Well, it's a year today since I picked up Nicole (had to be done didn't it) so I thought I should start a thread at long last. 
I'll start from the beginning... I'd always loved the Clio Williams as a kid and as I went through school the 172 and 182 came out and I always hoped to eventually own one. I passed my driving test in December 2006 and promised myself I'd have a hot Clio as soon as I could afford one. Then in February 2008, I went on an MSV RaceMaster day at Oulton Park where I got to drive the 197 Cup and a Formula Brands. As cool as it was to drive the single seater, my overriding memory of the day was how much fun the 197 was, it was my first time driving on track (Oulton happens to have been my second home since about the age of 4) and my first time driving a 197. At this point, the hope turned into a promise. I would have one.
So, 2 years and 5 cars (Pug' 106 Rallye, Pug' 205 GTi 1.6, Ford Puma 1.7, FIAT Sei' Sporting, FIAT Coupe 16V Turbo) later, I found myself in the position to finally be able to afford to buy and insure one!!!
12 May 2010;
I paid £8495 for Nicole, she'd covered 30689Miles with 1 previous owner and had a FSH. She was up for £10500, but with some haggling and some hard-faced-ness I managed to blag the price down and get Tyre & Wheel Insurance thrown in for free as well as 12 Months Tax. I did have to buy my own mats and V-Power though, but still, I was happy with saving £2000!!!
13 May 2010;
A nice parcel arrived from K-Tec, an ITG Panel Filter. I'd ordered it 3 days before actually picking Nicole up.
13 June 2010;
Time for my first proper blast out, which happened to by my first trip to The EVO Triangle.
My dad had picked up his new Subaru Impreza WRXS just a week after I'd picked up Nicole, so it would've been rude for him not to join me.
The rest of the summer pretty much followed the same pattern of getting out and about whenever we could and just enjoying the cars. I'd always been a bit of a clean-freak too, so I started to get into the whole detailing thing which has since become a f?cking obsession. But, with our first child (Lewis Jenson) arriving in November, just as we moved house (literally the same day) the sh!te weather arrived and Nicole ended up looking more like a tractor for the next few months...
03 January 2011;
Normal service resumed once things had settled down after New Year and I got back into keeping Nicole nice and clean. I also figured it was about time I took her on track (Oulton, of course) and give her the thrashing she deserved, I was also long overdue another trackday (last one was in November 2009). But, the brakes seemed like they could do with a freshen up as they weren't as powerful as I'd expected. I knew the Rear Discs were only a year old and the Rear Pads had been changed the day before I picked her up, so I refreshed the fronts...
20 January 2011;
Profile Automotive; Fitted Front Pads (OEM), Front Discs (OEM) & Millers Oils Race Fluid 300 Plus
22 January 2011;
Oulton Park, Focused Events; Again, my dad thought he best tag along in the WRXS (my mum wasn't too sure, but she's given up trying to reason with him now) and our good friend Craig also joined us in his Ford Focus ST (320BHP)...
03 April 2011;
Top Gear Stockport; Removed Centre Silencer
From then until now has seen a whole lot of detailing (most of which hasn't been photographed), even more driving (again, not so much with the photography) and too much fun to put into words. The Cat & Fiddle is now my local pub, despite being 15Miles away and I now know The EVO Triangle better than I know my back garden. This brings us up to now...
11 May 2011;
Northwest Performance; MOT & 4 Year Service.
Nicole flew through her MOT with no advisories and so I thought it was only fair to celebrate our aniversary by treating her to a Service.
12 May 2011;
So, that's my first year of Clio 197 ownership, I have some ''small'' plans for her over the next year so I'll update this accordingly.
I'll start from the beginning... I'd always loved the Clio Williams as a kid and as I went through school the 172 and 182 came out and I always hoped to eventually own one. I passed my driving test in December 2006 and promised myself I'd have a hot Clio as soon as I could afford one. Then in February 2008, I went on an MSV RaceMaster day at Oulton Park where I got to drive the 197 Cup and a Formula Brands. As cool as it was to drive the single seater, my overriding memory of the day was how much fun the 197 was, it was my first time driving on track (Oulton happens to have been my second home since about the age of 4) and my first time driving a 197. At this point, the hope turned into a promise. I would have one.
So, 2 years and 5 cars (Pug' 106 Rallye, Pug' 205 GTi 1.6, Ford Puma 1.7, FIAT Sei' Sporting, FIAT Coupe 16V Turbo) later, I found myself in the position to finally be able to afford to buy and insure one!!!
12 May 2010;
I paid £8495 for Nicole, she'd covered 30689Miles with 1 previous owner and had a FSH. She was up for £10500, but with some haggling and some hard-faced-ness I managed to blag the price down and get Tyre & Wheel Insurance thrown in for free as well as 12 Months Tax. I did have to buy my own mats and V-Power though, but still, I was happy with saving £2000!!!
13 May 2010;
A nice parcel arrived from K-Tec, an ITG Panel Filter. I'd ordered it 3 days before actually picking Nicole up.
13 June 2010;
Time for my first proper blast out, which happened to by my first trip to The EVO Triangle.
My dad had picked up his new Subaru Impreza WRXS just a week after I'd picked up Nicole, so it would've been rude for him not to join me.
The rest of the summer pretty much followed the same pattern of getting out and about whenever we could and just enjoying the cars. I'd always been a bit of a clean-freak too, so I started to get into the whole detailing thing which has since become a f?cking obsession. But, with our first child (Lewis Jenson) arriving in November, just as we moved house (literally the same day) the sh!te weather arrived and Nicole ended up looking more like a tractor for the next few months...
03 January 2011;
Normal service resumed once things had settled down after New Year and I got back into keeping Nicole nice and clean. I also figured it was about time I took her on track (Oulton, of course) and give her the thrashing she deserved, I was also long overdue another trackday (last one was in November 2009). But, the brakes seemed like they could do with a freshen up as they weren't as powerful as I'd expected. I knew the Rear Discs were only a year old and the Rear Pads had been changed the day before I picked her up, so I refreshed the fronts...
20 January 2011;
Profile Automotive; Fitted Front Pads (OEM), Front Discs (OEM) & Millers Oils Race Fluid 300 Plus
22 January 2011;
Oulton Park, Focused Events; Again, my dad thought he best tag along in the WRXS (my mum wasn't too sure, but she's given up trying to reason with him now) and our good friend Craig also joined us in his Ford Focus ST (320BHP)...
03 April 2011;
Top Gear Stockport; Removed Centre Silencer
From then until now has seen a whole lot of detailing (most of which hasn't been photographed), even more driving (again, not so much with the photography) and too much fun to put into words. The Cat & Fiddle is now my local pub, despite being 15Miles away and I now know The EVO Triangle better than I know my back garden. This brings us up to now...
11 May 2011;
Northwest Performance; MOT & 4 Year Service.
Nicole flew through her MOT with no advisories and so I thought it was only fair to celebrate our aniversary by treating her to a Service.
12 May 2011;
So, that's my first year of Clio 197 ownership, I have some ''small'' plans for her over the next year so I'll update this accordingly.
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