Toby's Track-Ready Daily 197

[tobydavis34]

Hi guys!

New to this forum and owning french cars in general... so, a bit about me before we delve into the car.

I have been racing cars since 2016, and karting before that. I currently race in the VW Racing Cup and I've always wanted to make my own track car that I can use for customers.



The opportunity came up with Team-HARD, who are my racing team, to swap my trusty 2.0 Diesel mk5 Golf (mostly used for spare parts for my racing car!) for a Clio 197.









Luckily for me, my brother Ben races in the UK Clio Cup. He has access to a lot of spare bits here and there, so I decided to turn my bog-standard 197 into a track-ready car, with the goal to get her ready for a trip to the 'Ring with some mates in May.

I'll keep you updated with the mods that I do to achieve this!

 

[tobydavis34]

First thing we've done is to add some racing seats and semi-strip the back. I asked the team to do this before I picked the car up if they could find some old racing seats and harnesses lying around! I want to keep this as a daily so I want the dash to pretty much stay as it is, although I've got a few plans / ideas for this moving forwards. Anyway, out with the rear bench, in with the Sabelts.

 

[tobydavis34]

Having now collected the car, the next job has been a simple de-badge. I prefer a clean look, but I have kept the badges (and templated them) both for future resale and also in case I fancy adding the RS badge back again.

Bit of cheesewire, and a fudge wheel on the end of a drill (to get rid of the adhesive) works perfectly for badge removal, by the way chaps.

 

[NickD]

Just be aware, unless the Germans have relented, you won't be allowed on a TF day with those winged seats as they are not TUV and not approved for road driving. If it is a closed Trackday event you will be fine.

 

[RSRowe]

What's going on with the level of that driver's seat?

 

[lewishunter98]

Them seats look like they're going to be fun at junctions haha!

 

[tobydavis34]

Just be aware, unless the Germans have relented, you won't be allowed on a TF day with those winged seats as they are not TUV and not approved for road driving. If it is a closed Trackday event you will be fine.

Oh really? Thank you.

I’ll speak to them. I’ve got a friendly MOT garage who has said they would pass it to be fair.

 

[tobydavis34]

What's going on with the level of that driver's seat?

It’s gunna be sorted!!

 

[NickD]

Oh really? Thank you.

I’ll speak to them. I’ve got a friendly MOT garage who has said they would pass it to be fair.

It is not about a UK MOT it is about what the German authorities will allow on their roads. You will be highly likely to be turned away at the barrier. I am sure a quick Google will bring up all sorts of stories. Unless you can show a TUV approval on the seat, it will be a long trip. It will mean you can spend the entry you save on beer though.

 

[RSRowe]

Nicks bang on 'unfortunately'

They're particularly stringent on things like cage padding (or rather, the lack of), detachable steering wheels, tow eyes, bonnet clips.

Get yourself booked on a trackday over there. They're mint for the money, plus there's no third party liability

 

[Sideshowfred]

Looking forward to seeing progress on this car.

 

[tobydavis34]

Few bits of wrapping done here guys. First off, the windscreen.


Then I saw some gloss black eBay badges that I felt were over priced. Time to get the heat gun out again!



Finally, I am not a huge fan of the smiley grille area, so time to add some wrap to the front - make it look a bit meaner? I like it!



Finally, rear badge.



Must be at least a second a lap right there.

 

[Big Ben]

Not seen the front done like that before. Brave move!

 

[Beany]

Very controversial front bumper! Surprised you didn’t stump up for a 200 as that has the “nicer” looking front end*

Seems to be coming along nicely.. be interesting to see what else you have planned for it.

*Contenious view I know lol

 

[Digger90]

Where do you get the black wrap from? I like what you've done to the badges....

 

[tobydavis34]

Where do you get the black wrap from? I like what you've done to the badges....

I work for a company that wraps cars / vans popingraphics.com in Cardiff

It’s my other job haha

The material is 3M 1080 Gloss Black

 

[tobydavis34]

Very controversial front bumper! Surprised you didn’t stump up for a 200 as that has the “nicer” looking front end*

Seems to be coming along nicely.. be interesting to see what else you have planned for it.

*Contenious view I know lol

I did a swap for this car with my racing team, who have repurposed my mk5 Golf into racing bits I think!!!

So whilst a 200 would have been nice, I quite like the look of the modified bumper on this 197!

Next to show you guys - splitter!!!

 

[tobydavis34]

I decided my grey handles and RS badge on the side would look better in black, so I’ve wrapped them gloss black! Also added cheesy insta @ decals. Not sure if they’ll stay...

 

[tobydavis34]

Right then! Splitter time.

Ordered one from cmcomposites.co.uk, as although the standard one is nice, I wanted to do something slightly different.

This splitter comes with all you need to fit and it cost £130, not too bad.

Started off by taking the front bumper off - there’s loads of guides for how to do this, so I didn’t bother taking photos. Strongly recommend pulling the arch lining loose though to access the 10mm wing to bumper nut. They were a bit rusty so I replaced them whilst doing it.



Bumper off, I drew an outline of the bumper onto the splitter and tested how far forward I wanted it.

Then I drilled the centre hole and screwed on the splitter, measuring it to ensure it was central and STRAIGHT!



The rubber trim was being a bit of a dick so I put a dab of silicone in to hold it on semi-permanently. The kit comes with spacers that are optional, so you can choose to keep the rubber or remove.



Drilling a few extra holes and fitted the rest of the nuts and bolts. (Feat my missus legs)



Before I reattached the whole bumper I clipped it on to make sure I was happy and also installed some stays - again, two drill holes each and the adjustable stay made the process really easy.

I went with angled stays within my black wrapped area but it would have worked with these anywhere to be fair.



Very happy with the final result! I shortened the spacers slightly so that the rubber trim was slightly warped. Now it looks kinda like it was supposed to be there! I really think this looks cool. Just need to get her lowered now, it’s a bit high off the floor. 30mm lowering springs ordered accordingly!!!

What do you think?

 

[Big Ben]

Didn’t think I’d like it but I do!

Nice effort doing it yourself. Possibly would’ve preferred straighter stays myself but that’s here nor there.

Looking forward to more updates