Glacier White 200 Cup

[burrellbloke]

I got out my CLIP device yesterday and connected the ancient laptop that the software runs on. I thought that what I would need to do sort out the airbag light after the harnesses had gone in would be obvious.



I connected the laptop and scanned for "all computers" and then checked the errors for the air bags and pretensioners. I had about 3 error codes that were in red. My basic knowledge of CLIP meant that I was aware a red error code could not just be cleared and it had to be coded out. After faffing around with a laptop that weighed three times as much as my MacBook and claimed to have a battery life of 38 minutes after a full charge, but died within 20 minutes, I managed to end up with more error codes than I started with.

I thought that I would just code out all of the airbags, seatbelt and seat sensors. After getting frustrated I left it on Sunday evening and did some research. I stumbled on to this thread: https://clio197.net/threads/disabling-airbags-using-clip.59354/#post-713218 I realised that I could not tell CLIP that a device or circuit was not present if it was actually still connected and was in the car, although I could code out any parts or devices that had been removed.

Tonight I ran an extension lead out to the car to power the laptop I had recently learnt to loathe. After some more educated guess work I was able to code back in some devices I told CLIP were not there when in fact they were still connected to the car. I then coded out the missing parts that had been removed and the airbag light disappeared from the dashboard. The thread I mentioned above was the inspiration I needed to resolve the airbag light issue but I did not have to lock or unlock the airbag computer to make and save the changes I had made.



@PITA had offered to explain to me how to sort out the airbag light on CLIP, or even turn the light off if I travelled up to him, so thank you Craig for the generous offer. One thing I really like about this forum is the real help other members are prepared to give to each other.

The car was taken for a quick test drive to make sure that the seat belt warning alarm did not go off when the car was moving. Thankfully my guesswork on CLIP had been good enough to disable the alarm.

The harness certainly holds you against the chair and will definately be a big help on track. I agree with all the comments that have been made about getting some decent bucket seats to replace the Recaros - they will undoubtedly be a future purchase. I have seen videos of my driving on track where I move around a lot in the seat. I am hoping that I will now be held in place better so I can just finesse the wheel with light touches to drive around the track.

 

[Jakkehoop]

Yesterday and today @EthanMenace, with some assistance from me, sorted out the brake ducts that we had ordered from @RSRowe.

We had taken off the bumper before to have a look at what space there was behind the front arch liners and I had decided that a cheap aftermarket washer bottle would be needed if there was no way of adapting the OEM washer bottle with a heat gun.

View attachment 150615

Once we had the OEM washer bottle off it was a very easy decision to go with the cheap alternative washer bottle. We decided against trying to mould the original washer bottle with a heat gun. The OEM bottle looks big when you see it bolted on to the car, but it is not actually that big when you consider that the back of it is basically folded in to make space for the motor. We managed to use the original neck filler tube.

View attachment 150616

The brake ducts were fitted to the inside of the bumper in the fog light moulds that had so far gone unused on the Cup.

View attachment 150617

The ducts fitted well behind the fog light surrounds that @PITA swapped with me for my fog light blanks.

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We decided to try and fit the ducting couplers so that they fed cold air at an angle to the wheel rather than just blow air at the tyre if the steering was straight.

View attachment 150620

That was a great idea until we realised that the edge of the coupler would foul the inside edge of the tyre when it was on full lock. So off came the arch liners (they have been on and off the car a lot over the past two days) and the couplers were trimmed down.

View attachment 150621

The ducting was held on using jubilee clips to the arch liner coupler - I guess this was an appropriate use of jubilee clips on a Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend? We had attached the ducting to the coupler before the arch liners were fitted.

View attachment 150622

When both arch liners were in we then trimmed the ducting and put on a jubilee clip loosely on each end of the ducting that was going to be attached to the fog light brake ducts. The bumper went back on and we used the small "service" flaps in the bottom of the bumper tray to access the brake ducts to secure the ducting tightly with the jubilee clips.

View attachment 150623

Once the wheels were back on we double checked that neither wheel was catching on the coupler on the arch liner. Job done.

I have used the good weather to soak and clean up the used harnesses that I had acquired recently.

View attachment 150624

A lot of the grime on the harnesses has come off after a soak and a scrub with a soft brush and some liquid washing detergent. As there are still two days left to the four day weekend we will see if we can remove the front seatbelts and install the harnesses.

Another small addition made to the Clio today was a Zero Point One tow eye adapter and a TRS tow loop. The TRS tow loop was drilled out to fit on the tow eye. The tow eye cover was trimmed slightly so that the tow loop can stick out when being used. For some reason the tow loop looks really long.

View attachment 150625

Just out of interest where do you buy the washer bottle from and how did you mount it mate m as I need to do them same thing to fit my brake ducts lol

Great thread so far dude [emoji1360]


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[EthanMenace]

Just out of interest where do you buy the washer bottle from and how did you mount it mate m as I need to do them same thing to fit my brake ducts lol

Great thread so far dude [emoji1360]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm pretty sure it was this one

It fits quite nicely in this little gap, I just trimmed down the end of one of the crash bar bolts a tiny bit (it still goes fully through)
and then just drilled two holes and fitted some rivnuts to mount the washer bottle bracket, It does slightly touch on the arch liner but it doesn't seem to have caused any rubbing issues yet.

Also If you get it in the right place you can keep the original filler neck in the same place and just feed it into the bottle

I took out the headlight for some easier access while I did it.

 

[burrellbloke]

That link to Amazon was the washer bottle that is on the car.

I took the car to work today and noticed that when the washer jet buttons are pressed water comes out of both the front and the rear jets at the same time. I am not too bothered about that quirk so will probably not bother to fix the issue.

 

[Jakkehoop]

I'm pretty sure it was this one

It fits quite nicely in this little gap, I just trimmed down the end of one of the crash bar bolts a tiny bit (it still goes fully through)
and then just drilled two holes and fitted some rivnuts to mount the washer bottle bracket, It does slightly touch on the arch liner but it doesn't seem to have caused any rubbing issues yet.

Also If you get it in the right place you can keep the original filler neck in the same place and just feed it into the bottle

I took out the headlight for some easier access while I did it.

View attachment 150679

[mention]EthanMenace [/mention]thank you mate I will have to buy one and give it a go [emoji1362]


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[PITA]

That link to Amazon was the washer bottle that is on the car.

I took the car to work today and noticed that when the washer jet buttons are pressed water comes out of both the front and the rear jets at the same time. I am not too bothered about that quirk so will probably not bother to fix the issue.

Rear wiper delete

Did you put the nut back on the earth behind the headlight?

 

[EthanMenace]

Rear wiper delete

Did you put the nut back on the earth behind the headlight?

Just about yes, I remembered as we were about to put the bumper back on

 

[burrellbloke]

@EthanMenace did a few minor jobs to the Clio today. We noticed in the week that one of the rear number plate bulbs had stopped working.



The number plate lights had been replaced with LED bulbs about two years ago. Bizarrely when the failed LED bulb was replaced the left hand bulb stopped working. Eventually it was sorted.



When the front seat belts were removed it left an unpleasant exposed bolt hole. The original bolt was rather long. We ordered some shorted bolts to go in the same hole to sit in the recess with the bolt cap on top. A small change but as we still have an interior it makes the car look tidier.



Ethan cleaned the car and removed the rubber debris stuck to the paintwork from Croft. No doubt we will come back from Donington with more rubber debris stuck to the car.

We packed up the car this afternoon for our drive up to Donington tomorrow evening - ready for Donington on Tuesday. This will be the shakedown for the brake ducts and harnesses.

 

[burrellbloke]

We went to Donington today for a track day with Track Obsession. The weather was perfect as it was sunny, it was about 21 degrees C and there was no rain. Donington is about 2 hours and 30 minutes from home so we decided to travel up the night before and stay over ready for an early start. The track day started an hour later than usual as Download festival had recently taken place and they were still tidying up.

We arrived, as usual, with the car full of tools and a set of track wheels. We unpacked and watched the other cars turn up. There were about 6 or 7 197s/200s, around 4 or 5 172s, 2 Megane 225s and 2 Megane 250/265s. There was also the usual mix of Caterhams, BMW powered machinery, K powered Hondas, a few Exocets, Yaris GRs and a smattering of Porsches.

The day started with @EthanMenace having some free tuition.



I had not booked on for tuition when we originally booked the track day so had to rely on @EthanMenace to give me his driving tips for Donington.

The weather really was spectacular all day long.



After Croft we had added brake ducts and harnesses. The harnesses were a revelation. They pinned me to the seat so I could concentrate on driving rather than trying to steady myself as I threw the Clio around corners. It also made the passenger ride a lot more comfortable. Despite the car still having Recaros the combination of Recaro and a harness made massive difference.

I cannot really comment on whether the brake ducts made a difference to the performance of the car but at no stage did the brakes fade, judder or react in a way that suggested they were overheating on a hot day. The DS2500 front pads and now wearing down so the Clio will need a new set of pads for the front before our next track day, or at least a set of pads to go in the track day kit.

I was aware that the track day was going to be an hour shorter than a usual full day and had intended to get in as much driving as possible. I try to do 20 minutes driving sessions with 15 minute breaks. I used Harry's Lap Timer on my phone to record our laps. We have recorded 94 full laps on track, that does not include the out laps from the pits or the cool down laps. I think that the car must have done about 115 to 120 laps of Donington today. The Clio was great and did not have any problems. The front left Direzza has taken a beating and will now have to go on the rear.

@EthanMenace managed a 1m 28s lap whilst my best was 1m 32s. I was pleased with my driving today as I stayed on the track all day. @EthanMenace managed to get the rear of the car to step out at McLean's and had a brush with the gravel. Helpfully we had a dedicated gravel bin in the garage.



The car only scooped up about 6 or 7 bits of gravel. After a quick check of the wheel arches we went straight back out.



There were a few red flags today, but all seemed to be for cars breaking down on track. One Clio 172 caused three red flags because it kept suffering issues and needing to be towed back to the pits. I felt a bit sorry for the chap who had the garage next to us. He turned up in a very nice looking K powered Exocet but after doing one session it refused to run. His mate had come to watch and had turned up in his Exocet so they powered up his car to find that his would not run either. The Clio may not have been the fastest car at Donington today but it was certainly reliable.



I had chat with a few Clio owners today, most of them made positive comments about our Clio so we must be doing something right.

By 4pm a lot of people had gone home so it left an emptier track to get a few more laps in. By the end of the day we had well and truly massacred the fly population at Donington.



Our next track day is at Anglesey in mid July 2022. This is a track that has been on my bucket list for a while so I am really looking forward to it.

 

[LiamP]

Those gold wheels are really growing on me

 

[burrellbloke]

I have been editing some of the video footage from Donington.

This is @EthanMenace fastest lap.

This is my fastest lap.

Finally, here is a comparison of our fastest laps

 

[burrellbloke]

The Donington photos have been published. Here are a few of the best ones.

 

[burrellbloke]

The new brake pads have arrived.

Ferodo DS Unos for the front and DS1.11s for the rear.



The car will be treated to an oil change, a new oil filter and new pads before Anglesey in a few weeks time.

 

[burrellbloke]

Whilst I was at work today @EthanMenace changed the oil, put on a new oil filter and changed the brake pads.

The last oil change was in November 2021 when the car had done just under 80,000 miles.



The old oil came out black. It is less than 3,500 miles old and has done 3 track days since it was last changed.



The new oil filter had the current mileage written on and was put on the car.



The car used to have a MAP sensor bracket - I have no idea where it has gone but it has disappeared. The MAP sensor has now been cable tied down to stop any movement.



Once the oil had been sorted the brake pads were changed. The old Ferodo DS2500s were taken off the front and back and replaced with DS Unos at the front and DS 1.11s at the back. The old front pads still have about 5mm left on them, and the rears have about 7mm left, so they can go in to spares box for track days for emergency use.

The new brake pads need to be bedded with 25 to 30 hard stops. That will be a fun task when the local roads are quiet.

 

[LiamP]

Remember to duct tape up your new cooling ducts and get them smoking

 

[burrellbloke]

Ferodo says "It may be necessary to close cooling ducts during the bedding to achieve sufficiently high temperatures."

I thought you were joking but it makes sense.

 

[burrellbloke]

I had a run out with the car tonight to bed in the new brake pads. I did a few journeys up and down a local dual carriageway with a series of 25 to 30 brake stops whilst the brake ducts were taped up. I didn’t see any smoke coming from the brakes but they feel pretty sharp now.

 

[rSilva]

Did you get to smelling the new pads? If they didn't smell, you need to push them harder

 

[burrellbloke]

Yes, when I got home and parked the car in first gear the brakes were very hot and had that distinctive hot brake smell.

The car is going to be driven for a few hundred miles for a 5 hour journey to the next track day so they will get some more “bedding in” before they are unleashed on track.

 

[rSilva]

I meant while doing the succession of hard stops