Nick172Cup's Arctic Blue Clio 182 FF Comfy Daily/Trackcar.

[Nick172Cup]

So after selling the Cup for spares and using the Audi A3 for a while, been wanting to get back into a Clio for a while now. Not having a massive budget (£2000) i've been looking high and low for something thats in good condition mechanically/specced up/uber cheap for what it is. Sure enough this ad popped up for sale and had to have a look.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?622754-182-FF-blue-95k-%A32000

In the back of my mind after having the 172 Cup a 182 would be ideal having all the toys, cruise control and climate control being to two main things especially for a daily car. So having got to see the car everything looked okay, having spoken to the two previous owners (Whitelely and Wests Renault) they said it was a faultless car which had a healthy engine. Took the car for a drive round the block and apart from the front two tyres which were pants, all seemed well. Upon parking up at the guys house I then heard the engine being rather noisy, indeed the dephaser was on the way out. Was a bit gutting especially travelling over an hour and half to get there but common sense should of told me that a mint £2,000 182 FF was too good to be true, regardless I spoke to the owner and informed him of the problem. After a little bit of bartering backwards and forwards I purchased the car knowing what work needed to be done, and off I was home with my new 182!

Having not driven a clio sport in a while I was surprised at how stiff the standard suspension is going from an Audi A3 and BMW M3, but you could instantly feel the lightness of the car and agility which something I've missed a lot! Chucked the cruise control on also on the way home sitting between 70-80mph returned me a very cool 39.1mpg, easily 5mpg more than what the current Audi A3 1.8T was doing.

First things first today I went down to my local tyre fitters to replace the s**te tyres on the front with two Hankook V12 Evo's I had sitting around in the shed, instantly the car was a lot more confidence inspiring and more stable on the road. Then took it out for a little drive and took a few pictures...

I know it needs a massive clean, looking forward to giving it its first proper clean once the weather gets a bit warmer!

Plans for the car short-term are as follows...

New Cam/Auxbelt/dephaser change (possibly some aftermarket cams if the current budget allows!)
Standard silver badges/bullets etc.
Paint callipers silver.
Visual inspection over whole car.
Geometry to make sure all is as it should be.
Thorough clean inside and out.

As the title suggests, i'll be using this car daily so it won't be having any loud exhaust or solid coilovers however i'll still be using it on track. It needs to be comfy and as luxurious as it can be as more than likely when I go down to a one car garage for when I get a mortgage i'll be keeping this for a long time as its a fantastic all rounder. Anyways plans...

Suspension -

Trophy Sachs front dampers
Koni rear dampers
Eibach Sportlines
AST Topmounts
Whiteline R. ARB
Eibach camber bolts
10mm front spacers
5mm rear spacers

Engine -

Aftermarket camshafts (If a specialist does my a good deal on them)
Already got an ITG panel filter
Standard exhaust staying, quiet aftermarket if the standard one perishes
Matched Inlets

Wheels and tyres -

Standard 182 Wheels with premium road tyres
A 15" Wheel with track day tyres of some sort

Interior -

197 Steering wheel
Evo Recaros
RS Mats
Alcantara A pillars and dash strips.

Enjoy!

Cheers
Nick

 

[TimR26]

Good buy Nick

Just a few plans for it then.

 

[Addicted]

Looks tidy, shame you didn't keep the old cup though!

 

[dannycivic02]

Nice one mate looks good I have just bought a silver 182 I think its the best buy of the year for me really good on fuel too. Noticed your engine cover is missing like mine do people just take these out?

 

[Will.]

LOL at the plans. I was expecting just a few things to be tidied up considering it was a daily. Looks a bargain tbh. Nicely done.

So is the M3 just a weekend car?

 

[Nick172Cup]

Nice one mate looks good I have just bought a silver 182 I think its the best buy of the year for me really good on fuel too. Noticed your engine cover is missing like mine do people just take these out?

Yeah came with an engine cover but not fitted, will be fitting it once i've given the car a full clean.

LOL at the plans. I was expecting just a few things to be tidied up considering it was a daily. Looks a bargain tbh. Nicely done.

So is the M3 just a weekend car?

Quite a few plans indeed but hopefully won't look too different from standard when on the road, thats the kind of look i'm going for now rather than trying to stick out.

Indeed the M3 is just a weekend toy that gets mostly driven when dry, nearly finished part restoring it back to standard so will enjoy driving it as standard then look to sell it next year more than likely.

Cheers
Nick

 

[LewisTaylor]

Looks good mate, bargain for 2k... Well less by the sounds of what you say

 

[subarufreak]

nice car, does indeed need a good clean :wink:
any pics off the m3?

 

[Christopher.]

Nice purchase there Nick

 

[Nick172Cup]

Looks good mate, bargain for 2k... Well less by the sounds of what you say

nice car, does indeed need a good clean :wink:
any pics off the m3?

Here's my project thread

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...tallic-BMW-E36-M3-Evo-Saloon&highlight=byzanz

Cheers
Nick

 

[Tony Hunter]

At least it was worth the trip Nick, thanks for dropping by.

 

[Nick172Cup]

At least it was worth the trip Nick, thanks for dropping by.

Indeed Tony, no worries also!

 

[Nick172Cup]

Right a little update...

Gave the Arctic its first quick clean as it was hanging out of its arse, snowfoamed, washed down and snowfoamed again just for good measure! Came out pretty clean, pleased that the paintwork hasnt got too many scratches or dents however the paintworks still rough as a badgers arse so when it warms up a bit more i'll give it a 'amatuer detail'. Anyways pictures!

The wheels really need a refurb also, didnt look that bad when I viewed the car however upon cleaning them it showed some more indrained dirt/grease and curbing.

A cheeky picture of the fleet, cleaned all the cars yesterday!

My 182 and M3
Missus Golf TDI
Dads new AUDI A6 2.8 S-Line

Cheers
Nick

 

[Silent_Scone]

A lot of car for 2k really, nice find


Happy BD btw

 

[Sir_Dave]

Looks pretty good for the half bag of crisps & partly eaten Mars bar that you paid for it

Spec list sound good, albeit slightly familiar. You do need green Recaro's though, they'd clash lovely with the blue.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Please, please post a picture of your seats on the trophy forum

 

[Nick172Cup]

A lot of car for 2k really, nice find


Happy BD btw

Cheers! Indeed it is a lot for car for the money, when people say you cant get a much more all round good car for the money you really cant!

Looks pretty good for the half bag of crisps & partly eaten Mars bar that you paid for it

Spec list sound good, albeit slightly familiar. You do need green Recaro's though, they'd clash lovely with the blue.

LOL Indeed it was on the cheap side, having driven yours also Dave I want your suspension setup now!

Not a chance in hell will I ever own green recaros, the blue Evo ones are the ones to get for me!

 

[Feirny]

Looks great.

Wasn't it owned by Whiteley at some point?

EDIT: yes, it was.

 

[Matthew]

You can't go wrong for £2k mate!

Brilliant bit of business

 

[Mad_Adamski]

Looks smart nick! Hopefully have your old one back on the road in the next 3weeks .

 

[Daniel Ellis]

Got yourself a nice motor there, I'll be keeping an eye on this!

 

[Tombola]

Looks nice mate, I see 'trackcar' in the title though so can I assume this will slowly morph in the Cup Mk2?! Hope so

 

[Joah]

Looks nice mate, I see 'trackcar' in the title though so can I assume this will slowly morph in the Cup Mk2?! Hope so

Well he ain't having the RS2 back sorry Nick.. ;-)

 

[LewisTaylor]

Well he ain't having the RS2 back sorry Nick.. ;-)

Or the 2118's & A048's Nick sold me, very happy with them

 

[Nick172Cup]

Looks nice mate, I see 'trackcar' in the title though so can I assume this will slowly morph in the Cup Mk2?! Hope so

Cheers chap, no it wont morph into the previous Cup im afraid. Got to be comfy with interior now, but will be a very good trackcar once i've finished playing about with the suspension

Well he ain't having the RS2 back sorry Nick.. ;-)

Or the 2118's & A048's Nick sold me, very happy with them

Ah come on guys? At least give me first refusal on these parts! lol

 

[Rhys Beal]

Your going to be running the same suspension setup as what I have.

I love it

 

[LewisTaylor]

Ah come on guys? At least give me first refusal on these parts! lol

I'll give you that, although it will be a long wait

 

[Tombola]

What suspension set up be that?

 

[Rhys Beal]

I am running Trophy Sachs dampers, sportline springs, ast top mounts, camber bolts, polybushed front end, and will have a rear arb soon. Only difference is I am not running Koni rear dampers I am running Sachs rear

 

[scottiebhoy]

Think its Sachs front dampers, koni rears and eibach springs. Hows that setup Fairing Rhys?

 

[Rhys Beal]

Think its Sachs front dampers, koni rears and eibach springs. Hows that setup Fairing Rhys?

Awesome.
It is a very stiff setup but love it. So much more grip than cup packed dampers I feel. I want to get them unpinned by Mark Fish sometime so I can adjust them as I will be using mine of track etc.
I would say come for a ride but your a little way from me!

 

[Nick172Cup]

Your going to be running the same suspension setup as what I have.

I love it

Awesome.
It is a very stiff setup but love it. So much more grip than cup packed dampers I feel. I want to get them unpinned by Mark Fish sometime so I can adjust them as I will be using mine of track etc.
I would say come for a ride but your a little way from me!

Is it really that stiff? Ideally wanting it to have some compliance on the road unlike pretty much all coilovers, the adjsutability of the shocks surely must make it a bit softer to drive normally?

 

[Rhys Beal]

Is it really that stiff? Ideally wanting it to have some compliance on the road unlike pretty much all coilovers, the adjsutability of the shocks surely must make it a bit softer to drive normally?

I have mine still set at the standard 22 clicks or whatever it is pinned at. I have been in a few coilover'd cars and the stiffest was Gaz coilovers which I found rock hard but I do think the Sachs are stiffer than the track day Spax setup which I have spent quite a few laps in. I think it is a stiff setup for the road but not crashy or bouncing stiff. It's hard to put your finger on it really without you being in my car (which you are welcome too, but have no idea where you live!)
I think you notice its stiffness most at low speed, once upto a general 50 or 60 mph its fine IMO. Still a hard setup but it feels planted. And thats the thing, when really pressing on it gets less harsh and the feedback and planted feel grows massively. I wouldn't change the way my car handles for anything else now, it is so precise and pin sharp. ATM I cannot see the point of getting a rear ARB yet, the way it corners at present is far beyond what you would expect compared to the cup packed setup. Maybe on track you may start to feel the need for a rear ARB but until the end of March I cannot say.
I definitely want to get my dampers unpinned though so I can have a fiddle with them on track.

 

[Nick172Cup]

I have mine still set at the standard 22 clicks or whatever it is pinned at. I have been in a few coilover'd cars and the stiffest was Gaz coilovers which I found rock hard but I do think the Sachs are stiffer than the track day Spax setup which I have spent quite a few laps in. I think it is a stiff setup for the road but not crashy or bouncing stiff. It's hard to put your finger on it really without you being in my car (which you are welcome too, but have no idea where you live!)
I think you notice its stiffness most at low speed, once upto a general 50 or 60 mph its fine IMO. Still a hard setup but it feels planted. And thats the thing, when really pressing on it gets less harsh and the feedback and planted feel grows massively. I wouldn't change the way my car handles for anything else now, it is so precise and pin sharp. ATM I cannot see the point of getting a rear ARB yet, the way it corners at present is far beyond what you would expect compared to the cup packed setup. Maybe on track you may start to feel the need for a rear ARB but until the end of March I cannot say.
I definitely want to get my dampers unpinned though so I can have a fiddle with them on track.

Ah thats sounds alright to me then! Like youve said as long as the dampenings alright so it isn't too crashy and when i'm on track the cars very 'loose' (adjustable) then i'm happy. Having driven Sir_Daves setup which is near enough the same as yours its an amazing even perfect all round setup for the clio.

 

[Nick172Cup]

UPDATE -

Yesterday I got on with cleaning the interior of the car as it was disgusting and changing the exterior diamonds/bullets back to standard. Got all the interior out and hovered it all down, wiped down every plastic panel in the car as they were either grubby as hell or dusty.

Much more habitable now, feels more like my car after a good interior clean as I can be a bit OCD about things like that!
As said above I changed the exterior diamonds and bullets back to standard, officially looks 10x better and it's now completely standard exteriorwise apart from the clio badge which i'll be sorting out this week.

Planned on getting the front arch liners off as well as the front fog lights in preparation for its trackdays but unfortunately ran out of time. Good news was as I was looking under/around the car I found that it already has Goodrich stainless brake hoses so that’s something ticked off the list I don’t need to get!

Today I got round to fitting a Ph1 indicator stalk as the one on the car was fubar'd and also connecting up my Connect2 iPhone/Pod adaptor for the standard cd player.

Very pleased with the Connect2, it plugs into the slot at the back on the cd player where the CD changer normally plugs into. It charges the iPhone/Pod whilst still being able to use the standard player and steering wheen controls.

Thats it for the time being, next on the list is too address this the cambelt/dephaser and other servicable bits, find some aftermarket pads and book the cars first trackday!

Cheers
Nick

 

[recaro182]

Will be interesting to see what you can do with this on track Nick, after having had something much more focused.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Will be interesting to see what you can do with this on track Nick, after having had something much more focused.

Indeed it will be interesting mate, I personally feel i'll be slower around circuits however it will be much more rewarding and fun coupled with it being comfy on the road. So both good and bad points, though i'm sure i'll be still giving you a run for your money!

 

[recaro182]

Lol, I expect you to wring the neck of this 182 and get the most out of it, more so than Dave managed anyway I still expect there to be a pretty noticable gap between this and the likes of Ollie and myself. I hope so anyway

I can't help thinking you may find it a tad frustrating with it not being as fun on track as your old Cup, but if it's a daily as well, I don't blame you.

 

[Jamesstone]

Lol, I expect you to wring the neck of this 182 and get the most out of it, more so than Dave managed anyway I still expect there to be a pretty noticable gap between this and the likes of Ollie and myself. I hope so anyway

I can't help thinking you may find it a tad frustrating with it not being as fun on track as your old Cup, but if it's a daily as well, I don't blame you.

It will be stripped out by the summer

 

[Nick172Cup]

Lol, I expect you to wring the neck of this 182 and get the most out of it, more so than Dave managed anyway I still expect there to be a pretty noticable gap between this and the likes of Ollie and myself. I hope so anyway

I can't help thinking you may find it a tad frustrating with it not being as fun on track as your old Cup, but if it's a daily as well, I don't blame you.

Yeah I think there'll be a gap that emerges been the two 'heavys' (yours and Ollies) and the lightweights (Dave and I) but it'll be fun none the less, will have to have a peddle of yours and likewise you can have a go in mine once its done.

It will be stripped out by the summer

Lol, it wont James! Well, we'll see anyways!