Ok, I never intended to do a progress thread as I never had much in the way of plans for the car, but that seems to have changed, though I'm not planning anything radical. I've posted on a couple of things I've done before, but might as well get things in one thread. Plus there are going to be a couple of wee things happening in the next month or so, & who knows what'll take my fancy in the future?
To start with, here's the car as I picked it up on 20/09/14.
I enjoyed the car like this for a couple of years as a weekend toy, latterly started doing track days & had no real desire to change it in any way.
When I started to track day the car I upgraded the front brakes with Brembo HC discs & Ferodo DS2500 pads & had braided lines all round. I was happy.
However rewind back to February 2005 when I bought one of the last Alfa 156s as an ex demonstrator car, with only 75 recorded miles. Shortly after replacing the 156 Alfa introduced the Q2 differential which was pretty much like a Quaife differential in operation. These were highly rated by the Alfisti & it was possible retro fit them to 156 diesels & V6s, which many folk did, particularly those with GTAs. This planted a seed in the back of my mind, though I never did get around to converting the Alfa.
When I was looking for a Clio 200 I was aware that Meganes with the cup chassis had a similar diff, but mistakenly thought the Perfohub on the Clio was the same thing. Whilst I loved the way the Clio drove the idea of a Quaife diff was an itch that needed scratching so in December 2016 the car went off to independent Renault specialists Rentec in Edinburgh to have a Quaife diff fitted, & whilst there I got them to fit a Cobra resonated cat back exhaust & sport cat.
Having had this fitted along with popping in a K&N air filter element it was time for a remap to suit. The RS197/200 Facebook group were having a rolling road day at RS Tuning in Leeds so I arranged to go & meet up with them & have a remap at the same time.
From memory the car made 189bhp, which doesn't sound amazing, but of the 30/40 cars attending the rolling road day the vast majority made 187-189 regardless of modifications so I guess RS Tuning's rollers are on the pessimistic side with their readings. I'd be interested in sticking the car on someone else's rollers, such as Engine Dynamics to see what reading I got. Far more importantly though, the car was so much better to drive. Smoother revving & no flat spots. Very happy.
I bought the Clio as a car with a good specification, with a good history - I have every receipt from new including the original bill of sale, & also it had only covered just over 9000 miles, but I have never been a fan of the black & white look, even though I know it is popular. I decided to add some much needed colour, but in a way that would be easily reversible. I started trawling the internet for graphics & ended up with a design which whilst being individual has also been described as with a nod to the Megane R26 r, which I think is fair.
So this is how the car stands today.
HOWEVER I have always thought the wheels look a tad lost in the wheel arches & as I can't really justify new wheels with a different offset a package from Demon Tweaks arrived today with 4 Eibach, bolt to hub 20mm wheel spacers. I know spacers divide opinion, but I really don't see how they can put much more strain on the wheel bearings than wheels with a different offset.
I'll post some pictures once I have fitted them.
Next, at the beginning of November I am off to Castle Combe for a track day with RSUK, and as I will be in the area I have booked the car in to Cooksport in Bristol to have a set of their 30mm lowering springs fitted along with full geometry check & set up. I've read good things about these springs & I'm looking forward to getting the car sitting nicely without being silly low.
There's a thread on here with a Storm Grey 200 with 20mm spacers & the same Cooksport springs & I like the way the car sits, and the owner seemed happy with the driving manners too. Thread title "Cooksport springs fitted on my Storm Grey Clio 200"
Again I will post pictures once they're on.
No more plans at the moment. FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!! But at least now you have a progress thread so all updates will be together.
To start with, here's the car as I picked it up on 20/09/14.
I enjoyed the car like this for a couple of years as a weekend toy, latterly started doing track days & had no real desire to change it in any way.
When I started to track day the car I upgraded the front brakes with Brembo HC discs & Ferodo DS2500 pads & had braided lines all round. I was happy.
However rewind back to February 2005 when I bought one of the last Alfa 156s as an ex demonstrator car, with only 75 recorded miles. Shortly after replacing the 156 Alfa introduced the Q2 differential which was pretty much like a Quaife differential in operation. These were highly rated by the Alfisti & it was possible retro fit them to 156 diesels & V6s, which many folk did, particularly those with GTAs. This planted a seed in the back of my mind, though I never did get around to converting the Alfa.
When I was looking for a Clio 200 I was aware that Meganes with the cup chassis had a similar diff, but mistakenly thought the Perfohub on the Clio was the same thing. Whilst I loved the way the Clio drove the idea of a Quaife diff was an itch that needed scratching so in December 2016 the car went off to independent Renault specialists Rentec in Edinburgh to have a Quaife diff fitted, & whilst there I got them to fit a Cobra resonated cat back exhaust & sport cat.
Having had this fitted along with popping in a K&N air filter element it was time for a remap to suit. The RS197/200 Facebook group were having a rolling road day at RS Tuning in Leeds so I arranged to go & meet up with them & have a remap at the same time.
From memory the car made 189bhp, which doesn't sound amazing, but of the 30/40 cars attending the rolling road day the vast majority made 187-189 regardless of modifications so I guess RS Tuning's rollers are on the pessimistic side with their readings. I'd be interested in sticking the car on someone else's rollers, such as Engine Dynamics to see what reading I got. Far more importantly though, the car was so much better to drive. Smoother revving & no flat spots. Very happy.
I bought the Clio as a car with a good specification, with a good history - I have every receipt from new including the original bill of sale, & also it had only covered just over 9000 miles, but I have never been a fan of the black & white look, even though I know it is popular. I decided to add some much needed colour, but in a way that would be easily reversible. I started trawling the internet for graphics & ended up with a design which whilst being individual has also been described as with a nod to the Megane R26 r, which I think is fair.
So this is how the car stands today.
HOWEVER I have always thought the wheels look a tad lost in the wheel arches & as I can't really justify new wheels with a different offset a package from Demon Tweaks arrived today with 4 Eibach, bolt to hub 20mm wheel spacers. I know spacers divide opinion, but I really don't see how they can put much more strain on the wheel bearings than wheels with a different offset.
I'll post some pictures once I have fitted them.
Next, at the beginning of November I am off to Castle Combe for a track day with RSUK, and as I will be in the area I have booked the car in to Cooksport in Bristol to have a set of their 30mm lowering springs fitted along with full geometry check & set up. I've read good things about these springs & I'm looking forward to getting the car sitting nicely without being silly low.
There's a thread on here with a Storm Grey 200 with 20mm spacers & the same Cooksport springs & I like the way the car sits, and the owner seemed happy with the driving manners too. Thread title "Cooksport springs fitted on my Storm Grey Clio 200"
Again I will post pictures once they're on.
No more plans at the moment. FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!! But at least now you have a progress thread so all updates will be together.
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