2012 clio 3RS RB7 #166

[Big Ben]

Really enjoyed meeting you and your car last month Peter(however brief)

Your car is an absolute credit to you. One of my favourite on the forum for sure. Lovely example

 

[///M]

Nice update Peter.

Love the bit about "what have you done to the engine / what suspension are you running?"



I'm just better than you...



Nice one mate. Cool photos as always.

 

[peter]

Cool photos as always.

cheers mes. i find it very hard to get decent shots of the clio. don't know what it is, maybe because it's black (nasty reflections) or maybe because i think the front of the car is pig-ugly.

I'm just better than you...

those lotus boys are just a bit more careful with their cars (at least the ones i've met so far). i know i would be. that's the advantage of taking a less expensive car to a track, you're more willing to throw it around. i'm in no doubt that a hard driven elise will run rings around a clio.

 

[///M]

cheers mes. i find it very hard to get decent shots of the clio. don't know what it is, maybe because it's black (nasty reflections) or maybe because i think the front of the car is pig-ugly.

those lotus boys are just a bit more careful with their cars (at least the ones i've met so far). i know i would be. that's the advantage of taking a less expensive car to a track, you're more willing to throw it around. i'm in no doubt that a hard driven elise will run rings around a clio.

Ha, mate, you bought a 200... tough luck!!!



Joking, obviously! And yeah that's a problem with black cars, the bonus is that they look spectacular in the flesh when freshly detailed.

As for the Lotus guys... speaking from experience... it's because they don't want any more parts to fall off their cars! And honestly, most of them don't drive as hard as they think they do.

And... erm... swapping cogs swiftly is... let's just say difficult!

Always happy to jump out of the Lotus and into the R27 and feel like I can just slam gears home with confidence and without needing to give it time to do its job!

 

[peter]

finally after almost two months (busy at work and bad weather), i was able to take the clio on track again. twice in three weeks, both times at spa. the AD08R's were done and since i was unable to sell the michelin cup 2 tyres, i got from michelin under warranty, i decided to use them myself.

this time i kept tyre pressures between 2.3 and 2.5 bar (hot), as recommended by michelin themselves. this is how they look after about 40 laps of spa, of which 20 at a decent pace ...

front tyre ...



rear tyre ...



both trackdays were run in hot weather (about 28°C). first trackday tyres felt okay, though i could immediately feel that the back of the car wasn't as stable under heavy braking as with the yokohamas. second trackday, i struggled for about an hour with grip and traction. pressures were hard to monitor and only when i put 0.2 bar more in the tyres and ran two hard laps and then a cool down lap, i could press on a bit more. that said, i never felt this insecure and frustrated before behind the wheel of the clio. i'll probably must be doing something terribly wrong, but how anyone can rate this tyre i don't know. the cup 2 isn't slower than the yoko (i was stupid enough to better my best ever lap time, instead of just backing off.), it just deteriorates a lot quicker. felt so bad after the second trackday, that i even question myself doing a trackday again and just turn the clio into a garage queen.

two more photos. tyre pick up ...





i also changed the brake pads, front and rear, after the first of the two track sessions. fronts are ferodo DS1.11 again and rears are ferodo DS2500. brakes were mega and never missed a beat, even in those hot conditions.

 

[peter]

couple of photos from the second trackday. some nice machinery present ...

cayman GT4 and S ...



KTM Xbow on slicks (which went super quick) and old alfa romeo giulia (which went not so quickly) ...



we have a race series over here with these citroën C1's (i think they race together with tube frame citroën 2CV's).
if you think 'keeping momentum' is important in a clio around spa, imagine how it must feel in one of these ...



197. didn't speak to the owner sadly. would have liked to know, which suspension was under the car.



french exige 380. bloody fast thing that was. and loud.



ferrari 308 ...



better look of the bright orange evora, seen in the photo above ...



and parting shot of #166 ...

 

[Big Ben]

Sorry to hear your troubles with the Michelin’s continue Peter.
Don’t give up tracking the car though just because of bad wearing tyres!!

Get another set of Yokos and you’ll be back enjoying it in no time.

One of my favourite looking cars on the forum but garage queen?? Not yet

 

[Pav]

still looks great..

 

[-Eddie-]

Peter, regarding brake pads, have you ran plenty of different sets? I’m going to be changing mine soon and have used DS2500, RC5+ before on different cars. I wouldn’t rush back to DS2500 as I didn’t think they where as good as people made out.

Just interested in your thoughts on the DS1.11.

 

[Ice_ken]

Peter, what are the alignment specs on your car? Mine's behaviour changed drasticly for the better when I added caster and camber, should help with tyre wear aswell.

 

[peter]

@Big Ben ... i'm pretty annoyed with myself, tbh. instead of backing off i pushed even harder, taking unnecessary risks (blanchimont and up the raidillon flat) in a car i didn't trust. i'm too old for that sh*t. should know better. oh, and i'm glad you didn't buy the tyres of me. would have felt really bad, if you'd have experienced the same as i did now.

@Pav ... cheers mate. yeah i agree, she still looks great.

@-Eddie- ... i've had the DS2500 on the front a couple of years ago. not impressed by them on track. the DS1.11's are in a different league. i really don't feel the need to try a different pad. there are probably better pads out there, but possibly not at the price point of the DS1.11. i've tried galfer FDRT1066's on the front (and had them on the rear, till i replaced them with the DS2500's last week.). good performance, but they wear extremely quickly. the DS1.11's last much much longer. if you track your clio, i'd definitely give the DS1.11's a try.

@Ice_ken ... the front is pretty good, but the back is quite off. last alignment was in march 2016, when i bought the white wheels. i was holding off shimming the rear till i finally decide what to do with the suspension. would love some coilovers, but i can't make my mind up which set to go for. even more so now, because i'm tentative to track the car again.

 

[Ice_ken]

@Big Ben ... i'm pretty annoyed with myself, tbh. instead of backing off i pushed even harder, taking unnecessary risks (blanchimont and up the raidillon flat) in a car i didn't trust. i'm too old for that sh*t. should know better. oh, and i'm glad you didn't buy the tyres of me. would have felt really bad, if you'd have experienced the same as i did now.

@Pav ... cheers mate. yeah i agree, she still looks great.

@-Eddie- ... i've had the DS2500 on the front a couple of years ago. not impressed by them on track. the DS1.11's are in a different league. i really don't feel the need to try a different pad. there are probably better pads out there, but possibly not at the price point of the DS1.11. i've tried galfer FDRT1066's on the front (and had them on the rear, till i replaced them with the DS2500's last week.). good performance, but they wear extremely quickly. the DS1.11's last much much longer. if you track your clio, i'd definitely give the DS1.11's a try.

@Ice_ken ... the front is pretty good, but the back is quite off. last alignment was in march 2016, when i bought the white wheels. i was holding off shimming the rear till i finally decide what to do with the suspension. would love some coilovers, but i can't make my mind up which set to go for. even more so now, because i'm tentative to track the car again.

Mine's pretty decent at the rear as it sits. Fitting coilovers won't change the rear geometrie, it's a solid axle. The front is a different story offcourse. AST would be my pick, I have expensive taste I know. I've got 2 stance cars on KW's and would always pick bilstein over those (had those on my mk3 vento) but i'm afraid they would be to soft on track.

 

[peter]

Mine's pretty decent at the rear as it sits. Fitting coilovers won't change the rear geometrie, it's a solid axle. The front is a different story offcourse. AST would be my pick, I have expensive taste I know. I've got 2 stance cars on KW's and would always pick bilstein over those (had those on my mk3 vento) but i'm afraid they would be to soft on track.

a shame AST's don't come with the necessary MOT papers. an öhlins 'road and track' set up would be nice as well, but they don't do them for a clio. lots of money though.

if i keep tracking the car like i do now, i'd probably go for an H&R kit. if i do decide to keep it off the track, it's bilstein B14's.

 

[petercronin]

a shame AST's don't come with the necessary MOT papers. an öhlins 'road and track' set up would be nice as well, but they don't do them for a clio. lots of money though.

if i keep tracking the car like i do now, i'd probably go for an H&R kit. if i do decide to keep it off the track, it's bilstein B14's.

You can get the ohlins road and track made - I asked Madeno out of curiosity. But sit yourself down when they tell you how much. There’s Nitron to look at too.

 

[peter]

You can get the ohlins road and track made - I asked Madeno out of curiosity. But sit yourself down when they tell you how much. There’s Nitron to look at too.

the mark up on their different B14 set ups is considerable as well.

 

[Dumdum]

the front is pretty good, but the back is quite off. last alignment was in march 2016, when i bought the white wheels. i was holding off shimming the rear till i finally decide what to do with the suspension. would love some coilovers, but i can't make my mind up which set to go for. even more so now, because i'm tentative to track the car again.

Out if interest what do you shim the rear to? What’s an ideal fast road/track setting if you have an idea?

 

[peter]

Out if interest what do you shim the rear to? What’s an ideal fast road/track setting if you have an idea?

no idea really. depends on what you want the rear to do, i guess.
there's a couple of hardcore trackday guys in here, better ask them.

 

[Northloopcup]

@peter sorry to hear about your troubles with the cup 2’s. I think it can only come down to driving styles as to why I get on with them so well.

 

[peter]

@peter sorry to hear about your troubles with the cup 2’s. I think it can only come down to driving styles as to why I get on with them so well.

yeah, maybe i just lean on them too hard too soon.
or maybe the tarmac they use in the UK is more forgiving ...

the two evening sessions being run in hot weather didn't help either.

 

[peter]

been a while ...
yearly service done :

- bardahl XTS 0W40 (engine oil)
- elf tranself 75W80 NFP (gearbox oil)
- endless RF650 (brake fluid)

my mechanic (who works at a renault dealership) told me renault now advices 0W40 engine oil for all RS models. a bit strange to change the oil spec for a car of this age, but i trust him. i do remember the clio's first service, where it got treated with 0W40 oil by a different mech.

bad news is, there's play in a lower part of the front left suspension (just like last year but different part). don't know what's it called in english, but in the photo below it's the part just above the '1' .



good news is, i've booked two track days. first one is at spa 21st march. second one is a special one, at german track bilster-berg november 9th. always wanted to go there. supposed to be a mini-nürburgring. usually quite expensive, but opentrack does a (imo) great deal ... https://www.opentrack.co.uk/product-category/bilster-berg-circuit-germany/