Albi blue 197

A

Albi06

• Apr 15, 2015

• #1

This is my first venture with driving something french and to be honest i'm really enjoying driving this car.

Previous car was a 300hp impreza, more fun in a straight line than the clio but i feel a lot more confident with the clio's handling.

Picked the car up about a month ago and still in the honeymoon period, sure that will wear off soon but will enjoy it while it lasts.

On purchase a bit of work was and is needed with the car:

Rear tyres worn,
Steering wheel falling apart,
Front discs and pads low on life.

Have picked up some parts already:

Early 200 cup suspension,
Steering wheel to be sent off for re-upholstery,
Brembo discs and pads,
Brake pad pin kit.

Few pics after a good clean over the weekend, also a few of the parts i have picked up.











Steering wheel to be re trimmed in black alcantara.

 

montana

• Apr 15, 2015

• #2

Welcome looking good - where did you send your wheel for a retrim ?

 

N

nutnutwelshman

Gold Member

• Apr 15, 2015

• #3

Great colour buddy

 

Pav

Moderator

• Apr 15, 2015

• #4

welcome...glad you enjoying your new motor..their handling is great and will let you drive on the edge....

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 15, 2015

• #5

The one thing ia m struggling on is what to do in regards with wheels/tyres.

Struggling to find many after market wheels i think will suit the car, looking to get an 18"x 8" wide wheel with an offsett between 40 and 45, hoping this will fill the arches a bit more.

Most of the ones i've seen are multispoke wheels, i have seen one set of wheels i really like but i think they would only suit if the car had the right stance and minimal arch gap.

First multispoke ones are the 18" megane wheels which i like but i think they have a high offsett and would need spacing to fill the arches?



Ford replica wheels.



Team Dynamics Monza R in white, unsure if white will suit the car.



Bola B10, think these are fairly new out. Really like them and different to what i've mainly seen on clios, think it would need minimal arch gap to pull these off.

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 15, 2015

• #6

montana said:

Welcome looking good - where did you send your wheel for a retrim ?

Click to expand...

Haven't sent it off yet, going to send it to here. Have read some good reviews, bought an extra wheel for £20 off ebay to send off.

http://royalsteeringwheels.com/renault/

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 15, 2015

• #7

nutnutwelshman said:

Great colour buddy

Click to expand...

Colour is very similar to the subaru i had.

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 15, 2015

• #8

Pav said:

welcome...glad you enjoying your new motor..their handling is great and will let you drive on the edge....

Click to expand...

Been surprised at how solid it feels round the corners, have noticed it's a bit jumpy for the first mile or so but once the engine warms up it's fine.

 

Pav

Moderator

• Apr 15, 2015

• #9

common issue kangarooing..let the engine on for a couple of mins or switch the traction control off...also there is a guide on how to fix the map sensor to get less of a flat spot/kangarooing...

 

Drummond21

• Apr 16, 2015

• #10

Colour looks smart in those photos mate, good job.:thumbup:

Think i would prefer the original wheels if i was honest, 17s work nice enough on these things.

 

J

JDVTR

• Apr 16, 2015

• #11

Nice looking car. Have you fitted the 200 cup suspension yet? If so how different did it feel? Are you glad you swapped?

 

Leethelips

• Apr 17, 2015

• #12

Best colour IMO :welcome:

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 17, 2015

• #13

JDVTR said:

Nice looking car. Have you fitted the 200 cup suspension yet? If so how different did it feel? Are you glad you swapped?

Click to expand...

Not yet, should hopefully get it in at the garage this week for suspension and front disc and pad change.

 

A

Albi06

• Apr 17, 2015

• #14

Drummond21 said:

Colour looks smart in those photos mate, good job.:thumbup:

Think i would prefer the original wheels if i was honest, 17s work nice enough on these things.

Click to expand...

Thinking i may just space the rears out a little and also get these wheels refurbed in a matte gunmetal grey, never really been a fan of silver wheels.

 

A

Albi06

• May 8, 2015

• #15

JDVTR said:

Nice looking car. Have you fitted the 200 cup suspension yet? If so how different did it feel? Are you glad you swapped?

Click to expand...

The 200 cup suspension has been fitted and really glad i did this upgrade, much more feel for the car. Very limited body roll and the car settles down almost imediately after moving over bumps in the road.

Also found a set of 18" Meg R26 alloys, just waiting on the chap to remove them.

Steering wheel currently at RoyalSteeringWheels being retrimmed in Alcantara.

Starting to get it how i want it, just a few little niggles on the inside to get sorted now.

 

A

Albi06

• May 18, 2015

• #16

Spent Sunday doing a few bits to the car. Received my steering wheel back from RoyalSteeringWheels, really pleased with the outcome. Had it done in black Alcantara with blue stitching and a blue position marker.



After what felt like an hour trying to get the steering wheel out of the car I was finally able to get the new wheel fitted.





After fitting I found there was a strange tapping/ clicking noise when turning the wheel. Hadn't realised when pulling the cables through the new wheel I had pulled the clock spring cable out of alignment, quick push back into position and all is good

Next job was new discs and pads. Went originally for standard Brembo discs and pads as Opie Oils had 15% off.



Upon arrival I found out that they listed the wrong pads, in the end went for Mintex M1144 pads.



Started off on the drivers side to find that the retaining pins weren't wanting to come out, after a bit of cutting and a few good whacks with the hammer they gave in! Passenger side was no trouble at all.







Old discs were fairly worn but looked like the pads weren't to old.



Will update on pad and disc combo once they've been worn in, but initially feel very good.

 

Last edited: May 18, 2015

Jimmy

Good cop

• May 18, 2015

• #17

The steering wheel looks great, very nice colour detailing too

I have the Mintex 1144 pads on my Clio and I'm really happy with them so far. Good bite from cold and a noticeable improvement over the OEM ones, imo.

 

A

Albi06

• May 18, 2015

• #18

Pads starting to bed in and as you mentioned they are very good from cold.

 

Duli

• May 19, 2015

• #19

looks like the old discs still had plenty of life in them, so did the pads.

 

A

Albi06

• May 19, 2015

• #20

To me there was quite a lip on them and they didn't feel as good as they should so thought I would change them, for the cost and amount of time it takes to do it seemed worth while.

Pad and disc combo is very good and very pleased with initial braking power.