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After my recent track day at Brands both the Mrs and my brother got the track day bug, so wanted to buy a track car to share. (Although now they have the car my dad is also going to use it)
A guy at work was considering selling his Clio 172 so I made him an offer and bought it.
It's a standard car (apart from a backbox which went in the bin), but importantly it's had the cambelt, water pump and dephaser replaced earlier this year, so that avoids one potentially expensive job.
Hankook V12 Tyres
182 alloys (quickly re-sprayed myself)
Cup splitter
Standard backbox
Replacement wing mirror
Water leaks located and fixed
Brembo HC discs (waiting to be fitted)
Sunstrip
Springs and pads next.
Will need a rear wheel bearing soon, but as it's only done 40 miles since I bought it there is no rush!
Nice, make a good track toy these.
All you need is 'cup' standard shocks and cook sport springs and they handle awesome with them.
Maybe decat and v6 Laguna air box are known as the best. Don't bother with silly induction kit.
Good choice of car to have as a fun based track toy.
Plus all belts done which will save you a BIG chunk of cash.
I myself decided to go down the same route
Started out with a 172
MODs - Apex Springs, Full De-cat, Brembo Max Front Disc`s, Carbon Lorraine RC5+ Pads, Rear Mintex Disc`s and Pads, OMP Steering Wheel & Boss.
Had that for around 3 years, slowly built up my track driving confidence the brought a fully track prepped 182
MODs
Standard spec is: - 2004 Clio RS 182 - Arctic Blue - 88k miles - 2 previous owners - Comprehensive service history - Aircon: fully functional and ice cold. - PAS - ABS etc etc etc
Mods: - Bilstein B14 coilover kit fitted - fantastic quality. Lowered about 50mm front and 40mm rear. - Powerflex 'purple' bushes all round, including purple dogbone mount. - Tarox F2000 front discs with Ferodo DS3000 pads - Goodridge braided front lines - Brembo rear OE discs with Ferodo DS2500 rear pads - Janspeed cat-back stainless exhaust, with a decat. (Original cat will be supplied as part of the sale). - Mini-cat fitted to prevent dashboard warning light - Powerflex rear exhaust hangers - Front fog lights removed with air ducting for front brakes - Safety Devices 9 point MSA Spec cage finished in white. A proper cage! - Cobra Monaco S seats on Cobra 'low slung' subframes - giving an excellent seating position Vs the standard terrible one. - Sparco 330mm suede steering wheel, with subtle flat bottom. I believe the model is an L360 - Ricco 5 point harnesses in blue - properly fitted. - Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in gloss black, with Toyo R888 tyres (195/50/15) with loads of life left in them. I have machined ally spigot rings also. - Heat shield around brake fluid reservoir to ease excessive heat from manifold - K&N panel filter - Front arches machined to prevent scrubbing - Fully stripped, but retaining front door cards for neatness/electrics etc. Rear wiper removed and blanked off.
The car has just been serviced, to include a full brake fluid bleed with Millers 300 Plus fluid. Complete coolant flush and refresh. 5W40 fully synthetic oil/new oil filter. New fuel filter.
New/replacement parts: - Top mounts 2015 - Mini-cat 2015 - Lambda sensor 2015 - Nearside rear light cluster 2015 - Brake caliper service/rebuilds 2015 - Wiper blades 2015 - New exhaust clamps 2016 - New powerflex exhaust hangers 2016 - Lower front ball joints 2016 - Track rod ends 2016 - Windscreen washer pump - 2 months ago - Heater resistor pack for heater fan - 2 months ago
I have rallied a 172 for about 5 years , I bought the an ex Clio cup race car and converted it for rallying , so has the awesom sadev sequential gearbox in it , gone full on with the engine and it's pushing out 242hp now , I'm rallying it next week in pembrey.
I've had a few issues with rear bearings , it had a different rear disc and bearing on the race car compered to the road car , and when I found rear discs were not available for them anymore i fitted standard ones , always had problems with aftermarket discs , either the bearings wearing fast , or the bearings becoming loose in the disc , I then fitted original Renault discs , and never had an issue from then , you can get them on eBay for £85 a pair delivered , fit and forget.
As an upgrade recently , I have now fitted the PMS rear disc conversion with the steel stub axle as I have bent a few of these over the years
They are great cars , mine certainly mixes it with the big boys on events , it's not much slower per mile than my WRC car
Certainly looks like OE discs and bearings are the way to go.
Henrik - I had a 182 before and they are fantastic cars, only sold it as I have a bad back and could never get comfy properly.
Second hand parts are cheap as chips (circa £250 for an engine) and plenty around.
A friend of mine is breaking a few Clio's and has also got quite a few spares from his Clio track car. I've now got some Cooksport springs, DS2500 pads, replacement rear discs with new bearings, wind deflectors, and some excellent condition headlights to replace the cloudy ones currently fitted.
Went to Brands to a few friends and saw exactly how quick a mildly fettled 172 can be, and very impressed.
I have also spent some time trying to find a water leak which was making the carpets wet. Turned out to be some blocked drain holes by the front bulkhead and some loose grommets in the boot. All fixed and seems dry now.
Have had the car just over a year now and love driving it!
In addition to the mods above i also fitted a BMS shifter, 330mm OMP steering wheel, Evo 5 seats, and had a re-map.
Completely changed the feel of the car and a huge improvement.
Also fitted some brake ducts and partly stripped the interior.
Have been extremely busy with work and house decorating, so haven't had much time to use the car, but each time I do it puts a smile on my face. It's actually more fun to drive than the Evo. No weight and good brakes are definitely the way to go!
Recently did a track day at Brands Hatch with the Mrs and it didn't miss a beat all day. Just need some sticky tyres for on the track now
After the last track day i definately wanted stickier tyres, so bought a set of AD08R's.
Not a full track tyre i know, but should be be ok for normal road use and damp track days and they work well on the Evo
Recently did Brands Hatch (again) and much better. Lots more grip and gives the confidence to push harder.
I'm getting to grips with how to get the most out of the car and i'm definately getting quicker and more confident.
I've now decided to fit a rear cage - i'm not a fan of full cages on road cars - and possibly a front splitter (which i appreciate won't do anything but i think they look good!)
I was at Brands Hatch yesterday evening in my Integra DC2, first time out on track in it and it was awesome.... I’ve also caught the bug, I did get progressively faster throughout the evening, looking forward to the next track outing.
Brief Spec:
*AD08Rs
*Mfactory short ratio gear kit
*Kaaz LSD
*MeisterR coilovers
*Safety Devices Half Cage
I've always fancied trying a round of Time Attack, and the RWYB class they introduced this year seemed perfect
I entered the Brands Hatch round and had an amazing time.
Most of the other cars in the class had a lot more power but light weight, good brakes, and sticky tyres (R888's) really help at Brands
Highlight was being 8th quickest (out of 19 i think) in qualifying on a damp/drying track, but the bottom end died a few laps into the final so didn't get the change to set a proper time.
19 December 2016, 04:01 PM
Clio 172 Track Toy
