Bomster's GW Clio 200

[Bomster]

Hi all,

Long time member... finally got myself a Clio 200, after wanting one for a long time. Purchased from Ron Feldman who is an admin over on ClioSport, great guy, the sale went very smoothly. This thread is more for my own records, but maybe someone will find it interesting! Also, would appreciate some input on the 'plans' section .

Boring introduction:
Reason I joined back in 2012 is my first car was a little 1.6 Clio III - great little car until my now wife decided to smash it into a brick wall (she was fine, the Clio was a write off). Always loved the Clio 200's, but were a bit out of my price range at the time. I then got a C30 T5, which was fantastic, the 5 pot sounded great, but the car was so heavy, it really didn't suit the back roads of Suffolk where I live... so in 2016 I moved onto a 2007 Cayman 987.1 (Picture: https://imgur.com/7jfcvjd). I sold the car in December 2019, partly because I felt I'd 'scratched the itch' (even though I definitely hope to get another Porsche in the future), but mostly because I wanted to start doing some track days, and didn't really fancy doing so in the Cayman. It was a truly exceptional car... they are a bargain for their current money imo. Couldn't get enough of the 6 cylinder howl (Carnewal GT exhaust), and handled / gripped incredibly well with a proper setup and some Michelin PSS. Anyway, onto the Clio! I picked it up a few weeks ago, and have been loving it so far.

Spec:

• 2009 Clio 200 (FF with Cup pack)
• Glacier White
• Black Speedlines
• 84,000 miles
• Akrapovic Evolution Line Exhaust System
• Recaro yellow-dot buckets
• Retrimmed steering wheel by Snappy
• PMS spacers (plan to remove)
• H&R lowering springs (maybe keep, maybe change, maybe coilovers)
• K&N panel filter
• Stock map

Plans for the car:
I'm still quite undecided to what extent I want to track-prep the car. Having never done a track day in my life, I don't want to go crazy with the prep, but for sure I will do the following, in order of important/priority:

• Spare set of wheels with semi slicks (AR1's or Cup 2's, undecided)
• Brake pads (currently planning on DS1.11 on front, which I will swap back to Brembo between track days, and DS2500 on the rear permanently)
• Brake fluid (seems like everyone uses RBF660)
• Brake discs (Brembo HC UV all round).
• Braided hose lines - are these a must for track? Seems worth it for £70ish considering I will be doing new fluid anyway.
• MAP sensor mount (cheap mod, and looks nice )
• Refurbish / service the calipers (brakes seem to work fine, but I imagine a clean up, with new seals would help... I'm very much a weekend warrior when it comes to working on cars, so hopefully I can find some good guides on completing this job)
• Powerflex bushes - not sure which to go for, I see most people install the engine mount one, but need to do some more research on this.
• Lowering bracket for drivers side Recaro. Any recommendations on who to buy from?
• Remap - long way away, but thinking of going up to see Chris at EFI. Heard great things, and wondering if the Akra might unlock a few more hp.
• Full service incl. gearbox oil (already completed this, will do a separate post on this thread for that)

Snetterton is my local track, so plan to go there fairly regularly, and also a few trips to the Nurburgring, aswell as some other tracks in the UK.

Issues:
- I'm getting some creaking/knocking from the front right wheel when at full-ish lock, which I assume is from a ball joint, but Ron had spend over £1000 at AW Motorworks last January giving the suspension a refresh (ball joints, top mounts, track rods etc). Could the car really have gone through a ball joint in that short time? Hopefully I will get this sorted soon, as it's the only slight problem I've got. All the other common issues are fine (exhaust manifold, gearbox etc).
- H&R Springs - finding them way too hard for bumpy B-roads, perhaps they will shine on track, but I was hoping the car would be better on the back lanes around where I live. Perhaps I was spoilt by the Porsche, or perhaps the dampers are a bit shagged on this car.

Pictures:


First pic is by Ron, but it's a cracker!

 

[Beany]

A popular choice amongst the clios are
Gaz Gold or Yellowspeed coilovers, they offer variant spring rates and adjustability on dampers and for the price is great.

good progress thread start and looking to see how it’ll evolve!

 

[Bomster]

@Beany Thanks for reading mate, and thanks for the coil over recommendation. I think it's something I will look into later this year once I've got a number of track days under my belt.

 

[Beany]

@Beany Thanks for reading mate, and thanks for the coil over recommendation. I think it's something I will look into later this year once I've got a number of track days under my belt.

Yeah no rush mate. I tracked mine few times before splashing the cash on upgrades.
Enjoyed the car

 

[Big Ben]

Great intro on a lovely looking Clio. Coilovers adds about 10mph around Coram at your local track Snetterton.
Well worth it if you can afford it.
As beany said get some with adjustable damping and they’ll still be ok for a B road blast.
I’d personally go for AR1’s or if really flush Dunlop dz03g over cup 2’s for trackday tyres

 

[lewishunter98]

Car looks great!

Definitely with you on being a weekend warrior with working on them! As for the creaking noise too, it might be worth checking the tightness of the steering rack on the subframe! When loose they can creak. Which might make sense considering all the recent work etc.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

 

[Bomster]

Update.

Been fairly busy with the car over the last few weeks:

• Completed a service (engine oil, gearbox oil, spark plugs, cabin filter). All went well, took my time (probably about 6 hours in total haha), but was satisfying to do it myself using all the correct parts, oils, everything torqued correctly etc. I wrote a service report (sad I know, but thought it might be useful for future reference, and also if I sell the car) - if anyone is bored and/or doing this job for the first time then maybe it will be of interest:
• Visited Beaniesport on Tuesday for Chris to give the car a once over, and to check for the 'creaking' I mentioned in my initial post. Chris was not in the slightest concerned and believed the noise was coming from the power steering pump. He gave the car a test drive and a full underbody inspection and overall was singing the praises of the car which was a great to hear. One issue he found was a worn handbrake cable, so have ordered that for him to fit next week when the car is also going in for:
  • Ferodo DS2500 pads, front and rear.
  • HEL braided brake hoses, front and rear.
  • RBF660 brake fluid.
• 29th Feb the car is going in to have Michelin PS4's fitted all round - shoutout to @matt9566 for finding a great deal online - £83 per corner fitted!
• Once the tyres are fitted taking it up to Dave at Autotest in Norwich for a 4 wheel alignment.

So all going well, the car will be ready for it's first track day in just over a week... just need to get the driver mentally prepared now!

Pic below is the Clio in a friends workshop which he kindly let me use, more pics are in the report linked above.



Oh, and I got a Bell helmet for a bargain on Facebook marketplace... even matches the paintwork . The pooch isn't too sure on it.





-

 

[suj]

Cars looking great and great update.

I would personally stay away from DS2500 pads, they are not as great as people make out, there are so many better alternatives out there.

 

[Big Ben]

Looking good. Say hello to Chris for me. He’s helped me enormously over the last few years. Top bloke

To echo what Suj said you might find the ds2500 start to struggle after repetitive fast laps. They tend to leave deposits on the discs which cause vibrations somewhat. Can be avoided if keeping to short stints. Probably ok for now if you’re new to trackdays but I’m guessing you’ll progress to something dearer/more focussed soon enough!

 

[Daverb]

Liking the report. You have too much time

 

[matt9566]

Finally got around to giving this thread a read - Car looks brilliant and top job on the service, love the service report (over and above details like that are what I love to see when purchasing a car so will be great to have for if you ever came to sell)

Glad to hear you got sorted with the PS4 offer - Just put them on the megane and they are an incredible all round tyre.

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[Bomster]

Hey all, thanks for your comments. I'm in agreement that the DS2500 + PS4 is not an ideal track setup, and will only handle short stints, but that is fine with me to start off with. Having never done a trackday, I didn't want to over-commit too much (new wheels, semi slicks, race pads etc), only to find out track days weren't for me (I very much doubt this but just in case). If that does somehow happen then I will have a great fast road setup, but in the more likely outcome that I love it, I can buy another set of wheels with some semi slicks (which will give me both a dry and wet setup with the PS4s), and then some DS1.11's that I can swap the front DS2500's out with when when going between road and track, so doesn't really feel like a waste doing it this way.

-----

Onto the update... been some good and some bad!

Just a few hours after my last update I had a very unfortunate issue . My rear driver side tyre blew out (just a week before the PS4s were due to be fitted.. either that's lucky or not, I can't decide).. it put a slight mark on the rim (I guess from bottoming out), but worst of all somehow scratched all the paint on my wheel arch, which is mega annoying. Pics & video below, and one of the Clio in it's natural habitat ... aka on the back of a recovery truck. I guess I should count myself lucky that it happened at low speeds, and nobody was hurt etc.

Video of the damage to the wheel arch: https://streamable.com/22ajx





A few days later, the new PS4s were all fitted so all sorted on that front. I've so far been quoted £285+vat for the paint repair on the wheel arch, which seems expensive, but I guess it's a really awkward job being right on the edge etc... do I need to get this sorted asap, i.e. is my wheel arch going to start rusting? Any comment on the price of the repair? The guy has absolutely stellar reviews, and I am convinced he would get it back to factory quality, but just wondering if that is a fair price? As always your input would be really appreciated .

-----

Onto some more positive stuff, a few days ago I went to see Chris at Beaniesport, what an awesome guy. Great laugh and so knowledgeable... a pleasure to deal with. He fitted my DS2500's, HEL braided lines, flushed with RBF660, 2 new handbrake cables (OS & NS), and I was on my way. He kindly talked/showed me the whole process of flushing the fluid, new pads etc so hopefully I can tackle this job myself next time. From there I had to drive down to Belgium for work, where the car's been parked up ever since, so haven't had a chance to drive it properly yet... I did however get the chance to try and bed the pads in on some nice clear Belgian motorway!

I'm excited to say, in my eyes, the car is now completely ready for it's first track day! I've also bought a GoPro, just hoping @ashtons99 will sell me his car mount . There's a novice track day at Snetterton next Sunday (13th), which weather permitting I plan to attend!

I will do another post before I go as I plan to do some research regarding tyre pressure, max length of stints I should run etc.

To finish off with a picture of the Clio heading back to it's homeland (really getting that anti-detail look going nicely now!):

 

[Onrus]

Nice work with the service report Bomster.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Foxspeed]

power steering pump.....???? they dont have one!

 

[Bomster]

power steering pump.....???? they dont have one!

Ah okay... strange then! Well Chris didn't seem in the slightest bit concerned by the small knock, which to be fair it very rarely does, only in certain occasions when maneuvering at low speeds. Perhaps he said / meant the electric motor that was making the noise. He said virtually every Clio 200 makes the noise mine makes.

Anyway I've put that 'issue' to rest in my mind!

 

[Foxspeed]

could be talking about the power steer electric motor in the steering column perhaps

 

[Bomster]

Update

A few things to update, including fitting a stud and nut kit and my first ever track day!

Stud and Nut Kit Installation

So first things first, last week I ordered the following bits from TRS. I knew I was imminently going to do a track day, and really wanted to get rid of the spacers. Also knowing that in the future I would get another set of wheels I thought a stud & nut kit made more sense then buying some shorter bolts to replace the long ones that were installed with the 20mm spacers.

• 10 off. M14 x 1.5 Stud 82mm (for front)
• 10 off. M14 x 1.5 Stud 75mm (for rear)
• 20 off. M14 x 1.5 19mm Hex Tapered Nut

Paid £57.60 (using TRS10 discount code), and then another fiver for some Loctite 2700 off Amazon. TRS delivered quickly, and quality seemed good but I was slightly annoyed to find two of the nuts had slight burrs on the thread. Quickly fixed by running a tap through, but had I not been lucky enough to have the exact tap to hand then it could have been a bit of a nightmare!

Few pics of the job below... also waiting 3 hours for the Loctite to cure gave me some time to clean the wheels and brakes! I'm really happy with how the job went overall, and happy about the length and symmetry of the front and rear studs.

Also, I'm sure it's just in my head, but to me, removing the spacers has made the car feel better in terms of handling.

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Snetterton Track Day

So yesterday I finally made it to my first ever track day! I had a bloody brilliant time. It was a Novice day at Snetterton put on by MSV, which meant you had a 20 min slot every hour. Initially I was wishing for an 'open pitlane' type setup, but I actually quite liked having the dedicated slots to keep the day organised. I think it helped keeping to short sessions in terms of brakes and tyres, both of which performed really well, I didn't notice a drop off in either's performance.

The first half of the day (4 sessions) were completely dry which was excellent. With each session I was getting faster and more confident. Still made loads of mistakes, pretty much every lap, but I guess that's part of learning. After lunch it started pouring down, which was surprisingly fun, and a great experience, but overall I definitely preferred the dry sessions in the morning.

I recorded the day on a GoPro, and uploaded the 4th session, which was cut short to 12 mins due to a crash in the 'Lotus on Track' session just before ours preventing us leaving the pitlane on time. Apologies for the poor camera angle, going to try and sort something better for next time.

Overall I had a brilliant day, and can definitely say I'm hooked. Already trying to figure out which one I can go to next!

Hope you enjoyed the post and the video, and please feel free to criticise my driving, I know I was making lots of mistakes.