Yiannis' Albi Blue R27 - Toning down...

[Crazylegs]

Thanks Crazylegs, it's Akrapovic Evo, K-Tec manifold and K-tec induction kit.

Sounds very good, like it.

 

[peter]

In fact Peter the car is not too low, it's the pics that make it look like that, especially the rear is quite high up in comparison to other cars on coilovers.

yeah, that's what i meant. too often coilovers are set as low as possible. not with yours. function over form. love it.

I'm running 33-34 and 30-31 psi front and rear respectively hot ...

cheers. i'll give those values a try next time, when i'm visiting kevin's playground. possibly next week when the weather's fine.

... K-Tec manifold ...

you never considered one of these?
http://www.pure-motorsport.co.uk/cl...-exhaust/197-200-racing-exhaust-manifold.html
https://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tun...tor-styling-exhaust-manifold-rs197-rs200.html

 

[Yiannis197]

yeah, that's what i meant. too often coilovers are set as low as possible. not with yours. function over form. love it.
you never considered one of these?
http://www.pure-motorsport.co.uk/cl...-exhaust/197-200-racing-exhaust-manifold.html
https://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tun...tor-styling-exhaust-manifold-rs197-rs200.html

Oh sorry Peter, I misread your initial post, I thought you said that you liked how low the car is lol! Yes definitely, totally agree

Regarding the manifolds, I got mine from Luke in here second hand half the price, with less that 1000 miles on as he went for a megane conversion so I couldn't really say no to that. Very good quality and fitment though

 

[Yiannis197]

So, yet for another year we are back from the Alps, and what a great trip that was. Once again, amazing roads, supreme organising, fantastic sceneries, jaw dropping hotels and exquisite company. What else can a human being want?

11 cars this year and the list was far from slow...

Elise S1 Honda.
Elise S2 Honda.
2 x Elise S2 Supercharged
2 x Exige S2 240
Exige S2 Clubsport
Exige S1 Honda supercharged chargecooled
Exige V6 410 with only 1000 miles on the clock.
Porsche 911 991 Targa 4S running an effortless 440 bhp
And me lol

2,700 miles in 10 days spent in France, Italy and Switzerland. Lots of drama again, from mountain police stopping us and threatening to make our life miserable, to customs pulling us over for a search on the motorway and going through every single bag in our cars and finally...me running over a huge rock at col de madeleine and suffering from a damaged wheel on a Friday evening! Stranded for 6 hours with only a narrow window on Saturday morning to find a wheel and get my car back....I have to say, that was stressful.

Apart from that, a few niggles with the car (injection fault error and limp mode twice, ABS,ESP error as well) which kind of knocks the trust for future trips...the girl is getting old now and I have to say...it does get some proper abuse on such trips. If you think a track day knackers the car think again!

Banter was immense, theToad community is such a great bunch of people and their support when my wheel went tits up was outstanding. A new trip format this year which allowed for a "rest day" in the middle of the trip to do whatever we fancy. So I opted for a nice 7 hours walk in Dolomites which was an experience and a half. Lots of video footage and pics but I just need to find some time to do some editing.

Talking cars, my favourite was the S1 honda elise. 720kgs, properly setup and 193 bhp at the wheels. And trust me, you don't need any more than that on those roads. Least favourite car the V6. Too big, heavy, chunky and dysfunctional on such road layout. It is a seriously capable machine but it needs a track to spread her legs. To make things even worse, it was so powerful (running a bigger supercharger) that it literally ate a set of brand new rear tyres in 3 days! So we had to go out and unsuccessfully look for some so the owner had to nurse the car home after day 4...not really ideal on such trips.

Anyway, enough of that. Some pics, videos to follow

DSC09045 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09004 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09011 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09023 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09028 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09030 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09039 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09042 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09056 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09061 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09081 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09092 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09098 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09169 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09179 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09183 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09188 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09190 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09224 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09225

 

[Yiannis197]

DSC09235 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09241 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09283 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09285 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09295 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09313 by YiannisR27, on Flickr

 

[Yiannis197]

DSC09346 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09374 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09397 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09404 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09415 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09435 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09471 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09475 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09492 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09502 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09507 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09522 by YiannisR27, on Flickr
DSC09532 by YiannisR27, on Flickr

 

[Yiannis197]

And a video from Col De I'Iseran, ascent. Following a real beast and a 240. Struggling at the exit of tight steep corners but hey, it's only a hatchback

 

[Chris]

Awesome pics and vid as usual with your trips Yiannis

 

[peter]

"9 lotuses, 1 porsche and a clio ..."

brilliant looking cars. all of them. wouldn't mind that S2 240.

 

[Big Ben]

Great photos Yiannis. Looks so much fun. Glad the old girl got through another year

 

[matt9566]

Looking good as always Yiannis, what a great bunch of cars. Those roads just look immense! Kudos for sticking with the Clio over the years, the great thing is it doesn't look out of place and definitely deserves to be amongst the other cars!

 

[Johnny 99]

More great pictures & video as usual Yiannis. Looks like a real blast despite the issues.

 

[simoxmino]

SSSSSSuper Yiannis, great fun i think.. i love that lotus but they cost too much

 

[///M]

Awesome pics as always. Good to hear it went a bit better this time too!

This pic:

is STUNNING!!!

If that's not your phone background it should be!

As for the 410 Exige, any idea of the specs? Bigger charger? If it's the SSC TVS1900 I'd expect it to be making more than that! And as for his tyres, wtf? Did he have traction off and leave big 11 prints everywhere? How the hell?

 

[sevenfourate]

My goodness - that's a collection of stunning backdrops if i ever saw them !

Glad to see and hear you had a safe and hugely enjoyable trip Yiannis.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Jimmy]

Beautiful shots and a quality write up, as ever Yiannis. Your car looks and sounds immense. As Matt also said, it says a lot for your Clio that you've stuck with it over the years, despite being in such epic company each time you take this trip.

It's such a shame you've had yet more misfortune - it seems a common theme for you unfortunately doesn't it... Though as you say, and as you can see from the video, you give her some proper stick and drive it 'as intended', so it's not a huge surprise that there's some niggles! Hopefully it won't put you off sticking with her though for longer.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Yiannis197]

Thank you guys for your kind words and comments.

I absolutely love the Clio, and trust me when I'm saying this everyone was impressed with the speed that little thing could carry on the corners. People who hadn't been with me on such a trip would come and walk around the car asking questions, it was a pleasure to watch owners of such expensive metal to be impressed with a "front wheeler" as they call it

However though it's now getting old, let's face it. It never let me down and to be fair, when the diff went 2 years ago it wasn't the car's fault, it was me fiddling and modifying that caused it. But age brings issues to parts that you don't change (oil pumps, fuel pumps, alternators, sensors etc) and if something is going to happen it will happen on such a trip for sure. When I run over that rock (video to follow) it all came back to me but again, not the car's fault. However when the car went on limp mode twice I started worrying...Been there once - to leave the car in France that is - and I don't want to do it again. It is a stressful experience, not denying that. These trips are awesome guys, they truly are, but if I'm in a position to worry about the car then the whole experience is diluted.

Not sure what future will bring but if I go next year then I'll make sure to have a proper breakdown cover with guaranteed repatriation. For sure

Mes, not sure on the SC matey but it was a big boy, a very big boy. Fair play to Alistair (owner) his previous fun car was a Gallardo which he used to track and take it to the Alps. However he realised that it's not up to the job so he went to a Lotus dealership and he ordered an fully spec 350 Sport. He didn't like the 380 because he wasn't keen on the carbon seats and the fat that it doesn't rev as high as the 350. He then broke it in for 1000 miles and fitted that beast of a SC. The car was absolutely flying...

He was on race mode the first whole 4 days (day 1 is motorway remember) so we are talking 3 days of twisties, 750 miles. And yes, tons of mechanical grip, heavy car, lots of power and very early on the throttle all the time. The car was not drifting at all but the tyres were dead. Not to mention the petrol where not even a 60 L tank was enough...Henry - the owner of the S1 Honda supercharged - being a fully Stelvio experienced driver - would preserve his brand new tyres so as to make them last for 7 days. That means using the loud pedal ONLY when the steering was straight. Early on the throttle means death for the tyres. Now that for me is not fun at all.

Again, thanks for the comments gents, more video to come

 

[kevlar]

I had an S1 Elise and loved it lucky to have been in a audi powered elise & exige and that is some serious power - look like you had a blast.

 

[R11HOY]

I think Im in love ....beautiful car

 

[///M]

Mes, not sure on the SC matey but it was a big boy, a very big boy. Fair play to Alistair (owner) his previous fun car was a Gallardo which he used to track and take it to the Alps. However he realised that it's not up to the job so he went to a Lotus dealership and he ordered an fully spec 350 Sport. He didn't like the 380 because he wasn't keen on the carbon seats and the fat that it doesn't rev as high as the 350. He then broke it in for 1000 miles and fitted that beast of a SC. The car was absolutely flying...

He was on race mode the first whole 4 days (day 1 is motorway remember) so we are talking 3 days of twisties, 750 miles. And yes, tons of mechanical grip, heavy car, lots of power and very early on the throttle all the time. The car was not drifting at all but the tyres were dead. Not to mention the petrol where not even a 60 L tank was enough...Henry - the owner of the S1 Honda supercharged - being a fully Stelvio experienced driver - would preserve his brand new tyres so as to make them last for 7 days. That means using the loud pedal ONLY when the steering was straight. Early on the throttle means death for the tyres. Now that for me is not fun at all.

Sounds like he's gone for a TVS1900. I'd expect much more power than 410 though. Maybe it's something different. I know a guy with the TVS1900 and he had no trouble keeping up with a full blown Komotec 460 around Spa. Looked even faster to be honest.

Agree with him about the 380, quite a few owners voicing discontent at that car. One guy "upgraded" from his Cup and found he was two seconds slower around his local track. TWO SECONDS!

Still can't see how he's nailed his tyres so quickly. I know plenty of folks who have done that trip in a Lotus and never heard of anyone doing that. Even Johnny Pits (races in the Caterham championship) didn't have such issues and from the videos I've seen I can't imagine your mate was going quicker. He was on Trofeo too. Maybe he has set up issues. Wouldn't be the first car to leave Hethel with bad geo...

As for the fuel tank, yeah it's too small, but it's not a GT car anyway. Funny that even with the 60l one it still wasn't good enough! Extra weight though huh?

And speaking of weight, it's funny to hear to refer to the Exige as being too heavy! A car that is about 120kg lighter than your little Clio! You've been hanging round with the Elise boys too much mate!!!



Not sure I'd want to do that trip in a Lotus though to be honest. Far too hardcore for that length of journey. Fair play to all the other guys who did. I bet the Porsche guys were much happier in their GTs! Hell, I'd rather do it in the Clio to be honest!