Pav
Moderator
same here...i dont have a single one with a sport car...they all have kids instead :d
Déjà-blue - The tale of R27 #375
- Thread starter godders
- Start date
Thanks for commenting guys!
I seem to have surrounded myself with car-loving friends over the last few years, very few of them have what I'd class as "normal" cars!
That said however, I do often enjoy a solo blast, without worrying about keeping up with anyone else, or indeed them keeping up with me! Just getting out and exploring previously unchartered roads and abusing the throttle til the petrol runs out. Your friends don't know what they're missing!
I seem to have surrounded myself with car-loving friends over the last few years, very few of them have what I'd class as "normal" cars!
That said however, I do often enjoy a solo blast, without worrying about keeping up with anyone else, or indeed them keeping up with me! Just getting out and exploring previously unchartered roads and abusing the throttle til the petrol runs out. Your friends don't know what they're missing!
Yiannis197
Paid Member
Awesome write up once again. That exige is lovely indeed
Funny when you look at the picture where all the cars are lined up and you realise that the clio has the highest roofline of them all!
Funny when you look at the picture where all the cars are lined up and you realise that the clio has the highest roofline of them all!I know, it's a monster! It does surprise me how big a car it actually is, especially compared to its predecessors. I guess it's mainly due to the Twingo now filling the small hatch slot in Renault's line up, leaving the Clio kind of lost in no man's land between that and the Megane. There are so many niche markets and crossovers nowadays its ridiculous!
A reasonably brief update today, starting with a photo of a photo.
I’ve been meaning to transfer some of my recent shots to print form for a while now. It’s all well and good taking lovely photographs on an expensive DSLR, playing with them on an expensive piece of editing software, and then flaunting them around social media and internet forums the next day (or the next week… month… decade… Okay I admit I’m not always the speediest at that game) yet it all seems a little futile if you can’t enjoy them yourself, right? Right.
So when Photobox (uncommissioned plug) announced they were having a mega New Year’s Day sale on all wall art, I jumped on it like a puppy on a tennis ball. I ordered myself a couple of humongous 100 x 76cm canvasses, one from the farewell shoot of my MX5, and this one from mine and my friend’s trip to Wales back in July.
In case you need reminding, that was taken deep in the Snowdonian National Park on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] day of our trip, on a truly spectacular road boasting some of the most breath-taking scenery I have ever seen from behind a steering wheel. Anyway, you can read more about that on the dedicated thread if needs be. I love this photo, not just because it’s actually reasonably decent from technical standpoint, as much as I hate personal trumpet blowing, but because every time I look at it I am transported back in time. I can remember absolutely vividly being stood on top of the rock, camera in one hand, a half-eaten packet of crisps in the other, the sleeves of my hoody rolled up to my elbows, revealing faintly goose pimpled forearms, partly from the light breeze ricocheting between the mountain sides, and partly from the unadulterated driving pleasure that led me here. I remember smiling, grinning even, filled with happiness from what I had done and what I was witnessing. I remember uploading a picture to Facebook with the tagline “My day was better than yours”, and I continue to stand by that statement. Right then I was experiencing a moment very close to perfection, and I managed to capture that moment flawlessly in pixel form, to relive again and again. Every day in fact, whenever I enter my kitchen. It’s not all about memories though, but looking at it only catalyses anticipation for future adventures to new destinations. Scotland 2015 planning is underway. I cannot wait!
Moving on, before the less romantic of you feel any more nauseous, I have a wheel related update. You may remember I had been forced to remove the NS2R’s from the front of the Clio to avoid guaranteed death, or at least a telling off from a man in a flashy blue and yellow Mondeo. I missed them. Fortunately although they had rolled their last mile on public tarmac, they were still prime for some abuse on track. Swapping them back onto the standard wheels was a no-go, as I still had to drive to and from the track, so I decided purchasing a couple of spare wheels would be an ideal plan. A quick browse of the ‘Bay revealed 197 rims to be carrying some pretty healthy price tags, yet the very similar Laguna Silverstone’s were practically ten-a-penny. Luckily I tracked some down just a few miles away and picked them up one evening after work. The tyres were shot and the paintwork less than showroom, but more importantly they were straight and true with very minimal kerb rash.
Back home and on the bench they went, it was time for a ghetto refurb. A quick flat back with some wet and dry, followed by a couple of coats of grey primer, a couple of coats of grey topcoat, and a dusting with some leftover BMW sparkling graphite for a bit of added bling. Lastly a good dowsing of clear lacquer went on to protect and add a glossy finish. Hardly a professional operation I admit, but not a bad job considering my tiny little halogen heater was struggling to compete with sub-zero temperatures outside! And yes I did paint the tyres, ain’t nobody got time for masking.
I got the knackered and semi painted tyres popped off and the Kangers back in their place and stacked them in the corner of the garage patiently waiting for the next outing. They didn’t have to wait too long, Brands hatch was beckoning, courtesy of Open Track Day’s boxing day sale. I love a bargain at the best of times, but even more so when it involves a track day - £109 for a full open pit lane day at one of countries best circuits? They needn’t ask twice!
The days between booking and the event seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, and soon I was chucking tools, wheels and skid lids into the R27’s acceptably sized rear. I headed east late on Sunday evening to my overnight accommodation in Dartford, having decided that attacking the M25 first thing on a Monday morning probably wasn’t the best of ideas! The Ritz it certainly wasn’t, but it was more than adequate for catching some Z’s at least, and the view out of my room window wasn’t too bad either…
After a quick shower and a truly dreadful cup of tea I hit the road, calling in at the local Shell garage to top up on super duper motion lotion, arriving at the circuit just in time for noise testing. It easily passed at 92dB, a little louder than usual due to chilly ambient temperatures and a relatively chilly engine.
Hooking up with my friend Andy, owner of a turbo’d Mk1 MX5, we hunted out our pit garage, and abandoned the cars in favour of a warm signing on office and a good cup of Joe. The sighting laps followed swiftly after, which revealed an unbelievably slick surface around the entire circuit, very unnerving considering I still had the Rainsports up front! Nevertheless the sun was out and doing its upmost to improve the situation as quickly as possible. Back in the garage I slung the Silverstone’s on, discovering quickly that they were a little more aggressive in the offset department than their predecessors. I dabbled with the idea of removing the spacers but the brakes weren’t at all happy about that decision, making their presence well known on the back of the spokes! No worries, I was sure it would be fine.
And indeed it was, no noticeable scrubbing at all, although I did tiptoe round for the entire first session as grip from the cold Nankangs on the dewy tarmac was pretty much non-existent! As predicted though, as the day progressed the circuit got drier and drier, and I got more and more confident in throwing the Clio around it. And that is the key, it is such a confidence inspiring chassis, positively begging you to attack each corner harder and faster every time, squirming about on the limit but always digging in and dragging itself round the apex. I say always, there was one point coming out of Druids, which was the only corner to remain slightly moist throughout proceedings, where I did run out of tarmac (and talent) causing an impromptu bit of lawn mowing. Embarrassingly this was whilst chasing a white Clio 200 as well! We were pretty well matched through the day I feel, but he definitely had the edge on me through that particular corner, obviously finding rather more stickiness on his Yoko’s than I could on my now decimated NS2R’s! I’m not sure if the owner is on here, I did mean to catch up with him but every time I walked through the paddock I failed to spot the car.
That was the only notable incident throughout the day. The highlight for me was coming around Clearways and Clark Curve ever faster as the track dried out, sliding about on the limit of grip, every nanometer of throttle input switching the car between oversteer and understeer, trying to find the perfect moment to bury it into the carpet for the slingshot into Brabham Straight. That said, the transition between Paddock Hill Bend and Hailwoods Hill, where the track suddenly changes from a plummeting drop to a steep rise, had me grinning from ear to ear every lap. My day came to an end at roughly 4:30pm, when the fuel warning beep (which is more like a ships horn in these for some reason) made itself known. I had burned through around 60 litres of the stuff at a respectable average of 11.6mpg, after which, surprisingly, the NS2R’s were still showing some tread.
Now I face the tough decision of whether to retire them from duty or risk them lasting another full day of abuse at Rockingham next month… my inner sadist (and cheapskate) is urging me towards the latter. Photographic evidence of exposed cords always goes down well!
All in all it was a thrilling day at a really stunning circuit, one I shall definitely be heading back to in the future. I will leave you with a few photos from the day, taken by the very talented Rowan Harrison. That is one of a few bonuses of booking with Opentrack by the way – the photography is absolutely free. I have well over 50 high res examples I could share with you, but I have whittled them down to my favourite 7. I hope you like them as much as I do. In fact, I may even bang one onto a canvas…
Speak soon!
Rob
I’ve been meaning to transfer some of my recent shots to print form for a while now. It’s all well and good taking lovely photographs on an expensive DSLR, playing with them on an expensive piece of editing software, and then flaunting them around social media and internet forums the next day (or the next week… month… decade… Okay I admit I’m not always the speediest at that game) yet it all seems a little futile if you can’t enjoy them yourself, right? Right.
So when Photobox (uncommissioned plug) announced they were having a mega New Year’s Day sale on all wall art, I jumped on it like a puppy on a tennis ball. I ordered myself a couple of humongous 100 x 76cm canvasses, one from the farewell shoot of my MX5, and this one from mine and my friend’s trip to Wales back in July.
In case you need reminding, that was taken deep in the Snowdonian National Park on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] day of our trip, on a truly spectacular road boasting some of the most breath-taking scenery I have ever seen from behind a steering wheel. Anyway, you can read more about that on the dedicated thread if needs be. I love this photo, not just because it’s actually reasonably decent from technical standpoint, as much as I hate personal trumpet blowing, but because every time I look at it I am transported back in time. I can remember absolutely vividly being stood on top of the rock, camera in one hand, a half-eaten packet of crisps in the other, the sleeves of my hoody rolled up to my elbows, revealing faintly goose pimpled forearms, partly from the light breeze ricocheting between the mountain sides, and partly from the unadulterated driving pleasure that led me here. I remember smiling, grinning even, filled with happiness from what I had done and what I was witnessing. I remember uploading a picture to Facebook with the tagline “My day was better than yours”, and I continue to stand by that statement. Right then I was experiencing a moment very close to perfection, and I managed to capture that moment flawlessly in pixel form, to relive again and again. Every day in fact, whenever I enter my kitchen. It’s not all about memories though, but looking at it only catalyses anticipation for future adventures to new destinations. Scotland 2015 planning is underway. I cannot wait!
Moving on, before the less romantic of you feel any more nauseous, I have a wheel related update. You may remember I had been forced to remove the NS2R’s from the front of the Clio to avoid guaranteed death, or at least a telling off from a man in a flashy blue and yellow Mondeo. I missed them. Fortunately although they had rolled their last mile on public tarmac, they were still prime for some abuse on track. Swapping them back onto the standard wheels was a no-go, as I still had to drive to and from the track, so I decided purchasing a couple of spare wheels would be an ideal plan. A quick browse of the ‘Bay revealed 197 rims to be carrying some pretty healthy price tags, yet the very similar Laguna Silverstone’s were practically ten-a-penny. Luckily I tracked some down just a few miles away and picked them up one evening after work. The tyres were shot and the paintwork less than showroom, but more importantly they were straight and true with very minimal kerb rash.
Back home and on the bench they went, it was time for a ghetto refurb. A quick flat back with some wet and dry, followed by a couple of coats of grey primer, a couple of coats of grey topcoat, and a dusting with some leftover BMW sparkling graphite for a bit of added bling. Lastly a good dowsing of clear lacquer went on to protect and add a glossy finish. Hardly a professional operation I admit, but not a bad job considering my tiny little halogen heater was struggling to compete with sub-zero temperatures outside! And yes I did paint the tyres, ain’t nobody got time for masking.
I got the knackered and semi painted tyres popped off and the Kangers back in their place and stacked them in the corner of the garage patiently waiting for the next outing. They didn’t have to wait too long, Brands hatch was beckoning, courtesy of Open Track Day’s boxing day sale. I love a bargain at the best of times, but even more so when it involves a track day - £109 for a full open pit lane day at one of countries best circuits? They needn’t ask twice!
The days between booking and the event seemed to disappear in the blink of an eye, and soon I was chucking tools, wheels and skid lids into the R27’s acceptably sized rear. I headed east late on Sunday evening to my overnight accommodation in Dartford, having decided that attacking the M25 first thing on a Monday morning probably wasn’t the best of ideas! The Ritz it certainly wasn’t, but it was more than adequate for catching some Z’s at least, and the view out of my room window wasn’t too bad either…
After a quick shower and a truly dreadful cup of tea I hit the road, calling in at the local Shell garage to top up on super duper motion lotion, arriving at the circuit just in time for noise testing. It easily passed at 92dB, a little louder than usual due to chilly ambient temperatures and a relatively chilly engine.
Hooking up with my friend Andy, owner of a turbo’d Mk1 MX5, we hunted out our pit garage, and abandoned the cars in favour of a warm signing on office and a good cup of Joe. The sighting laps followed swiftly after, which revealed an unbelievably slick surface around the entire circuit, very unnerving considering I still had the Rainsports up front! Nevertheless the sun was out and doing its upmost to improve the situation as quickly as possible. Back in the garage I slung the Silverstone’s on, discovering quickly that they were a little more aggressive in the offset department than their predecessors. I dabbled with the idea of removing the spacers but the brakes weren’t at all happy about that decision, making their presence well known on the back of the spokes! No worries, I was sure it would be fine.
And indeed it was, no noticeable scrubbing at all, although I did tiptoe round for the entire first session as grip from the cold Nankangs on the dewy tarmac was pretty much non-existent! As predicted though, as the day progressed the circuit got drier and drier, and I got more and more confident in throwing the Clio around it. And that is the key, it is such a confidence inspiring chassis, positively begging you to attack each corner harder and faster every time, squirming about on the limit but always digging in and dragging itself round the apex. I say always, there was one point coming out of Druids, which was the only corner to remain slightly moist throughout proceedings, where I did run out of tarmac (and talent) causing an impromptu bit of lawn mowing. Embarrassingly this was whilst chasing a white Clio 200 as well! We were pretty well matched through the day I feel, but he definitely had the edge on me through that particular corner, obviously finding rather more stickiness on his Yoko’s than I could on my now decimated NS2R’s! I’m not sure if the owner is on here, I did mean to catch up with him but every time I walked through the paddock I failed to spot the car.
That was the only notable incident throughout the day. The highlight for me was coming around Clearways and Clark Curve ever faster as the track dried out, sliding about on the limit of grip, every nanometer of throttle input switching the car between oversteer and understeer, trying to find the perfect moment to bury it into the carpet for the slingshot into Brabham Straight. That said, the transition between Paddock Hill Bend and Hailwoods Hill, where the track suddenly changes from a plummeting drop to a steep rise, had me grinning from ear to ear every lap. My day came to an end at roughly 4:30pm, when the fuel warning beep (which is more like a ships horn in these for some reason) made itself known. I had burned through around 60 litres of the stuff at a respectable average of 11.6mpg, after which, surprisingly, the NS2R’s were still showing some tread.
Now I face the tough decision of whether to retire them from duty or risk them lasting another full day of abuse at Rockingham next month… my inner sadist (and cheapskate) is urging me towards the latter. Photographic evidence of exposed cords always goes down well!
All in all it was a thrilling day at a really stunning circuit, one I shall definitely be heading back to in the future. I will leave you with a few photos from the day, taken by the very talented Rowan Harrison. That is one of a few bonuses of booking with Opentrack by the way – the photography is absolutely free. I have well over 50 high res examples I could share with you, but I have whittled them down to my favourite 7. I hope you like them as much as I do. In fact, I may even bang one onto a canvas…
Speak soon!
Rob
Great read, I always enjoy your posts! They're like a little magazine article every time
Thanks a lot Jimmy, great comment!
I must seriously apologise for my absence on this thread, I’m sure you have all been yearning for updates… no? Well you’re going to get them anyway.
I’m not sure anything of any major note happened between my Brands track day and the next one at Rockingham a month later, so we will kick things off there. I picked up my friend Frank, who was going to be success ballast all day as his car was broken, then met up with two other friends in their supercharged MX5’s. We stayed in some dodgy B&B the night before, which is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry; they had communal toilets and my morning shower was akin to a dehydrated camel dribbling on me. It did at least mean we could get up at a fairly sociable hour, and had just a handful of miles to cover before arriving in the paddock and laying claim to a garage.
The morning was chilly but dry, and the track was very, very fast. I was bottling it at about 110mph on the apex of the banked oval. I’m confident the car could have carried more speed, but my testis certainly couldn’t. We were doing the 2.05mile International Super Sportscar Long circuit, and I quickly elected the left-right Pif-Paf chicane and the long sweeping Gracelands left hander as my favourite corners, being able to swing the tail nicely round on the former, and have it squirrelling about on the limit of adhesion all the way around the latter.
I had decided to risk throwing the balding NS2R’s from my last post on the front of the car, and after a few sessions it became apparent this may have been a foolish judgment! They were overheating rapidly and the driver’s side was delaminating badly on the outer edge. As the morning drew to a close I decided it was time they came off…
Just before lunch, as I was busy with the trolley jack and torque wrench, it started drizzling. The chief marshal had warned us in the briefing that the track would get abnormally slippery if the rain appeared, and as it continued throughout the break another marshal came wandering into the garage with further words of caution. But seriously, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Oh yes, yes it could. Ice cubes on an air hockey table have more traction that we had at Rockingham that afternoon, it was almost comical! I quickly gave up trying to thread a decent lap together and spent a large portion of the next few hours playing chase car to the tail wagging MX5’s, which was genuinely fantastic fun. I did have to have my wits about me though, as an exuberant Jack (in his supercharged racing green number) insisted on spinning right in front of me on more than one occasion.
As time went on the rain ceased, but the cool temperatures meant the surface never really dried out. I must’ve got a little jealous of all the fun the rear steerers were having, as I decided to have a whirl myself, courtesy of some scandy flicks and tactical lift offs. This went well for a while, and I’m hopeful that it looked mighty impressive from the outside. Until it didn’t go so well, and I found myself in a colossal tank slapper coming out of Deene, ended only by the gravel trap on the outside of the following straight. I went in front first, having fortunately scrubbed off enough speed to avoid a roll, and just enough to stay out of the looming tyre wall, be it only by a few inches! However I was well and truly beached, the front wheels flailing about like the legs on an upturned tortoise.
Mercifully a pick up arrived a few seconds later, expelling two men with high vis vests and impressive facial hair. They kindly dragged me back onto the black stuff, allowing me to tie toe back to the paddock. This spelt the end to my days hoonage, with the next hour spent digging gravel out of every conceivable orifice in the Clio’s belly. Nevertheless I imagine a half decent orienteer could still have traced my 2 hour journey back home, simply by following the intermittent trail of kitty litter ricocheting from deep within the cars unmentionables.
I have some videos from a couple of the morning sessions thanks to my recently acquired Go-Pro, if you fancy wasting a few minutes watching some fairly abysmal wheelmanship, feel free to click the links below.
[video=youtube;yCCNjhLb7gE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCCNjhLb7gE[/video]
[video=youtube;GK9FOI0KHTE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK9FOI0KHTE[/video]
I decided to borrow the ramp again the following evening to finalise the gravel evacuation, and unbelievably I still managed to find a dustpan’s worth of the little critters. Whilst the diffuser was off I took the opportunity to level up my exhaust tips as the left hand side had dropped slightly. The OCD fairy was extremely pleased with this achievement.
I had been giving the poor little thing more than its fair share of abuse lately, so I decided, as way of an apology, to buy it a rear spoiler. Perhaps had it been wearing one at Rockingham the negligible added downforce could have saved me a trip into the stones, but that is a debate for people with more time and brain cells than I. Regardless I always thought the rump end of the car could use a little more detail and aggression. The obvious answer would have been the proper Renaultsport wingy thingy, but for some reason I just find this a bit too fussy for the Clio’s otherwise subtle features. So a Sprint Spoiler arrived instead, courtesy of Simon at Spray Shack, and I wasted little time having it painted in the appropriate hue and lobbing it on the back of the car. I knew those scrap bits of steel would come in handy for something!
This wasn’t the only thing to arrive in the office post-Rockingham either. Having been put off the Nankangs by their truly appalling performance in any kind of light moisture, not to mention the way they disintegrated as soon as they surpassed the wear markers, I decided to step things up a level. Feast your eyes on rubber perfection (although please don’t type that into Google), Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R’s.
I had heard nothing but good things about these tyres so decided to take the plunge despite them being a fair whack more currency than the competition. Angel from Cazan Racing made things slightly less painful, and I must say it’s a real shame he has decided to shut up shop. Anyway, I had these fitted all round on the OEM wheels, the remaining pair of half worn NS2R’s then went on the Silverstones to burn off on the next dry track day, and the Rainsports were removed and sold on. Having driven on the Yokos now for the best part of 2 months I have to say the rave reviews are most certainly justified; they are fantastic. Honestly I really cannot sing their praises highly enough, just go and buy some. Now.
Back in the land of chronology, the first drive with the new additions up top and on all 4 corners was a little blast through some of the most B-est of B-roads Wiltshire has to offer, led by my friend Will in his other half’s Mini Cooper S. I know, either she is enviably understanding, or just plain oblivious... Having experienced Will’s driving I can only assume it is the latter. We were joined by Andy in his turbo’d Mk1 MX5 and Rob (owner of the yellow Exige featured previously in the thread) in his work wheels – a mapped 330D M-sport. Rob and Will are both very competent (read: absolute nutcases) at the helm of an automobile, and both knew the roads pretty well. As such Andy and I struggled to stick with them at times, but that didn’t stop us trying for a second! I don’t often get sweaty palms on the road these days, but I definitely had to direct the air con towards the steering wheel that morning. It was scarily fun.
We stopped for a breather and a Costa back in Swindon, where I grabbed the camera out the rear footwell, was pleasantly surprised to find it still working, and snapped a photo.
Having finally got my good friend Frank’s MX5 back on the road after a torturous 7 months off of it, he was champing at the bit to get out and drive. He assembled the troops, namely Jack and Aran in their similarly specced cars, and never one to excuse such an opportunity, I jumped in the Frenchy. By the way, I apologise for the unrelenting MX5 content… I think I need to get some new friends with Clio’s! Parked up next to the little Japanese roadsters the R27 looks huge and, dare I say it, a little bit boring. In fact I may even have felt a little tinge of remorse at selling my own Hiroshima Hooner as I composed the photographs below. Getting back in the Clio though I returned to my senses, I still reckon it is just as much fun, and on the right road just as rapid, as my Mazda. Plus on the uninspiring straight bits, and whilst stuck behind Cuthbert and Dorris in their 1.25 Fiesta, I can revel in my sound insulated cabin, tweaking the climate control to the most pleasurable half degree!
Midway through our drive we found a nice echoey bridge and Aran decided it would be good idea to set his camera up in the corner, whilst we all blasted through with engines singing. As ideas go I reckon it was up there with anything Einstein ever had to offer, and here is the result…
[video=youtube;fR5NzmU6q90]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR5NzmU6q90[/video]
I think I shall make this update a two part affair as I have no doubt bored you’re all to tears, despite the fact we are still a while away from being up to date. Maybe, just maybe, I will get chapter two in before the week is out. But then again Boris Johnson may top the podium at the next Formula one race... I wouldn’t put my money on either to be honest.
Love and hugs,
Rob
I’m not sure anything of any major note happened between my Brands track day and the next one at Rockingham a month later, so we will kick things off there. I picked up my friend Frank, who was going to be success ballast all day as his car was broken, then met up with two other friends in their supercharged MX5’s. We stayed in some dodgy B&B the night before, which is not an experience I wish to repeat in a hurry; they had communal toilets and my morning shower was akin to a dehydrated camel dribbling on me. It did at least mean we could get up at a fairly sociable hour, and had just a handful of miles to cover before arriving in the paddock and laying claim to a garage.
The morning was chilly but dry, and the track was very, very fast. I was bottling it at about 110mph on the apex of the banked oval. I’m confident the car could have carried more speed, but my testis certainly couldn’t. We were doing the 2.05mile International Super Sportscar Long circuit, and I quickly elected the left-right Pif-Paf chicane and the long sweeping Gracelands left hander as my favourite corners, being able to swing the tail nicely round on the former, and have it squirrelling about on the limit of adhesion all the way around the latter.
I had decided to risk throwing the balding NS2R’s from my last post on the front of the car, and after a few sessions it became apparent this may have been a foolish judgment! They were overheating rapidly and the driver’s side was delaminating badly on the outer edge. As the morning drew to a close I decided it was time they came off…
Just before lunch, as I was busy with the trolley jack and torque wrench, it started drizzling. The chief marshal had warned us in the briefing that the track would get abnormally slippery if the rain appeared, and as it continued throughout the break another marshal came wandering into the garage with further words of caution. But seriously, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Oh yes, yes it could. Ice cubes on an air hockey table have more traction that we had at Rockingham that afternoon, it was almost comical! I quickly gave up trying to thread a decent lap together and spent a large portion of the next few hours playing chase car to the tail wagging MX5’s, which was genuinely fantastic fun. I did have to have my wits about me though, as an exuberant Jack (in his supercharged racing green number) insisted on spinning right in front of me on more than one occasion.
As time went on the rain ceased, but the cool temperatures meant the surface never really dried out. I must’ve got a little jealous of all the fun the rear steerers were having, as I decided to have a whirl myself, courtesy of some scandy flicks and tactical lift offs. This went well for a while, and I’m hopeful that it looked mighty impressive from the outside. Until it didn’t go so well, and I found myself in a colossal tank slapper coming out of Deene, ended only by the gravel trap on the outside of the following straight. I went in front first, having fortunately scrubbed off enough speed to avoid a roll, and just enough to stay out of the looming tyre wall, be it only by a few inches! However I was well and truly beached, the front wheels flailing about like the legs on an upturned tortoise.
Mercifully a pick up arrived a few seconds later, expelling two men with high vis vests and impressive facial hair. They kindly dragged me back onto the black stuff, allowing me to tie toe back to the paddock. This spelt the end to my days hoonage, with the next hour spent digging gravel out of every conceivable orifice in the Clio’s belly. Nevertheless I imagine a half decent orienteer could still have traced my 2 hour journey back home, simply by following the intermittent trail of kitty litter ricocheting from deep within the cars unmentionables.
I have some videos from a couple of the morning sessions thanks to my recently acquired Go-Pro, if you fancy wasting a few minutes watching some fairly abysmal wheelmanship, feel free to click the links below.
[video=youtube;yCCNjhLb7gE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCCNjhLb7gE[/video]
[video=youtube;GK9FOI0KHTE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK9FOI0KHTE[/video]
I decided to borrow the ramp again the following evening to finalise the gravel evacuation, and unbelievably I still managed to find a dustpan’s worth of the little critters. Whilst the diffuser was off I took the opportunity to level up my exhaust tips as the left hand side had dropped slightly. The OCD fairy was extremely pleased with this achievement.
I had been giving the poor little thing more than its fair share of abuse lately, so I decided, as way of an apology, to buy it a rear spoiler. Perhaps had it been wearing one at Rockingham the negligible added downforce could have saved me a trip into the stones, but that is a debate for people with more time and brain cells than I. Regardless I always thought the rump end of the car could use a little more detail and aggression. The obvious answer would have been the proper Renaultsport wingy thingy, but for some reason I just find this a bit too fussy for the Clio’s otherwise subtle features. So a Sprint Spoiler arrived instead, courtesy of Simon at Spray Shack, and I wasted little time having it painted in the appropriate hue and lobbing it on the back of the car. I knew those scrap bits of steel would come in handy for something!
This wasn’t the only thing to arrive in the office post-Rockingham either. Having been put off the Nankangs by their truly appalling performance in any kind of light moisture, not to mention the way they disintegrated as soon as they surpassed the wear markers, I decided to step things up a level. Feast your eyes on rubber perfection (although please don’t type that into Google), Yokohama Advan Neova AD08R’s.
I had heard nothing but good things about these tyres so decided to take the plunge despite them being a fair whack more currency than the competition. Angel from Cazan Racing made things slightly less painful, and I must say it’s a real shame he has decided to shut up shop. Anyway, I had these fitted all round on the OEM wheels, the remaining pair of half worn NS2R’s then went on the Silverstones to burn off on the next dry track day, and the Rainsports were removed and sold on. Having driven on the Yokos now for the best part of 2 months I have to say the rave reviews are most certainly justified; they are fantastic. Honestly I really cannot sing their praises highly enough, just go and buy some. Now.
Back in the land of chronology, the first drive with the new additions up top and on all 4 corners was a little blast through some of the most B-est of B-roads Wiltshire has to offer, led by my friend Will in his other half’s Mini Cooper S. I know, either she is enviably understanding, or just plain oblivious... Having experienced Will’s driving I can only assume it is the latter. We were joined by Andy in his turbo’d Mk1 MX5 and Rob (owner of the yellow Exige featured previously in the thread) in his work wheels – a mapped 330D M-sport. Rob and Will are both very competent (read: absolute nutcases) at the helm of an automobile, and both knew the roads pretty well. As such Andy and I struggled to stick with them at times, but that didn’t stop us trying for a second! I don’t often get sweaty palms on the road these days, but I definitely had to direct the air con towards the steering wheel that morning. It was scarily fun.
We stopped for a breather and a Costa back in Swindon, where I grabbed the camera out the rear footwell, was pleasantly surprised to find it still working, and snapped a photo.
Having finally got my good friend Frank’s MX5 back on the road after a torturous 7 months off of it, he was champing at the bit to get out and drive. He assembled the troops, namely Jack and Aran in their similarly specced cars, and never one to excuse such an opportunity, I jumped in the Frenchy. By the way, I apologise for the unrelenting MX5 content… I think I need to get some new friends with Clio’s! Parked up next to the little Japanese roadsters the R27 looks huge and, dare I say it, a little bit boring. In fact I may even have felt a little tinge of remorse at selling my own Hiroshima Hooner as I composed the photographs below. Getting back in the Clio though I returned to my senses, I still reckon it is just as much fun, and on the right road just as rapid, as my Mazda. Plus on the uninspiring straight bits, and whilst stuck behind Cuthbert and Dorris in their 1.25 Fiesta, I can revel in my sound insulated cabin, tweaking the climate control to the most pleasurable half degree!
Midway through our drive we found a nice echoey bridge and Aran decided it would be good idea to set his camera up in the corner, whilst we all blasted through with engines singing. As ideas go I reckon it was up there with anything Einstein ever had to offer, and here is the result…
[video=youtube;fR5NzmU6q90]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR5NzmU6q90[/video]
I think I shall make this update a two part affair as I have no doubt bored you’re all to tears, despite the fact we are still a while away from being up to date. Maybe, just maybe, I will get chapter two in before the week is out. But then again Boris Johnson may top the podium at the next Formula one race... I wouldn’t put my money on either to be honest.
Love and hugs,
Rob
Just read this thread from start to finish, love it! The Clio sounded the best out of the cars in the video.
i also have a resonated scorpion that is looking slightly wonky at the back. Do you have any tips for getting it back into the right position height wise and getting the pipes centred???
keep this thread going.
i also have a resonated scorpion that is looking slightly wonky at the back. Do you have any tips for getting it back into the right position height wise and getting the pipes centred???
keep this thread going.
Yeah the R's are absolutely superb, I may never buy another brand of tyre again! Glad you enjoyed reading mate
Yeah we all agreed the Clio sounded the best too! Gotta love that racecar rasp!
No real tricks for the pipes to be honest mate, just a lot of fiddling. I got them very, very close but the rubber was a little bit more worn on the passenger side hence why it had dropped, I solved this by chucking a big jubilee clip around it and nipping it up slightly to take a small amount of tension off of it. The same idea as the little fabric straps that come on them as standard but a bit stonger!
So guess what… a floppy-haired political buffoon is still yet to pilot an F1 car to victory, and equally as predictable is the fact I failed to deliver an update within the same week… nor even the same month... but God loves an optimist, right?
Where were we anyway? As it turns out not far from the Spring Action Day at Castle Combe, which is where I shall start this post. I managed to get 2 sessions out on the brand new Combe tarmac that day, both of which were equally as infuriating (slash terrifying) due to some quite horrific driving standards. The idea of chucking that many cars out, with stone cold brakes and stone cold tyres, a lot of whom have little to no previous track experience, is a recipe for disaster at the best of times, yet for some reason I still feel the need take complete leave of my senses and go out and play with them.
Somehow, astonishingly, I managed to end the day unscathed, despite very nearly being t-boned at Bobbies by some chump in an MR2 who thought the apex would be a fantastic place to attempt an overtake. You can hear my displeased reaction around 3 minutes into the following video… probably best to turn the volume down if you’re at work. Alternatively skip to 9:40 for the only clear lap of the session.
[video=youtube;W8a1s--xFGg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8a1s--xFGg[/video]
My friend Aran set his camera up in the rear of the car for the second session, which gives quite an unusual viewpoint from which to watch the action unfold. I can’t really remember what happened in this one, and can’t really be bothered to watch it back either, but let me know if it’s good!
[video=youtube;LXMZugx5Utw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMZugx5Utw[/video]
A couple of my friends managed to pap some lovely static evidence of the cars endeavours as well, which are rather more time and bandwidth friendly.
Back in the less stressful world of road car use I had finally decided to get rid of the fancy pants Alpine stereo which would only have audio-intercourse with Apple products and absolutely refused to talk to my Android phone. Whilst doing this I also decided to tear out the active subwoofer which lay dormant under the driver’s seat having been turned off on my very first journey. I quickly decided I wasn’t a huge fan of having my nether regions massaged with bass whilst trying to concentrate on driving, although the Mrs would have probably enjoyed it. Lastly I removed an auxiliary 12v socket which had been positioned inside the glove box but had mysteriously never worked. It transpired that this was probably due to the fact the fuse socket on the positive side was completely without fuse, and the negative was connected only to fresh air.
Having concluded that the cars electrics must have been fiddled with by some kind of electrical genius in the past, I thought I’d investigate why the stock 12v socket didn’t work either. As I got involved with the centre console I expected to find spaghetti junction hacked and spliced about underneath it, what I actually found was slightly more… minimalist.
Nope, I’ve no idea why either, but a bit of work with the soldering iron and some heat shrink and we were back in business. Things were looking a bit grim at lunch time but the gear on the workbench at least indicated it had been a decent few hours of weight saving.
Eventually it was all back together and the vacant hole in the dash had been occupied by a far simpler, yet perfectly co-operative Pioneer unit. It talks to my phone via Bluetooth or aux lead, receives penetration from CD or USB media, and tunes into Radio 1 perfectly, all for under 100 sheets. Job done.
Almost a year of ownership had now past relatively pain free, and I must admit I had become a little ignorant to what French car ownership is all about; fixing things. First I noticed a bit of a knock coming from the NSF corner, which turned out to be this:
Not ideal, but at least a half decent excuse to upgrade to these:
And then shortly after began an awful groaning from the same corner under low-speed manoeuvring, which turned out to be (as the vast majority of Clio 197/200 owners will already know) the bottom swivel joint. I got on the blower to R-Speed, as recommended on umpteen threads within this very forum, but was met with the news that they were out of stock, and weren’t expecting another delivery for a while. Rats. Luckily I managed to source a couple of unused second hand ones and set about taking the front end apart yet again. It was a truly unpleasant experience the first time around, and if anything this time was worse, but it did at least cure the noise. No photos of this I’m afraid, as I was too busy swearing and hitting things.
With everything in decent working order again Frank and I made full use of a couple of consecutive sunny weekends by hitting the lanes hard. I really love track driving and would never push anywhere near as hard on the road, but there is something about threading together a tiny sliver of bumpy British highway, never being 100% confident of what will greet you around the next bend, that is totally thrilling on a completely different level. Plus you get to pull over whenever you desire, and whip out the DSLR.
It wasn’t long before I had to get another fix of maximum attack track action though, and the location this time around was way over on the Welsh coast at a little circuit called Pembrey.
It was a day of ups and downs, and I mean that quite literally as my friend Max decided it would be a sterling plan to turn his MX5 into the boulder from Indiana Jones, careering off-piste and cartwheeling through mid-air. Apparently it managed 4 full rotations before landing on its wheels, and seeing the state it ended up in I find it difficult to doubt this fact. The car was, of course, completely buggered, but thanks to a decent roll cage and a quick prayer to the big man upstairs, Max and his passenger walked away with only minor whiplash.
On the contrary my day went without a hitch, and I managed about 150 miles of driving, seeing off 75 litres of motion lotion, and a fair amount of tyre rubber, in the process. If I had to describe Pembrey in a single word (and that is very difficult for me) it would have to be “quick”. Double the word limit and it would become “f**king quick”. Even the paltry powered Clio was averaging 70mph around a lap, and considering a couple of the corners are tight second gear affairs, that transpires to some seriously big numbers on the straights. If I am being perfectly honest I would probably have traded some foot-to-the-floor-ness for a little more technicality, but that isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. Not even close. It was another amazingly exhilarating few hours, and should the opportunity present itself to return I shall be there in a flash.
Hopefully the following video, of a short blat late in the day, will give you some idea of just how full-on the track is, although I always feel video’s make it look far slower than it actually is in real life!
[video=youtube;wStE7V2dlIo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStE7V2dlIo[/video]
Being an Opentrack organised day meant there was a proper photographer on hand to capture the action, and the fruits of his labour are provided completely free of charge. They did not disappoint either, massive props to Tony Harrison for these puppies!
I even managed to catch my breath for long enough at the end of play to snap a couple of my own, and I can only apologise for the genuinely expert photo-bombing happening in the latter one.
And for the moment, that, as they say, is that. We are near as damn it up to date now, which I’m sure is a relief all round. I hope you have enjoyed reading my drivel, and please leave a comment if so.
I’m going to bed. Night night.
Where were we anyway? As it turns out not far from the Spring Action Day at Castle Combe, which is where I shall start this post. I managed to get 2 sessions out on the brand new Combe tarmac that day, both of which were equally as infuriating (slash terrifying) due to some quite horrific driving standards. The idea of chucking that many cars out, with stone cold brakes and stone cold tyres, a lot of whom have little to no previous track experience, is a recipe for disaster at the best of times, yet for some reason I still feel the need take complete leave of my senses and go out and play with them.
Somehow, astonishingly, I managed to end the day unscathed, despite very nearly being t-boned at Bobbies by some chump in an MR2 who thought the apex would be a fantastic place to attempt an overtake. You can hear my displeased reaction around 3 minutes into the following video… probably best to turn the volume down if you’re at work. Alternatively skip to 9:40 for the only clear lap of the session.
[video=youtube;W8a1s--xFGg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8a1s--xFGg[/video]
My friend Aran set his camera up in the rear of the car for the second session, which gives quite an unusual viewpoint from which to watch the action unfold. I can’t really remember what happened in this one, and can’t really be bothered to watch it back either, but let me know if it’s good!
[video=youtube;LXMZugx5Utw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMZugx5Utw[/video]
A couple of my friends managed to pap some lovely static evidence of the cars endeavours as well, which are rather more time and bandwidth friendly.
Back in the less stressful world of road car use I had finally decided to get rid of the fancy pants Alpine stereo which would only have audio-intercourse with Apple products and absolutely refused to talk to my Android phone. Whilst doing this I also decided to tear out the active subwoofer which lay dormant under the driver’s seat having been turned off on my very first journey. I quickly decided I wasn’t a huge fan of having my nether regions massaged with bass whilst trying to concentrate on driving, although the Mrs would have probably enjoyed it. Lastly I removed an auxiliary 12v socket which had been positioned inside the glove box but had mysteriously never worked. It transpired that this was probably due to the fact the fuse socket on the positive side was completely without fuse, and the negative was connected only to fresh air.
Having concluded that the cars electrics must have been fiddled with by some kind of electrical genius in the past, I thought I’d investigate why the stock 12v socket didn’t work either. As I got involved with the centre console I expected to find spaghetti junction hacked and spliced about underneath it, what I actually found was slightly more… minimalist.
Nope, I’ve no idea why either, but a bit of work with the soldering iron and some heat shrink and we were back in business. Things were looking a bit grim at lunch time but the gear on the workbench at least indicated it had been a decent few hours of weight saving.
Eventually it was all back together and the vacant hole in the dash had been occupied by a far simpler, yet perfectly co-operative Pioneer unit. It talks to my phone via Bluetooth or aux lead, receives penetration from CD or USB media, and tunes into Radio 1 perfectly, all for under 100 sheets. Job done.
Almost a year of ownership had now past relatively pain free, and I must admit I had become a little ignorant to what French car ownership is all about; fixing things. First I noticed a bit of a knock coming from the NSF corner, which turned out to be this:
Not ideal, but at least a half decent excuse to upgrade to these:
And then shortly after began an awful groaning from the same corner under low-speed manoeuvring, which turned out to be (as the vast majority of Clio 197/200 owners will already know) the bottom swivel joint. I got on the blower to R-Speed, as recommended on umpteen threads within this very forum, but was met with the news that they were out of stock, and weren’t expecting another delivery for a while. Rats. Luckily I managed to source a couple of unused second hand ones and set about taking the front end apart yet again. It was a truly unpleasant experience the first time around, and if anything this time was worse, but it did at least cure the noise. No photos of this I’m afraid, as I was too busy swearing and hitting things.
With everything in decent working order again Frank and I made full use of a couple of consecutive sunny weekends by hitting the lanes hard. I really love track driving and would never push anywhere near as hard on the road, but there is something about threading together a tiny sliver of bumpy British highway, never being 100% confident of what will greet you around the next bend, that is totally thrilling on a completely different level. Plus you get to pull over whenever you desire, and whip out the DSLR.
It wasn’t long before I had to get another fix of maximum attack track action though, and the location this time around was way over on the Welsh coast at a little circuit called Pembrey.
It was a day of ups and downs, and I mean that quite literally as my friend Max decided it would be a sterling plan to turn his MX5 into the boulder from Indiana Jones, careering off-piste and cartwheeling through mid-air. Apparently it managed 4 full rotations before landing on its wheels, and seeing the state it ended up in I find it difficult to doubt this fact. The car was, of course, completely buggered, but thanks to a decent roll cage and a quick prayer to the big man upstairs, Max and his passenger walked away with only minor whiplash.
On the contrary my day went without a hitch, and I managed about 150 miles of driving, seeing off 75 litres of motion lotion, and a fair amount of tyre rubber, in the process. If I had to describe Pembrey in a single word (and that is very difficult for me) it would have to be “quick”. Double the word limit and it would become “f**king quick”. Even the paltry powered Clio was averaging 70mph around a lap, and considering a couple of the corners are tight second gear affairs, that transpires to some seriously big numbers on the straights. If I am being perfectly honest I would probably have traded some foot-to-the-floor-ness for a little more technicality, but that isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. Not even close. It was another amazingly exhilarating few hours, and should the opportunity present itself to return I shall be there in a flash.
Hopefully the following video, of a short blat late in the day, will give you some idea of just how full-on the track is, although I always feel video’s make it look far slower than it actually is in real life!
[video=youtube;wStE7V2dlIo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStE7V2dlIo[/video]
Being an Opentrack organised day meant there was a proper photographer on hand to capture the action, and the fruits of his labour are provided completely free of charge. They did not disappoint either, massive props to Tony Harrison for these puppies!
I even managed to catch my breath for long enough at the end of play to snap a couple of my own, and I can only apologise for the genuinely expert photo-bombing happening in the latter one.
And for the moment, that, as they say, is that. We are near as damn it up to date now, which I’m sure is a relief all round. I hope you have enjoyed reading my drivel, and please leave a comment if so.
I’m going to bed. Night night.
Yiannis197
Paid Member
Once again, great reading your posts mate. A few things then;
- Sorry to hear about your mate with the mx5, glad everyone is fine though..
- That wing on the green mx5!!!!!!!!!! I can't use enough exclamation marks!
- Great pictures as always.
- The more I look at the 197s the more stunning I find them, has to be the most beautiful hot hatch ever made IMO.
- When it comes to lowering springs (even though I hate them with a passion) Eibach is the best setup full stop. Perfect lowering and spring rates, let alone it's the only kit that comes with the rubber around the spring.
- Great footwork there, well done!
- Agree with the video comment, it always looks slower than it really is, but I guess we all know that
- I do have the same Alpine headunit and I have to agree with you, it's not as brilliant as its pricetag would suggest. I find it very temperamental when it comes to connect to bluetooth, it crashes quite regularly and even when it does the echo the others are getting is horrid, and yes - before anyone asks - I've tried to place the mic on every single possible spot but no luck...
Keep it coming mate
- Sorry to hear about your mate with the mx5, glad everyone is fine though..
- That wing on the green mx5!!!!!!!!!! I can't use enough exclamation marks!
- Great pictures as always.
- The more I look at the 197s the more stunning I find them, has to be the most beautiful hot hatch ever made IMO.
- When it comes to lowering springs (even though I hate them with a passion) Eibach is the best setup full stop. Perfect lowering and spring rates, let alone it's the only kit that comes with the rubber around the spring.
- Great footwork there, well done!
- Agree with the video comment, it always looks slower than it really is, but I guess we all know that
- I do have the same Alpine headunit and I have to agree with you, it's not as brilliant as its pricetag would suggest. I find it very temperamental when it comes to connect to bluetooth, it crashes quite regularly and even when it does the echo the others are getting is horrid, and yes - before anyone asks - I've tried to place the mic on every single possible spot but no luck...
Keep it coming mate
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