We bought another Clio from a member off here a few months ago. We bought it with the intention of it being the daily and the 200 being used for special occasions. Well we bought it with the MOT nearly up and the tax nearly expired. We put it in the garage when we got back and pretty much forgot about it.
A few months later we fell into Lydden Hill race track on the way to a shopping trip (Lydden Hill is 10 minutes down the road from our house) and Sophie said she wanted to get out on the track. There's no way I'll put the 200 on there so bring on the fate of the little blue Clio.
Its only a 1.6 16v but it does perfectly well at holding its own on the track. Lydden's only straight is downhill so this helped
It came with a K&N cone filter, K-Tech Supersport decat exhaust system and lowered 40mm on Apex springs so it fitted the bill really. We can't spend that much on it, it's on a budget build for a bit of fun, and to be honest, with a 1.6 engine, there's no point. When it's had enough it'll be put to the back of the garage and a 172 put it in its place.
When we got it
Started to strip it
All this junk came out
Rear Strut brace fitted. It was custom made from a member on here and it was a perfect fit.
Seats starting to go in. We got the OMP subframe and runners for the drivers side from YB Racing, I know they get a hard time but ordered midday and arrived the next day in the AM so couldn't complain. We had some time waiting for the drivers sub and runner so as we had some spare seats we would see what we would come up with for the passenger seat. We weren't going to put one in, but I had 2 Corbeaus so thought why not. It only needs to be a static seat so didn't worry about runners but we did manage to use the subframe from the passenger side Clio seat and modify it to fit the Corbeau seat. I wouldn't recommend doing it again though. It's a lot of work and head scratching.
Put the tow strap in and fitted the CAF which is really really awful but we were doing all this with only 2 days to spare so it was a rush job.
Rear Spoiler and some other bits of exterior painted in BMW sparkling anthracite, which looks bloody amazing tbh
One of my mates was helping me with the car and he wouldn't let the headlight stripes go. Everytime I took then off he put more on. He went through a whole roll of electrical tape just for that. I admitted defeat and they stayed. The car is low and the bumper and splitter made it impossible to get the car on and off the ramps so, two clips later, we have a removable bumper.
Day before the track the roll cage turned up
We serviced it, roll cage fitted, drivers seat fitted with the runners and subframe, harnesses fitted, cleaned and then placed on the truck at 1 am on the track day.
Day at the track. Arrived at half 7
We flipped a coin to see who would be first out in the track. Sophie won. Bear in mind the only one of us had driven the car and that was all motorway so driving a car flat out that you aren't used to is difficult. We didn't know how it handled or anything really so this was really just a test day. We had new Toyo tyres that had never seen tarmac and new brakes so we were really pushing it.
Sophie went out with Bill Richards who is an instructor at Lydden. He is a massive player in the mini sport world and his own personal mini is just pure evil.
We did lose Sophie on the very first corner. It's out of view from where we were spectating but it turned out she spun it and ended up in the grass. A muddy alloy wheel I can just about let her off with. She was very praised by Bill from what she managed to do and ended up Sophie is a better driver than some of the lads. Bill said the car was to blame for the spin as the rear is very nervous and there was possibly some oil on the track. We took the rear strut brace out and played with some tyre pressures to keep the back end in check.
As we looked like such a professional set up, Japspeed decided they wanted to pitch up next to us. Turns out they have a famous driver so queue the stalking and then the photo
There are plenty of other pics of myself and Steve going round the track but they all start to look the same so you don't need to see them. The little Clio did really well on the track....as in it didn't break down, and it had enough punch in it to keep up. Its given us an idea of what we may be able to achieve next time though. We were backing off alot as we weren't used to it. We are going to try one of the track days at Brands Hatch in a couple of months so hopefully will be able to get the Clio some decent lap times.
A few months later we fell into Lydden Hill race track on the way to a shopping trip (Lydden Hill is 10 minutes down the road from our house) and Sophie said she wanted to get out on the track. There's no way I'll put the 200 on there so bring on the fate of the little blue Clio.
Its only a 1.6 16v but it does perfectly well at holding its own on the track. Lydden's only straight is downhill so this helped
It came with a K&N cone filter, K-Tech Supersport decat exhaust system and lowered 40mm on Apex springs so it fitted the bill really. We can't spend that much on it, it's on a budget build for a bit of fun, and to be honest, with a 1.6 engine, there's no point. When it's had enough it'll be put to the back of the garage and a 172 put it in its place.When we got it
Started to strip it
All this junk came out
Rear Strut brace fitted. It was custom made from a member on here and it was a perfect fit.
Seats starting to go in. We got the OMP subframe and runners for the drivers side from YB Racing, I know they get a hard time but ordered midday and arrived the next day in the AM so couldn't complain. We had some time waiting for the drivers sub and runner so as we had some spare seats we would see what we would come up with for the passenger seat. We weren't going to put one in, but I had 2 Corbeaus so thought why not. It only needs to be a static seat so didn't worry about runners but we did manage to use the subframe from the passenger side Clio seat and modify it to fit the Corbeau seat. I wouldn't recommend doing it again though. It's a lot of work and head scratching.
Put the tow strap in and fitted the CAF which is really really awful but we were doing all this with only 2 days to spare so it was a rush job.
Rear Spoiler and some other bits of exterior painted in BMW sparkling anthracite, which looks bloody amazing tbh
One of my mates was helping me with the car and he wouldn't let the headlight stripes go. Everytime I took then off he put more on. He went through a whole roll of electrical tape just for that. I admitted defeat and they stayed. The car is low and the bumper and splitter made it impossible to get the car on and off the ramps so, two clips later, we have a removable bumper.
Day before the track the roll cage turned up
We serviced it, roll cage fitted, drivers seat fitted with the runners and subframe, harnesses fitted, cleaned and then placed on the truck at 1 am on the track day.
Day at the track. Arrived at half 7
We flipped a coin to see who would be first out in the track. Sophie won. Bear in mind the only one of us had driven the car and that was all motorway so driving a car flat out that you aren't used to is difficult. We didn't know how it handled or anything really so this was really just a test day. We had new Toyo tyres that had never seen tarmac and new brakes so we were really pushing it.
Sophie went out with Bill Richards who is an instructor at Lydden. He is a massive player in the mini sport world and his own personal mini is just pure evil.
We did lose Sophie on the very first corner. It's out of view from where we were spectating but it turned out she spun it and ended up in the grass. A muddy alloy wheel I can just about let her off with. She was very praised by Bill from what she managed to do and ended up Sophie is a better driver than some of the lads. Bill said the car was to blame for the spin as the rear is very nervous and there was possibly some oil on the track. We took the rear strut brace out and played with some tyre pressures to keep the back end in check.
As we looked like such a professional set up, Japspeed decided they wanted to pitch up next to us. Turns out they have a famous driver so queue the stalking and then the photo
There are plenty of other pics of myself and Steve going round the track but they all start to look the same so you don't need to see them. The little Clio did really well on the track....as in it didn't break down, and it had enough punch in it to keep up. Its given us an idea of what we may be able to achieve next time though. We were backing off alot as we weren't used to it. We are going to try one of the track days at Brands Hatch in a couple of months so hopefully will be able to get the Clio some decent lap times.
