New Car - First Car

[niallsimons]

Hi all, this is my first post.
Basically I have just bought my first car. I am 17 and I have my test booked for next month. Anyway I bought a lovely Clio, its a 2004 Dynamique 1.4 16V.

I plan not to do anything major with my car due to insurance reasons. It will be a thread that will slowly progress due to funds.

I want to:
Swap steering wheel (bit worn)
Led foot wells
wind deflectors
paint alloys black
colour code
paint my Renault badges and interior trims a colour but not sure which
after market head unit
sub
upgraded speakers

any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated..

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Welcome.

Black standard alloys will look utterly pony.

Wind deflectors are a fad I wish would go away. They look pony.

No need to upgrade speakers if you're upgrading the HU + fitting a sub.

Job done.


Good luck with the test. Don't become a statistic !

 

[Addicted]

Id say keep the alloys as they are imo, looks clean like that!

 

[Dan...]

Welcome!

As as said above good luck with your test !

I had a 05 Dynamique 1.4 16v for my first car, it was brilliant I'm sure you'll enjoy it! - http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?656579-Clean-Clio

Personally I would get an RS Grill, Wind deflectors, silvervisons, keep it clean, keep it serviced and maybe colour code and aero blades

 

[niallsimons]

Thanks for the reply,

Would black 172 alloys be better ?

The wind deflectors i like though. but everyone to their own and all that

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Just leave the wheels alone lol !!

 

[niallsimons]

Cheers Addicted,

and thanks for the feedback Dann... yours looks/looked nice, I reckon RS grill is a good way forward.

 

[Moffx]

Sport interior needs added to that list

 

[Corby G]

Colour code the side strips and other plastics and it'd be perfect for a 1st car..

 

[niallsimons]

I am currently looking at a 172 half leather sports interior (does anybody know if its a straight swap?). And the colour coding will be done at a local spray shop I used to work, but cant get it there while im not passed.

Although whilst its sitting in my drive I have had chance to change the interior bulbs to led and the number plate bulb and holder, which is such an effective change.

I also managed to get some spare time at work to create and print a sticker on the sticker printer so I could have gear insert that actually had something on it, it went quite well for a diy job.

Other than this I put on some wind deflectors and gave the little beauty its first clean. Which was ruined by next door cutting a tree down a few hours later .

 

[Bluebeard]

172 interior is a straight swap yes mate.

 

[bennettxo]

Why don't you take a look at plasti dip for your wheels mate? Would cost around £60 and if you didn't like the colour you could just peel it off

 

[niallsimons]

Not a bad idea but I want some 172 alloys anyway

 

[Goodj]

Good luck with your test, but hold fire on chucking money at modzzzzz until you've had some time on the road.

And remember, servicing, insurance and MOTS are vastly more cool than wel sik seats.

 

[cat171]

Good luck with your test, but hold fire on chucking money at modzzzzz until you've had some time on the road.

And remember, servicing, insurance and MOTS are vastly more cool than wel sik seats.

Agreed... I wrote my first car off after two weeks on the road, oops!

 

[CoryColeWilkins]

Good luck with your test!

As said above, take it easy spending too much money on it yet.
I crashed my first car within 10 days, wouldn't wish it upon anybody.

And scuffed my wheels for ages!

 

[niallsimons]

Haha cheers guys, glad to see you have faith in my driving . And I made sure it had FSH and Mot'd. The cambelts just been done and I have some money aside already saved ready for insurance!

But valid points. I shan't be spending too much on mods till ive been on the road a while.

 

[Goodj]

Haha cheers guys, glad to see you have faith in my driving

Nothing personal, young one. Just that us old sods have seen the same story many, many times before

Young hoon passes test
Spends all their money on trinkets for their new pride and joy
Immediately stuffs the car through a hedge / wall
Can't afford the excess on their insurance, because that money went on wheels/coilovers/etc.
Then cant get insured on anything beyond a Rover 100.

From my side, I spent my first 5 years in a no-turbo, 1.5 Corsa diesel. It had all the style of a dried-out doglog, with similar pace, but it meant Id built 5 years NCB to use when I got my first "nice" car and by not slashing my money down the drain on bits to make it look like mutton dressed as lamb, I could just buy the car I wanted without finance.

Good luck matey

 

[niallsimons]

Haha I know matey, I was just joking with you. I wasnt planning on going mental just small bits and bobs. Point well said though, its all being taken in.

 

[CoryColeWilkins]

glad to see you have faith in my driving

Nothing personal buddy, I had faith in my driving when it happened...
Haha.

Take it easy

 

[niallsimons]

Hi everyone its been a long time since ive posted, mainly due to my lack of interest after failing my first test, but hey the better drivers pass second time. As much as it was soul destroying I didnt let it defeat me. Ive been on the road a few months now and have picked up a few mods on the way but due to the fact I havent been updating it as I go along I am Probs not going to say them in the right order or go into much depth at the moment.

So far haha... "Great" is what your all thinking now. Well I made good use of the membership on here, and raided the car parts for sale section and I have picked up some nice 172 sport lights with xennons, a brill mod and a straight sawp along with aero wipers my vision couldnt be better. As were on the notes of lights I have upgraded the rears to the stripe fk light which I think look lovely. Also had a led upgrade and silvervisions. Whilst buying the xennons. I also spotted a 172 rear bumper in my colour and stole the side strips and door handles as they were colourcoded to!

A great almighty spray called plastidip appeared in my life so out of a full can I managed to do mine and my mates badges and interior strips. I think it looks decent until I can manage to afford different rims. Oh and nearly forgot as its not in great condition I have a sport steering wheel which really is waiting for funds so snappy can help me out.

Other than this all I have done is air filter, spark plugs, cd changer and dewipered the rear.

Now for some pictures and then we should be up to date and my posts wont be so massive in the future.

Sorry about the pics jumping about abit mod wise.
I do hope you all like what has been done but be good to hear some views anyway. In the future I would like new rims and coilovers!!

But unfortunatly I wake up with this after heavy rain, my steering motor is almost out, my brakes squeek and a wheel bearing is droning, so these are all going to be put first im afraid (maybe its not such a bad thing really)

If anyone could enlighten me on the puddle it would be great as there is no marks near the sunroof or doors? And onky in this side..

Thanks for reading if you were bothered

 

[dann2707]

Excellent little upgrades there dude! Your xenons look 100x brighter than mine. What bulbs did you fit?

 

[niallsimons]

Yeah I thought the xenons looked super bright too, I dont think they are the standard bulbs but I bought the lights second hand so I dont know exactly. Although I would like to get the same temperature for the fogs.

 

[AlexCarter]

I need Xenons in my life!! Loving the car mate, very similar to mine

Get it on coilovers, will change the look and drive more than you'd ever believe.

 

[Willsam]

AlexCarter my xenons are for sale, not the best condition and you'll need a bulb and ignitor but I'll do them cheapish

Onto this thread, love what you've done so far mate, reminds me of how my diesel started to look before i had my crash, look forward to seeing more updates on this.

 

[AlexCarter]

@AlexCarter my xenons are for sale, not the best condition and you'll need a bulb and ignitor but I'll do them cheapish

Onto this thread, love what you've done so far mate, reminds me of how my diesel started to look before i had my crash, look forward to seeing more updates on this.

Tempting mate, but I've got new wheels on the cards this month

 

[Willsam]

Tempting mate, but I've got new wheels on the cards this month

But you could have wheels and xenons

 

[AlexCarter]

But you could have wheels and xenons

And a crippled bank account, I still need to raise £700 by October for my insurance

 

[niallsimons]

So I had a day off work today and decided to do some maintenance. I took the plastics from under the wipers. (well the bit on the drivers side not under the wipers) to do a clean and get rid of dust and muck build ups which hopefully will stop my wet footwell. Between taxiing the missus around anyway I got chance to clear out all the crap I seem to gather! I also found time to tighten my seats up as they were getting a little wobbly :/ I found that a bolt had fully come off.

I noticed that there was no pictures of my rear lights on from yesterday so here goes.

Oh yeah and another thing that was forgotten yesterday was that 1 week after I added the 172 bumper I left the beast parked in town and came back to this dangerous looking scrape, so glad its only on plastic though. As much as people may think im a bad reverser its staying as the lowest quote ive had is 100 and thats supposedly discounted as I use to work at the place...

And to leave the post on a happy note here is a pic of my car and my mates car, he has stock reflector lights and bulbs vs mine.. Yay!

 

[niallsimons]

So after work today I managed to find time to hoover out the car and polish up the interior. Wish I took a pic, looks better than when I bought it. I then set myself to remove the side strips and wing mirrors as I had been having dirty drip problems, all clean now anyway. I gave a few small scratches ago with some tcut, I also applied to the scrape ahaha, but all places have come up better but still noticable, hey Ho was worth a try.

Has anyone else had this problem with white belts? Any advice on cleaning..

 

[niallsimons]

Haha dont know why nobody has bothered to reply, bit of feedback wouldnt be a bad thing even a little critism isnt usual? And as I said I wouldnt mind a bit advice.

Heres a pic of interior all clean

As you can see the interior strips are plastidipped black and it looks loads better. On Saturday I recieved a connects2 box which is a saviour and so much better quality than the cd changer. I havent finished with the installation as im going to add a phono socket into the trim under the heater controls(when it arrives)

Oh and I hit a milestone this weekend.. 66666 miles. Oh dear.

Now im going to ask for some more advice, had a specialist drive my csr as it has a few niggles. He said clutch pressure plate, steering motor, and wheel bearing were the problems, which id only noticed due to the fact that id tried various other cars in the past few weeks. Some being clios also which enlightened me the most that something wasnt right.

Anyway he quoted 50 for the bearing(rear) but 500 for the steering as it needs new stalk? Im not sure about this although I want it to be light. He said he would leave the clutch until it gets even worse, but I get a left leg workout as it is driving about!?

Any thoughts??!??!

I have on my insurance already aftermarket wheels as it was a free upgrade. But I must ring up about lowering tomorrow.

Im fancying coilovers, new wheels(thinking 8j) and as I said before I would like a snappy. All after ive sorted any problems though.

 

[SC03OTT]

Add your socket inside the ashtray. There is an orange plastic cover inside that pops off. Feed your socket into there so it's nice and hidden.

 

[niallsimons]

Its an actual socket that im fitting not just a hole with loose wires. So it can be unplugged but not to unsightly if just socket left under there.

Also is there anyone that can photoshop these wheels on my car?

Rota osmesh I think.

 

[Goodj]

Maybe you should fix all the actual issues before throwing more money at modz.

Working steering > oooo, shiny wheels.

so

Clutch
Steering (by the way, your car is a sensible shopping runabout, the steering is supposed to be light)
Bearings

Anything else looming?

Also, for your audio cables, you could always route them into your glovebox. Instantly tidier.

EDIT: Maintenance is a mod that insurers don't mind

 

[Advikaz]

Nice little car that.

If it was me, i'd keep it clean & leave it be.

 

[niallsimons]

Maybe you should fix all the actual issues before throwing more money at modz.

Working steering > oooo, shiny wheels.

so

Clutch
Steering (by the way, your car is a sensible shopping runabout, the steering is supposed to be light)
Bearings

I did say that id like to sort any problems before anything else. And I know steering is meant to be light, its heavy as atm thats where my concern is. Thanks for the thought about the wire. Ill take it into consideration.

 

[niallsimons]

Nice little car that.

If it was me, i'd keep it clean & leave it be.

Thanks for this, but Im only looking into that stuff atm. Hopefully this car will last a good few years with me.

 

[niallsimons]

Not so much as a little upgrade or anything on the clio, but back to standard and a big change.

Swappit it in for a newy..

Had it about 2 weeks now and loving every minute, apart from the feul bills haha.
Only ever seen a black 200 and a gordini near whilst driving about.

If anyones interested also I post a few car pics on instagram @niallsimons

 

[Aaronexx]

Looks like a nice clean car mate, I would look at getting an RS Grille as they are cheap enough and make all the difference in looks!

 

[Adam93]

Beautiful, AG is the best colour for the Clio 3 RS.....