JimF
ClioSport Club Member
Clio 172
Car is a Phase 2 172.
Sat here daydreaming earlier and was wondering about the above. Now it’s not a general query, my car is already semi-stripped with a SW motorsports rear cage with harness bar, bucket seat, 6pt harness. Obviously other mods too, but not relevant to this thread.
The car is a track car, but is driven to the track, driven to work every couple of weeks to keep it in working order & battery topped up etc, used as a backup when my daily breaks down (Jaguar life); the odd Sunday morning B-road run out etc. But in all of those useages, the fact it’s noisy, impractical, etc isn’t an issue. I quite like it.
What I’m wondering is the following:
Cages: Naturally if I was building from scratch, I’d go full cage. But If I was to upgrade from a rear cage to a full cage, what benefits would I see? I vaguely remember folk on here mentioning the Clio is surprisingly strong around the A pillar area for rollover protection. Would the benefits be more stiffness, more safety…
Would it be overkill for someone doing no more than one trackday a month (best case scenario), and isn’t interested in racing?
Stripping: The car is stripped but retains some semblance of civility. The rear is fully stripped, no interior at all, DIY doorcards covering the opening in the rear quarters, any bare metal has been sprayed to match the exterior. In the front, I removed the carpet and sound deadening/underlay when the drain channel blocked and caused a little leak into the car, but I refitted the carpet without the spongy underlay. So there is carpet in the front. There is also door cards (I rest my leg against the door armrest when I drive) which I’d like to keep, a full dashboard with full plastics, gearstick surround etc. aftermarket wheel and a sidemounted bucket seat. Oh, and the headlining and pillar plastics are still in situ.
Is there anything to gain by stripping more? I mean I’m a heavy guy myself so I’d probably be the best place to start before I start scrapping the plastic steering column cowl. I still have a standard passenger seat which weighs almost as much as the car itself, but whenever I see another XL Clubsport for sale I end up spending the money on something else, e.g. PMS solid topmounts, or a track day.
It’s all stemmed from a passing comment someone made about my car being like a clubsport spec rather than an out and out track car, and me thinking “hmm, is it?” and that same day seeing a YouTube video of an M3 going round the ring with no roof lining, and bent ally plate with push buttons in it where the radio should be etc. I was wondering if there was any benefit in making a vehicle as crude as that (maybe a bit harsh). I’m all for incremental gains, but is the headlining of your car really slowing you down?
(Yes I do get stuck in my own head a lot)
Sat here daydreaming earlier and was wondering about the above. Now it’s not a general query, my car is already semi-stripped with a SW motorsports rear cage with harness bar, bucket seat, 6pt harness. Obviously other mods too, but not relevant to this thread.
The car is a track car, but is driven to the track, driven to work every couple of weeks to keep it in working order & battery topped up etc, used as a backup when my daily breaks down (Jaguar life); the odd Sunday morning B-road run out etc. But in all of those useages, the fact it’s noisy, impractical, etc isn’t an issue. I quite like it.
What I’m wondering is the following:
Cages: Naturally if I was building from scratch, I’d go full cage. But If I was to upgrade from a rear cage to a full cage, what benefits would I see? I vaguely remember folk on here mentioning the Clio is surprisingly strong around the A pillar area for rollover protection. Would the benefits be more stiffness, more safety…
Would it be overkill for someone doing no more than one trackday a month (best case scenario), and isn’t interested in racing?
Stripping: The car is stripped but retains some semblance of civility. The rear is fully stripped, no interior at all, DIY doorcards covering the opening in the rear quarters, any bare metal has been sprayed to match the exterior. In the front, I removed the carpet and sound deadening/underlay when the drain channel blocked and caused a little leak into the car, but I refitted the carpet without the spongy underlay. So there is carpet in the front. There is also door cards (I rest my leg against the door armrest when I drive) which I’d like to keep, a full dashboard with full plastics, gearstick surround etc. aftermarket wheel and a sidemounted bucket seat. Oh, and the headlining and pillar plastics are still in situ.
Is there anything to gain by stripping more? I mean I’m a heavy guy myself so I’d probably be the best place to start before I start scrapping the plastic steering column cowl. I still have a standard passenger seat which weighs almost as much as the car itself, but whenever I see another XL Clubsport for sale I end up spending the money on something else, e.g. PMS solid topmounts, or a track day.
It’s all stemmed from a passing comment someone made about my car being like a clubsport spec rather than an out and out track car, and me thinking “hmm, is it?” and that same day seeing a YouTube video of an M3 going round the ring with no roof lining, and bent ally plate with push buttons in it where the radio should be etc. I was wondering if there was any benefit in making a vehicle as crude as that (maybe a bit harsh). I’m all for incremental gains, but is the headlining of your car really slowing you down?
(Yes I do get stuck in my own head a lot)
