The High Mileage Track car

[Dowling93]

About a 1.5 years ago I picked up a Clio 197 with the intentions of slowly turning it into a track car. It'll be a few posts to build up to the current day so it might be a while
It's a Blue 2006 Clio 197 with 170k miles on it and a few rough edges for added bonus

Brought it to a trackday a few days later after a belt service and oil change.

Managed to warp the discs and it definitely needed better than standard discs and fluids. It was still a road legal car in Ireland so I didn't strip any interior yet as I needed to pass an NCT in the coming months. Next step was to drop it off to the mechanic for a once over on the suspension.

 

[Dowling93]

Once it was dropped off to the mechanic the calipers were rebuilt, new discs and pads I tried the ferodo ds3000 and godspeed discs. The calipers were already sprayed when I got them, not my choice

On the suspension side, the most of the bushes were replaced on the hub carriers and new wishbones were also got. The bushes on the subframe were screwed and I couldn't get a part from Renault to match, luckily my auto parts guy figured out that the bushes from a Mexican dacia sandero also have the same dimensions and for perfectly! Also I had to get the flexis replaced and welded in new ones which seemed like a fun job!

 

[Dowling93]

Had done a few trackdays fault free, installed some yellow speed coilovers and ran it on federal 595 rs which were a massive improvement over standard road tyres. I started tearing out some of the rear interior. It's a savagely fun car to drive and learning to get better as I went around one of our only suitable tracks in Ireland mondello park.

Noticed at the end of the day my sump has started weeping, it seems the undertray had been hitting against the sump and began to wear into it. Seen as the car had 170k miles on it I also ordered a new oil pump chain and sprocket and got them changed also while we were at it.

 

[Dowling93]

This quickly escalated and decided to sort the oil leaks from the cam cover and various other places. The mechanic also noticed that the housing on the oil filter was put back wrong at some point and managed to kink the water hose for the housing

All the lovely cleaned up bits from the head

Also decided to remove the air con while it was all stripped apart anyways. Some lasers and a few parts from other cars I free spinning pulley was put in and all ready for a trackday.

 

[Dowling93]

At this stage I needed to update the interior so I got a pair of Sparco grid bucket seats, omp steering wheel and a pure motorsport seat bracket along with a supreme motorsport version. I only ordered one supreme by mistake and they were out of stock when I went to order another.
It's gone well past its road legalness in Ireland so it was trailered to and from trackdays from now on


I also had managed to convince my friend to buy a Clio, who has since gone and sold it and wants to get a full racecar instead after trying one out.(The oil is not from our cars )

 

[VeiRoNv2]

Looking good,i have done the same with brand new original discs after i bought it,warped after a few days during some spirited drive lol,did you find the Ferodo DS3000 to be noisy? We got the same bucket seats lol,they are a nice weight saving too.

 

[Dowling93]

I've warped 2 other sets too, I've added the duct3d cooling ducts and some piping which helped a lot. DS3000 weren't actually too bad on the road for me, the DS2500 were worse actually I'm currently running PBS pro race pads now seen as it's only a track car now. They wear down quicker than the ferodo but have pretty similar stopping power. Yeah they are comfortable too!

 

[Dowling93]

At that above trackday the flexis in the manifold had broken so I went and bought the toyosports manifold and scorpion non res catback. My friend has a decat lying around so I also fitted that. It sound so much better and the crackle and pops on gear changes are an added bonus!

 

[Dowling93]

Nearly caught up with all the modifications to the current day, probably have missed a few minor bits and pieces but nothing major. Back in late May I managed to do a 2.05 around our local track, which I think is pretty quick I think.

 

[Dowling93]

Next on the list was some doorcards and to lower the steering wheel a bit and add a spacer for a better driving position. I used spacers on the steering column nuts which were an absolute pain in the a** to do but worth it. The door cards came from trackcar door cards and the wheel spacer from BG racing.


Along with that I got a bit bored and removed the glovebox and a few other bits of unnecessary trim around the steering column too.

 

[Dowling93]

Ordered a half cage from JP Cages a while ago and got around to fitting it over the past week. Went for the option with weld in plates so passed it up to a mate up the road to weld in the plates for me.

As with getting stuff delivered from the UK there was the joys of customs but it was all worked out in the end.
Picked up a set of Sparco and rrs belts also. Used the existing seatbelt mounting point for one of the lap belts and just drilled into the exhaust tunnel and had a plate the other side for the other lap belt, was all pretty straightforward.

The finished product. Should help keep me much more secure than the standard seatbelt now

 

[Dowling93]

During the last track day I developed a miss fire. Pulled the coils and plugs and the coils looked a bit shit, especially the one nearest the vvt solenoid. All the plugs seemed healthy with no oil or odd wear which is a bonus I guess.
Seems like water has been pooling around that area and wearing down the o-ring Cleaned the plugs up and it was fine for a bit, still was missing.

Ordered new plugs and 4 new coilpacks from Renault and managed to fit them, quick test up a 'private' road and all is good again!

 

[Dowling93]

Also took the opportunity to bleed the brakes and managed to notice something that wasn't supposed to be attached to the coilovers....

I'd left the bloody Bungy cord from hanging up the caliper while doing the discs. It survived the trackday without causing any issues thankfully

 

[turkie172]

Check the windscreen washer pipes your car does not have the under bonnet sound proofing and the pipes are exposed to heat and leak I've just done some work to a Japanese import Clio 200 and the pipes had turned to plasticine as you touch them they split. Anyway the pipes can dump washer fluid and condensation of the underside of the bonnet onto the top of the engine. Coil packs don't show up on error codes but the ignition system can show as higher knock signal average using the rstuner box as data logger. I was lucky to get a cheap genuine Renault parts supply and replaced the plugs, coil packs, map and bap sensors along with the upper engine cam sensor the engine felt lighter revving after this. Another problem I did have was the odd time you got what I would call a false rev limiter/ lower rev limit similar to launch control which turned out to be a front lambda short that only showed up while it happened and no stored fault code live logging displayed this while driving.

 

[Dowling93]

Check the windscreen washer pipes your car does not have the under bonnet sound proofing and the pipes are exposed to heat and leak I've just done some work to a Japanese import Clio 200 and the pipes had turned to plasticine as you touch them they split. Anyway the pipes can dump washer fluid and condensation of the underside of the bonnet onto the top of the engine. Coil packs don't show up on error codes but the ignition system can show as higher knock signal average using the rstuner box as data logger. I was lucky to get a cheap genuine Renault parts supply and replaced the plugs, coil packs, map and bap sensors along with the upper engine cam sensor the engine felt lighter revving after this. Another problem I did have was the odd time you got what I would call a false rev limiter/ lower rev limit similar to launch control which turned out to be a front lambda short that only showed up while it happened and no stored fault code live logging displayed this while driving.

Yeah it's definitely the washers, I've put some soundproofing I had lying around covering them and the pipes up for the mean time and we'll see how it goes. If not I'll just silicon the living hell out of them Replacing the coil packs and plugs worked a treat, some of them looked tatty anyways so no harm. Cheers for the advice!

 

[Dowling93]

Haven't updated this in a while as I haven't changed too much to the Clio in recent months. Did two more trackdays since the last update. Replaced the worn out PBS pads with a set of ferodo ds3000 I had laying around and my god they are much better. More expensive I know but they don't wear down anywhere near as quick as the PBS pads. Started to notice a slight reluctance to change gear smoothly after a few laps of pushing so I've went and ordered some gear oil. It hasn't been changed in a while so it should solve the issue!

As many times as I've now drove this track in anger I don't think I'll get bored of it. I may plan a few trips to the UK this year though, I'd love to do Cadwell and Oulton Park at some stage! I think I'll add some stiffness to the rear to try get some more rotation for the next trackday.
Plans for the year are:
Second set of wheels, braids or autec wizards
Diff (preferably gripper)
Rear wing purely for the looks
I will also need a new set of tyres soon and I'm sure it will need a few bushings done at some stage this year and a potential caliper rebuild as the dust boots are worn so there'll be money set aside for a few small bits like that.

Just over two years of ownership at this stage and absolutely loving the little blue baguette as a track toy!

 

[Dowling93]

Been another while since a post here but I've had little to do on it honestly
Back in late March I did another track day in mondello. Half way through I began to feel a reluctance to go into 3rd gear on up shifts but just drove through it and slowed down the gear changes a bit, it survived and worked for the remainder of the day. The tires became beyond gone after lunch so I parked it for the remainder, the rear was constantly wanting to overtake the front end which was fun at times but not exactly what I wanted

So when I'd some time I decided to do an engine oil and filter change along with the gearbox oil also being changed. As you can see from the picture the gearbox was in need of changing

Yes there was a few bits of bronze dustings in there too but the oil change has worked for now.
Looks good from 10ft for 170,000 miles

 

[Dowling93]

A new set of r888r for the next day, clean oils and it was flying along! The ds3000 are leaving an awful lot of deposits on the discs so I'll be switching back to another set of PBS in the future and maybe trying out some RC6 to see what they are like. Managing to do 2.05/2.06 regularly now but I try to remind myself not to chase lap times as that can spiral down a path of more spending and just to enjoy it for what it is!

 

[Dowling93]

Haven't got too much in terms of updates since the last track day. New brake discs went on with the PBS pads, I attached a rear tow eye using the zero point one extension and a general nut and bolt check to make sure everything is still in place!

I'm now covered if I go forwards into a gravel trap Not the easiest thing to do with removing the diffuser then the bumper and cutting a hole in the bumper so it fits correctly.

It was torrential rain for most of the day at the last trackday but it gave me time to learn how to control the car with losing the rear and gained overall confidence in it. There was a few moments I wasn't prepared for but I survived and so did the car thankfully! I didn't time anything as it was also learning wet lines but it was decent fun! It did develop a slight dive to the left on decel so I think I've a ball joint or wishbone bushing gone somewhere to fix before the next one!
I'm toying with the idea of selling this and trying to find one in the UK with a full cage and diff for a reasonable price. Over 170k miles on the engine too but it takes the limiter like a champ

 

[Dowling93]

A couple of trackdays done since the last post and no upgrades or maintenance done, I'm going to just leave it in over winter and get it fully checked over and see what needs doing. Got a good shot coming out of paddock in mondello park over the weekend


I did buy a new set of braid wheels which I'll mount with a fresh set of semi slicks, probably go r888r again as they are fairly decent for the price

At the last trackday I got more consistent with my times and had some advice from one of my friends on some better lines and tips. Still room for improvement but here's one of my faster laps of the day, was the last 30 minutes of the day so the track was very quiet!