Jonno56 | Clio 200 | Ultra Red

[jonno56]

Having owned this for a few months now, I thought I'd finally post a proper progress thread.
Wouldn't expect quick progress mind.
Anyway; bought this car in January, good mileage and well specc'd:
- FF Clio 200 with cup pack
- 47k miles
- Recaro seats
- Speedline wheels
- Cornering/projector headlights



There were no short term plans to make any changes to the car - I was happy to be back driving a small petrol coming back from a diesel golf.
However...
MOT time came late March, and I initially thought just rear bearings were required (did a full rear brake job).
The MOT report came back that 1 of the front springs had snapped, so I had to lower it all round on H&R's.

Pretty happy with how it sits - the ride height still clears sleeping policemen (which is a + when there are so many en route to work), and the ride is no firmer than the original cup springs that they replaced.


I'd then had the car in to take a look at the characteristic 'reluctant to select gears when cold'. We went with fresh gear oil, ran for a few weeks; then renewed the oil again & installed a PowerFlex lower engine mount. Related or not - the gear selections are much better than they used to be when cold!
While I was ordering the lower mount, I also decided to install the PowerFlex upper torque arm bush. Other than a little more vibration through the cabin, these have made the power delivery feel much more solid. Oh, and the torque arm bush solved an odd knocking sound when going on/off throttle at low speeds



Other little touches so far
- LED bulb kit
- RenaultSport steering wheel insert

Oh, and can't recommend these car cradles from Brodit enough!



Some more pictures from this morning, after a good clean & glaze with Poorboy's Black Hole

 

[Sean197]

That's lovely :thumbup:

 

[peter]

car looks brilliant. congrats.

 

[Pav]

lovely looking car and bet you love treating it well..wish they stayed so clean for a week at least :biggrin:

 

[jonno56]

Cheers all, yeah tell me about it, £20 says it rains on Monday and we're back to square 1! I keep thinking about doing a more thorough detail & getting some decent protection on it, just finding the time and motivation...

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[Johnny 99]

Don't worry about it, DRIVE IT! It's what they were built for!

 

[Nejjam]

Nice looking car mate

 

[fre23]

Looks really good, love the clio's in red!

 

[Micah]

Is that the one that was for sale up in Newcastle? (I researched LOADS but it was too far for me to go, if I am right!)
That's a lovely car. Glad I read this as was only thinking yesterday what cradle I could get. I had a Brodit in my Golf and it was superb. Also had my upper torque arm mount fitted yesterday (and lower engine), the difference is so noticeable don't you think?

 

[mjcliosport]

Very nice this is mate, got a thing for red ones [emoji1360]


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[jonno56]

Is that the one that was for sale up in Newcastle? (I researched LOADS but it was too far for me to go, if I am right!)
That's a lovely car. Glad I read this as was only thinking yesterday what cradle I could get. I had a Brodit in my Golf and it was superb. Also had my upper torque arm mount fitted yesterday (and lower engine), the difference is so noticeable don't you think?

Yeah that's the one! Just taken a look at your thread, and inspired me to sort out my grubby belts!
The cradles are a bit pricey, I managed to get the Clio specific part off ebay for 99p, and then just paid the going rate for the phone part, worth keeping an eye out!
Yeah I know the vibrations might not be everyones cup of tea, but I quite like it (so far...), it's a bit of a challenge trying to set off without ALL the interior trim rattling though!

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[Chris]

Stunning looking motor pal

 

[Jimmy]

Great looking car, and some nice little touches so far

 

[VolumeX]

A wonderful example of a car that shows no age, paint check, wheels check... hell it all looks nice! Well done, time well spent.

 

[jonno56]

Thanks for all the comments

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[jonno56]

Thought I'd post an update of other things that have been happening since the original post!
Full service, including "the belts" job was completed in June, along with:
- Toyosports stainless/pre-cat decat manifold (std one had cracked on 1 & 4)
- Powerflex upper & lower engine mount & gearbox mount inserts (that's all engine mounts powerflex'd. Yes, it all vibrates/rattles.)
It then had a clutch kit (incl. the slave cylinder) in August, along with a handbrake cable (last one had seized & was sticky AF).

Since then, just a couple of tyres for the front (went for Eagle F1 Asym 3's - a great tyre at their price point), and geometry.
Almost a year of ownership, which means the ballache of insurance renewals.

 

[jonno56]

Had to change the thermostat last week, the car just wasn't getting up to or holding regular temperature, all sorted now. (no pics, but if you've seen a thermostat before, it looked like one of those!).

Went for a drive in Wales yesterday, was great to get it out for some decent driving!

B4391 from Llangynog to Ffestiniog, then continued north to the Evo Triangle, and home (check the track days & driving roads section for a link to a SH article on B4391).

Shot from the Evo Triangle with a bit of after editing:


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[Jimmy]

Brilliant photo! I'd love to do the Evo Triangle again at some point, it's a great bit of road, but maybe a bit too short. Worth doing a couple of times though!

 

[jonno56]

Brilliant photo! I'd love to do the Evo Triangle again at some point, it's a great bit of road, but maybe a bit too short. Worth doing a couple of times though!

Cheers! Yeah it's worth driving it a few times round, stopping off at the cafe at the bottom to break it up a bit. The route I took for the B4391 then the triangle is here:
https://goo.gl/maps/sDSGcdVbVJu

Brilliant photo! I'd love to do the Evo Triangle again at some point, it's a great bit of road, but maybe a bit too short. Worth doing a couple of times though!

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[Jimmy]

I can't remember there being a cafe there, unless I missed it - it was a few years ago when I went! The weather was terrible, but the roads were really quiet!