Lewis's Clio 200 Cup

[Lewis Watson]

I've had my wee 2012 Clio 200 Cup for just over a year now. I think its great in stock form so have no major modification plans. I have, however, fixed and replaced a few things, and recently invested in a set of track day wheels. Thought it was time to start a progress thread!

After a string of reasonably sensible diesel cars I wanted to get a fun drivers car that still had space for the kids and shopping. I could have got a two seater, but it would end up being left on the driveway too much. The clio fitted the bill perfectly, without costing the earth. I also like the funky french styling of the car.



The clio is less economical, practical and comfortable than my old Insigia, but it more than makes up for that in sheer fun. I still take it out for "drives" with no destination. Something I never did with my previous cars (with the exception of my first car, which was a pug 106 .

Overall the clio was in good mechanical and cosmetic condition when I picked it up. There were a few jobs to do though:

• A previous owner had some sort of mobile phone mount on the centre console, which damaged it.
• The alloys were not kerbed, but had weird scratches around the bolts. It was as if an angry drunk man changed the wheels...
• I think the same guy then went to work on the brakes as the paint was a bit bashed around the pins. I've heard they can be a bugger to get out.

I sourced a new centre console from the wreckers. Easy job to swap it, but the radio didn't want to come out, or go back in!



I made sure to give the car a good shake down during its warranty period. That paid off when the exhaust manifold welds failed. Luckily the garage I bought it from was ok about getting welded up again. They also changed a control arm when I noticed a noise at full lock. Both expensive parts to replace so glad to get them under warranty.



I got the alloys restored at a local powder coaters. Their first attempt had a few issues...



but they made up for it on the second attempt.



I got some black TPI bolts to go with the restored alloys. Had to re-tap the bolt holes before they would fit due to rust. Red touch up paint got the calipers to a state where you'd need to be very close to see any issues with the paint.



At this point the car was pretty much sorted and I was focusing on enjoying throwing it round some of the excellent roads we have in Fife. Renault did a great job with the balance of the car and fitted my purposes perfectly. The car has so much character, I can even forgive the lumpyness when its cold.



The cup version is supposed to be a more "track focused" version of the clio 200, so it would be rude not to take it to a track at least once. So went to my first ever track day at knockhill and had an absolute blast!



Replaced the (now worn out) Contisport 5 tyres with a set of Pilot Sport 3's. They're good tyres, but the car seems less stable under heavy breaking. Maybe I'm just breaking harder after my trip to knockhill



With knockhill being quite local for me I plan to do a few more track days. I planned to pick up some cheap second hand wheels with part worn tyres. Then I saw @NickD selling a set of almost brand spanking new Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2's which were so shiny! I got them wrapped in Toyo Proxy R888R semi slicks. So much for cheap second hand...



Both my ps3 and R888R's are 215/45 R17. The r888r's still manage to look wider, maybe due to the wheels being 0.5 inch wider.



The wheels are 17x8j ET53 which seems to be unusual as I couldn't find a picture of anyone else with that setup. I was expecting them to be pushing the limits of the wheel arches, but they fit with a couple cm to spare.

They look awesome, but I still prefer the stock alloys when the car is in daily mode.



My next trip to Knockhill will most likely be the Hot Hatch Car Trackday on Sunday 19th August. Looking forward to trying out my new track wheels

Other miscellaneous things:

- Replaced windscreen when it cracked
- New resistor pack after positions 1,2,3 stopped working with the blower
- New wiper assembly after they just... stopped.
- Fitted a megane sunglasses holder. It was too weak to hold my sunglasses so I removed it.
- Cleaned out engine bay drains
- Fitted pressed plates
- Fitted wind deflectors

No other plans for the car right now. I expect the exhaust manifold to fail again at some point, which might spur an exhaust upgrade, which would require a remap, I'd may as well get an induction kit before the remap...

 

[Johnny 99]

Nice introduction to what you've done & what you plan. I might see you at Knockhill sometime. Not been there yet, but really should as it's my "local" track, (I'm in Inverness). Definitely going to track the Clio there next year if not this year. Like the way the Team Dynamics wheels sit. I have 7.5j et50 TDs & they sit nicely. Saw the ones you have but didn't buy as I was concerned about the fit. Thinking about another set of track rims/tyres myself, but I think it'll be hard to get that past my wife

 

[Lewis Watson]

Thanks johnny. Tbh I was suprised I got spousal approval for the wheels! I've also got my eye on the SLS track day on September 9th. The Clio Sport Owners Club are going to be there so should be a few clios in attendance.

 

[Big Ben]

Great intro post Lewis. Enjoyed reading through that.

Car looks lovely. Are the stock wheels a slightly different colour to standard?

Very, very interested to hear your opinions on r888r tyres. Was only talking to somebody about them earlier!

 

[tombate911]

Looking good, I'm a big fan of Glacier white 200's. Looks a really clean example. Keep the updates coming!

 

[Lewis Watson]

Thanks guys. Wheels should be standard colour, but they did get powder coated so there is a chance the colour is different.

I'll be sure to post updates on how I get on with the r888rs. I'm hoping they'll allow me more control through the twisty bits of knockhill. Had a lot of four wheel drifting action last time, which was fun but scary with all the gravel traps waiting to ruin the paintwork.

 

[Beany]

Nice to see another stock cup giving the beans round track.. be interesting to see how you find the r888’s.

 

[Dumdum]

Nice to see another stock cup giving the beans round track.. be interesting to see how you find the r888’s.

Yup! You can add mine to that list soon too

 

[Lucifer]

Car looks decent!! Nice and subtle and making full use of that N/A goodness!

 

[Pav]

great start to you progress thread..lots is happening..glad you have taken your baby on a track too..they are great fun..those tpi bolts are great..have had my on for over 4 years and they still going strong without rusting..

 

[NickD]

Hi Lewis, they were brand new wheels, nothing second hand about them.

 

[Lewis Watson]

Hi Lewis, they were brand new wheels, nothing second hand about them.

Right enough. They were completely new, unused and in original boxes. Well done btw, they fit great!

 

[Lewis Watson]

I'm looking forward to this Sundays Hot Hatch Car Trackday at Knockhill! Lots of folk from CSOC Scotland will be there so should be a good laugh.

I was praying for dry weather so that I could really test out my new R888R's. Unfortunately its looking like it will be wet for at least the morning.

I suspect that I'll quickly run out of talent running the R888R's in the wet, so might need to stick with my pilot sport 3's in the morning. Hopefully it will be dry enough in the afternoon to throw on the semi slicks.

Or maybe I'll just run the semi slicks all day and have some fun sliding about. I'm in two minds at the moment.

 

[LOCKE]

Looking great mate. Enjoy.

Colin

 

[Big Ben]

Where did you buy the r888r from please?

 

[Sean197]

I'm looking forward to this Sundays Hot Hatch Car Trackday at Knockhill! Lots of folk from CSOC Scotland will be there so should be a good laugh.

I was praying for dry weather so that I could really test out my new R888R's. Unfortunately its looking like it will be wet for at least the morning.

I suspect that I'll quickly run out of talent running the R888R's in the wet, so might need to stick with my pilot sport 3's in the morning. Hopefully it will be dry enough in the afternoon to throw on the semi slicks.

Or maybe I'll just run the semi slicks all day and have some fun sliding about. I'm in two minds at the moment.

Little warning about the Knockhill hot hatch days. Not sure if you've been on one before but I was always advised to steer well clear of the hot hatch days at Knockhill due to the less-than-stellar driving ie idiots in Hondas and Subarus hooning round like they're filming Fast and Furious.
Nice 200 you've got there btw.

 

[Lewis Watson]

Got the r888r's from tyreleader.co.uk @Big Ben.

Thanks for the heads up @Sean197 . This will be my first Knockhill hot hatch event. I enjoyed my full track day back in June, didn't get any bother from the other drivers. I'm hoping for more of the same on Sunday, we shall see...

Funny you should mention the fast and the furious as I've also signed up to the CSOC Track Day Sessions on September 9th. Same day as the Paul Walker Tribute event.

 

[Lewis Watson]

Survived my first Hot Hatch track day at Knockhill It was definitely different to the open pit lane track day I did back in June.

Was raining in the morning so decided to stick with my pilot sport 4's, which did really well in the wet. I was surprised with how much grip I had.



It dried up enough by session 3 for me to brave the R888R's, what a difference in grip!



I got three 10 mins sessions with the r888r's, and I wasn't able to find the limit during that time. They just gripped! Thats despite the track never fully drying out. Hopefully next time I'll be able to report back that they progressively slide, and not just let go. I feel that the car can definitely go much faster.

After @Sean197 warning I did a bit of digging and found a forum thread from 2009 that made it sound like the wacky races! It ended with a few messages about knockhill cracking down on the bad drivers so I just hoped that things had improved in the last decade... To knockhill's credit they did stress that they were strict on driving behavior during the morning briefing.

In the run up to the event, the Clio Sport Owners Club (CSOC) Scotland guys were talking about going for "group 2" so I had vague plans to go for that. On the day though the organisers asked me if I had a road car (yes), and if it was above 180bhp (yes). This placed me in group 3 along with some reassuringly expensive cars, so less likely to want to push too far.



All the CSOC guys have proper track weapons, so I guess group 2 would have been a track car group.



I was one of the slower cars in my group so I was regularly pulling over in the straights to let faster cars pass. I stuck to my line entering, during, and exiting corners (as that's where I was needing to improve) which seemed to annoy a small minority of the other drivers. Que riding my arse and flashing lights. That sucked, but not enough to ruin the day. I did see the stewards having a chat with one of them, maybe reminding them about not overtaking during corners. By the last session I had sped up enough that folk were not catching up so fast, I even managed to get in a few uninterrupted laps, which was surprising with how busy the day was.

Heavy fog set in around 3pm which put an early end to the track day.



I'd certainly go to another hot hatch day. I think ideally I'd go with a group of mates and make it more of a social thing. That said, the open pit lane days are better suited for me at the moment. Next open pit lane day is September 29th. Alternatively CSOC are arranging an evening session I could maybe make it to.

Next up is the SLS track sessions, which should be 6 x 12 minute blasts. Hopefully in the dry.

 

[Doogle]

Car looks great! Always nice to see a daily getting on the track, that will eventually be the plan for mine. The TDs look lovely, always wished I had the budget for some of those.

 

[Lewis Watson]

Exhaust developed an annoying rattle that I couldn't fix myself, so booked the car into the garage. While there they also identified a problem with the water pump, sticking rear calipers, rear drivers side bearings and a rusty radiator mount. TBH I had noticed that the water pump was getting a bit noisy and that there was a slight droning noise coming from the rear on the motorway, so I suspected something was on the way out.

So bit of an expensive repair

• New water pump and associated timing belts. Really annoyed about that as I was assured that the expensive timing belt service had been done before I bought the car.
  
• New rear disks, pads, and calipers. The sticking calipers might have hastened the demise of the bearing, which is integrated into the disks.
• New rear silencer box as something had come loose inside, hence the rattling.

All new original Renault parts, so no "upgrades" this time round. I just wanted to get the car back on the road for this weekend.

So thats the bad news. The good news is that the car is running really smooth now! I had assumed that the cold start lumpyness and kangarooing was just part of the cars "character", but its almost like driving a normal car now. I had mentioned in my first post that the car was a bit unsettled under heavy braking, which I incorrectly blamed on the new pilot sport 4's. Thats all fixed now that the rear brakes are actually working

Heading to Knockhill again this weekend for the Super Lap Scotland event. I'm not competing, but have booked the CSOC track day slots. Looking forward to getting my track day wheels on again.

I had originally hoped to get one last open pit lane track day in this year, but might not be able to do that after sinking all that money into repairs. We shall see. Also need to sort out that radiator mount at some point.