So, I need to work out where to secure my new PC680 in the boot. This photo is not of my car but gives an idea of the areas I could attach it.

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Are there any double skinned areas in the boot where I can use a riv nut gun to screw the battery cage down? The vertical faces on the wheel arches would be a nice area. If none of that area is double skinned I might see if @EthanMenace can make up a bracket/arm that can be secured by the rear seat mounting points and extend in to the boot.
 
The V6 airbox is progressing slowly, mainly because @EthanMenace is doing all of the work whilst I have been "busy" doing other things this weekend.

The new Odyssey PC680 battery has been relocated to under the front passenger seat. After searching for sensible mounting points in the boot we struggled to find anywhere that did not require drilling in to the bodywork.

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The old battery, battery box and K-Tec induction kit has been removed.

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The fuses are going to be relocated to sit further back in the engine bay next to the ECU. The relay that was attached to the battery box will be attached out of the way closer to the header tank. In order to move the fuses a few wires will need to be extended.

The hole for the main power cable to go from the junction box to the battery has been drilled in the bulkhead but it needs to be enlarged so that a Renault airbox grommet can sit in the drilled hole to protect the power cable. The area around the hole also needs to be touched up to make sure it does not rust.

The rest of the work will be finished by next weekend as the Clio needs to be ready for Bedford on 25th October 2021.
 
The wiper linkage seized this week. I searched around for replacement linkage and had one delivered from eBay for £40. The linkage turned up broken and was already seized!

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The packaging was rather ironic.
 
The V6 airbox is in. @EthanMenace has spent a few hours each night this week after work sorting out the wiring and moving the fusebox and relay out of the way.

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I thought that using @RSRowe battery relocation kit was going to make moving the battery really easy - but the reality was that despite reading his instructions we failed to realise how much a pain in the arse it is to move the electrics around in the engine bay. The battery relocation kit was superb and had everything we needed to move the battery, but to get the other electrics moved to fit in the V6 airbox we had hack apart parts of the loom and extend the loom so the wiring was out of the way of the mounting plate.

The Weeder Motorsport, and now No. 7 Motorsport, mounting plate is an odd design. It is not the best fit. I ordered the kit with two Renault grommets but when the mounting plate is screwed on top of the gearbox mount the large righthand grommet sits above a metal ridge on the gearbox mount and does not really allow the plastic prong in the airbox sit in the grommet properly.

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With the elbow in the airbox sits tightly in the engine bay - but the elbow is touching the scuttle.

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I have read about people cutting the elbow down by about 10mm on either side so I will have to trim the elbow to see if I can get a better fit. I had also read about people grinding down exposed screws but I don't think that my elbow is making contact with any screw threads.

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With the fuse box pushed back sat next to the ECU, and the relay tucked next to the coolant bottle, there is now an odd amount of room in between the engine and the airbox.

The windscreen wiper linkage seized last week. The wipers had been getting slower and then just froze one day when I was going to take the car to work. I had looked around for a new linkage but the cheapest I could find a new linkage set was £185 from RPD. I then scoured eBay and saw that the linkage was available for about £40 from various breakers. I ordered a second hand linkage but it turned up both broken and the mechanism was seized already. I then ordered a set of push rods for the wiper linkage from a manufacturer called Wipex. I was not really sure what I was ordered and what I got were the horizontal bars with new plastic joints to replace parts on the original linkage. We tried to replace the seized parts on the linkage with the new parts from Wipex but ended up breaking the seized linkage. To make matters worse I had already returned the other seized eBay linkage to the Post Office.

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As we needed the wipers to function on Monday at Bedford I thought that a bodge job would be good enough and we put the wiper linkage, together with the new Wipex push rods, back on the car and used two cable ties to pin the linkage down where the linkage was now missing a screw to secure the mechanism. The wipers are now working.

We took the car out for a test drive with the new V6 airbox and I think that the airbox is quieter than the K-Tec induction kit that we have taken off. This might sound a bit odd but to me it sounds like the V6 airbox induction noise is louder than a standard airbox but not a fake noise like an open cone induction kit produces. When the car is stationary and you are outside the car you can hear the whoosh of the air being sucked in to the airbox. Now I can hear the Akrapovic exhaust more.

The V6 airbox will get a full run out on Monday.
 
The V6 airbox looks good. Will you be doing a remap to suit the new intake setup?

Yes, that is the plan. But I have some more shopping to do over winter for tyres and more coilovers and will probably get a remap sorted for February or March next year before more track days next year.
 
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Looking good! How painful was it moving that fuse box? / do you know what it’s used for? Mine only seems to have a single fuse in it I think.

Also I assume you completely removed the two earths in the engine bay?
 
Looking good! How painful was it moving that fuse box? / do you know what it’s used for? Mine only seems to have a single fuse in it I think.

Also I assume you completely removed the two earths in the engine bay?

The larger fuse box was a bit of a pain.
The wiring coming from it was too short to be able to fit it somewhere that wasn’t in the way of the air box or be directly in front of the intake part of the box. We extended some of the wires which opened our options a bit.

I think with a different mounting plate or something that allows you to adjust the position of the air box it would be a lot easier to squeeze them in.

I assume you mean the earths off the original battery? The one further up towards the right hand side of the engine bay I cut off but the car wouldn’t start without the bottom one earthed somewhere.
 
We went to Bedford Autodrome on 25th October 2021 for a track day organised by Track Obsession. Our previous tack day had been an evening session at Brands Hatch which had highlighted to me the need for a stiffer suspension set up and more negative camber. The only change that had been made to the car since Brands Hatch was the V6 airbox installation.

Bedford Autodrome is a 2 hour drive from home. Things started well when I was woken up by @EthanMenace at 5.30 am as my alarm had not gone off and we had agreed to leave by 5.30 am. After signing on we went on a bit of mystery tour and found the pit lane and garages. The track wheels went on with the Direzzas - they were bought part worn and this was track day number 4 for them. I was expecting the Direzzas to wear out at Bedford.

@EthanMenace did the sighting laps and I went round as a passenger. I like to do a bit of prep before a track day to make sure I have a vague idea what the track layout is like and what corners I really need to pay attention to. Unfortunately I could not find a game for my Xbox Series X that had Bedford Autodrome on it. After the sighting laps I took the Clio out blind not really knowing the track. At the first hairpin bend the car felt a bit unsteady and was sliding around - but in hindsight I think that was due to the tyres being cool, me not having enough confidence on the car, and my over eager driving. I came back in after a 20 minute stint still not knowing the circuit very well. As I came back in @Big Ben turbo was literally glowing red and @Helpimonfire had turned up. It was a sunny day and this is the only photo that I have of all three Clios together.

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The morning went well apart from an Integra causing a red flag that lasted about 30 minutes. It damaged to dump an array of fluids over a mile stretch of the track. @EthanMenace had some tuition about 11 am and I had a session about 12 noon. After the tuition we spent most of out time critiquing each other's driving. @EthanMenace was definitely the faster driver out of us both.

In the afternoon session I had a ride as a passenger in @Big Ben car. It is a real beast with 377 BHP of Megane power in a Clio shell. It was obvious out on track that the car confuses bigger powered cars like M3s. I also had a ride in @Helpimonfire 197. He has recently installed some Yellow Speed coilovers and I wanted to compare the ride of Ben's Gaz Golds to Martin's Yellow Speeds. I find that the B14s on my car are now too soft. I knew that they were not stiff and are non-adjustable when they went on the car but at that stage I was happy to spend £400 to improve the handling of the car compared to standard cup shocks and springs. The B14s have improved the ride quality but I now I just want a stiffer ride for track days. In August this year I had a ride in @IainMac Clio and his car felt planted and had virtually no roll around corners. I got the same feel out on track with both Ben and Martin's cars.

By about 4pm people started to leave and the track was a bit clearer. I felt a lot more confident at the end of the day in the car. The car sliding around corners in a controlled manner was now fun. I had been far too gentle with the brakes for most of the day and I was now confident to literally stand on the brakes when slowing down from 115mph going in to turn 11 in second gear. Taking the chicane at turn 7 at about 70 to 80 mph was good fun. With the V6 airbox installed the Akrapovic was noticeably louder from inside the car and was popping on gear changes and when I lifted off the throttle. I genuinely have no idea if the V6 airbox has added any extra power of torque to the car. Fortunately none of the electrics failed and the PC680 battery was perfect all day long. Engine wise and brake wise the car was perfect. The Direzzas are still in reasonable condition and may even have another two track days left in them. It was just the suspension that I felt was a bit lacking.

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There was evidence of the tyres rubbing on the drivers side front arch by the end of the day - unless that was rubber debris?

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The next upgrade for the Clio will be a set of Yellow Speed coil overs with stiffer track spec spring rates, and adjustable top mounts. This will hopefully solve the Clio having a slightly bouncy feeling and give it a comparable planted ride to Iain, Ben and Martin's cars. The plan is to get the Yellow Speed coil overs on between December and January.

The only other complaint I have about the Clio at the moment is the lack of grip when accelerating out of corners. I know that my right foot is sometimes over eager and some of the lack of grip is caused by me pushing on the throttle too early. Next years big upgrade will definitely be an LSD.

We have no more track days booked for this year. I think that the next track day is not going to be until spring 2021 when the winter weather is changing to a warmer and sunnier outlook. Bedford was track day number 5. We have done 4 track days in 2021 and hopefully we will book up at least 6 for 2022. Bedford Autodrome is a very flat track but I enjoyed the mixture of straights, chicanes and hairpin corners. The weather was excellent all day with brilliant sunshine and after a tiny bit of spitting the rain held off. Big thanks to Ben and Martin for their company and the rides in their cars. Bedford was another good track day.

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I have hastily purchased some Oz Ultraleggera wheels - I blame this purchase entirely on @suj as he sent me the link. I am sure he gets commission from the links he sends me.

They are 17 inch ET40 in 7.5J in silver.

I did not really think about the dimensions of the wheels before I bought them. I have 17 inch Speedlines as road wheels and for track days I use some 17 inch Renault Cup wheels. The car has 20mm spacers on it all round.

So, is ET40 going to cause any issues if the Clio is lowered? Also, will I need to take the spacers off if I put on these wheels?
 
So they will poke 8mm more than now (you have 17x7.5 ET68 but with 20mm spacers ET48).
But I could definitely run 5-10mm bigger rear spacers and then front with camber (hint hint...buy YSRs) they should sit spot on (and I run 225 tyres).

Or worst case use them on road tyres.

But yes you will need to remove the spacers, otherwise it would be ET20 and poke 28mm more than now.
 
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100% will need to take the spacers off if they're 7.5j
They'll poke out 8mm more than your cup wheels with 20mm's on

I briefly ran ET42 with H&R springs and it wore away the trailing edge of the front bumper.
 
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So spacers off with the Ultraleggera's on, together with some more negative front camber, I should be okay without destroying my front wheel arches or arch liners?
 
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I have managed to find a non-genuine new wiper linkage on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124488847832. My wiper linkage is currently held to the car with cable ties as the furthest drivers side screw/mounting point has sheared off. Hopefully the linkage I have ordered will be just as good as a £185 Renault unit.

I have exchanged a few e-mails with Alex from AW Motorsports about a LSD. I was thinking about a Quaife but he said that a Blackline is just as good and is a carbon copy of a Quaife. I don't want to go for a Gripper as I still want to use the car on the road from time to time. In addition to the usual maintenance work of stripping, inspecting and rebuilding the gearbox together with new synchros for 3rd and 4th gear Alex has suggested replacing the clutch and slave cylinder.

I have no plans to modify the car with significant amounts of power going though the drive train with a supercharger (at least for the moment). I can see the logic in replacing the clutch and slave cylinder as I have no record of the clutch ever being replaced on the Clio and it might as well be done whilst the gearbox is out. But, and here is the question, would a diff put any additional stress on a standard clutch? If so would there be any point in getting an updated clutch that was not going to be a pain to use when driving the car in "normal" circumstances?