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So, I'm currently mulling over track car options as although the RS is great, I'm

Have you left the sentence unfinished so we can speculate what you are

vestax32 wrote:So, I'm currently mulling over track car options as although the RS is great, I'm

Oops, bloody iphone! So as I was saying......although the RS is great it's always in the back of your mind that if you bin it your entire life will come crashing down around you! So my solution is to get a new car for the mrs (which we were going to do anyway) that can also double as a track car. It's got to be cheap. I thought firstly VX220, but too much hassle for her to get in and out of, especially with skirt on for work, also no space for dog. Then impreza wrx, but too chavvy and prob quite expensive to run?! E36/46 m3, great cars, but again too expensive to run. So now I'm thinking Clio 182. Dirt cheap to buy initially so far less worried about damage on track day, dog in boot, economical for mrs to go to work, seems to tick the right boxes. I know Sonny has one so input would be much appreciated! What could i do to it to make it track friendly without compromising its usability for the mrs? Things to look out for when buying one?

I bought one of these, not a Clio but heaps of fun http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/4 ... _sale.html

No tax no insurance but the may not tick your Mrs's box

That looks interesting, but possibly not for me. Im not going to take it quite that seriously, its just a bit of fun so car needs to be road legal and usable, I also don't want to have to bother with trailers etc......

vestax32 wrote:Then impreza wrx, but too chavvy and prob quite expensive to run?!

Ah, I missed the fact that you knew all about Sonny's one until quoting you but here, have an easy link to his 172 thread anyway - http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... hilit=clio

As for Chavvy Impreza, yep, couldn't agree more. Current de-chavving my latest one as much as possible to add another decent example to count against the million and one stickered up rice rockets floating around and mine is black with gold mica, none of the sonic blue guff that 99% of them are rolling out there.

You can get sucked in to a world of adjustable everything on them if you are even vaguely contemplating a track monster of any sort and I honestly think based on your needs that you are looking in the right direction with a Clio 182 etc. Hugely chuckable, surprisingly sticky in stock setup to me at least. I still wish I had my old modded 106GTI that had Racelogic electronic traction goodies fitted to it to take around a track, along with a bit more power ideally.

Only downside is fwd...
Personally i stick with rwd for fun on track... A bit of a curve ball but worth looking at an mx-5. Easy to add a bit of oomph and cheap as chips to maintain. Good fun time on track too - quite a few places use them as teaching cars.
If that's not to style, a 944 turbo is cheap and good fun
These are ok too especially at the price
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... er/1460671
(Although the mk1's are slower they habdle a little better)

Good luck getting the dog strapped in to the passenger seat Ads .

Mr Footlong wrote:Good luck getting the dog strapped in to the passenger seat Ads .

I chose to ignore it as I could believe you'd start looking for a track car and consider a vx220
However - I've seen dogs strapped into 2 seater before!

Anyway... It's got a boot?

I bought the ex an Eunos Roadster years ago (Jap MX-5 for those that don't know) and despite the fact that I looked like Donkey Kong driving it, I loved fishtailing the thing wherever I could get away with it! The dog might appreciate a) windows and b) the ability to breathe/live so don't think the boot is an option and it would have to be one of those little mini rat-type dogs.

Two reasons I chose the Clio; they are cheap and handle great ( even for a fwd car).

Everyone loves a Clio, they keep up with more powerful cars that are driven badly, giving them a run for their money. However there are plenty of other cheaper cars out there that could out run a Clio such as a well modified Honda for example (drag strip hero) In the Clio you dont have any fancy gizmos to help you stay on track so its down to total driver ability.

Downsides; French build quality, fragile gearbox and engine and a skittish rear end if not carful.

I went for the 172 Cup, these are around 150kg lighter than the 182, they dont have ABS and no AC.

182 gets its extra power from the 421 manifold.

The Clio handles so well, and is fun out of the box. The more you add to it the more you take away its characteristics. My Clio now handles nothing like it once did..

Idea of costs.
Brembo front discs £110
Ds2500 front pads £55
Rear discs £60
Rear pads £45
Valeo clutch £85
Drive shafts £120
Turbo conversion £3.5k
Supercharger conversion £3k
Throttle bodies £2k

However the car needs to tick boxes for the missus, so its now a trade off between what would be ideal for track now needs to be ideal for a Shop run.

Personally i would go for a 172 cup, up rate pads as brake fluid and take it from there.

Only real thing to look out for is a ticking engine, this indicates a worn dephaser pulley (VVT pulley) and also making sure that the cambelt has been changed at the correct interval.

Btw I have not updated that thread ina long time, the thread is running in northloop and openpitlane. I need to update it for those that interested.

God writing that on a iphone when hungover deserves a medal lol

Those Clio cups are bonkers quick around a track when driven properly. I have exactly twice as much power, but am constantly being overtaken by them.

Thanks Sonny, all very useful information. So is it really worth getting a cup rather than a plain 172? What are the differences? It's got to have AC for the mrs......

Also what about mileage, is 100k with service history ok?

Some Clio cups came with Aircon, but they will fetch a premium. They only ever came in Blue and Silver.

The cup is between night and day compared to the normal 172 cup, axle width, drive shafts, suspension, gear box is all different. No sounds deadening, lighter glass and lighter seats. Dont get me wrong, a normal 172 will be good around track, NickRS6 on here raced his in the Trackday trophy.

It really depends on what you want/need and make a desision.

Here is a model guide http://www.cliosport.net/content/guides ... 0Guide.pdf


Heres a vid of me driving at Spa in the Clio...

http://youtu.be/7Kr17MXolqQ

and me losing it at spa, took corner to early and trying to take Pouon in 5th, resulting in a tank slapper lol

http://youtu.be/aLWHSQ5gK68

Couple of pics on my photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/93973500@N06/