Glacier White 200 Cup

[burrellbloke]

I am not sure why but I don't like turning up to a track day with a car caked in dirt and grime. The Clio had not been cleaned since it's last outing at Snetterton. I took the opportunity on a quiet day to give the Clio some love.

The car always picks up some rubber debris on track days.



At Snetterton in August the front right arch looked like the tyre had rubbed but it was just some debris that had just stuck and left it's mark.



To get rid of rubber marks in the past I had been using some Meguiars Ultimate Compound. I read somewhere that using tar remover was easier so I used some Auto Finesse Obli-Tar-ate today. I had picked up a new bottle as I had been running out. The old stuff was a liquid and I was expecting the new stuff to be more gloopy. I washed the car and left the new bottle of Obli-Tar-ate in the sun. When I picked it up and opened the flip lid it exploded in my face splattering me with gloop. After cleaning myself off I got round to using the new formula which came out like this.



The more gloopy formula made it easier to use and was really effective getting rid of the rubber marks.



The Clio is now washed, de-tarred and waxed ready for action.



I still haven't made sure that the front discs are ready for action after swapping them recently - I might do that in the week.

 

[burrellbloke]

We went to Croft on 23rd September 2022. There were a few forum members there @R20BTG @Helpimonfire @Big Ben @RSRowe @jimmybell and Ben and Simmo from the Track Baguettes.

We went to Croft in May 2022 for the first time and I was looking forward to going back. Croft is a short circuit and I think that it is well suited to a Clio. We had only made a few minor changes to the car since we were last at Croft, that was a set of MRF tyres, harnesses, DS Uno pads and some fresh Brembo HC discs. Last time at Croft I had been fairly slow and managed a 1m 49s lap, @EthanMenace had managed a 1m 42s lap. This was according to Harry's Lap Timer data. The GoPro GPS data actually suggested that @EthanMenace lap was more like a 1m 45s.

The morning started well by meeting up with @Helpimonfire and having a big breakfast. When we got to Croft and swapped out the road brake pads for the DS Unos, put on the Ultraleggeras which now had hard compound MRFs on them. The track was wet first thing in the morning as it had rained overnight but the weather was good and the track dried out by late morning. @EthanMenace had told me that he was expecting the change of tyres to effect the overall grip of the car and that he was expecting a trade off between the MRFs lasting longer compared to the sticky grip of Direzzas which wear quickly.



After the sighting laps @EthanMenace went out for the first proper session. Tower Bend proved to be a bit slippy and the back end of the car came out on most laps of that session. By the time I went out in the car there was a dry line on the track and it was pretty much dry. I started out slow but was hanging to get times that were better than my laps in May 2022.

Just before lunch @EthanMenace was putting in some good laps but that was mostly down to trying to follow the Track Baguettes and having a good lead and follow session with @RSRowe.



After lunch things started to go wrong. Clios were breaking, wheels were buckling, tyres were getting punctured, gearboxes were going bang, plastic parts were falling off of cars and melting. Thankfully our Clio was still going strong. By 3pm the track was a lot clearer as some people had left. I was starting to get more confidence with car in the afternoon and was enjoying stamping on the brakes to use the stopping power of the DS Unos. The tyres spent a lot fo their time squealing round most bends but did not seem massively different to Direzzas. I had managed to get some better lap times in and was really trying to keep the car going flat out in 4th gear from Tower Bend to Sunny In. I didn't quite have the bottle to keep the accelerator pedal floored at Barcroft and was lifting off as I was worried that the car would bounce through Barcroft and not have enough grip to stop at Sunny In when I used the brakes.

For the last two sessions of the day @EthanMenace and I both went out alone. I found it odd driving without a passenger. The car seemed to be a bit more nimble, there was less oversteer, the lap times were better for both of us. I managed to get a 1m 43s and @EthanMenace was well pleased with his 1m 39.04s

We finished just before 5pm as we had pretty much run out of petrol.

Every track day we got to we seem to be the last people to leave. Today was no exception. After finishing on track we swapped the wheels to the road wheels for the journey home and put the DS2500 pads back on the car. It seems that we did not escape the day without any damage at all. The inside rim of one of the wheels got caught after the wheel went past the kerb and on to some soft ground. The damage is not too bad and a visit to the local wheel repair guy should sort it out.



Croft was good fun. Both of us managed to improve on our lap times since May 2022.

I managed to get a lot of GoPro footage today for both the forward facing and rear facing cameras. I will sift through the footage and see if there is anything good there with other forum cars either in front or behind. This is @EthanMenace last session.

The next track day booked for the Clio is 19th October 2022 at Snetterton. @EthanMenace has got a day of tuition booked with Mike Epps. I am going along in my Megane RS 280 to try it out of track for the first time. Hopefully by the end of the day I can get a few laps done in the Clio.

 

[RSRowe]

Was a great day out. We definitely lucked out on the weather.

I wanted to continue, but thought it wise to pack up instead of keep going with my broken manifold.

I think your wheel damage is from corner cutting. Ben’s and Simmo’s were the same. I’ve managed to come away unscathed with the exception of the puncture

 

[jwillo]

Nice read up mate, nice driving too. Definitely a track I'd like to visit next year

 

[Big Ben]

Was mostly a very enjoyable day. Definitely adds to the day having friends in Clios in attendance.
The car looks great on them gold wheels as I may have mentioned

 

[burrellbloke]

Was a great day out. We definitely lucked out on the weather.

I wanted to continue, but thought it wise to pack up instead of keep going with my broken manifold.

I think your wheel damage is from corner cutting. Ben’s and Simmo’s were the same. I’ve managed to come away unscathed with the exception of the puncture

I definately heard a metal scrape as the right front wheel went over the edge of a kerb and on to soft ground on that particular wheel - when I wasn't driving. But the car was smashed up the kerbs all day. I didn't realise that Ben had some wheel damage too. I thought he was one car that came away without any problems.

 

[RSRowe]

So did I. He spotted the same damage on his when he packed his stuff up yesterday….
I have a feeling it could be the kerb on the left at the Jim Clarke Esses, as that’s the only place I wasn’t cutting too bad, and there’s no damage on the inside of the wheels I borrowed.

We should maybe all start trying to drive within the confines of the track

 

[burrellbloke]

Here are some of the track day photos from Croft.

 

[burrellbloke]

This time of year with cold mornings and bright sunshine always shows off a nice bit of beading when the car has got a few coats of wax on it.

 

[burrellbloke]

I have finally uploaded all of my footage from Croft (apart from the sighting lap) to YouTube now.

I quite like using Race Render now. It is a nice but of software once you figure out how to use it. I have made sure that the rear camera which appears at the top of the screen is resized and flipped horizontally so that you actually get a mirror image - the normal image would show the Clio passing another car with the other car on the drivers side, but when you got past the car the non-horizontally flipped image would show the passed car in the rear on the other passenger side. It has taken a few track days for me to work out that the rear camera was not quite right.

In Session 4 @EthanMenace had a good session with @RSRowe about 7 minutes in. On the last lap a fast approaching @Lawton438 puts @EthanMenace off.

My best session was number 10, the last of the day when the track was more or less empty. @jimmybell makes a brief appearance at about 3 minutes in as I was chasing a large and twitchy M3?

 

[RSRowe]

Some good laps. I’ll have to get my footage off the camera.

 

[burrellbloke]

The ZPO shifter has been ordered.



@EthanMenace and I decided to keep up the yellow theme with the car and have decided to get a dual colour shifter in yellow and black. The car does not have any carbon fibre in the cabin. I think that the only carbon fibre on the car is is the Akrapovic exhaust tips. So - no need for a carbon shaft.



Terry at Zero Point One is a helpful chap. He has always been quick to respond to my e-mails. I e-mailed him some questions months ago and even today he was answering questions before I put the order in.

I have had a quote from AW Motorworks to install the shifter and hope to have it delivered and fitted within the next 6 weeks.

 

[R20BTG]

Terry is ace, I spent some time with him in Germany. It’s going to look fantastic. Are you going to keep the centre console?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[burrellbloke]

Terry is ace, I spent some time with him in Germany. It’s going to look fantastic. Are you going to keep the centre console?

Yes, the centre console will stay unless we have plans later on to strip bits out of the car.

 

[Big Ben]

Shifter gang
Did you go for the cover plate at the bottom?
His stuff is great but damn it’s pricey!

 

[R20BTG]

BTW your Megane one feels so much better than the Clio one

 

[burrellbloke]

Shifter gang
Did you go for the cover plate at the bottom?
His stuff is great but damn it’s pricey!
View attachment 152130

No, I have seen that he does the shifter plate for £130ish. I thought I would see how it books before spending more money.

 

[Alistair]

Gonna love that, it's made my car feel loads better, shifts are spot on. You wont be disappointed!

 

[Big Ben]

BTW your Megane one feels so much better than the Clio one

I was in a bit of a daze tbh driving yours but thinking about it it wasn’t quite as smooth or snug. Probably just the box design

 

[burrellbloke]

This car is treated like a pampered princess.

New oil arrived today. It has done about 3,000 miles since the last oil change on 1st July 2022 but has done three track days.



It will get some fresh oil and a new oil filter before Snetterton in less than 2 weeks time. The car takes just over 5 litres on an oil change - the other two are for top ups in between track days.

How often does everyone else change their engine oil?