Jake's RB Clio 197 Track Car

[burrellbloke]

I went to Donington for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It is nice to have some elevation in a track unlike Bedford and Snetterton. I have not done Cadwell Park yet so if it is better than Donington I might book it up at sone point.

The car looks great.

 

[jwillo]

I went to Donington for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It is nice to have some elevation in a track unlike Bedford and Snetterton. I have not done Cadwell Park yet so if it is better than Donington I might book it up at sone point.

The car looks great.

Thanks bud, I done Donington years ago in my 182 and really enjoyed it. For me Cadwell is better but I agree about the elevation, Bedford is handy for me as it takes less than an hour to get there. Cadwell was built for cars like these imo

 

[jwillo]

Here's a link to my second session

 

[jwillo]

Update;

Done a couple of small jobs on the car last week.

Starting off with getting the MRF tyres fitted. Also removed the screenwash bottle to allow more air for the brakes, temporary for now until I find some decent brake cooling



Got the fire extinguisher mounted and also grabbed a portable charger for the camera, will always come in handy and for £7 I can't complain.





Fitted some larger grip pedals to the brake and accelerator, removed more trim around the steering column, tidied up the foot tray and cut back the tow strap threaded bar and fitted the cover.





On Monday I had another evening at Bedford, luckily my new Zamp helmet came just in time. Nice bit of kit. only managed 3 sessions as the second was red flagged 5 minutes in. Still a great evening with Javelin though.







I was really impressed with the tyres, I ran the fronts at 28hot and rears at 30hot and they seemed to last for a good while. The car overall was spot on, I had good fun trying to keep up with a couple quick BMW's and a MINI. Not sure on their spec but they were quick especially down the straights.



Dropping the car off to Sean at Jade Developments on Saturday, it was only booked in to get the exhaust fitted but whilst it was there I decided to go for a gripper diff as I feel the car would benefit from one. I've never driven a car with a gripper so I'm looking forward to it. Whilst the box is out it made sense for Sean to freshen it up.

Got Cadwell 4th August and don't plan on doing anymore track days this year. Got some stuff in the garage ready to fit over the winter.

Odyssey pc680 battery (Relocate just underneath the fire extinguisher)
T7 heater
Remove dash and all unnecessary wiring
Polycarb rear windows
And wouldn't mind getting a set of slicks to try out

First time ever I'll be removing wiring from the loom so it'll be interesting lol!

Video from Bedford with the BMW's and the MINI.

 

[burrellbloke]

The Gripper will make massive difference. I had a Gripper put in at the start of the year and now the car pulls out of corners and stops the inevitable wheel spin if you are too early on the throttle.

 

[Jakkehoop]

Looking good mate [emoji1360]

What mounting kit did you use for the tow strap as was to do mine like that with the cover on do it looks neat [emoji1362]


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[burrellbloke]

If you trim the bottom part of the tow strap cover you can keep the cover on with the tow strap exposed.

 

[jwillo]

Looking good mate [emoji1360]

What mounting kit did you use for the tow strap as was to do mine like that with the cover on do it looks neat [emoji1362]


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Cheers mate.

Yeah basically shortened the stud that was there then got the grinder to the cover.

 

[Jakkehoop]

Cheers mate.

Yeah basically shortened the stud that was there then got the grinder to the cover.

View attachment 151446

This is the tow strap adapter I was going to buy did you use something like this or just a treaded bar ?


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[jwillo]

This is the tow strap adapter I was going to buy did you use something like this or just a treaded bar ?


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I've just got a threaded bar with a couple washers and nuts mate should be able to see in the pic. But that adapter will work I've seen a few use them

View attachment 20220627_155435.jpg

 

[burrellbloke]

I have a ZPO tow strap adaptor with a TRS tow strap. We had to drill out the hole on the tow strap as it was not big enough.

With a trimmed cover the tow strap can either hang out or be tucked away.

 

[jwillo]

Update;

So collected the car on Tuesday from Sean where he fitted the gripper diff, also a gearbox refresh and fitted the pure motorsport manifold and cobra catback. Whilst it was there he kindly flushed some ATE200 brake fluid for me as they felt abit soft at Bedford.

Lucky I got the box refurbed, Sean reckons it had 1 more track days left in it.




Exhaust sounds mega, over the moon with how it sounds. Brakes feel better but I decided to put some EBC RPX pads in, will be interesting to see how they compare to the RS29 as they're nearly half the price!

I had some spare spark plugs the previous owner kindly gave me when I bought the car, so took the old ones out and put the spare ones in, will put new ones in before next years track days.



Checked the oil and that was abit low so ordered some Fuchs titan race pro 5w40. Will top it up for now and change it when I do the plugs next year.

Removed the heater controls and made some blanks for the centre console trim ready to fit the T7 heater over the winter (don't set the heater to hot before removing the controls)



Some how broke the clip for the start stop button harness connector. Taped it back into place but wasn't convinced so ordered a new button with a connector and got that swapped about.



Took the car out this afternoon mainly to bed the new pads in, they seem pretty good on the road so looking forward to trying them on track, also looking forward to see how the gripper diff helps as it's horrible to drive on the road lol!

Rear tow strap also fitted. Few marks on the bumper but the strap is solid (hopefully will never get tested).



Nothing else to do on the car now other than top the oil up and give it a good clean as it's cover in dust, pack and get ready for Cadwell on Thursday.

Short video of the exhaust

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[jwillo]

Cadwell update;

Car was faultless other than the rear bumper, Amazon quick release pins somehow came undone on the right hand side just before lunch so cable tied it back together and luckily lasted the rest of the day.

Brakes were really very good, pedal feel felt alot better than the previous set up. Very happy with them.

Gripper diff was amazing. The grip on corner exit was phenomenal. Couldn't believe how much it transformed the car, mixed with the pure motorsport manifold and cobra catback, a very good day.

Pictures;





Was good to meet a few people on this forum and the cliosport.net forum. Had a good time playing with some other clios and trying to keep up with some faster cars out on track.

It was the last track day for the clio till next year. Expecting another little one in December so got to be abit sensible I suppose.

Plans over the winter are to lighten the car.

Poly windows
Strip more wiring
Remove more brackets and trim away at the dash
Relocate battery with a PC680
T7 heater

I did plan on doing it all myself, but I'm still not sure about the wiring and it's not something I want to do if I'm not 100% but we'll see.

Would also like to run slicks for next year's trackdays.

Also a link to a video I put on my YouTube;

 

[Jakkehoop]

Update;

So collected the car on Tuesday from Sean where he fitted the gripper diff, also a gearbox refresh and fitted the pure motorsport manifold and cobra catback. Whilst it was there he kindly flushed some ATE200 brake fluid for me as they felt abit soft at Bedford.

Lucky I got the box refurbed, Sean reckons it had 1 more track days left in it.

View attachment 151475
View attachment 151476

Exhaust sounds mega, over the moon with how it sounds. Brakes feel better but I decided to put some EBC RPX pads in, will be interesting to see how they compare to the RS29 as they're nearly half the price!

I had some spare spark plugs the previous owner kindly gave me when I bought the car, so took the old ones out and put the spare ones in, will put new ones in before next years track days.

View attachment 151469

Checked the oil and that was abit low so ordered some Fuchs titan race pro 5w40. Will top it up for now and change it when I do the plugs next year.

Removed the heater controls and made some blanks for the centre console trim ready to fit the T7 heater over the winter (don't set the heater to hot before removing the controls)

View attachment 151471

Some how broke the clip for the start stop button harness connector. Taped it back into place but wasn't convinced so ordered a new button with a connector and got that swapped about.

View attachment 151472

Took the car out this afternoon mainly to bed the new pads in, they seem pretty good on the road so looking forward to trying them on track, also looking forward to see how the gripper diff helps as it's horrible to drive on the road lol!

Rear tow strap also fitted. Few marks on the bumper but the strap is solid (hopefully will never get tested).

View attachment 151473

Nothing else to do on the car now other than top the oil up and give it a good clean as it's cover in dust, pack and get ready for Cadwell on Thursday.

Short video of the exhaust

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

Don't Spose you have any pics with the bumper off to you as I'm looking to do a rear tow strap next and like the idea of it poking out the rear bumper like that but just sure how to attach it to the car

Thanks


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[jwillo]

Don't Spose you have any pics with the bumper off to you as I'm looking to do a rear tow strap next and like the idea of it poking out the rear bumper like that but just sure how to attach it to the car

Thanks


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Sorry mate I haven't, there is a tow point at the rear you could use though with one of those ZPO adapters



I didn't use that I removed the black plastic crash member and used a bit of m12 threaded bar. Similar to what I've done to the front

 

[Jakkehoop]

Sorry mate I haven't, there is a tow point at the rear you could use though with one of those ZPO adapters

View attachment 151617

I didn't use that I removed the black plastic crash member and used a bit of m12 threaded bar. Similar to what I've done to the front

Thank you for that at least I know what I need now [emoji1360]

What did you use to cut the slot in the bumper as it looks nice and neat

Thanks


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[jwillo]

Thank you for that at least I know what I need now [emoji1360]

What did you use to cut the slot in the bumper as it looks nice and neat

Thanks


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I used a multi tool bud

 

[jwillo]

So this weekend I started removing more weight from the car. I've never had a proper dedicated track car, so my plan is to try get it below a ton without the need for fibreglass panels.

Started off Friday with removing the windows.



Called it a day when this happened, went to work and started properly Saturday








Few more brackets removed, tailgate gutted, more sound deadening removed.

Picking up some polycarb windows from ACW next week as they're only 20 minutes from me.

Decided against slicks for now, got a set of Dunlop DZ03G and sold the MRFs to @burrellbloke who collected them this morning with @EthanMenace. Nothing wrong with the MRFs I just really wanted to try the Dunlops.



Engine oil/filter and gearbox oil to do at some point.



New Centre dash ready for some switches.

 

[jwillo]

Also picked up a new family/tow bus a few weeks ago.

2015 VW Tiguan R Line, 7 speed DSG, panoramic sunroof, 19inch wheels, full leather. Over the moon with it. Wife uses it most of the time as I've got a work horse, will be getting a tow bar fitted over winter so I can start using it to tow the clio to track days.




Wiring from behind the dash to be stripped, trim the dash down and get it flocked, relocate the battery (odyssey pc680) and fit the T7 heater. I'm going to try and do as much as I can, not confident with electrics but I'll give my best shot!

Hoping to take advantage of Javelins 10% off and get the car out at either Donington or Bedford on 19th November but we'll see.

 

[burrellbloke]

It was good to meet you earlier.

The car is looking really good.