Project Lightweight, Trackday Clio 172

[scullyg40]

Thanks, and I've got the 3rd of Octobre and the 10th of Novembre planned at Assen, and maby the 18th of Novembre at Zandvoort, depending on the weather.
You're welcome to come by offcourse, but for the 3rd of Octobre, I'm bringing someone who took the day of from work, so at least at that day, changes of a passenger ride are pretty slim. Might be better to come by at one of the two trackdays in Novembre in that regard.

 

[scullyg40]

I got the Federal's wrapped around the OZ wheels today.

Quite a different tyre to what was on it before.

Unfortunately it's also quite a bit heavier, going from 11,4 kg per wheel to 14,1 kg per wheel.
Total weight savings are now reduced to 192,3 kg's, but I think I can compensate with grip and cornering speeds. ? Very excited to test the car out, with it's new suspension, and tyres. ?

I also got the Audi wheels fitted with tyres. I am also very happy with these, I think they transformed the car's appearance.

Going from:

To:

Also notice the color change of the paint, when it's in the shade or the sun. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I added some decals to make it look more like a racecar. ?

 

[haimsey]

TT wheels suit the a3

 

[scullyg40]

Thanks, and I agree. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I got the Clio alligned this morning.

And I bought a footrest, to give the passengers some much needed support. I will only mount it after I install the bucket seats to find the correct position.

 

[scullyg40]

The new combo.

Not missing the BMW one bit. The rear of the Audi is a bit high here, as I have the nosewheel on the ground to get some angle in the trailer.

 

[scullyg40]

I had another trackday last wednesday, and I was very excited for this one, since it has been quite a while since the last one. And also, because I was very curious about the new tyres and suspension setup.

We had a nice group of people there. I brought my neighbour, and met up with @sjaakmeister. My wife came along for a visit, as did a friend of mine.

My friend's beast of a car, a 350 hp Golf 6 GTI.

It was quite a bit busier than expected, but I later found out that there was a German holiday, so there were a lot of German people there. There was some nice looking machinery there.

The day was supposed to be dry, but as we lined up for the first session, there was a short but heavy bit of rain, which got the track wet and slippery. As a result, I started really slow and easy, as opposed to some of the other cars, which can be seen at the next video at 7.26 min. This wasn't the last car rolling over though. ?




I realise I need to feddle the camera position a bit, as the mirror is right in front of it, also, after two sessions, the battery was dead, so I need to think of something for that as well.

The rest of the day was dry, and now I could see if my new suspension made any improvement. First thing that I noticed, was that the track at Assen was not as smooth as I expected. ?
But, in the second session, I was able to improve my best time to 2.13 min. For the rest of the day, I wasn't able to get a clean lap, but in the fast laps, I was consitently in the 2.14 and 2.15's, so that is quite a few seconds faster than before, which I'm pretty happy with. I was hoping to go under 2.10 min, but I guess that will have to wait untill later. I think that it is mostly me, taking some time to get used to the quite big handling change of the car.

In this video, I drove a 2.15 min on the second lap, but sector 4 got messed up because of another car, so it could be faster.




Here's a video of a Porsche Boxster following and overtaking me from the start of the video.




Me following another Clio.

Me and @sjaakmeister did 2 sessions following each other, which was quite nice.

This picture is now the background of my phone. ?

And the little Clio back in it's garage, with it's proud owner. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I took out the unnecessary interior brackets, to safe a bit of weight, and to clean up the interior a bit.

Good for just under 1 kg at 940 grams. Total savings go to 193,2 kg's.

While vacuuming the interior, I picked up a lot of debries inbetween the sills. Turned out that the sills were very lightweight as well.

I was planning to install the cage this winter, but it looks like I've got a bit more welding to do.

 

[scullyg40]

The weather forecast for yesterday's trackday was okay(ish), meaning that we had nice weather all week, except a bit of rain in the morning on the saturday, and some droplets later in the afternoon. Turned out, the track was wet all day, with only in the last session some dry lines starting to appear. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun, and good pase compared to a lot of other cars.

The webcam of the circuit made my friend stay at home.

And I think this video gives the best idea of the day.




It was very wet, and very slippery, with cars spinning and in the gravel constantly. Cones were everywhere, etc. I managed to stay out of trouble, although a car (the same car fot that matter) span in front of me twice.

First session was just sliding around.

My sister-in-law always said se would like to be a passenger one day, and she held her word.

And for those who don't know me, this is me, just igniting the car for the last session.

In the last session, dry lines started to appear, although it was still very slippery in a lot of area's. My best lap was a 2.27, but I had a lot of fun, and my confidence in wet driving grew a lot with this day.

 

[hostler]

Was actually thinking about dropping by but got caught up in some other stuff. You really need some sort of heater to prevent the windows from fogging up. Nice driving as always. Cool to see your progression both on the car and driving skills.

 

[scullyg40]

I do need to sort out the fogging issue. This was the first time though, and it only fogged up in the first session.

 

[scotiamr2t]

@scullyg40 does your speedometer not work?

 

[scullyg40]

No, I disconnected it, because I kept looking at it mid-corner and on the end of a straight etc.

 

[scullyg40]

Yesterday I was at Zandvoort.

Unfortunately my buddy cancelled to join me with an honest reason saying that the trip was too long for a couple of passenger laps. I can respect that. With that in mind I decided to just go by myself, and focus on laptimes. So I took out the second seat, saving another 20 kg's, plus 80 kg's or so, not having a passenger.

Total weight savings 213,7 kg's at this time.

Loaded everything up, ready to go the next morning for the 2,5 hour trip to Zandvoort.

First dissapointment at Zandvoort was that they wet the track for the drifters in the morning. With the cold weather, I thought it would never dry up. Luckily it did, and only the first session was slightly wet. As it's only my second time at Zandvoort, and it has been a while, I took this session to get used to the track, and look for grip. Best time was a 2.33 min, which was okay for the conditions.

Second dissapointment was the amount of people that turned up for the event. It was very busy, to say the least. Reminder for myself, not to go to Zandvoort on a weekend again. The result of this was that I only got 2 or 3 clean laps during the day, and that 3 out of 4 sessions were interrupted by code 60's.

Second session, I was able to improve my time to a 2.21 min, still being a second slower than my previous best time.

In the third session, I got a decent lap, and this resulted in a 2.17min, which I was quite happy with. The fourth and final session, I made a 2.14 min, which I am very happy with. Optimal lap in Racechrono is even a 2.12, so there is still a lot of room for improvement. Also, because I wasn't able to do fast laps consistent, but also because I still need to learn the track quite a bit, there are several corners and breaking points where I can improve.

As I didn't have a passenger, I couldn't check if my camera was rolling, and unfortunately I pushed the button to slowly, making a picture instead of a movie, so I do not have any footage of the day, which I'm quite ubset about.

Reminder for myself, for the next trackday, I have to change the engine oil, refresh the brake fluid, and check the gearbox oil. Also, I heard a whining noise when off throttle, couldn't really specify what it was though.

 

[scullyg40]

So I bought a pair of these.

Got the car on axle stands.

Removed the fuel tank.

In case anybodies wondering, it weighs 6,8 kg's without the fuel pump.

Then I took off the sideskirts, and the horror appeared. ?

This is what was luying in the front of one of the sideskirts.

Other than some jacking damage, the left front doesn't seem to bad.

The same can't be said for the rear though.

Right front, again, not to bad at first sight.

Right rear, horrible. ?

This is what came down after just poking a bit with my finger.

Resulting in a bigger hole.

The inner metal is rusted as well, so we will have to adress that to. I've never done anything like this, so we'll see how it goes. ?

 

[Djw John]

Well, hope you weighed the bits on the floor!

It's a shame mk2s seem to be rotting but I guess they are getting close to 20 years old

 

[scullyg40]

I did my first bit of restoration. ?

I went from this:

To this:

Welding was an utter pain, as I kept burning holes as the metal was too thin in some parts already, and because I couldn't grind the rust away on the inside, it kept splattering. So there was a lot of grinding and sanding involved after welding, to get to a somewhat decent result.

At first I tried to just weld the little holes on the inner panel, but they just kept getting bigger, so I had to make a template for that as well.

While my wife went to the bar having a drink with her sister, I was underneath the car. ?

After, I made a template for the outer panel.

I also welded up the hole in the floor that can be seen on the upper picture. It sure is a lot easier welding clean material, and welding from a normal position. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I went from this

To this

Pretty happy with the result, although it is far from perfect. I wouldn't accept it from a paint shop, but since this is my first attempt to something like this, and it's only a track car, I'm not complaining. Most important thing is, that it's structural 10 times stronger than it was.

I had to replace 3 layers of sheetmetal, and restore a part of the wheel well.

From the inside it looks pretty good.

I needed a bit of bondo to cover things up. ?

And the result. Not as straight as I would have wanted, and a slight color difference.

 

[Brigsy]

Decent repair. Dont forget to treat the inside, decent coat of zinc primer then cavity wax or whatever so it doesnt come back

 

[scullyg40]

The inside does have a big layer of paint. But the car only comes outside for a couple of days a year, and hopefully most of them are dry, so I should be good for the next couple of years. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I've bought another car, together with a mate of mine. We will be driving across Europe in it, as we will be participating in the Scrap Metal Rally. www.scrapmetalrally.nl Which is basically a 4 day trip across small roads in Europe. The rules are, the car cannot be worth more than 750 Euro, and it can not be younger than 2000. This is what we bought:

A 1990 VW Polo, with a 1.3 55 hp engine, and a 4-speed. The thing is, we bought it from the first owners. ? And the car has only done 135000 km's. Overall, it is in very good condition, everything (not that the car has a lot of options etc) works.
It just has a bit of rust in one of the sills, and it needs a new MOT.

Here is the rusty area.

And here's how I fixed it.

Next up is MOT, than we are going to do some maintenance, change the oil, change the cambelt etc. Finally, we want to make it a bit cooler, with a couple of nicer looking wheels, and lower it a bit, and that's about it. ?

 

[imprezaworks]

Ah memories

 

[scullyg40]

Ah memories

Yes indeed. ?
This is my old G40.

 

[scullyg40]

Made a start on the right hand side, it needed a bit more chopping to get all the rust out, but the process will be quite the same as to the left hand side.

 

[Slamz]

I'm getting flashbacks to my S14 with those sills! Good work though, albeit worrying for me. Better go check my sills haha

 

[scullyg40]

A while ago some idiot drove into the back of my wife's car, while she was waiting for a traffic light. She got pushed into the car in front of her, and as a result, the Opel Corsa was totalled. My wife is okay, she does have complaints about her neck though.

But on the positive note, we had to get a replacement. My wife got the Audi A3, and I bought a nice car for myself, but something that the wife could use when needed as well. So, this is what I got. ?

A 2013 Golf 7 GTI, with only 43000 km's on it. I love the color, and the fact that it's a 5-door. It even has a tow bar, which is a bonus. I didn't need another track car, like a Megane RS etc, and for me, this is a perfect street car. It has plenty of power, and it has a very nice finish, the interior looks really good, and I am very pleased with it. I only have two things I want to do to it, which is a remap (220 hp -> 300 hp, and 350 Nm -> 430 Nm), and a nicer set of wheels.

 

[imprezaworks]

Really love the mk6/7 golf gti, such an all round great car that would last years. Quick too.

Nice mate.

 

[scullyg40]

As I was inspired by @robzracing with his manual mirrors, I went on the search for a manual pair. I found these:

I bought them a bit on a guess, hoping that I could make the plates fit, but apparantly they have been on a Clio before.

The weight gain is massive on such a small part. The originals weigh 795 grams, and the carbon ones weigh 256 grams, so I'm saving over a kilogram here.?
Making total weight savings 214,7 kg's.

 

[robzracing]

That's a good find. Any idea on the make?

 

[scullyg40]

Not a clue, bought second hand. ?

 

[scullyg40]

I got the other sill finished as well. Been quite a job, but also quite pleased with the result.

From this

To this

To this

 

[scullyg40]

Last saturday, there was another trackday at Assen, and as my Clio isn't driveable at the moment, I went with my mate, with the intention of just being a passenger. I also filled up my GTI with Competition 102, just in case.
First session, I joined my mate in his 350 hp Golf Edition 35.

Jesus, that car is fast. So much power. Overtaking everything on the straights. ? He reached top speeds of just over 200 km/h, where I struggle to get to 180 km/h with the Clio. His best lap was only a second quicker than my best lap though, so the Clio must be making up in several other area's.

Offcourse, I couldn't resist the urge to try the GTI on track, and I bought a session. Just 1, to see how the car performs at the track. It did okay, I had fun, but the tyres and brakes are definately not up for the job. My best lap was a 2.18 though, which is 5 seconds slower than my PR in the Clio, still, quite happy with that.

Here's a video of me following a Porsche 911.

 

[scullyg40]

I took out the doors in preparation for the cage install, and to lighten them.

They weigh 25 kg's at this moment, which includes the window mechanism and the glass, very interested to see how light I can get them.

Already took out the window mechanism, which is just over 1 kg per side, making total weight saving 216,9 kg's. Obviously, they will not be going back in.

Also, who can tell me what these are for?

 

[scotiamr2t]

@scullyg40 I'll be watching with interest as to how much you save from the doors by gutting them and going poly/lexan windows.

 

[scullyg40]

Yes, me too. But you'll have to be patient though, as I've stored them in the back of the garage for the time being. I will first focus on the cage.

 

[robzracing]

I believe that piece hooks into the door and is supposed to hold it in place during an accident.

I spent a lot of time taking weight out of my doors but it will never come close to fibreglass doors.

 

[scullyg40]

I believe that piece hooks into the door and is supposed to hold it in place during an accident.

That's what I thought also, so they can go when a cage is installed and the door is lightened.
Your doors look really good, mine will be like that somewhat.
I'd like to have fibreglass, but that's maby for the future, and this doesn't cost me anything.

 

[scullyg40]

Stripped the Clio a bit more, and stored the big parts neatly in the corner of the garage so that they don't get in my way during the cage build.

The boot weighs 12,8 kg's at this moment, and the spoiler weighs 2 kg's.

I've found this quote from @NorthloopCup somewhere on this forum, which is great info, so thanks for that.

Ok, so, this is the weights for glass removed from my 172 cup.

Front door glass: 3.5kg each.
Rear qtr glass: 3.5kg each.
Rear heated screen: 7.5kg.

Front polycarb: 2kg each.
Rear qtr polycarb: 1.5kg each.
Rear screen polycarb: 3kg.

If your interested in the de-skinned bonnet weight let ms know.

If the rear screen weighs 7,5 kg's, than there is no real need to upgrade to a fibreglass boot in the future, since the metal one weighs 5,3 including the shocks and the latch, and most fibreglass ones are quoted to be 4,5 kg's.
For the spoiler, @robzracing quoted the CM Composites spoiler to 770 grams. The original one is 2 kg's, but that includes the 3rd braking light. Looks like there is about 1 kg to be saved, at the cost of 65 Pounds.

 

[scullyg40]

New wheels for the GTI.