Hi everyone, I’m Neil
I've owned my Clio for a couple of months now and this forum was very helpful in allowing me to pick the right car by knowing what sort of things I should look out for, so I decided to stop being a lurker and become a full member.
I’ve had my Clio for a couple of months now and done a few bit's so thought I'd get a thread up and running
I had a BMW 335i coupe which was mint and I loved it but with the amount of money I had tied up into it, I was always more worried about the cost of each journey than just enjoying the drive. My warranty was about to expire and I decided it was time to move it on.
So the replacement...... it had to be quick and fun so I didn't get bored, still have a few toys as it was my daily, cheaper parts so I could go for more spirited drives/track days without the thought of tyre and brake costs festering in the back of my mind and finally a max of 6K so I could keep it for a while and not have to worry about what it would be worth in the future.
I already had an idea in my mind of a Clio 172/182 but then I was surprised to see that the 197 was in my price range. I remember years ago first seeing one at a place I do courses for work and it always caught my eye every time I went back there. I think the guy still has it now so that says a lot.
After the usual research I decided on the spec I was after on top of the standard kit. This was ......
Xenon headlights
Climate control
Cup chassis
Recaro's
Any colour but BLACK (I've had a few and was sick of the paint work up keep!)
So quite a list then and after a couple of weeks only three turned up in the whole country at the time with the exact spec I wanted. I enquired about them all. Two were form traders, one was sold and the other had a guy on the way with the intention of buying. The third being the cheapest, private but the furthest away, oh and BLACK was still available.
Seeing as the others had sold within 24hours I wasted no time in travelling to Manchester to have a look. The guy on the phone sounded like a really nice guy, was very honest and was also a real driving enthusiast. When I got there he had quite a fleet including a Caterham and a Megane R26 F1 edition. The Megane was low mileage but a little rough so he'd bought it as a project and therefore the Clio was going to make way. After a test drive, a look through the massive wedge of service history and receipts a deal was done.
So after all that waffle, here she is....
The drive home was boring! All motorway so I just put the cruise control on and sat back in the amazingly comfortable Recaro's and just relaxed (and got 33mpg as a bonus). The next day I went out to see whats what and WOW, this thing is a go kart! I love having the n/a experience back and I was grinning like an idiot the whole time. It doesn't shove you back in the seat exactly but it just feel's so right, if I'm on a straight road now it just feels like a waste of petrol lol.
I always enjoy having a bit of a play with my cars but first I like them to be 100% mechanically so I drew up a list of things to sort (some asap, some just as and when funds/time allows) It went....
Give the paint a clay, polish, wax, clean & feed all rubber seals etc
Replace the the rear side window door seals
New Tax disc holder
New mats
Fit Citroen spray washer jets
Get air con serviced
Fit a Miltek exhaust system
De tango all indicator bulbs
Sort the Renault (patent pending) peelable steering wheel
Sort some flaking laquer on the front bumper
Possible cup spoiler
Possible ITG pannel filter
Get the 2.5k flat spot mapped out
Looks like a big list but only because I'm picky, it really has been very well looked after by the first two owners. The first guy had it as a company car and then bought it off the company so on the V5 I'm technically the fourth owner.
My first weekend with the car gave me a chance to give it a good clean. After a snow foam and Megs APC on all seals and shuts I clayed it. Was nice to find that very little came off on the clay bar. After that it was polished with Poorboys black hole which looks great on dark paints. I then finished it off with two coats of FK 1000p on the paint and wheels.
Next I fitted my new tax disc holder (as previously mentioned, won't be needed much longer)
Then I replaced the seals on the leading edge of the rear windows. From what I can gather these are known for deteriorating on 197's and mine looked like the cat had been at them and flapped about while driving
aperbag:
Now I think it was new mats
I thought I better get my scuttle looked at after reading a few other people had put it quite high on their list of things to do. So I stripped it all down...
...and I'm glad I did. The driver’s side drainage hole was totally blocked
Everything got unblocked, cleaned and the bolts all got sprayed with gt85. All plastics got bathed in 303 Aerospace and left to soak
Did the whole bay while I was at it
By now I was starting to feel like I was getting somewhere but something was still missing, a Milltek non res cat back system made the car look and sound alot more complete imo
I got it fitted at my local Renault dealership as I wanted them to give the car a full check just for piece of mind. They also serviced the air con which is now ice cold. When I got it back the manager said the chief mechanic had commented on how he find’s RS Clio’s usually get treated one of two way's. Either thrashed and poorly maintained or enjoyed by enthusiasts and very well looked after. Thankfully he thought mine was the latter.
By now the only thing that was bugging me was the state of the steering wheel, my wife had a Clio mk3 DCI a few years back that was exactly the same.
I've only ever read good things about Jack at Royal steering wheels and with an exchange basis the price was a lot lower than I expected. When we spoke I said that I wanted an OEM look but much higher quality and that dreadful zigzag stitching on the red band changed to leather. We arranged a date and he managed to fit me in the day before he was leaving for his summer holiday so I was lucky there. I'm over the moon with the quality of his work, it looks and feels great.
Fast forward to last weekend and I thought I'd have a look at the state of my air filter, good to see it was OE, not too healthy though. I know this car has been properly maintained but I think manufacturers make the interval between changes on some items far too long.
Thanks to KTR I soon had....
Also treated her to these all round
took the opportunity to do some cleaning while I was at it
Next on the list is a brake upgrade, they feel ok but I know they could be alot better. The rears are pretty worn and the front's have alot of meat left on the pads and discs but the discs just look in a sorry state, very corroded. The plan is upgraded Renault Sport rears, upgraded Brembo/KTR front discs with Ferrodo DS2500 pads and a fluid flush/upgrade. I think that should do the trick.
I had DS2500 pads on my Leon Cupra R and would always go for them but I'm not sure about what fluid to use so and recommendations welcome
My rears turned up today, I love new parts!
Well that's me up to date, in the few weeks I've owned the car I've loved every minute. It's made me really enjoy driving again in the purest form and I find myself getting up early on weekends just so I can enjoy a few windy roads to myself.
Thanks for reading
I've owned my Clio for a couple of months now and this forum was very helpful in allowing me to pick the right car by knowing what sort of things I should look out for, so I decided to stop being a lurker and become a full member.
I’ve had my Clio for a couple of months now and done a few bit's so thought I'd get a thread up and running
I had a BMW 335i coupe which was mint and I loved it but with the amount of money I had tied up into it, I was always more worried about the cost of each journey than just enjoying the drive. My warranty was about to expire and I decided it was time to move it on.
So the replacement...... it had to be quick and fun so I didn't get bored, still have a few toys as it was my daily, cheaper parts so I could go for more spirited drives/track days without the thought of tyre and brake costs festering in the back of my mind and finally a max of 6K so I could keep it for a while and not have to worry about what it would be worth in the future.
I already had an idea in my mind of a Clio 172/182 but then I was surprised to see that the 197 was in my price range. I remember years ago first seeing one at a place I do courses for work and it always caught my eye every time I went back there. I think the guy still has it now so that says a lot.
After the usual research I decided on the spec I was after on top of the standard kit. This was ......
Xenon headlights
Climate control
Cup chassis
Recaro's
Any colour but BLACK (I've had a few and was sick of the paint work up keep!)
So quite a list then and after a couple of weeks only three turned up in the whole country at the time with the exact spec I wanted. I enquired about them all. Two were form traders, one was sold and the other had a guy on the way with the intention of buying. The third being the cheapest, private but the furthest away, oh and BLACK was still available.
Seeing as the others had sold within 24hours I wasted no time in travelling to Manchester to have a look. The guy on the phone sounded like a really nice guy, was very honest and was also a real driving enthusiast. When I got there he had quite a fleet including a Caterham and a Megane R26 F1 edition. The Megane was low mileage but a little rough so he'd bought it as a project and therefore the Clio was going to make way. After a test drive, a look through the massive wedge of service history and receipts a deal was done.
So after all that waffle, here she is....
The drive home was boring! All motorway so I just put the cruise control on and sat back in the amazingly comfortable Recaro's and just relaxed (and got 33mpg as a bonus). The next day I went out to see whats what and WOW, this thing is a go kart! I love having the n/a experience back and I was grinning like an idiot the whole time. It doesn't shove you back in the seat exactly but it just feel's so right, if I'm on a straight road now it just feels like a waste of petrol lol.
I always enjoy having a bit of a play with my cars but first I like them to be 100% mechanically so I drew up a list of things to sort (some asap, some just as and when funds/time allows) It went....
Give the paint a clay, polish, wax, clean & feed all rubber seals etc
Replace the the rear side window door seals
New Tax disc holder
New mats
Fit Citroen spray washer jets
Get air con serviced
Fit a Miltek exhaust system
De tango all indicator bulbs
Sort the Renault (patent pending) peelable steering wheel
Sort some flaking laquer on the front bumper
Possible cup spoiler
Possible ITG pannel filter
Get the 2.5k flat spot mapped out
Looks like a big list but only because I'm picky, it really has been very well looked after by the first two owners. The first guy had it as a company car and then bought it off the company so on the V5 I'm technically the fourth owner.
My first weekend with the car gave me a chance to give it a good clean. After a snow foam and Megs APC on all seals and shuts I clayed it. Was nice to find that very little came off on the clay bar. After that it was polished with Poorboys black hole which looks great on dark paints. I then finished it off with two coats of FK 1000p on the paint and wheels.
Next I fitted my new tax disc holder (as previously mentioned, won't be needed much longer)
Then I replaced the seals on the leading edge of the rear windows. From what I can gather these are known for deteriorating on 197's and mine looked like the cat had been at them and flapped about while driving
aperbag:Now I think it was new mats
I thought I better get my scuttle looked at after reading a few other people had put it quite high on their list of things to do. So I stripped it all down...
...and I'm glad I did. The driver’s side drainage hole was totally blocked
Everything got unblocked, cleaned and the bolts all got sprayed with gt85. All plastics got bathed in 303 Aerospace and left to soak
Did the whole bay while I was at it
By now I was starting to feel like I was getting somewhere but something was still missing, a Milltek non res cat back system made the car look and sound alot more complete imo
I got it fitted at my local Renault dealership as I wanted them to give the car a full check just for piece of mind. They also serviced the air con which is now ice cold. When I got it back the manager said the chief mechanic had commented on how he find’s RS Clio’s usually get treated one of two way's. Either thrashed and poorly maintained or enjoyed by enthusiasts and very well looked after. Thankfully he thought mine was the latter.
By now the only thing that was bugging me was the state of the steering wheel, my wife had a Clio mk3 DCI a few years back that was exactly the same.
I've only ever read good things about Jack at Royal steering wheels and with an exchange basis the price was a lot lower than I expected. When we spoke I said that I wanted an OEM look but much higher quality and that dreadful zigzag stitching on the red band changed to leather. We arranged a date and he managed to fit me in the day before he was leaving for his summer holiday so I was lucky there. I'm over the moon with the quality of his work, it looks and feels great.
Fast forward to last weekend and I thought I'd have a look at the state of my air filter, good to see it was OE, not too healthy though. I know this car has been properly maintained but I think manufacturers make the interval between changes on some items far too long.
Thanks to KTR I soon had....
Also treated her to these all round
took the opportunity to do some cleaning while I was at it
Next on the list is a brake upgrade, they feel ok but I know they could be alot better. The rears are pretty worn and the front's have alot of meat left on the pads and discs but the discs just look in a sorry state, very corroded. The plan is upgraded Renault Sport rears, upgraded Brembo/KTR front discs with Ferrodo DS2500 pads and a fluid flush/upgrade. I think that should do the trick.
I had DS2500 pads on my Leon Cupra R and would always go for them but I'm not sure about what fluid to use so and recommendations welcome
My rears turned up today, I love new parts!
Well that's me up to date, in the few weeks I've owned the car I've loved every minute. It's made me really enjoy driving again in the purest form and I find myself getting up early on weekends just so I can enjoy a few windy roads to myself.
Thanks for reading
