Ph1 172 Track Car. Next Year I Go Racing - Hopefully!

[Mini182]

Ok, thought I better get a project thread up as I have had my car for a while now and never posted about it.


The current spec is;-

• Ph1 Clio 172
• Low mileage of 50k miles
• Safety devices roll cage with harness bar
• Cobra monaco seats on x-low subframes
• OMP steering wheel
• Yanoo stiff shift
• OMP harness 5 point for driver 4 point for passenger
• Team dynamics pro race wheels with yokohama A048 tyres
• Odyssey lightweight battery relocated to rear
• Cut off switch
• Flocked dash
• Interior painted white

And my 2 favourite mods are;-

• AST Sportline II suspension with track spec springs rates and AST top mounts
• Gripper plated differential

There is probably lots I have missed but just doing this from memory



Here are a few pics of the car as I recently got it out of the garage. It hasn't been used or cleaned for 6 months so please excuse the state of the car.













The Clio normally lives in the garage but I have an off road project in there at the moment. A Suzuki vitara that I am fitting a 2 " suspension lift and a 2" body lift to, along with a few other off road goodies.









The Clio will be going back in the garage next week will be getting a bit of an overhaul for the coming trackday season, along with a few more upgrades like a clio 182 manifold and an EPAS conversion to name a couple.


I have been doing trackdays for years now but I would like to eventually get into some proper motorsport. I will probably just stick with trackdays this year and develop the car more, hopefully go racing next year.


I am going to try and document everything I do to the car from now on, and hopefully get it race ready for next year.


I know there a lot of very knowledgeable people on here that already have clio race cars so I will be hoping for some advise over the next year.


Thanks for reading

 

[BIGASH]

Car looks great Best of luck with the racing its great fun!

 

[Chi]

Cracking looking car. .

 

[Mini182]

Thanks guys. Not sure why the pics came out small though?


I really want to go racing but I am going to develop the car more over this year first and stick with trackdays for now.

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Looking good

You may have copied the thumbnail code instead of the image code in photo bucket?

 

[Mini182]

Possibly, here is another pic to see.

 

[Mini182]

That's better!

 

[Russ Rallye]

Just get out and race it this year mate, car looks ready to go and you'll learn alot more about your car racing it than on trackday and have a lot more fun. Have a look over on www.trackattackraceclub.co.uk at the Tricolor Trophy where a few of us from Cliosport race.
Russ

 

[Mini182]

Would love to go racing this year, maybe if things work out I could enter a couple of races later in the year.....

It is nearly ready to race, I think the only thing it would need to satisfy the regs would be a plumbed in fire extinguisher.

Also I would probably want to do a bit more lightening first as well, fit polycarbonate windows etc.

 

[imprezaworks]

Love it

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

That's better!

 

[sonny172cup]

Splendid Sir, looking good, what series you planing on racing in? I echo what Russ says above regarding the Tricolore trophy.

ps, I think the D shape steering wheel isn't allowed in MSA events, anyone confirm (or is it open D steering wheels) ?

Sonny

 

[Tony Hunter]

Just get out and race it this year mate, car looks ready to go and you'll learn alot more about your car racing it than on trackday and have a lot more fun. Have a look over on www.trackattackraceclub.co.uk at the Tricolor Trophy where a few of us from Cliosport race.
Russ

This.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Looking good, I have some bits you may be interested in to compliment your car further, send me a pm if you like?

Cheers
Nick

 

[Mini182]

Splendid Sir, looking good, what series you planing on racing in? I echo what Russ says above regarding the Tricolore trophy.

ps, I think the D shape steering wheel isn't allowed in MSA events, anyone confirm (or is it open D steering wheels) ?

Sonny

I'm not actually a huge fan of the D shaped steering wheel anyway, so that would be not great shame.

 

[Mini182]

Not really sure what race series to enter, tin tops, trackday trophy, or french trophy.

The french trophy probably looks like the best at the moment though.

 

[sonny172cup]

Not really sure what race series to enter, tin tops, trackday trophy, or french trophy.

The french trophy probably looks like the best at the moment though.

I was going to do the MSV trophy but went for the French Trophy in the end...I like the fact that the FT is made up of 2 x 15 min races on same day, TT and MSV is obviously 45min with mandatory pit stop.

 

[Chi]

This.

Looks like fun

 

[Toastfrenzy]

Hi, hopefully see you out in a race later this year!

 

[JezzaMac]

The Clio normally lives in the garage but I have an off road project in there at the moment. A Suzuki vitara that I am fitting a 2 " suspension lift and a 2" body lift to, along with a few other off road goodies.

We have the same car combination! I also have a Vitara that i'm about to do a 3" body lift on and a 1.5" suspension lift! Its the perfect combination - Clio for nice sunny summer blasts and 4WD Vitara for sideways giggles with its wet and snowy!

 

[Mini182]

Hi, hopefully see you out in a race later this year!

That would be great.

I would be a bit worried that I wouldn't be competitive though.

 

[Mini182]

We have the same car combination! I also have a Vitara that i'm about to do a 3" body lift on and a 1.5" suspension lift! Its the perfect combination - Clio for nice sunny summer blasts and 4WD Vitara for sideways giggles with its wet and snowy!

Yep I will be doing a bit of green laning in it once its lifted, should be good fun!

 

[Toastfrenzy]

That would be great.

I would be a bit worried that I wouldn't be competitive though.

The AST and gripper would exclude you from the production class - though £250 for another std box, £50 - £100 would sort out the std suspension and you'd be as competitive as your ability to drive faster than the rest round corners....sell the gripper n box and that's 1K possibly there!

 

[Mini182]

The AST and gripper would exclude you from the production class - though £250 for another std box, £50 - £100 would sort out the std suspension and you'd be as competitive as your ability to drive faster than the rest round corners....sell the gripper n box and that's 1K possibly there!

The gripper and AST suspension are such great mods though, they make a massive difference to the car (and my enjoyment driving it) so don't really want to loose them.

I'm guessing there is a modified class as well? But with no engine mods I would probably be way off the pace?

 

[Tony Hunter]

It's all about having FUN tbh, and the whole weekend is a lot of it.

 

[Mini182]

It's all about having FUN tbh, and the whole weekend is a lot of it.

Fair point.

I have never done competitive motorsport before, so I can't expect to be wining straight away, as much as I would like to.

Say I do decide to race this year, what is the procedure for entering? I guess I would need to do my ARDS test and get a race licence first?

 

[Tony Hunter]

Yep, race licence, register with club (car and driver), pay an entry fee and away you go. Stick your skull and crossbones sticker on the back, job done. We'll look after you.

Glad you got the gist of my post .

 

[sonny172cup]

Fair point.

I have never done competitive motorsport before, so I can't expect to be wining straight away, as much as I would like to.

?

Im a novice driver having only 1 race meeting under my belt.. We all have to start somewhere.. So dont be put of vy that.. Its the participation and being on the grid that counts (well it does in my eyes). As Tony says have fun... And you/we all get faster over time.

 

[Mini182]

I am after a 15/61 (4.06) CWP from a ph2 if anyone has one?

The car currently has a gripper diff fitted onto the standard CWP which in the Ph1 is 15/58 (3.87) ratio.

Looking for a cost effective way to get a bit more acceleration.

 

[mikeh]

The gripper and AST suspension are such great mods though, they make a massive difference to the car (and my enjoyment driving it) so don't really want to loose them.

I'm guessing there is a modified class as well? But with no engine mods I would probably be way off the pace?

If you change your mind and ever want to lose the gripper box, drop me a PM. Can supply a standard box in return.

As for the diff - surely it can't be much more expensive to just buy a CW from Gripper by the time you've bought a ph2 standard one and had it machined.

 

[BIGASH]

I might know of someone selling a 4.60 Gripper CW+P in the next few months that would be ideal coupled with the shorter 5th gear

 

[Ph1 Tom]

I am after a 15/61 (4.06) CWP from a ph2 if anyone has one?

The car currently has a gripper diff fitted onto the standard CWP which in the Ph1 is 15/58 (3.87) ratio.

Looking for a cost effective way to get a bit more acceleration.

I run a 4.07, its nice on the road and good enough on track days but for racing something a bit shorter would be better, see James's offer below

I might know of someone selling a 4.60 Gripper CW+P in the next few months that would be ideal coupled with the shorter 5th gear

 

[Mini182]

I might know of someone selling a 4.60 Gripper CW+P in the next few months that would be ideal coupled with the shorter 5th gear

That could be perfect mate. Let me know when they are selling up.

Priced up the shorter 5th gear parts from renault and it would be about £70 for the parts.

 

[Mini182]

If you change your mind and ever want to lose the gripper box, drop me a PM. Can supply a standard box in return.

As for the diff - surely it can't be much more expensive to just buy a CW from Gripper by the time you've bought a ph2 standard one and had it machined.

I think mine is listed as having an adaptor plate fitted to the standard CW. So in theory should just fit another Renault CW....

 

[mikeh]

I think mine is listed as having an adaptor plate fitted to the standard CW. So in theory should just fit another Renault CW....

I think that's how they all are.

AFAIK, they are machined off the standard diff and then modified to bolt on to the new diff.

 

[NorthloopCup]

I think mine is listed as having an adaptor plate fitted to the standard CW. So in theory should just fit another Renault CW....

You'd just have to buy another adapter plate from gripper mate. Easy.

 

[Mini182]

The Vitara is done and has been evicted from the garage.

The Clio is back where she belongs, ready for an overhaul and a few new parts next week.

 

[JezzaMac]

The clutch on my Vit just went the other day so it gave me an excuse to put the clio back on the road! Lol

 

[Mini182]

Got on quite well today, I'll let the pics do the talking.

Engine and gearbox are out.

And Out.

Current Air con and PAS setup is being binned.

All these parts have been removed.

Gearbox split to inspect clutch. I was going to put a new clutch in as a matter of course, but this clutch has seen very little mileage and is in great condition.
You can still even see part of the writing on the pressure plate at the top so I will probably leave it.

New crank seal

Removed the Air con matrix from the heater box and sealed the hole it left

Lots more to do over the next few days, with lots of new parts.

I will try and keep the thread updated.

 

[Mini182]

Is your vitara lifted as well?

The clutch on my Vit just went the other day so it gave me an excuse to put the clio back on the road! Lol