the tyres didnt last long. I've now got the tracking spot on and it isnt wearing tyres any more,not even on track.
The car is standard mechanically but I've a suspicion it might have been re-mapped at some stage in its life. It pulls really well and the engine is very responsive. It has a cone filter of some obscure make that I've not heard of. I tried swapping it to a Renault airbox with a green filter but that seemed to restrict the engine slightly so I went back to using the cone filter.
I've just fitted Brembo high carbon front discs and DS2500 front pads after trying the pads on the last set of discs and getting good results. The rear pads are EBC greenstuff on standard 172 discs. This set up seems to work very well and so far I've not experienced any noticeable fading. I changed the fluid when I got the car as the pedal wasnt very good after hard use. Since then its been fine on track and on fast runs over some challenging roads.
I have done 8 track days in the Clio,mostly at Oulton Park,where I marshal as well so know the track very well. I also did a marshals day at Brands Hatch in January which was good entertainment. The car hasdnt missed a beat and doesn't use any oil at all even on track. Very impressive for a car thats now got 100000 miles on it!
Its the best car I've ever had for sheer good fun. I'd certainly have another one!
