Clio V6; pictures and waffle

Clio V6; pictures and waffle

Author
Discussion

Ginger goblin

368 posts

173 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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The TTV flywheel is a very worthwhile upgrade. Interestingly the production notes for the ph2 highlight the lacklustre nature of the engine when being revved and place the blame with the DMF. Getting rid of it makes a big difference, as does sorting the (pretty dire) throttle response out.

These two factors make heel and toe(ing) quite hard to perfect in a standard car and mean that non-intuitive, early inputs are required to offset the lazy power delivery. None of this is apparent unless you begin to really push the car and not many do unfortunately and even fewer are open to modify these cars extensively now that they are seen as "investments". A lot of latent potential is there to be released. They are are great cars to tinker with.

cheggars1000

9 posts

129 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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Took this picture whilst out for a walk

Danm1les

785 posts

141 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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Lovely car, whats with the panel gap around the side of the headlamp? The other V6 MK2's dont appear to have it but yours does? Almsot like its got the wrong front wings on designed for the older headlights?

10

Original Poster:

35 posts

166 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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sidekickdmr said:
I’m not sure what will happen to the values though, will they continue to climb, or hover around the 30k mark?
Hopefully they will keep going up but it's a very niche market! I always pay attention to the values but it's very hard to gauge where your car might be, especially as a lot change hands without ever going on the market. I think there are some very optimistic dealers attempting to artificially push up the average market value, most don't fall for it as generally those looking to buy a car like this do their homework. The rarer colours, unfortunately those you have mentioned, will always command higher prices.

Ginger goblin said:
The TTV flywheel is a very worthwhile upgrade. Interestingly the production notes for the ph2 highlight the lacklustre nature of the engine when being revved and place the blame with the DMF. Getting rid of it makes a big difference, as does sorting the (pretty dire) throttle response out.

What are your thoughts on the throttle response, I find it to be incredibly immediate. So much so in fact that the pedal is tricky to modulate on a bumpy road and you and your foot bounce up and down in the seat. With that being said heel and toe comes quite easily, perhaps all the doing of the flywheel because, as I said before, I have limited experience with the dual mass.

These two factors make heel and toe(ing) quite hard to perfect in a standard car and mean that non-intuitive, early inputs are required to offset the lazy power delivery. None of this is apparent unless you begin to really push the car and not many do unfortunately and even fewer are open to modify these cars extensively now that they are seen as "investments". A lot of latent potential is there to be released. They are are great cars to tinker with.
To modify or not are of course an owners prerogative, but there are a few parts of the car where Renault fell short and it just improves the drive to much to make a few changes, many of which are very easily reversed!

Danm1les said:
Lovely car, whats with the panel gap around the side of the headlamp? The other V6 MK2's don't appear to have it but yours does? Almost like its got the wrong front wings on designed for the older headlights?
Some cars have large gaps to the side of the headlights like mine and no gap at all where the front corner of the light sits against the bumper, some have no gap at all and a larger gap at the front whilst some sit in between. The nature of a car that was 'hand built' I suppose!


jamesbilluk

3,705 posts

184 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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Lovely V6 smile

Enjoyed every minute of my PH1 ownership, never missed a beat, I used to take it to SG motorsport too, great place!

keemaklan

418 posts

151 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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What motorbike is that? It looks SO nice.

I adore Clio V6s. What a car. Top PH'ing chap. Carry on...

BrotherMouzone

3,169 posts

175 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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I saw you and your group at Anglesey.

Love Clio V6s; they're such cool cars!


Slightlybald

29 posts

89 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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Nice. How does it handle? Read that they were a bit of handful...

0a

23,902 posts

195 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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In a world where cars are getting faster and faster to excuse less feel, this is really exotic.

10

Original Poster:

35 posts

166 months

Monday 12th December 2016
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keemaklan said:
What motorbike is that? It looks SO nice.

I adore Clio V6s. What a car. Top PH'ing chap. Carry on...
It's a Triumph Thruxton with some expensive and time consuming modifications to the rear lighting/numberplate setup to remove the hideously large rear mudguard and shiny plastic lollipop indicators. I believe the newer retro style Triumphs are a vast improvement but this one was a death trap (aren't all motorbikes?).

BrotherMouzone said:
I saw you and your group at Anglesey.

Love Clio V6s; they're such cool cars!

Nice GT3, one of my picks of the day.

Slightlybald said:
Nice. How does it handle? Read that they were a bit of handful...
It has great amounts of grip until you really push it and then you get a whole load of understeer. The reputation these cars have for spinning are less to do with overcooked oversteer and more to do with unsettling the car. With the short wheelbase and the highly mounted engine it's easy to 'get a wobble on'. This can happen either by trail braking too much and bringing the back around too far; once it decides to come around it does so very quickly. Lifting off or applying significantly more throttle through a long corner, once you've entered the corner you are committed to not lifting off or all hell breaks loose, literally. And finally a mis-timed gear changed, it's best to have the car in straight line before changing otherwise this really unsettles the car.

All that really applies to the track, it's absolutely fine 90% of the time on the road, even when pushing it, although with standard suspension the camber in the road and lumps and bumps really push it around. If it's wet expect some aquaplaning and serious oversteer that you probably won't be able to save. All in all good fun until it goes wrong!

Ginger goblin

368 posts

173 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
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10 said:
What are your thoughts on the throttle response, I find it to be incredibly immediate. So much so in fact that the pedal is tricky to modulate on a bumpy road and you and your foot bounce up and down in the seat. With that being said heel and toe comes quite easily, perhaps all the doing of the flywheel because, as I said before, I have limited experience with the dual mass.
The dual mass increases inertia (it's a heavy blighter!) and I found that translated into the reluctance of the engine to stop what it was doing and switch to doing something different. In every day driving this slips by unnoticed but when you heel and toe it becomes a real pain and means you have to account for the slack when making your inputs.

The TTV has much less inertia and is an immediately noticeable improvement that allows you to control the car very finely on the throttle. I went a stage further still and fitted a throttle controller which allows the pedal to throttle body opening ratio to be finely controlled. Night and day compared to the standard engine response.

Have you considered that the throttle control issues you refer to could relate to the solid top mounts on standard dampers (that may be on the way out?) and also the comfy but squishy and very unsupportive standard seats not exactly holding your legs firmly in place?

Great summing up of the driving characteristics by the way. Basically, don't be a dick and the car will return in kind! biggrin

mick_coupe

325 posts

247 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
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mick_coupe said:
My old car, still going well i hope ?

Mick
It goes very well! A bit of occasional TLC but that's because I'm trying to get it in the best condition possible. I hope the Elise is doing well

Glad to her all is well.The Elise has long gone, replaced with an Exige S.

Mick



10

Original Poster:

35 posts

166 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
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Ginger goblin said:
Have you considered that the throttle control issues you refer to could relate to the solid top mounts on standard dampers (that may be on the way out?) and also the comfy but squishy and very unsupportive standard seats not exactly holding your legs firmly in place?

Great summing up of the driving characteristics by the way. Basically, don't be a dick and the car will return in kind! biggrin
I had the same issue with standard top mounts and I believe the dampers are in good health. I've got Recaro Trendlines in it which are certainly more supportive than the standard seats. Whilst I can see those being an issue my brothers car on new KWs and with Recaro Sportsters has the same characteristics! I am very intrigued by this throttle controller, I'll have to look into it.

Basically! Treat it with caution and try to be smooth and you might think the perception the Clio V6 is rubbish, however once you start to play with the limit it becomes very 'involving'!


mick_coupe said:
Glad to her all is well.The Elise has long gone, replaced with an Exige S.

Mick
Nice! I've been looking at the Exige S and the Alfa 4C for potential next cars, how do you like yours? Great fun on Welsh roads I imagine, any time on track?


Edited by 10 on Tuesday 13th December 14:03

Ginger goblin

368 posts

173 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
10 said:
I am very intrigued by this throttle controller, I'll have to look into it.
I should caveat by saying that I have a completely standalone ECU matched up to the throttle controller so have no experience of splicing such a thing into the standard ECU, or even whether it is possible.

You may well find in the car's history (or not) that it has been remapped. As is the risk with these cars one brave owner tends to pluck for a modification and then, depending on the results, the herd follows. The pattern has repeated itself a few times on v6clio.net - Trendlines, KW v3s, Spike silencer, clear engine cover, TTV, Trophy coils, Pilot Super Sports.

The problem with the remap 'craze' was that it turned out that all the company/ies were doing were playing with the throttle maps to give more immediacy and provide the feeling that the car had more power. This could also be the cause of the issue. Or it could just be that you need a bit of time to adjust to the TTV. Who knows?

Enjoy though, they're very special cars smile

BrotherMouzone

3,169 posts

175 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
10 said:
Nice GT3, one of my picks of the day.
Sadly not a real one but an imposter (Carrera 2 with factory-fitted GT3 aerokit and wheels). My first time at Anglesey also; I was having a great time until I managed to lock myself out of the car with the key in the boot. rolleyes (hence the two AA vans)

10

Original Poster:

35 posts

166 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
Ginger goblin said:
The pattern has repeated itself a few times on v6clio.net - Trendlines, KW v3s, Spike silencer, clear engine cover, TTV, Trophy coils, Pilot Super Sports.

The problem with the remap 'craze' was that it turned out that all the company/ies were doing were playing with the throttle maps to give more immediacy and provide the feeling that the car had more power. This could also be the cause of the issue. Or it could just be that you need a bit of time to adjust to the TTV. Who knows?
That sounds familiar, the only thing I'm missing the suspension, I don't know about the re-map though. I know that there is a map out there to make the throttle more linear, it might be worth doing especially if there is a chance of re-map already having been done. The car came with the flywheel and I've had the car a year and a few months so I would hope I am used to it by now! I think there is only so much you can do to these cars to alleviate some of the 'character', but I knew what I was getting into!

BrotherMouzone said:
Sadly not a real one but an imposter (Carrera 2 with factory-fitted GT3 aerokit and wheels). My first time at Anglesey also; I was having a great time until I managed to lock myself out of the car with the key in the boot. rolleyes (hence the two AA vans)
Ah, I had my suspicions but didn't have a close look around it, I was concentrating too much during the day - so much so I didn't even notice the AA vans, although we left shortly after lunch having had a long session as soon as we changed to the coastal trap and had a long drive home. Still, could be worse!

Yipper

5,964 posts

91 months

Wednesday 14th December 2016
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One of the prettiest cars ever made. Crazy engine. Snappy handling. Top stuff.

10

Original Poster:

35 posts

166 months

Friday 11th October 2019
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All my other pics in this thread have disappeared, and since I haven't updated this in a few years, I though I'd put some pics up for posterity.

Since my last post I've taken the V6 to the Alps, Cheddar Gorge and more recently, Wales.

Prior to going to the Alps I went out on a few drives:



Not in its natural habitat:



Friends and I spent a couple of weeks cycling In the French Alps there, so used it as an opportunity to blast the cars around. This did mean taking a bike in or on the car:





Using a sucker mount, which was actually very successful, was pretty simple and meant I could chuck them in the footwell and go for a drive without all the roof accouterments.

Towards the end of the holiday we drive over to Switzerland, with the aim being to drive the Furka, Susten and Grimsel passes.

At the top of the Furka:



Then the Susten...



...and the Grimsel:





The justification of buying a mount for the bike was fairly unfounded given that a few weeks prior I had bought myself a 'practical' car:

(given the car was released in the 90's, this seems appropriate)





Over the past ownership the 480 has had a lot of money and hours put into it and, whilst it was a good example to start with, it runs and drives extremely well.

Back onto the V6, it recently had a refresh and some work done on it including:

- KW V3s
- ITG Airbox
- New clutch and lightweight TTV flywheel
- Gearbox refresh

Following that I though I'd put my cleaning skills to work:





It took a day to clean and protect the wheels so I haven't had a chance to get onto the paint yet! Needless to say, having had that work done and some new bits it drives better than it ever has in my four, years of ownership.

Podie

46,630 posts

276 months

Friday 11th October 2019
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Stalker alert... I know these cars well. I walk past them most week days.

Love ‘em both.

Court_S

13,002 posts

178 months

Friday 11th October 2019
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Lovely v6 OP.

Completely mad, but I love them.

Nice orange too.