Regular readers of the site will be more than familiar with our love for Renault’s Clio 182. Ben owned one, Sam still does, and the rest of us have all been mightily tempted at one point or another.
PHer ‘frayz’ first discovered the joy of 182 ownership back in 2011, when he bought a “mint 8k mile Clio 182 full fat.” Four and a half years and 84,000 miles later, he sold it to a friend and continued his automotive journey with a Mini GP1. Despite having since made it into his dream Porsche Cayman R, frayz retained his fond memories of the 182 and, long story short, was reunited with the car in July last year, having swapped his Fiesta ST for it with that very same pal.
Now the fun begins. Because despite the car already being in a highly respectable state, frayz set about restoring it to near perfect condition, replacing any slightly tired or worn components with fresh alternatives, right down to the tailgate rubbers and licence plates. For readers who like everything to be just so, his thoroughly documented account of the process makes for highly satisfying reading.
With the car up to scratch, it was time to start pushing the envelope a little, uprating select components rather than simply replacing like-for-like. We’ll hand over to frayz at this point to carry on the tale, needless to say, we heartily approve of the results.