My 186k mile Clio Trophy :O)

[Sir_Dave]

Yesterday was my two year anniversary of owning the little French stbox, so thought id celebrate the event by giving it a well deserved clean over the weekend!!

Method for the geeks: Pressure wash, AG shampoo & wash mit, bucket with grit guards, followed by half a bottle of of Iron-X. I havent clayed, polished or machine polished it yet, which imho proves that my 'use dirt to provide protection' method works. The paint is actually pretty good once cleaned up!! I then hoovered the interior, for the first time in 2 years ...

So yeah, i took 120+ pictures, here are a few of them, not bad for 186k miles































Hope you like, i take it as proof that not all Renaults are unreliable heaps ...

[Sir_Dave]

The Nur said:

Is anybody else curious to see what it looked like when it was filthy?

I too would like to know what sort of stuff has gone wrong with it during your tenure with the vehicle, if you would be willing to divulge such information

Not all that much has gone wrong tbh:

Alternator started whining after a day hooning round Donington Park - still got me home though
PAS line split after a few laps of Bedford (design fault with aircon delete kit, no sorted) - AA towed me back, saving me 100 miles of fuel. Not the end of the world.

Other than that, just routine maintenance really, although i do have a habit of going overboard on things when it starts driving anything less than perfectly though. For example, a leaky rear damper in May '12 turned into new H&R coilovers, & a full front end suspension refresh inc. track rods/track rod ends/wishbones/balljoints and some Carbon Lorraine RC5+ brake pads. Oops.

Dirty pics are below:




Although the camera didnt really pic up the level of rankness particularly well if im 100% honest.

This is the 3rd coating of Iron-X needed to get the brake dust, etc off the car for example...

[Sir_Dave]

StoatInACoat said:

How do you find the Carbon Lorraine pads by the way? Will need to change mine in the future and thought these might be a good road/track compromise?

They're quite frankly obscene lol!! Havent got them to fade yet!!

Although i do run the RC5+'s now as the RC6's i had previously kinda ate the paintwork on my previous wheels, & they screeched a lot - which whilst fine for a race car, did get slightly annoying when pulling up outside work.

Certainly better pad than the DS2500's i had a while back, they had a habit of fading after harder track usage, normally when you least expected it. No such problems with these

[Sir_Dave]

StoatInACoat said:

Cool. Mine has DS2500's currently and I thought it was my fault for having no talent that they keep fading on track! The RC5+'s are ok when cold and just general tooling about I assume?

Yeah, they're fine, give pretty good cold temp bite actually.

Cheaper than the DS2500's as well which is a nice bonus - about £120 for the front set iirc.

Only problem with these damn cars is that they really get under your skin!! Im now on my 4th (182, 172 cup, another Trophy) and have recently bought a Mk5 R32 as they seem to do everything so well - with the idea of selling the clio .... but well there's something about the T, especially when it looks soo shiny

[Sir_Dave]

Rawhide said:

How are the H&R coilovers compared to the Sachs dampers that come with the Trophy? I would have thought swapping the dampers out kind of defeats the halo effect of the trophy.

I'm really quite keen on getting one of these and am undecided on a low miles minter or a high miles one which I can abuse on the track more.

Did a little writeup on them for the Trophy forum actually. Reason for even considering something else was that there is essentially only one place to get the Sachs refurbed, ie the UK distributor of Sachs parts, BG Motorsport - strangely no other places can get the parts anymore ... and at £720 inc. new shafts (to do it properly) and no real warranty, i thought id try the H&R's. I always used to have Bilstein B8's (the H&R use Bilstein dampers) on my previous 106/306/saxo's so i know the kit is good.

So, the handling is nigh on exactly the same as the Sachs/Sportline combo that i had previously, with an improved ride quality for day to day use. Obviously i have a Whiteline rear ARB that helps stiffen the rear end up a bit - the rear dampers are quite soft when compared to the front (as per the standard kit), but overall it gives nigh on the same handling properties as previously, ie decent front end grip, with a delightful adjustability on the throttle.

Trail brake into corner, turn in, slight lift, rear ends comes into play, lessen steering, accelerate. Wonderful.

In conclusion, if your Sachs are knackered, & you want a worthy replacement (albeit for roughly the same money as a front refurb), that drives the same as standard, the choice is most definately H&R.

Edited by Sir_Dave on Tuesday 4th September 16:33

[Sir_Dave]

greggy50 said:

You are lucky to see over 170 ish on a 182 to be honest

They improve with mileage



That was done last September at Charlies place (SRR) so its not a pub figure either!!

To the mileage doubter, the only 182 on 182k?



Mileage wise, the 1st owner used it to commute from Birmingham to Andover each day (bonkers!!) so it actually had its 1st cambelt service, after 72k miles, at 11 months old ... he then proceeded to put another 100k on it over the next 4 years. I bought it on 170k in September 2010.

Mowgli - didnt realise you had an Elise now - you still in the RAF?

[Sir_Dave]

joe_90 said:

How many engine mounts have you been thru

Still on the original ones!! No real engine movement, so not been changed as of yet. Will probably put some Vibratechnics ones on if i keep it though. I do have a Powerflex Dogbone mount though - if only to improve the throw of the gearstick slightly.