“It's just a daily” - Renaultsport Clio 182

“It's just a daily” - Renaultsport Clio 182

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frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
TL;DR - I bought back my originally owned Renaultsport Clio 182, it was a standard car. Now the "gloves are off" for modding the hell out of it, and restoring it to my perfect fast road spec (daily driver) 182

Bear with me guys,

Back in 2011 i purchased a mint 8k mile Clio 182 full fat from a friend. I was absolutely mint and i adored it.
It was my every day car that also used to see everything from taking the girlfiend out (now wife) to the Nurburgring. I owned it for 4.5 years and 84k miles and all i did was service it. I can honestly say it never once let me down.
Then i fancied a change and stupidly sold it to another friend for what i now know was a downgrade to a MIni GP1.
I never gelled with the GP and after many attempts to love it, sold it 18 months later to chase my Porsche dream and Cayman R ownership, my daily became a Fiesta ST150 as it was a cheap reliable car at the time.

However to this day, id always claimed the little Cup chassis Clio was pound for pound the best car id ever owned.

The day i collected it in 2011.



One of many Snetterton days



Her first Ring trip



The hideous replacement



The bargaining chip



The dream



Fast forward 4.5 years!!

God awful MIni GP gone, replaced with my dream Cayman R (manual, carbon seats and all the good bits). With the GP as my daily and buying the Cayman, i needed a new daily so picked up a minity mint one owner Fiesta ST. Owned by a mate at work who had loved it like his first child. It was beautifully kept but possibly the dullest car I've owned. Looked quite pretty but dull gutless engine, overdamped, non playful chassis and an ESP system that was almost as fun sapping as the dire GPs sytem before it. It was a perfect useable daily but it had to go before i died of boredom in it.

About a month ago I’ve had a strange thing happen. Basically as i said, I sold my old 182 to a friends brother 4 years ago (Downgraded to a Mini GP), he still owned it and has continued to look after it, largely it’s pretty much as I sold it. It’s picked up the tiny door ding and such, but other than that, she’s pretty straight all be it on 111k miles now and wants the odd job doing.

i had joked with him for a while about a straight swap with my ST for the 182. This usually results in the odd picture message/ text to eachother having cleaned our cars saying “cleaned your new motor, when are you picking it up? Etc” haha.

Well after I put up the ST for sale he said he would be tempted, not because he really wants an ST. His wife thinks the ST is a bit more grown up and it’s arguably newer and in better condition than the 182, is twin daughters are 9 years old now and the extra room in the rear was welcome.
He said he wouldn’t otherwise sell the 182 but knows what that car means to me and he’s open to the idea of a change. He knows the condition of my cars hence the Clio hasn’t let him down in the 4 years he’s had it.

Anyway, we agreed a swap cars for a week or 2 to see if he likes the Fiesta and if my rose tinted memories of the Clio 182 hold true.

So there i was feeling like I’ve gone back in time as my old inferno orange 182 sat on my driveway. Trying desperately not to get too attached as I had to be prepared for him to say he wanted to keep it.

I'm delighted to say after a week of trial run, the ST suits his needs better and we have agreed to exchange cars.
So having owned this car from 8k miles, here i am and its back in my ownership.

It’s a very strange feeling, but being in it just feels like home.

More to come biggrin






Edited by frayz on Thursday 10th September 07:06


Edited by frayz on Monday 21st September 12:04

AndrewGP

1,972 posts

161 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Congrats, that's a great result! Always loved a baked bean Clio 182 biggrin

I've recently sold my mint Racing Blue 182 due to a job change with a bigger commute and I really miss it. It was on just 56k miles when I sold it and I know I'll never find another like it frown

Keep the updates coming.


Darren93

151 posts

104 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
I like these 182s, hard to find a decent one these days. I was very tempted by one for my first hot hatch but was scared away by the belt/exhaust replacement costs as a 19 year old student and got an FN2 type r instead but I still like the look of the clios, especially with the speedline turini's on!

I also love Caymans... And GP1/2 minis... Nice garage laugh

LordHaveMurci

12,032 posts

168 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
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A fellow Pork & Clio owner here biggrin

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
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Great story! Hope the ex doesn’t turn into a psycho...

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
AndrewGP said:
Congrats, that's a great result! Always loved a baked bean Clio 182 biggrin

I've recently sold my mint Racing Blue 182 due to a job change with a bigger commute and I really miss it. It was on just 56k miles when I sold it and I know I'll never find another like it frown

Keep the updates coming.

I do 50 miles a day in the Clio and am now at a point where I’ll spend whatever it needs to maintain it. I don’t care how many mailed it does, it’s just the most magical thing to drive. It’s the one car I’d always regretted selling and if I hadn’t of got this car back then would have hunted for a mint Trophy.
Arguably this one is more special to me than any Trophy because of my history with it.

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Darren93 said:
I like these 182s, hard to find a decent one these days. I was very tempted by one for my first hot hatch but was scared away by the belt/exhaust replacement costs as a 19 year old student and got an FN2 type r instead but I still like the look of the clios, especially with the speedline turini's on!

I also love Caymans... And GP1/2 minis... Nice garage laugh
Thank you sir.
As it happens the belts are due on this one so it’s going in to AWMotorworks on Tuesday for the full enchilada.
Yes the belt service is a dear job, but it’s once every 5 years so actually not that bad when you break it down.

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
LordHaveMurci said:
A fellow Pork & Clio owner here biggrin
Good man, what flavour Pork & Clio? smile

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
JonnyJustice said:
Great story! Hope the ex doesn’t turn into a psycho...
Haha me too! Had my fair share of those already biggrin

B'stard Child

28,282 posts

245 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
I've owned this one 4 times



however chances of me owning it again are zero as the last buyer who purchased it met me in Newcastle Docks to take it back to Norway biggrin

Good luck with your ex

Mike1990

959 posts

130 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Love an Inferno Orange, such a nice colour.

That ST looks fantastic and fresh.


frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
So the plan is to go through the car and try and get it back to tip top shape.
Initial inspection I found all sorts of little jobs to do, even though I hadn’t even signed the paperwork on it yet, but we’d shaken hands on the deal.

Fixed-welded exhaust, ordered new exhaust hanger for the BTM. Original hanger was shagged.
Fixed all the heatshields, made new extra large sections to act as repair washers.
Fixed Alpine headunit (mic had fallen out the back)
Fixed airbox (garage had left it loose)
Replaced foglights with new OEM Valeos and PPF filmed them
For protection.
Refurbed the headlights.
Jetwashed the underside.

Cleaned a lot of stuff too, although needed de stickering and a Polish.
More bits on order to try and make it as fresh as possible again.

Cracked BTM system. They don’t make these anymore and they’re so much nicer than the others out there except bar an Orbisoud. So this bad boy had to be fixed.



Welded up and new hanger. Hanger took some tracing as JP Exhausts the original maker had used a mount from a JDM Honda Integra.



New genuine Renault/Valeo foglights installed



Headlights restored with a 3M kit and then ceramic coated with Siramik HR by Boyd @ BR Car Detailing



Looking better already. biggrin


frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
B'stard Child said:
I've owned this one 4 times



however chances of me owning it again are zero as the last buyer who purchased it met me in Newcastle Docks to take it back to Norway biggrin

Good luck with your ex
Haha. Looks cool though.
Always dangerous going back to an ex, but so far I’ve no complaints. smile

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Mike1990 said:
Love an Inferno Orange, such a nice colour.

That ST looks fantastic and fresh.

Yeah the Inferno is pretty cool. I think you either love it or hate it, it’s rare too. Only ever made 113 Full Fat 182s in Inferno according to Renault.

Yes the ST was absolutely mint, and I’d subtlety modified it to an OEM+ type spec.
Full Miltek inc manifold, Mountune calibration, Eibach springs and full ST170 brake transplant.
One owner from new, i knew the chap that brought it new and had every single receipt inc it’s original bill of sale. Lol.

Lovely car, I just never loved it.



Jonnny

29,385 posts

188 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Loved my old 182, definitely getting another one when our house move goes through.

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
So more little jobs.

Silly things like removing the windscreen seals and cleaning behind them.
Soaking the seatbelts with APC and jetwashing them silver again. Another job was to try and eliminate the boot/parcel shelf rattle. (Of which so far so good)
The tailgate rubbers were shot, one was missing and the other was hard as nails. These are still available from Renault and at a cost of less than £5 for a pair, the new soft rubbers mean the tailgate closes with a much less aggressive thud.

Also traced the parcel shelf rattling up and down against it’s mounts and tapping the top of the inner tailgate trim.
I used some soft side Velcro on these panels to cushion the parcel shelf and now it fits snug.

Keen to put my mark back on her, I took a few stickers off and added my Ring sticker back on the rear of the car. Also added some orange Speedline decals to the rims.









PhillipM

6,507 posts

188 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Hey Frayz, small world hehe

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Next up on the 182.

Freshened up the arches with some new liners, cleaned out the sills and skirts.
These cars are 15 years old now, so ensuring the body and metalwork stays as mint and rot free as possible has to be high on the list.

Gave everything a liberal coating of Waxoil and added some Kaylan stone guards.
Used these on quite a few cars now and they offer discrete protection without having full sized flaps fitted.
Used just the OEM fixing positions and the top of the guards is fixed right to the body using double sided body trim tape.

Anyway, I’ll let the pics do the talking.













frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
PhillipM said:
Hey Frayz, small world hehe
Shhh!
I haven’t got to your bit yet. biggrin

frayz

Original Poster:

2,629 posts

158 months

Sunday 14th July 2019
quotequote all
Keen to give the old girl a freshen up, the first of more boxes of goodies was next to arrive.
I last freshened all the dampers and topmounts at 74k miles. She’s now on 112k so I figured I’d do the same again.

Pair front complete Cup lower arms
Pair front Cup dampers
Pair rear Cup dampers
Pair revised front topmounts
Pair revised topmount nuts
Pair inner track rod ends
Inner/outter ARB bushes
New rear numberplate lamp.

Obviously the lamp was all I could fit on the quick, so that went straight on. A vast improvement, I’m sure you’ll agree.