Grab a brew, winter upgrade post...
Supreme collected the car on 9th December in their Brian James Race Transporter and took her back to their brand spanking new unit they've expanded into:
Meanwhile, a week before Christmas we got struck down with the lurgy:
Christmas happened:
Work started, the brief was:
- Remove rear beam, shot blast and weld in the Pure Motorsport stiffening kit (
https://www.pure-motorsport.co.uk/clio-3-rs-rear-axle-stiffening-profile-kit)
- Swap out the existing Powerflex bushes to the Pure Motorsport solid mount spherical bearing kit (
https://www.pure-motorsport.co.uk/rear-axle-bearing-conversion-kit-clio-3-rs)
- Powder coat the rear beam (we went for a gunmetal grey not too dissimilar to the roll cage):
Whilst under the car, Matt advised that the heat shields had been pretty much destroyed following my trip into the gravel last year, plus however many years' of road use. I bit the bullet and ordered new ones from Renault:
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Whilst the rear end was off, we also took off the exhaust hangers and various brackets as they were looking a bit scabby, they were blasted and powder coated too, and refitted with new zinc plated bolts. The underside of the car got a bit of a wash.
The previous geometry setup wasn't done in-house by Supreme Motorsport as they didn't have the gear at the time, so the local tyre place did it under supervision. I asked for the cup racer setup but I don't think I really had it, looking at the settings. Matt now has his own geometry setup rig so after everything was put back together on it went for a baseline reading.
Matt has dialled in more camber on the front so I'm now at 3 degrees each side, and fitted some different Pure Motorsport shims to the rear so I'm just over 2 degrees each side on the rear. We've left the ride height as it is, as I like it. I did contemplate going 10mm lower but then I had it pointed out to me that getting straps over the tyres on the trailer would be a pain, so we left it. I haven't got the final print out but Matt will send it over soon.
I also had some additional 12v charing points fitted, 2 x USB in the glove box and a GoPro power point to the dashboard for a rear facing passenger cam. I've had 2 x 12v USB charging points fitted behind the passenger seat, one for the forward facing GoPro and one spare (maybe for external GPS in future for data logging and video footage).
The car was then serviced, engine oil, gearbox oil, new sump gasket, coolant flush, brake fluid flush and a general checkover, followed by another MOT. The car isn't really used on the road but I want to keep the paperwork up to scratch to avoid any issues trailering it to Germany later in the year following Brexit. The car is insured, MOT'd and will be taxed for the 'Ring trip. The rest of the time it's SORN'd.
After selling my Autec Wizard wheels, I wanted another set of 17 x 8J ET55 wheels as for me it's the perfect Clio fitment. I've gone for a set of the Braid Fullrace A in white, which will be my 'wet wheels' fitted with either the Pirelli Race Wets I have, or a set of PS4S that I bought last year.
White-on-white should look pretty good and hopefully shouldn't get too dirty with brake dust if I ceramic coat them and only use them in the wet. I don't think the DS1.11 pads give off too much dust anyway.
With the work done, all that was left was for Matt to give it a wash, and trailer it back. She arrived home this morning:
Straight into the garage on the CTEK, ready for whenever I book the first trackday of 2022.
