Sean's 197T - RIP Albi :(

[Jimmy]

Great news Sean, really chuffed that you're so happy with the car and all of RS Tuning's work. Figures are great, but if it's giving you mega smiles, then that's all that matters! I imagine Spa can't come quick enough!

Slightly off topic, but how did you enjoy the visit to Leeds??

 

[Sean197]

Slightly off topic, but how did you enjoy the visit to Leeds??

It was bloody windy LOL yeah it was ok, got breakfast at Greggs in the Merrion centre, then went to the bowling place round the back as the Golf Bar we wanted to go to didn't open until 4pm. Then had lunch at the Wetherspoons, which if I'm honest was poor. An ice-cream at Baskin Robbins then back to RS Tuning!

 

[BenAG200]

Jeez I can imagine that being bonkers. Should put you around 220bhp per ton, which would put you in a league with the likes of 911 carrera, Z4M, RS4 Convertible etc.

 

[Sean197]

Jeez I can imagine that being bonkers. Should put you around 220bhp per ton, which would put you in a league with the likes of 911 carrera, Z4M, RS4 Convertible etc.

227bhp/ton if I've worked it out correctly, which as you say puts it in line with some interesting cars.
http://www.autosnout.com/Cars-Bhp-Per-Ton-List.php

 

[sevenfourate]

227bhp/ton if I've worked it out correctly, which as you say puts it in line with some interesting cars.
http://www.autosnout.com/Cars-Bhp-Per-Ton-List.php

er. Now i'm jealous.

Love it ! Your in some esteemed company now.

Enjoy playing with the bigger-boys......

 

[Sean197]

Few bits arrived earlier in the week:












I removed the front bumper on Monday to fit the Mishimoto intercooler. However, I discovered that the driver's side will require a new intercooler pipe which i'll have to make up myself. So I've now ordered a 135degree-angle hose to go with the 45degree-angle universal hard pipe I have, and i'll make up the modified pipework myself. I did, however, manage to trial-fit the new 'cooler so at least I know it'll bolt straight on when the pipes arrive.
While the bumper was off, I was able to make up a new pipe and replace the passenger-side intercooler one as it sat too close to the front bumper for my liking.

Bumper off, after having to drive onto some blocks of wood to get the jack under the car...




Old vs new:






Removed the minging air-con rad (yes those are gaps as there are whole sections missing). I'll look to fit a new one in the summer:



Few stickers:

Not sure if i'll put this on the back window or on the engine cover:



and these for the rear quarters, as per Shuv's (@sevenfourate) car. Unsure if i'll fit these at all, but the rear quarters are needing tidied up so these would be to hide the 'damage' until I can get them painted:



Finally, the graphs from yesterday:

Before and after:




Thanks for reading.

 

[nutnutwelshman]

Bloody hell Sean. Sounds like you got to RST just in time.

Sounds a great garage never hear bad stuff about them.

Car must be amazing with 280odd lbs of torque. Will take a quick car to keep up with you at Spa mate

@Big Ben it's not just a quick car round Spa even in my hairdryer I get held up by faster cars bud

 

[Dystant]

277bhp is a scary figure for such a small car... what are you putting in it, jet fuel? I think you need a different licence to fly mate.

 

[Chris]

Awesome mate!!

Haha know the feeling with trying to get a jack under the car, in forunate that my drive is pebbled so if I scrape them all out and the jack just goes under!

 

[///M]

So almost exactly 24hrs ago Sean said:

So that'll do me, other than tidying the car up cosmetically that's my spending done.

Already a load of posh new bits appear and the car is jacked up with the bumper off.



Quality mate. Post is full of goodness. Everything going very well here.

 

[tombate911]

Great update, those tyres looks like v70A'? What profile did you go for and how much a corner did they cost you? I'm going to need two tyres after this weekend for the front if it's dry. Looking at the kumho's but they don't do them in the 215/45/17 when I looked the other night also looking at AO48's to replace the RSR's I've got on.

 

[Aa87]

Sean did you speak to rs tuning about intercoolers? If u did what was his thoughts on the mishimoto?

 

[Sean197]

So almost exactly 24hrs ago Sean said:



Already a load of posh new bits appear and the car is jacked up with the bumper off.



Quality mate. Post is full of goodness. Everything going very well here.

haha all that was bought 2 weeks ago, honest! I took the bumper off to fit the Mishimoto on Monday only to discover I couldn't fit it, but Paul said I won't need a map tweak if I go ahead and fit it so hence me ordering the pipes I need!

Great update, those tyres looks like v70A'? What profile did you go for and how much a corner did they cost you? I'm going to need two tyres after this weekend for the front if it's dry. Looking at the kumho's but they don't do them in the 215/45/17 when I looked the other night also looking at AO48's to replace the RSR's I've got on.

They're Kumho Ecsta XS KU36, 215 45 r17, £66 per tyre - https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-ty...X94A757_tOWDbVbChLSFajR7T-hKMwyTl0aAmfV8P8HAQ

I've been really impressed with my Kumho Ecsta Le Sport tyres on the car currently, so I went for these. They also have better wet performance than RSR's and the AD08R's I was looking at.

Sean did you speak to rs tuning about intercoolers? If u did what was his thoughts on the mishimoto?

Paul said it would be absolutely fine, it should bring the inlet temps down a bit over the current 'cooler as the one which is on the car isn't the best.

 

[Pav]

great work Sean..really like your whole diy thing going on..pretty sure you will be happy with the new discs..have them too and never let me down..put together with Ferodo pads..great braking performance..
I love the sticker with a turbo on it..gotta get me some too

 

[tombate911]

haha all that was bought 2 weeks ago, honest! I took the bumper off to fit the Mishimoto on Monday only to discover I couldn't fit it, but Paul said I won't need a map tweak if I go ahead and fit it so hence me ordering the pipes I need!



They're Kumho Ecsta XS KU36, 215 45 r17, £66 per tyre - https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-ty...X94A757_tOWDbVbChLSFajR7T-hKMwyTl0aAmfV8P8HAQ

I've been really impressed with my Kumho Ecsta Le Sport tyres on the car currently, so I went for these. They also have better wet performance than RSR's and the AD08R's I was looking at.



Paul said it would be absolutely fine, it should bring the inlet temps down a bit over the current 'cooler as the one which is on the car isn't the best.

Interesting. I've got a purely wet set of tyre's but was looking for an alternative to try for the dry only track days.

 

[sevenfourate]

I've been really impressed with my Kumho Ecsta Le Sport tyres on the car currently]

Was great rubber on my last car. No complaints from me..................

 

[Yiannis197]

Excellent update. Bet you are loving it Sean. My experience with rst was also great.

 

[Sean197]

So just returned from Spa, so time for an update.

The prep.
I was busy at work right up until last Wednesday, 2 days before leaving, so it was a race to get everything done before the trip. Starting on Wednesday, I changed the front and rear brakes, discs and pads. Fortunately this cured the ABS/ESP light, so i'm assuming the ABS ring on one of the rear discs was knackered. Unfortunately, Demon Tweeks sent me DS2500 pads for a 182 They have offered a full refund so all is good, however it did mean i'd be running MTec discs with standard pads all round - more on that later.
Then on Thursday, I took the car to my local garage who has looked after my cars for 15+ years. I had the brake fluid changed for Gulf RF 1000, gearbox oil changed for Total Gear 8, and engine oil changed for Fuchs Titan SuperSyn. The coolant was changed to standard Renault coolant and the thermostat changed for an Engine Dynamics low-temp item as I'd already bought it. I also had the Kumho XS KU36 semi-slicks put onto my cup racer Speedlines, and the tracking done to complete.
On Friday, the car was snow-foamed, machine polished, and waxed ready to go.








The journey
We then set out at 10.30pm on Friday for the 17-hour journey to Aywaille in Belgium where we were staying, around 20 minutes from Spa. We arrived at 3.30pm on Saturday, ate and then slept until 5am the next morning where we drove 3.5 hours into Paris and spent an awesome day there. Not my first trip to Paris but it really never gets old.

Spa
So, on to Monday and day i've been waiting for for around 4 months!
Arrived at the track around 7.30am and got registered quickly which allowed us to have a look round the paddock at some of the amazing cars which had joined us. I'll put up a separate thread in the Gallery section later with photos.
8.30am was the drivers briefing in the Pit Lane, where the brief was basically "enjoy yourself and don't drive like a cock". For the most part, the latter was observed, apart from a dick in a purple E92 M3 who was duly reported, by both myself and at least 2 others I spoke to, for failing to let others by despite his driving talent not being anywhere near as high as his engine size. Have to say the organisers handled it extremely well.

Pics

On arrival:


Briefing:


Pics from the Pit Lane:

 

[Sean197]

Clio pics







next to a V8-powered Mk2 Escort:


Boost pipe came off after an exuberant trip over the sausage-kerbs at Radillon, fixed by the owner of the V8 Mk2 Escort giving me some jubilee clips to double-up - top man:


On track pics:














The place
One word - awesome. Right from the get-go you can just sense the motorsport history. Walking through the paddock, the pit-lane, the garages etc. was an amazing experience in itself, let alone being able to drive the actual track.
The track itself was brilliant, I was amazed at the elevation changes throughout the track, something which you really don't appreciate when watching on TV.
The organisation was excellent, run by Circuit Days. The staff were really helpful and approachable, and I will definitely be tracking with them again.
Overall the other drivers were great, more than happy to let you take pics of their cars and discuss them, even had a few people ask me about mine and ask to take pics which I was chuffed to bits with! One guy asked if I was on slicks as he couldn't keep up with me through the corners, so obviously happy with that. There were a few dicks out on track, but out of 50 or so cars I would say that's to be expected, and the staff quickly dealt with them.

The car
What can I say. The car was flawless, bar the boost pipe coming off, but I did go over sausage-kerbs at 130mph so I think I can forgive that. Also, as mentioned earlier, I was running standard pads on the front which caused a vibration under hard braking with the new discs. Next time I will definitely be running DS 1.11 or Carbon Lorraine RC 6 or similar.
At first I was critical of the B14's for being too soft, which they probably are, but after a few laps I got used to them and adjusted my driving to suit, and my god was the Clio awesome. I found time and time again that faster cars breezed past me on the Kemmel Straight, only for me to be right up their chuff through Sector 2. The handling really was incredible, and the performance of the tyres was nothing short of brilliant. For £66 per tyre I will be using them again without hesitation.
Overall, the car was great, and I really have a new-found appreciation of the RenaultSport chassis. Seriously, you think you know just how capable your car is, but the truth is you have no idea until you take it on track. That's when it really comes alive and you can show up far more expensive machinery.

Overall, I will definitely be going back to Spa. Amazing place, and easily the best experience of my life.
Hopefully next year when I return the car will have more power, bigger brakes, buckets and harnesses, and ideally a vented bonnet. That way I can really make the most of the car.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

 

[Gordini]

Great write up and pics Sean! Looks like you had a great time, must try it myself one day