My Clio 172 Track Bitch

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Thought I may aswell do a thread on PF about my track toy - I know a few of you have already seen it at a couple of track days so I thought I'd explain what I've done to it & what plans I have for it. I bought it like this approximately a year ago......much cheapness too...Cat D write off. First things first - time to strip it of anything unwanted... Then I took it to my mate to fixup for me as he had a jig. It needed a new slam panel, new front panel, replacement subframe, new headlight and a slight tug on both chassis legs to straighten them up (hence the reason I decided to turn it into a track toy). It already came with a new bumper, wing & radiator which was handy. See the crease in the chassis rail... All fixed up (yes the new panels are a different colour of silver...couldnt be arsed having them painted - might do at a later stage though!!) Once back from my mates bodyshop I needed to get it ready for its first trackday & MOT - so I fitted an ITG air filter I had lying around, front strut brace, bonnet pins... ....Cobra bucket seats & 2" harnesses.. ...Silenced De-Cat pipe & Stainless Magnex Exhaust system with Oval outlet, new number plates.... I also fitted a rear strut brace & Alpine MP3 headunit - cant find pics though!! She sailed through her MOT - I got her taxed & insured...£400 for the year. I did my first trackday in her at Christmas last year at Donnington which passed without a hitch. Nothing more was done to it. I then did Bedford in Jan this year where I had my first couple of breakages....namely brake pads, discs & a driveshaft - nothing too major considering the abuse it took! So a few more upgrades where purchased... Eibach Springs, Braided Brake Lines, Grooved Discs & Carbon Lorriane Pads... I sourced a 2nd hand driveshaft & filled the gearbox with Silkolene Pro Fully Synthetic Oil - we where now all ready for the Donington Track Day at the end of February. After 3 sessions at Donington & the clutch gave up. Fortunately it wasnt that bad that I couldnt drive home on it. I was a little pissed off admittedly but thought well sod it - shit happens & it maybe a good time to upgrade a few parts. For the record the clutch material on one side had sheared from the plate & detached itself - a common fault I believe but it had lasted 50k so not all bad really. Now this is where things start to go way out of control & the budget cheap track toy starts getting a bit serious & expensive!!! I removed the engine & box together and instead of just replacing the clutch with a standard item I decided to go with a 4 paddle clutch. I also sent my gearbox away for an overhaul & to have a Gripper Diff LSD fitted into it. Now this took over 5 months to get back so I started buying other bits & pieces as I was bored. New set of wheels...Compomotive 6 Spoke 16" Jenvey Throttle Bodies.. Also purchased but I havent got pics of them yet... 3" Harnesses (to replace the skinny 2" efforts), new camera mount, rear camber shims, 182 Manifold & de-cat pipe, aftermarket management - Adaptronic, throttle body airfilter, throttle cable & throttle pedal off an early 172, powerflex dog bone mount, fire extinguisher, coilovers (should the lad ever get in contact with me), 300mm Sparco steering wheel & hub, 15" cut slicks, oil pressure & temp gauge. Then whilst I waited for the gearbox to come home I relocated the battery into the boot.. Whilst the engine was out I also replaced the cambelt, turns out it didnt actually need doing as it had been done fairly recently as the belt was mint but least its piece of mind. I also ditched the air con pump & made a couple of bodge adjustments to the aux belt by way of a modded cosworth alternator bracket, MR2 1400mm 6 rib belt, Saab idler pulley & a 172 non air con alternator.. This brings us upto this weekends activities - engine & box is now back in place & up & running after a bit of stress getting it started due to me forgetting to re-attach the main ECU earth....anyway.... ...the quip fetish has started.... Oil Cooler... Breather... Modded decat pipe to meet the 172 exhaust system... More updates as & when they happen...not fitting the throttle bodies till after Christmas now as I want to do another couple of track days before the end of the year & I dont want anymore holdups!!!

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[jacko]

i found a clio cup race car a while ago and was daft enough to give it back lol

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Jacko....what the hell did you do that for - they are awesome on track & seriously show up alot of much more expensive machinery!!

[rapidcossie]

Lee....how much did you spend to get the car bought fixed and on the track before you started modding it?

[jacko]

it was a propper thing mate ill get some pics for you it was fast

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Originally Posted by rapidcossie

Lee....how much did you spend to get the car bought fixed and on the track before you started modding it?

Bought the car off fleabay for £1980 (should of been £2k but the lad didnt tell me the engine cover was missing so knocked him down )

Sold interior, spare wheel, headunit & cd changer, drivers Xenon headlight plus other odds & sods so made back about £300 by doing that.

Subframe cost me £70 used, slam panel & front crossmember was £80 ish, headlights say £60 for arguments sake. My mate didnt charge me anything for doing the work....yet...well I sort out his computer stuff & never charge him so give & take thing.

Seats & harnesses cost me £100 off fleabay - after all you need seats! lol

So it stood me at roughly £2000 before I started modding & going off the rails.



Jacko....please mate would be interested to see it.

[rapidcossie]

I remeber that thread about finding that car!

Lee....quite a cheap car then as it would be worth double that easy yeah?

[jacko]

here you go the bloke didnt give us a thing for finding it storing it for 3 days then giving it back

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Roughly mate yes, at least double, I couldnt find anything of its age in normal condition, on the same milage for anything less than around £4500 - ok its been recorded as Cat D but well the only thing that gives it away is the crease in the chassis rail that you cant see normally as the gearbox mount covers it...very cheap really - out the box they are a crackin car for track use - only downside is the slight lack of grunt for the straights (although the corner speed you can carry especially on slicks more than makes up for this most of the time) which the throttle bodies should sort to a certain extent.

[rapidcossie]

Originally Posted by Lee_R21Turbo

Roughly mate yes, at least double, I couldnt find anything of its age in normal condition, on the same milage for anything less than around £4500 - ok its been recorded as Cat D but well the only thing that gives it away is the crease in the chassis rail that you cant see normally as the gearbox mount covers it...very cheap really - out the box they are a crackin car for track use - only downside is the slight lack of grunt for the straights (although the corner speed you can carry especially on slicks more than makes up for this most of the time) which the throttle bodies should sort to a certain extent.

Quite fancy a wee teack car like this that could be used on the road too and always liked clios.

[Lee_R21Turbo]

I seriously cant fault it mate - I did Croft in JCs 172 Clio last year, which made me buy one to be honest. Apparently I was lapping approx 1-2 seconds off Si B in his EVO & Ste_RW in his M3 - unfortunately I was unable to do Croft this year as my gearbox still wasnt back from having the Gripper fitted. I think Mr Rainbird was quite impressed with how it went at Bedford aswell - I had a good tussle with Charlie in his Cupra R & we were very evenly matched!!

[jacko]

i was thinking about one of the older 16v ones for me self

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Theres a guy that usually does Dono whenever I'm there, hes got a modded Williams 3, cage, coilys etc - before I started modding we were very evenly matched lap after lap - I'm now hoping after the money & effort I've put into it I should be able to gain on him now!

[Shorty]

SLAG!

Will have to blag a passenger ride mate, looks like a riot this.

[Charlie Chalk]

Euan, you'll love it, Went out with Lee a few times at donno xmas last year, was a good passneger ride, Even the grass cutting

I drove my mates the other day and was in it for about an hour, and loved it, handle well for a standard car

With a few mods, I'd imagine there top fun


Nice one on doing the thread, will watch this Lee

[JonnyBravo]

Cool car Lee, shame I won't have something suitable to rape you in at Donny

[richard_syko]

Cool car

[Spiky]

poor car

dones't know what it's got ahead of it

cool project, looking to buy one of these for normal road use

[maxest]

Coool thread and coool car! I didnt think much to these clios until i took one to croft the other month,,, now i'm looking for another to use solely for track use,,, still not sure whether to buy a standard road car and strip it, or go all out and buy a cup car,, thing that puts me off those is that there all LHD

Look forward to more updates

[Spiky]

cup cars are 8k ish, and come with sequential

building a good spec one will be cheaper,

but i'd get a cup car if i was doing it again

[maxest]

Originally Posted by Spiky

cup cars are 8k ish, and come with sequential

building a good spec one will be cheaper,

but i'd get a cup car if i was doing it again

I know they are been looking at a couple,,, two thing against is that 8k is alot of money sat there when it will prob get used at a guess 10 times a year, also the sequential box although cool, will prob be alot of upkeep,,, whereas i can buy a nice 172 for 3k ish,, strip it out, set of slicks and that'll do... also at 8k i would prob prefer an evo

[Charlie Chalk]

Cup car for 8k? Any links?


Lee, you need a dash like the one Jacko posted

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Funny you should say that - there was one on ebay the other week - only problem being is that all cup cars are LHD so it wouldnt fit mine!!

[_DAN_]

Cool project. Love how it started off simple and cheap.

[Charlie Chalk]

Make one Lee, Don't exactly look hard does it!

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Naah - cant be arsed - I'm having a standard one flocked though!!!

[Charlie Chalk]

Fair one, you doing donno xmas??

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Yes mate....gotta book it yet!

[vibrating_cake]

brilliant little cars!!!
i love the track slag on a damaged shell idea!
propper fun little car, i bet you'll have some great times in it!
keep us updated!!!

[Andy_R]

Its come a long way Lee, look forward to a shot once the geometry is sorted the ATB will assist heaps too, im sure. Donno last Christmas was scarey, it just didnt handle right at all! Roll on the boddies being fitted

[Phil2002]

good stuff looks like a right laugh. maybe in the new year a track car may happen. cozzie first then toys. keep up the good work.
phil

[Si B]

Cool little car Lee, and having seen it go, very quick too!

Like a quicker, newer version of my old Mi16 205.

Will look forward to racing you again soon

Si

[ESCYSCOTT]

i'll kick ya arse Lee!! You doin mallory with it?

[Lee_R21Turbo]

Andy_R - the handling probably wasnt all that bad - was probably more my driving!! LOL!

SiB - thanks mate - yes - I'll look forward to it!!

EscyScott - bring it the fuck on pal!! LOL! Hoping to do Mallory yes - want to get it on the road first before booking anything incase summat goes tits up!!

[ESCYSCOTT]

fook that pal, just borrow some trade plates, drive it down the motorway to run her in then get it mapped at full belt on the rollers!!! PMSL. Thats how I did it LOL

[BillyCabrio]

Jeeeeez!!

I can't believe that was February that we had rapid brake replacement at Bedford in the dark!!!

You'll be pleased to hear Johns box FINALLY came out over the weekend! The poor car has been under cover since the clutch bearing gave up the ghost many months ago

I can't wait for my new & improved passenger ride Lee

[maxest]

Any updates lee, ive just bought a 172 for a track day car!

[Diggerspug306]

when u fitted the bucket seats, did u have side airbags before? because ive got some bucket seats to go in my clio and dont want to put the airbag light on.

[Spiky]

You need a diode

[Diggerspug306]

wat sort of diode and what do you have to do with it?