ClioSport.net

Register a free account today to become a member!
Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read more here.

TRACK TROPHY 381 – PROGRESS TO DATE



cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
TRACK TROPHY 381 – PROGRESS TO DATE
Hi all, I have been mulling over doing a build thread from when I bought the Clio over a year ago, so I have finally decided to bore you with the car’s progress to date.
A quick photo below of it sitting ready to go for its 2015 track outings before I run through the build & photos over the last year:
upload_2015-3-1_22-42-34.png

Having never been a Renault fan, sorry to say, I had few mates who were and still are Clio daft “ @Fraser.J. / @stu / @Gaz-m “, so after a few years of suggestions that I should buy one and get it ready for the track, I finally bit the bullet and bought one to strip………….. I have to say that this is something I should have done years ago and would say to anyone thinking on whether they should take the plunge and have some track day fun, just do it! Best driving fun I have had and strangely enough in a Clio!!
Down to the build
I was torn between a, Phase 1 or Phase 2 172 Cup or something slightly different……….. I finally decided on a Trophy. Most people wouldn’t like to do what I have done to a Trophy, so apologies to anyone that thinks this is destroying a highly regarded model of Clio, but to be fair the damage was done before I bought it, so I guess it’s just a red Clio now.
Has to be said, I was in two minds in buying the car as it does come with a history……… Trophy 381 is cat D, but as it was purely a track project so it didn’t really matter. Good thing being that when it was stripped it seems that it was repaired with a new rear quarter so slightly less filler than you might expect J. The Car was purchased from Steve @R-Sport Cars LTD and the Trendlines and suspension were already removed so the highlights of the Trophy were gone, but none the less it had quite a few parts on it that got things kicked off for the build!
As the car was when advertised:
upload_2015-3-1_22-43-20.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-43-37.png

Even though the seats and suspension were missing the car did benefit from the following:
INTERIOR
  • Renaultsport Sabelt cup racer seat
  • TRS 6 point harness
  • OMP seat mount
  • New Oreca Steering Wheel & OMP phase 2 boss kit
  • Remaining interior all in place and pretty mint to me fair
SUSPENSION
  • GAZ GHA Coilover’s
  • AST Top Mount Kit
  • Eibach Camber bolts / rear camber shims and geo set up
  • New Brembo discs & DS 2500 pads, new rear discs and pads
  • Goodridge hoses & race fluid
ENGINE
  • Ktec induction kit with piper cross filter
  • RS Tuning remap (with invoice & rolling road print)
  • Scorpion RS 192 & de-cat pipe
So in March 2014, after a quick flight to Kent, followed by a 500 mile drive home I had a Clio J. A big thanks to Steve who trusted me with his mates OZ F1’s and new Michelin Pilot Sports that I couriered back after the long trip, as the black TD’s it had on it in the for sale add were cracked…. Genuine seller and really nice guy.
Not being sure what way to go and being a little new to the track car game, I set about preparing the car for possibly some sprint competition in the future. So I was following a build that would meet the MSA regulations, making something that could be used to compete in sprints, hill climbs or any race series and possibly future proofing it if I wanted to sell. To be fair, a year in and several track days at Knockhill later and I well and truly have the bug!
Anyway back to how it got from its collection in Kent, March 2014, to its trailer in my drive in March 2015.
After collecting the car mid-March 2014, I wanted to get it ready for the early May 14 to start off my track days at Knockhill. Before anything commenced I set about checking over all of the mechanical parts of the car, not overly worried as the 500 mile drive home was absolutely trouble free, no knocks or noises that shouldn’t be there and not surprisingly, other than the horn not working, nothing was wrong at all, to be fair it was in very good condition and in keeping with its low mileage.
So with piece of mind on the mechanical side, I started stripping and throwing away what was left of the Trophy interior and removing every bit of sound deadening & tar that I could find. Dash was stripped out as well and all sound deadening behind removed and the cage feet were trial fitted:
upload_2015-3-1_22-44-44.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-44-56.png


A big thanks to Mark Fish for getting the safety devices full cage to me in time for my May outing and the great deal I got on stock item they had following a group buy.
So after a further few nights of the heat gun and the scraper, the floor was ready and I had the cage mounts welded into place!
upload_2015-3-1_22-45-26.png

All progressing well, but the main thing I should have done at this stage was paint the inside of the car!! Has bugged me every time I get in it since and the thought of taking everything out to get it done now fills me full of that can’t be ars*d feeling. But with the clock ticking for the 19th May track day, I pushed on regardless. A lot of the guys say not to bother painting the inside but due to my OCD it will end up being grey or red at some point this year!!
Regardless, cage fitted and the seat mount, seat and harness put back into place:
upload_2015-3-1_22-46-18.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-46-29.png


more to follow.....................
 

Attachments

  • upload_2015-3-1_22-44-27.png
    upload_2015-3-1_22-44-27.png
    144.3 KB · Views: 409
  • upload_2015-3-1_22-46-59.png
    upload_2015-3-1_22-46-59.png
    89.2 KB · Views: 352

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
Next was a clean-up of the GAZ coilovers, lubricate and re-install and installation of the prima racing solid exhaust mounts as the originals were past their best and had the usual cable ties and old sockets holding the exhaust tailpipes in the position they were meant to be in. Massive difference with the solid ones in place in positioning & vibration………… but it is a track car after all.
upload_2015-3-1_22-50-42.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-50-53.png

Whilst stripping everything to clean up the coilover’s and check over everything I installed a couple of ducts to help with brake cooling, carbon front splitter was replaced with a Fabia one as well.
upload_2015-3-1_22-51-16.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-51-31.png

Car was almost there and with the May 19th Deadline approaching I was getting the final little touches in place and I ordered 2 sets of 15” TD pro race 1.2’s, silver with road tyres for wet days & grey with 888’s for track days.
upload_2015-3-1_22-51-48.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-52-5.png

With safety in mind and as I was building it allow it to compete if it had to, I installed a plumbed in fire extinguisher system covering the injectors & the driver, pull cables on scuttle and on the dash mount which replaced the stereo also made provision for battery kill switch at the same time. So with safety completed, the last few finishing touches were added, the compulsory tow stickers and the tow strap, the car detailed and ready to go, those eagle eyed people shall notice the little yellow horn button on the steering column, well I couldn’t have that not working as it is still road legal after all.
upload_2015-3-1_22-52-24.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-52-33.png

So its May 19th, Knockhill pre booked, as you can see from the photo below the weather is spectacular!
upload_2015-3-1_22-52-55.png

It was a great start to the day, get the car polished and ready to go, drive out the street to take it up and a 100 yards from the house it develops a miss-fire!! Unbelievable, especially as it drives 500 miles up the road 2 months ago, it clears and makes the 20 minute drive to the circuit no problem at all. On arrival we change the tyres over and get signed on. Start her up and the misfire is back! You can imagine my complete and utter pi**ed off state. A quick check over and its noted that its cylinder 3, I try leads from a mates car and its gone completely, but as he’s booked on as well, no chance of borrowing his that day. Rebuild mine and its running well, I get about 15 laps in and it’s back, so pack up and just watch for the rest of the day! To be fair the grin was still on my face as the Clio did handle superbly. Good thing was the problem was only a minor one, lead nr 3!!

So after a full check over at home, new leads and plugs ordered and installed, I went for the Magnecor red leads and NGKR plugs, and the Clio is running sweeter than it ever did J. Should most possibly have done this before the first outing but lesson learned!

Next outing the car performed faultlessly and I get 65 laps in throughout the day….. Weather was great again and I’m on a high. Well and truly smitten with my little Clio and it’s off for a few more additions / modifications.

........... and more to follow...............
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
As I wanted to take a passenger I needed a second seat. This is where my OCD kicks in a little!! I don’t want to lose the seat I have so I set about sourcing a brand new Sabelt Taurus seat to match and I managed to get one J. It’s in Ireland, but brand new and slightly larger so I can sit my ass in comfort! So it’s ordered with matching OMP mount and TRS harnesses as the original has, and I slide the original to the passengers side. All installed and looking quite good. I had also picked up a whiteline rear ARB, courtesy of Ears motor sport, and a further set of pro race 1.2’s in white and fitted them with some Yoko A048’s & made myself some door blanks and rear quarter cards to tidy things up a little.
upload_2015-3-1_22-56-3.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-56-13.png

upload_2015-3-1_22-56-34.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-56-48.png


...................more to follow............
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
Out again in July, another spectacular day and the car is running amazingly well. The temps that day were through the roof and after a 10 lap burst you couldn’t touch the wheels when you come back in!! unbelievable the white wheels are absolutely baked in dust and the biggest disappointment of all were the DS 2500, they failed, luckily enough no damage done, but that was enough for me, time to change!
upload_2015-3-1_22-58-23.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-58-36.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-58-51.png

upload_2015-3-1_22-59-5.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-59-18.png
upload_2015-3-1_22-59-36.png

As a note that’s the white wheel after a coating of wheel clearer, a good scrub and a pressure wash!! After a few passenger laps in @Fraser.J.’s Phase 1, it was time to get some Carbon Lorraine RC6’s and some new Brembo High Carbons, even as a passenger the braking power and confidence with the RC6’s was clear to see over the DS 2500’s & they were a must purchase!
upload_2015-3-1_23-0-28.png
upload_2015-3-1_23-0-40.png

That was the last of the modifications for the remainder of the track days in 2014 & the Clio ran faultlessly right up until the last outing at the end of November. 8 outings since 19th May, approx. 400 laps in and the trophy never missed a beat, other than the lead issue noted on the first outing and a slight sump leak that it developed, after asking around its seemingly a very common issue?? Has to be said I love my Clio, which is a massive turnaround from a guy who would only ever buy German cars!

........... more to follow...........
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
......last email for now

The winter break is a terrible thing and boredom generally means sitting on Cliosport, looking for advice and things that can be done to improve, modify or generally make your toy a little different from others………….. and so development goes on!
I know it’s just a track car, but I do like things to look right, so the car went to the body shop to get the rear quarter repair improved upon.
upload_2015-3-1_23-2-29.png

One other thing I noticed was that the Trophy has had the roof done too, no damage to the roof in the accident, as you can see the inside now the interior has been removed. As the quote was a little expensive for the roof repaint, noting it was a track car, I opted to add a few stickers to take your eye away for it. This shall generate mixed opinions, but I like it and when you’re not on a step ladder taking pictures in the grey dark with the flash making them glow, they don’t stand out that much…..
upload_2015-3-1_23-2-57.png

So other than the body work and roof sticker kit the Trophy has been treated to a complete Powerflex Black series upgrade, all wishbone, front ARB, inner & outer (@MarcR thanks for size clarification) and rear beam bushes have been changed, as well as the dog bone mounts and steering rack bushes. Vibrotechnics upper and lower engine mounts and since the sub-frame was dropped, the sump gasket was also changed just to ensure no more leak issues.
upload_2015-3-1_23-4-51.png
upload_2015-3-1_23-5-1.png
upload_2015-3-1_23-5-14.png

upload_2015-3-1_23-5-33.png
upload_2015-3-1_23-5-42.png

I’m hoping that these changes shall make a huge difference next year, these coupled with the new PMS shifter Kit that I toyed with for ages, but finally purchased last month. I haven’t used the car on track yet but can’t wait, as a quick test drive around the block shows it’s transformed. It felt great before, but it feels like a different car now.
upload_2015-3-1_23-6-4.png

hoping this will make for a great 2015 season and having purchased a trailer it will let me push it a little harder this year and also let me take it to a few outings down south and possibly further.
I think the coming year will bring possibly a Polycarbonate window kit, which would mean a new door card kit and possibly the interior paint, but I really want to have another year of enjoying it before I do anything else to it. I do have a cup alternator and bracket set up to allow me to remove the air-con etc. and shed a little more weight from it, but work is pretty busy just now so I think that shall be later in the season or through the winter.
If all goes well this year, I think the engine will be the next ugrade, funds dependent! I really struggled this winter in passing on the cams, Jenvey’s and ECU that @Fraser.J. had for sale, spent a good few nights negotiating with him! So I was really relieved when @-Danman-bought the lot, as knowing everything was lying in a box with my name on it was torture!
I hope I haven’t bored you guys too much with the ongoing project and I hope to catch up with a lot of you at Knockhill and any other circuit I make it to this year.
I’ll update as things change.

cheers - Craig
 

sburrell93

Scotland - South
ClioSport Area Rep
Seen this at Knockhill a couple of times last year and wondered who in their right mind would be tracking a trophy lol! But cat D and most of the trophy trimmings being gone from it makes more sense now. Good to get a bit of a read up on it. Will no doubt see you up there this year at some point, hopefully on track myself.
 

withoutabix

ClioSport Club Member
looking epic dude

exactly what i want to do to my Trophy but I've still got all the trinkets of a trophy so currently torn as what to do!

selling my breadlines will free up a decent amount of money but once there gone ill never get them back!
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
looking good, any chance you can update the owners register on cliotrophy? :wink:
Hi Mate, I have posted a thread on Cliotrophy.co.uk, hopefully that should keep it updated, if I have missed anything (which I probably have) let me know.

Cheers
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
looking epic dude

exactly what i want to do to my Trophy but I've still got all the trinkets of a trophy so currently torn as what to do!

selling my breadlines will free up a decent amount of money but once there gone ill never get them back!
Yeah it was a little easier for me, I can see your dilemma though :confused:....... your Trophy as standard on track should be great on track anyway so you should be able to have both......
 

Paul.M

ClioSport Club Member
Brilliant write up, good to see another one on here being used properly!

Hopefully all the hard work pays off this year for you.
 

withoutabix

ClioSport Club Member
Yeah it was a little easier for me, I can see your dilemma though :confused:....... your Trophy as standard on track should be great on track anyway so you should be able to have both......

Ye it's been out a fair few times now really just a hoon about and track car when it's actually being used! Plus it's on around 109k miles so not some low mileage minter! Think I'm gonna take the plunge now after seeing yours lol
 
Nice write up mate. Do love a track Trophy. My good pal has one. Yours looks great so far.

Shame the photos are so bloody small though, how are you posting them? As an attachment? Maybe try and make them a bit bigger in future if possible, or link in from a photo hosting website :) I like to study photos in good detail haha and think they really make a thread.

Looking forward to more updates.
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
brilliant write up,hope to see this at knockhill this year
Hopefully catch you up there mate, looks like we'll be up on Friday 3rd April to kick start the season

Good write up Craig, hope to get out on track with you again at some point this year.
Yeah it will be good to catch up with you mate, must see the green in the flesh!! looks great in the photos..... When does the SLS kick off?

Nice write up mate. Do love a track Trophy. My good pal has one. Yours looks great so far.

Shame the photos are so bloody small though, how are you posting them? As an attachment? Maybe try and make them a bit bigger in future if possible, or link in from a photo hosting website :smile: I like
Nice write up mate. Do love a track Trophy. My good pal has one. Yours looks great so far.

Shame the photos are so bloody small though, how are you posting them? As an attachment? Maybe try and make them a bit bigger in future if possible, or link in from a photo hosting website :smile: I like to study photos in good detail haha and think they really make a thread.

Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks mate, hopefully a long term project, another year of the standard engine and then a few upgrades to follow hopefully!

Re the photos, I had just cut and pasted them in, shrunk them as to not take up masses of pages..... Your point noted, I'll drop them in full size or attach them as I post more....

Its a 10 from Glenn... Well Mike if Im honest.
cheers Mike

Quick update on the weekends work, nothing too exciting but last of the maintenance before this years outings start!
Brake pad change, 4 track days on RC6's, and they needed a change...........? expensive when you look at the mileage, but by Christ they stop the car!!
That shiny gold coating will last for a lap at most!

upload_2015-3-10_21-0-14.png
upload_2015-3-10_21-2-30.png



Then in the hope of some summer sun, a sun strip was fitted...... I went for the touring car look, 2 stage, solid satin black at the top (£1.79 Ebay special) and a trip to the local tint guy who covered half the front screen for £10 in limo tint! seems to do the trick and the Ebay special hides that halo look you get on the black dots around the edge of the screen, well it has to look right too!!


upload_2015-3-10_21-4-10.png


upload_2015-3-10_21-4-39.png


hope to catch up with a few of you on the 3rd April :yum:
@Martin. the photos should be attached, but I'm having issues with laptop.....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
They only appear at about 3-4 inches on my PC. And I can't even click on them to make them bigger.

You're better off using flicker or Photobucket and hosting the photos rather than attaching them.
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
They only appear at about 3-4 inches on my PC. And I can't even click on them to make them bigger.

You're better off using flicker or Photobucket and hosting the photos rather than attaching them.
yeah saw that last night mate......
 

Tim.

ClioSport Club Member
Nice one Craig, a great little project, committed build, and a very enjoyable read.

I look forward to reading more of your trackday antics this year, then the inevitable engine mods, which WILL come ;)
 

neil a

ClioSport Club Member
Looks good Craig I seen the pics on Barrys fb page, think im going to do something similar as the rare bit of Knockhill sun can be a nightmare.

Whats on 3rd April ??
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
Looks good Craig I seen the pics on Barrys fb page, think im going to do something similar as the rare bit of Knockhill sun can be a nightmare.

Whats on 3rd April ??

Open day on the 3rd April mate 10am to 5pm, followed by a track night 6 to 8.............. I'm meant to have something on this coming weekend, but if not I might go for the reverse day on the 22nd.
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
Nice one Craig, a great little project, committed build, and a very enjoyable read.

I look forward to reading more of your trackday antics this year, then the inevitable engine mods, which WILL come :wink:


thanks mate, I was actually looking at @Ph1 Tom set up for sale yesterday :smile: but was a little too late! maybe a good thing!
 

neil a

ClioSport Club Member
Is that a knock hill thing on the 3rd ? is it a static show during the day ?
I will get booked up for that as i'm not home until the 23rd so will miss everything up until then.
 

cpaterson76

ClioSport Club Member
  Supercharged AG 200
Is that a knock hill thing on the 3rd ? is it a static show during the day ?
I will get booked up for that as i'm not home until the 23rd so will miss everything up until then.
no show or anything mate on the 3rd April, just a knockhill open pit day so it should give time to play about with the car without the 10 lap sessions
 


Top