MS 200 fun road and track car - and other car stuff!

[peter]

appreciate these write ups, matt. thanks.
i wonder if putting the MRF's at the back and the yoko's at the front, would have settled the back a bit more.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Great write up Matt. Love the level of detail regarding different setups on suspension.
Once you’ve aced the handling of the car(won’t be long I’m guessing!) be interesting to see if you’re left wanting more power...?

Thanks mate!

Regards the power I shouldn’t think so, I bought the Clio partly because it’s not that fast in a straight line...
I’ve found with faster stuff it’s hard to enjoy them on the road safely and sensibly is the Clio feels just right in that regard.

We also track a c.110bhp MX5 so compared to that the Clio feels pretty good, in fact I think it’s a really nice balance on track being able to clear things ok, hang on the back of things ok and not constantly run into slower traffic.

I’ve also got the powerful MX5 for the whole fast laps and theatre thing, as well as that it’s also taught me that the supporting mods, consumables and thirst for V-Power rise considerably with the extra power!!

That said I could see myself adding a slightly shorter final drive and lightweight flywheel to pep things up a bit.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

appreciate these write ups, matt. thanks.
i wonder if putting the MRF's at the back and the yoko's at the front, would have settled the back a bit more.

Quite possibly Peter, the softer compound may have heated up faster.
My thinking with the AD08Rs was led by my experiences with using R1Rs in the winter on MX5s. The tread block movement brought them up to temp better than any other track or part-track tyre I’ve used in cold conditions and I was hoping for something close to that from the Yokos as they’re fairly well treaded too.

Hopefully Blyton will provide an opportunity to play with tyre pressures, see if that helps. I’m sure a bit more confidence with the car will help too!

 

[Pav]

enjoyed your write up Matt...will watch your vid later today..glad you enjoyed it..

 

[tombate911]

Great write up. Spent a little bit of time reading it.
Making those changes to the geometry probably brought on the biggest change to how the car feels, now being more lively and reacting quicker to your inputs especially not having the heat in the rears. I used to find it no issues with standard set ups and a fair bit of toe on the rear, certainly takes some more effort and smooth driving to get the rears hotter. I dropped a few PSI out the rear and soften the rear dampers when it's like that, once he tyre's are getting warmed back to the usual settings to keep the car rotating in the corners.

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Thanks for the pointers Tom, this is all new and interesting to me!

Look forward to playing around with the settings and being a bit of a yobbo at Blyton to learn how to best drive it!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Important development: the road to my new gym and back is an absolute belter, just perfect for the Clio!!

 

[Big Ben]

Important development: the road to my new gym and back is an absolute belter, just perfect for the Clio!!

Fitness should improve no end now

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Having not had my own drive or outside tap for the last seven years I was excited to get a pressure washer once we got moved into the new gaff!



I even bought some snow foam and a lance to have a play, there’s no Tesco for £5 washes anymore after all!!

I’m a massive noob at this, first car was the Z4, didn’t realise you had to dilute the snow foam and had the mixture on close to full ‘rich’ when I thought it was fairly lean! I though it covered well... nearly used a litre!!

This is after a good few minutes, it didn’t ‘stick’ like some videos I’ve watched though...



It did clean fairly well though, it didn’t remove all of the month or so’s worth of dirt but did a very respectable job for no effort!



The Clio was next and I diluted the bottle with 1/3 snow foam, 2/3 water... didn’t work out very well...



Poor Clio, it barely touched it! Will definitely give it another go during the week if I can find a bit of time in the day!

Mum popped around so gave hers a go too, practice makes perfect and all! Half and half in the lance doodah, full rich mixture and it did a decent job if not as good as the neat effort on the Z4...



Was dark by the time I washed it off so no after picture!

Any pointers greatly appreciated, it would be nice to get the process as efficient as possible, as I’d like to wash both roads cars once a week. They get seriously mucky out here at this time of the year!!

 

[Pav]

 

[Beany]

Good effort Matt ... the karcher pressure washers are pretty decent and who doesn’t like snow foam I usually like To go round with a bucket and shampoo too afterwards to make sure nothings been missed and squeaky clean

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Good effort Matt ... the karcher pressure washers are pretty decent and who doesn’t like snow foam I usually like To go round with a bucket and shampoo too afterwards to make sure nothings been missed and squeaky clean

I feared that mate! Anything to avoid the buckets and sponge!!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Before the actual snow arrived I had another play with the snow foam, combined with a bucket and sponge to agitate the dirt it got the car reasonably clean. I think the sweet spot is half and half with water and full rich on the lance, seems to cover well and stick around for a short while.





When the car gets used as it is I like to keep the service intervals short so it’s time for another engine and gear oil change (an old pic but I’m using the same stuff again).



I’m of the mind that without a cooling system the poor gearbox does a lot of work and so deserves changes at the same intervals as the engine. Hopefully it helps protect the weak synchros.

I’ve booked a trackday at Blyton on the 28th, it’s nice to get out of the Christmas break routine for a day and who doesn’t love tearing around a racetrack!!

I’m hoping for a bit of a slippery day so that I can play around with oversteer and work out how best to extract pace in poorer conditions. I thought there was lots to learn in terms of fwd car control at Cadwell so hopefully Blyton is a safer environment!

That reminds me actually, I need to make a tool for the shock absorber top adjusters. The Koni tool doesn’t fit through the Compbrake top mounts so I need to make something ahead of Blyton!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I took the Clio in for engine and gear oil last week, small garage in the village we’ve moved to in Lincs.

I got on well with the son when I took it in for a tracking tweak soon after we moved in, but got the impression the older father couldn’t be doing with me!

It was only him this time and he seemed perturbed by my specific requests when I dropped the car off. When I picked up this continued until we got onto the topic of BMWs.

Long story short he’d bought one from my brother’s dealership and through talking to Dan realised that he was involved in rallying and motorsport at the same time as Dad so knew him well from that. Once he’d established I was the other son, he changed his tune completely and took much more of an interest!

Another benefit is that he should be a proper mechanic if he worked in rallying!

Anyhow, whilst it was in I took the opportunity to have the brake fluid changed. It was only done in March so not really due, but with three trackdays planned over the next few months it seemed a sensible time to refresh.

Last time I used ATE, which I have always got on very well with in other cars. In the Clio I never reached its operating limits, but having done so in a couple of my other cars more recently, I used some more of the Motul RBF660 I’ve switched to in those.



Sorry for the somewhat mundane update, maintenance stuff isn’t always the most exciting! Much more interesting things happening soon so stay tuned!

 

[Big Ben]

I took the Clio in for engine and gear oil last week, small garage in the village we’ve moved to in Lincs.

I got on well with the son when I took it in for a tracking tweak soon after we moved in, but got the impression the older father couldn’t be doing with me!

It was only him this time and he seemed perturbed by my specific requests when I dropped the car off. When I picked up this continued until we got onto the topic of BMWs.

Long story short he’d bought one from my brother’s dealership and through talking to Dan realised that he was involved in rallying and motorsport at the same time as Dad so knew him well from that. Once he’d established I was the other son, he changed his tune completely and took much more of an interest!

Another benefit is that he should be a proper mechanic if he worked in rallying!

Anyhow, whilst it was in I took the opportunity to have the brake fluid changed. It was only done in March so not really due, but with three trackdays planned over the next few months it seemed a sensible time to refresh.

Last time I used ATE, which I have always got on very well with in other cars. In the Clio I never reached its operating limits, but having done so in a couple of my other cars more recently, I used some more of the Motul RBF660 I’ve switched to in those.

View attachment 118590

Sorry for the somewhat mundane update, maintenance stuff isn’t always the most exciting! Much more interesting things happening soon so stay tuned!

Surprised at how often you change oils?
Surely don't need to be done. Assuming you just like peace of mind?
I enjoy reading what other people are up to with their Clios. Keep the posts coming I say

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Surprised at how often you change oils?
Surely don't need to be done. Assuming you just like peace of mind?
I enjoy reading what other people are up to with their Clios. Keep the posts coming I say

You’re right of course, 7k and two trackdays since the last changes.
My father is an engine builder and race engineer from times when clearances were looser and oil was much poorer, I learned my mechanical sympathy (or generosity) from him!

 

[Matt Scarbro]

Made a tool for adjusting the front shocks today, no 3D printers here sadly!...





Awesome result!!!!!

The garage that fitted them left the fronts in a middle setting for some reason despite setting the rears at full soft as requested, most odd...

Which means tweak, tweak and I’ve got the vast improvement in ride quality I hoped for when I bought the Konis!

Really chuffed with that, I’d spent a lot of time pondering why it wasn’t as it should be with such modest spring rates.

Somewhat typically I’d already bought some Eibach springs!!

 

[Pav]

every little helps as they say..

 

[Matt Scarbro]

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoys any remaining time off!

A lovely time was had here, the first year I’ve been in Lincs so not had to travel over from Cheshire!

Had a free afternoon today so had a play with the cars before it got dark.
My family had my road wheels for the MX2000 refurbed for me for Christmas, much nicer in black then the former white. So first job was to swap them back on...





I then had a good sort out in the garage, when we moved in I just dumped lots of stuff in there so it’s much tidier now. I need a shed or two for all the wheels and other parts I accumulate so it’s still a bit full at the moment, but I look forward to painting it and making it nice in a few months.

The Clio didn’t get left out, I’ve got a trackday at Blyton tomorrow so I did the usual prep and gave it a good wash too.



The forecast for tomorrow looks very cold but also dry and sunny so it could be a belter! Hopefully there isn’t too much ground frost and we get started nice and early.

I’ll do my best as always to get some good vids, first time out since I fashioned the shock adjuster tool so will be fun to have a play with them!

 

[Pav]

those wheels look great..bet you cant wait to get on track again in 2018..have a good drive out mate