Oops I did it again... Adey's Clio 200 EDC

[Adey.]

I like them, could be tempted if heat shows to me an issue at mallory next month

 

[Adey.]

I've got a track day coming up in 2 weeks, ideally I want to get all the geo bang on before hand but with shimming needed at the rear I think I may have left it a little too late. Ill see how it is at Mallory and look to get it done before Anglsea in July. I may go a little PMT with the front adjustability by enlarging the mounting holes. Id like fully adjustable top mounts but I don't want to increase the harshness by swapping out to solid, pillow ball top mounts.

One of the main complaints of the Clio seem to be the water temps when driven hard on track, especially with a FMIC fitted. I think that this is an issue caused by a few things, the fmic is now blocking flow to the radiator, and equally the removal of the side mount intercooler allows for air to "spill" around the rad. I've started work on panelling off the rad and intercooler so that air is directed through both with as little spill as possible. I cant see it being a bad thing. A few more hours should see it wrapped up.

Dont really post about the other car on here, but ive been banging the miles on it too, low slow and looking dam cool for a rusty old lady

 

[Adey.]

Right, wrapped up the ducting. Made a side panel from aluminium and bent it to suit the shape of the bumper in an attempt to "grab" as much air as possible. The opposite side was a little more convoluted with the amount of pipes still there, so after a little head scratching I remembered what I did on the Twingo, and blocked the area off right at the front on the bumper. I achieved this by adding some plastic panels to block air from going to the left of the intercooler. The rad is mounted on the right of the bay (when looking from the front) on these. There was a small gap on the top of the rad above the stock ducting, so for good measure I added another panel, hopefully all of these little additions should improve the efficiency of the setup and radiator. I'm pretty sure its the same rad on all the jukes and Clio's from 1.2's to the diesels and the RS. I have been chatting to a chap in aus who has a time attack Clio mk4, he ended up swapping out for an Impreza ali rad and ditching the AC, something I'm not wanting to do yet...

 

[Adey.]

The Clio absolutely smashed it on track today, for the most part it didn't miss a beat (well a few minors but) Its been a long while since I've done a proper track day, and I was a little dubious as to how I would like it in a full road car and without a manual box, but tbh the gearbox made it for me. Supersmooth delivery of power and the ability to shift through corners without unsettling the car or taking time to actually actuate a shift made it quicker I'm sure. It defo could do with longer paddles in some corners though.

Where to start...The temperature outside was passing 23 degrees at points of the day, id had concerns about intake and running temps previously so added the ducting and panelling. That with the number plate out of the way kept intake temps around 35 to 37 degrees, which is awesome in fairness. The highest I saw the water was 107c, again nowt to worry about. Considering I was flat out a lot today deep into 5th gear at times it all worked very well. I had no dips in power or pull back from temps at all which I was expecting. I also had no issues with the clutch, the car was delivering all the boost it could all of the time The tyres held up great and brakes were awesome too, if i was going to get serious about track time or just a little more into I may look at brembo 4 pots, but the brembo max pads and stock disks worked very well.

I put in plenty of laps through the day, getting quicker and quicker as i built up confidence, pushing plenty of "track" machinery out of the way at times. Managed to rinse a tank and half of fuel before calling it quits. The reason I actually did stop was due to fuel issues. Now this isn't a major and it'd probably only ever happen at Mallory but Gerrards, when starting to dip under half a tank and definitely at a quarter of a tank causes fuel starvation. The quicker you go and the more speed you carry the worse it gets. The car will protect itself when it senses the fuel pressure drop, it'll pull back briefly and then auto shift up a gear or 2 (very annoying when it happens) I don't think its really something I need to address as back in the day i had the same in the itb and sc 172s, and it only ever did it a the same track on the same corner....

The only other thing that happened was a silicone blanking plug burst on the tb adapter. Luckily, the only part I thought may let go was that, so I had a spare bit of pipe with a blanking plug in ready to go.

Loads of the mk1 valver guys were in attendance, in their absolutely rapid cars, proper little Renault take over on track today. MK1's 2's 3s and my 4 in attendance with a meg 3 rs out there too

All in all a great day and I'm very much looking forward to CSF. The only thing I want to do before then is get the back end aligned and equal along with some PMT mods to the shock towers so I can dial in a little camber. Should hopefully help me carry a little more speed through the corners without it starting to squirm early.

 

[Renny 5]

I’m jealous I couldn’t make it, looked a good day

 

[Adey.]

I’m jealous I couldn’t make it, looked a good day

it was man, super chilled and relaxed. driving standards were high (bar one instance I had when a car exiting the pits decided to get wide into Gerrards) , very little down time. few red flags but nothing major

 

[Adey.]

 

[Adey.]

a few pics form the circuit photographer

 

[Fredsta]

Great pics @Adey. Looks like a great day out!

 

[Adey.]

Great pics @Adey. Looks like a great day out!

was awesome, really enjoyed it

 

[Adey.]

 

[Fredsta]

Did you have to do a decibel test for the track day? Interested to know how loud your car is and if it was comfortably within the limits - cheers

Keen to see what you do with the top mounts

 

[Adey.]

I was never told the value, but it was very quiet compared to most there tbh.

The top mounts already have "adjustment" in the form of slots in the chassis, I'm thinking I just make the slots longer 🤷‍♂️

 

[Renny 5]

Looks very composed 👍🏼 I love Mallory, it’s a simple track but you can constantly send it

 

[Clart]

Think i'll do mallory next, how does it compare to donnington?

 

[Adey.]

Think i'll do mallory next, how does it compare to donnington?

Ive not done Donny to compare sorry, maybe someone else will chime in

 

[Adey.]

Well this is a pretty momentous occasion for me.... as of now (well Monday) I will have owned the car a whole year! I've paid for the next 12 months of tax coming in at £210 and had it MOT'd yesterday. Advisories coming in at rear disks showing signs of wear and a leak on the exhaust that I knew about but haven't sorted (that's another little story). All in all a great year of motoring with a few changes and some fun. Covered nearly 13k in it too!

 

[Adey.]

On the jump to get the suspension aligned nicely for CSF, I popped to my local garage to see what the rear alignment was saying this morning. Camber looks to be a chunk out from side to side. Email sent to Pure Motorsport so they can advise and ill buy what they tell me too

 

[Adey.]

Super fast response from Nick at Pure Motorsport, advice given and parts already ordered

 

[Brigsy]

When you on track at CSF? Pm?

 

[Adey.]

When you on track at CSF? Pm?

Morning sesh for me buddy

 

[Adey.]

Ordered yesterday, here today. Solid service

 

[Daz.]

Not a diy job that, better get it booked in 😁

 

[Adey.]

Not a diy job that, better get it booked in 😁

20 min tops

 

[Daz.]

Naaa a phone call only takes a couple of mins to get it booked in 🤙

Kwik fit or ats?

 

[Adey.]

Decided to splash out a little, didn't really need them, just wanted them......

 

[Daz.]

Black!

I have the first release versions.

So much nicer isn't it!

 

[Adey.]

Silver was out of stock.... Yeah feel good so far. I'll do some miles with them and see what my thoughts are

 

[Adey.]

Not good news, had a slight noise a week ago from the front left. On the way home today after some back lane bashing it rattled some more. Just jacked it up to find the front left ball joint knocking. Tried to nip it up (just in case it was loose) and the nut just span its threads off with no effort..... spare nut thrown on for now, picking up a track rod end tomorrow to hopefully fit and get aligned by Thursday so I can hit the road Friday to CSF.

 

[Danith]

Ten min job for you, that.

Still jel of those shifters, but christ they're expensive 😂

 

[Adey.]

Ten min job for you, that.

Still jel of those shifters, but christ they're expensive 😂

maybe 20 min? lol just effort a few days before the trip, im usually more organised than this..

 

[Danith]

Impressed you've done 13k in a year in it in between all the modding. Think I've done about 4.5k in 11 months. Need to get it back on track in autumn, winter.

 

[Adey.]

Picked up and fitted the track rod end today, never in my life have I had it so easy. Cracked off the locknut and the old one just span off by hand. Fitted the new one then wobbled everything again. I thought I heard the same knocking noise!!!! Was adamant it was coming from the the ball joint now, couldn't see anything though. Went round and tightened every nut I could find and then couldn't get it to do it again. Took it for a drive and couldn't hear it either. Now I have paranoia I've replaced the wrong part (it did still need doing due to thread damage) I'm sure a drive across Wales and a few laps will highlight it again if there's an issue

Tracking/Alignment booked for 9am Friday so should be good to go. Ill also give it a look over with some bigger bendy bars when there.

Oil and filter also swapped out. Nothing flash in there as I'm changing it every 6 months it seems

Roll on the weekend

 

[Sash]

I changed both side inners and outers last week (not because they were worn and had play but because one had seized up and I couldn’t get the tracking done… nearly 200k on original track rods 😂

But that paired with a new ARB, wishbones and shocks this year she drives like an absolute dream now #triggersbroom 😂

 

[Adey.]

I changed both side inners and outers last week (not because they were worn and had play but because one had seized up and I couldn’t get the tracking done… nearly 200k on original track rods 😂

But that paired with a new ARB, wishbones and shocks this year she drives like an absolute dream now #triggersbroom 😂

I am now tempted to replace both wishbones completely (all new rubbers and joints then) just so its all fresh at 106k I'm sure they are still the factory fit parts, that said, they look in great condition if so.

 

[Adey.]

Right where did we get too? so oil and filter were swapped out a few days before CSF. Car was driven there, beat and driven home with no issues at all. Temps were great though if I'm planning on doing more track days I should try and get some more camber dialled in up front. I modded the strut tops a little and managed to get near -1.5 but I feel it needs a touch more.

CSF was the first time I've properly driven with the driver aids fully off and its a different car yet again. Totally happy with it though, from daily to fun car to track hack and back again. One of the best all rounders I've owned I think. Apologies to any of you I held up there getting the lines wrong or what not. It was my first time doing Anglesey

The slight knocking I occasionally get is annoying me still, so I've ordered up some new bottom ball joints to throw in.

Here have some pics of it doing its thing

 

[Krarl]

@S-JM took me out in his 200T at Cadwell. Considering it's relatively standard I thought it was mint out of the box

Can't imagine what they're like fully stripped and track prepped. I had a hard time trying to shake Steve off at Anglesey, on the straights it's definitely faster

 

[Brigsy]

Papped driving on the first pic!

Thanks for the few laps in it mate, mega bit of kit! Quick too loads of power, box was awesome with flat shift once used to it.

Was great fun in race mode after i stopped been a fanny and knocked the aids off. Probably should have mentioned that it was the first auto id driven in ten years and last one was a merc slushbox so first lap or so decided steady would be best

I definitely fancy buying one in the future.

 

[Adey.]

Just for @andybond .....

Finally got around to fitting the bottom ball joint. Decided to do it the driveway built way and with as little effort and removal of parts as I could. So here's the method if you don't want to remove the complete wishbone. To get the wishbone out you need to drop the front rad support panel out of the way, which I cba to do.

Undo the bottom ball joint from the hub, Undo the track rod end. Swing hub out of the way. Angle grind the top and bottom off the ball joint. Junior hacksaw through the side of the ball joint casing. You'll know you are through when the blade gets pinched. Tap with hammer and it'll drop out. Place new ball joint in the hole, using a plate to spread the pressure and a 3 leg puller, press the new ball joint home. Goes so far and stops but does leave a gap between the wishbone and lip of the ball joint. My old one was like this as is the other side, so assuming it's normal. I couldn't add enough pressure to move it further. 45min job jobbed 👍🏼

 

[Krarl]

Proper fucker to do, wouldn't be too bad if the wishbones just unbolted on Renault's without dropping the full front rad support

Renault are pure dicks when it comes to this sort of s**t🤣