Yiannis' Albi Blue R27 - Toning down...

[N0ddie]

Some of the exquisite touches on this car are awesome.

 

[Ollie RS]

looks great man love the attention to detail on the interior!

 

[930Tech]

That looks fantastic, love all the little touches on this car.

 

[henderson]

the anthracite is the best interior colour i've seen on these cars,looks superb mate

 

[Yiannis197]

Thanks for all your comments guys

 

[Yiannis197]

A bit of an update guys. I was at Mark Fish's workshop yesterday to have an AST Sportline 2 kit fitted. I went there at 9am and I left at 10pm so yes, it was a long day indeed. We (they) weren't working flat out on my car of course, a bit of messing around, tea, coffe, lunch, talks over talks etc and before we know it it was 6pm only to realise there was a problem we had to sort out. Sorting the problem and setting up the suspension founds us knackered and hungry at 10pm...

Anyway, here are some pics from Mark's workshop. An MG racer fully rebuilt. Nice and tidy.





A lotus cortina racer, the new buyer got it for £40k...sounded immense!








Sam's (Mark's son) golf mk1, getting ready for Brands that day.





So when I got there I went straight in the tea room for some good dose of coffeine only to see a box of ASTs on the floor staring at me. That put a smile on my face!




Inverted damping and coilover design at the back of course Aluminium bits also an added bonus. This is the track kit with the higher spring rates, 80nm at the front and 110nm at the back. Here are some pics;



About to be fitted, Simo's adjustable top mounts on as well.




The backs.(sorry for the quality)







And the fronts.







We have a bit more work to do but setting wise, we left the camber at 2 degrees, I was ''trying'' to persuade Mark to go all the way but he wouldnt have it. He insisted that more than 2 degrees for the road is too much. That ruined my plans but I had to go for what Mark suggested (I didn't have an option really). We set the rears 2 clicks stiffer than the fronts (which it was anyway due to stiffer springs) and at the moment the rear behaves brilliantly without jumping all around on the everything but smooth country roads around Mark's place. Properly planted and the turn in is phenomenal! The front is softer but still is so flat on high speed corners that is not even funny. Endless amounts of grip...

On top of that the ride is superb, I am driving on known roads (known bumps, holes etc) and the noise I'm getting is nowhere near to the one I used to get, let alone the bumpy roads, the clio at the moment is a magic carpet, well, as magic it can be lol

Obviously the traction is superb, again on known roads, roundabouts etc where the ESP used to kick in trying to save me from harm, now it is nowhere to be seen. I actually had to double check to make sure it was on. Same conditions, same tyres, same driver etc. That put a smile on my face really because I knew it wasn't a placebo effect.

Lowering wise, well this is what I don't like. The car is very low and it can get very much lower than that (what's the point really?) It was ok in the beginning but now it has settled more so I'm gonna have to raise it a bit. We set the rear 15mm higher than the front. This is how the car looks like at the moment.







Next plans are to get some new tyres for the Alps tour. After that I decided to chill for a period and enjoy the car as it is. Thanks for looking guys! Any comment welcome of course.

 

[N0ddie]

This car really is awesome.

 

[Yiannis197]

This car really is awesome.

Thanks Noddie!

 

[Roy]

WoW soooooooooo WoW

 

[Yiannis197]

WoW soooooooooo WoW

Cheers Roy! And by the way, great profile pic you got there!! mega lol

 

[lewisflintham]

This car looks great. I really like all the interior details. You've just gone that bit extra to make it all look great. Two questions though if you don't mind... How do you fix the glove box problem. Mine's the same. And did the extra fascia surround for your stereo come with it or did you buy it? I've got a pioneer one (I assume they fit the same -size etc.) I've got a gap all the way round mine and it really annoys me. Great car again btw.

 

[Ollie RS]

nice upgrade, you went all out in terms of suspension i see when are you doing your Alps trip?

 

[Yiannis197]

This car looks great. I really like all the interior details. You've just gone that bit extra to make it all look great. Two questions though if you don't mind... How do you fix the glove box problem. Mine's the same. And did the extra fascia surround for your stereo come with it or did you buy it? I've got a pioneer one (I assume they fit the same -size etc.) I've got a gap all the way round mine and it really annoys me. Great car again btw.

Thanks a lot mate. To answer your questions. The glovebox is really easy to fix. This doesn't fix it 100% but it improves it big time. You have to buy an anti rattle tape and apply a small bit here.




Basically where the switch locks to the glovebox. That would squeeze the lid back in. However you shouldn't put too much of a tape because the handle won't retract back. This is what I mean.



I found that one tape layer did the job.

Radio wise, yes, there is a generic adaptor that fills the gap there. I got it from ebay, very cheap. Just type radio surround trim and it will come up. Hope that helps mate.

nice upgrade, you went all out in terms of suspension i see when are you doing your Alps trip?

Cheers Ollie. This year we are going on the 9th till 20th. We'll hit Italy (obviously), swiss, austria and france. Can't wait. Are you gonna be in Italy in Sept? We'll pass from Milan as well

 

[Ollie RS]

is that 9th of September? i'll be driving down to Milan from London around that time

 

[lewisflintham]

Great, thanks a lot. Cheers for the super speedy response :-D

 

[Yiannis197]

Yes mate Sept. We are still trying to finalise our plans and sort out the exact dates tbh but the plan are to go across and drive as much motorway as possible for day 1 and day 2 we'll meet some friends in Torino from where we'll start the roadtrip. Why not joining us mate? Are you flexible for the dates at all?

 

[Ollie RS]

yeah i'm fairly flexible, i do the drive down to Milan in one day, it's not that bad at all, let me know what you decide i may join you as it's the same route i take anyway so would be nicer than just going on my own

 

[simoxmino]

So yannis, there is a big difference between old and this setup?
I'm thinking for new kit suspension!

 

[Willis]

Looking good, I don't think it looks too low though, I'd leave it.

 

[Yiannis197]

So yannis, there is a big difference between old and this setup?
I'm thinking for new kit suspension!

Simo I'm coming from the original cup setup mate (as you know) and the overall difference is big. I havent properly tested the car yet but my first impressions are very very positive. Now, I haven't driven 197/200s with coilovers so I don't think I'm in a position to tell with certainty. You have H&R coilovers at the moment right? Bear in mind that Ktec works with Nitron for a Clio kit and that sounds very promising...It might take some time though..