Clio 197 Ultra Red 2007 from Finland. April, time to start driving.

[///M]

80% of our roads are disastrous. not only B roads, motorways as well. even resurfaced roads are ridiculously badly done. as if they do it on purpose. i'd love to drive over smooth tarmac like they have in holland.

yup, yearly tax for the clio is just over €400 as well. 10k for a ten year old car is steep, but over here you won't find a sub 10k car unless it has 150.000km. it's just a very rare car in belgium.

My "favourite" bad road is the N8 through Flanders. It's like the whole road was built out of slabs and they've angled them upwards at the end so you drop onto the next across a gap. Bu-dum bu-dum bu-dum every ten feet for miles. It's hilariously bad!

 

[peter]

was built out of slabs

yeah, i know. the same on this side of the country. the guy who thought that was a good idea to build a road, should be shot.
no, first he should be shot in the knees and later, much later in the head.

 

[///M]

yeah, i know. the same on this side of the country. the guy who thought that was a good idea to build a road, should be shot.
no, first he should be shot in the knees and later, much later in the head.

HA! Had a bit of a chuckle about that Peter.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm just guessing you might not have a lot of love for the guy?

 

[peter]

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm just guessing you might not have a lot of love for the guy?

every time i take the clio for a spin on those roads, i feel like puching someone in the face.

 

[///M]

every time i take the clio for a spin on those roads, i feel like puching someone in the face.

First proper drive when we had the Bilstein suspension fitted was over to Belgium. At least it was a VERY good test of ride quality!

 

[Antti O]

Rainy day again.. windshield coating works.

 

[Antti O]

Good news. I got phone call from my mechanic. Clio is now ready.
4x new shocks and 2x new front springs + 2x horizontal drop links. Everything went smooth, all bolt holes are now cleaned and lubricated. All bolts in correct torque.
He said that fronts were easy to open, but rear shock bottom bolts were really tight. Threadlocker from factory..

Next tracking and then it is ready for b-roads.

 

[Pav]

have it too and i hate it..the wipers seem to struggle as they stutter sometimes..glad you like it though..

 

[Antti O]

have it too and i hate it..the wipers seem to struggle as they stutter sometimes..glad you like it though..

Qyeon coating and wipers struggle? Strange.
I have new genuine windshield + pair of genuine wiper blades. No any problems..

Got car back yesterday and front seems to be little higher than before. Both front springs were kaputt. Also one of the rear shocks was broken. Luckily i bought whole set of shocks. Car is now washed and under blanket in my garage. Tracking is scheduled for next tuesday. I dont want to ruin michelins if tracking is out.

 

[Antti O]

Some pics from yesterday suspension work

Old units and spring compressors


And new front shocks


All shocks are made by KYB

 

[Antti O]

I serviced my front brakes. Cleaned calibers so good you can.
Aluminium caliber is difficult to clean / keep clean.
Copper paster for pads and cheramic paste for sliding pins.

 

[Big Ben]

Any difficulty getting the pins out Antti?

I tried mine the other day and couldn't move them so left it for now.

P.S
Calliper
Paste
Ceramic

 

[Antti O]

Any difficulty getting the pins out Antti?

I tried mine the other day and couldn't move them so left it for now.

P.S
Calliper
Paste
Ceramic

No, easy hit with hammer and those were off.
This is not the first time i removed pins.. first time those were really seized.

 

[Antti O]

My side project E46, some pics.
I washed it today. Recently i replaced rear shocks. What a improvement for handling. No more flying carpet touch. Next i have to replace front shocks also with Bilstein B4.

 

[Jimmy]

Clearly both your cars get the special treatment, Antti, very nice indeed.

Also, it looks amazing where you live - I'd quite happily wake up to that scenery every day although possibly without the low temperatures

 

[sevenfourate]

Have you been polishing. Again ?

Or is that a stupid question.....

 

[Antti O]

Clearly both your cars get the special treatment, Antti, very nice indeed.

Also, it looks amazing where you live - I'd quite happily wake up to that scenery every day although possibly without the low temperatures

We have lot of forest. In fact, here is not much more than forest and lakes. I am so used to it.
You can drive 50 km and there is anything but pine trees We have only 5 million people in this country.

Have you been polishing. Again ?

Or is that a stupid question.....

Yep, i did 2-stage polish for this bmw when i had my summer holiday. It took something like 20 hours.
I did it with rotary polisher, flex. Paintwork was quite horrible, because it was machine washed before.

 

[///M]

Very nice Antti. Liking the E46. Wish mine was that clean!

 

[Antti O]

Very nice Antti. Liking the E46. Wish mine was that clean!

I like e46 a lot , i have had 5 or so different E46. I am currently looking for facelift 330ci msport with manual gearbox, in mint condition. Not easy..

 

[///M]

I like e46 a lot , i have had 5 or so different E46. I am currently looking for facelift 330ci msport with manual gearbox, in mint condition. Not easy..

Obviously I have a huge soft spot for an E46!

Crazy that you're struggling to find one. Must be a very different market over there. Loads available over here!