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Clio v6 Trophy #19
- Thread starter Duncan
- Start date
So I got to drive it for the first time yesterday. It was quite the experience and to me, worth buying the car for one day alone!
Before it got to Goodwood, the windscreen was replaced (hence the missing Overlease sunstrip), Pilot Supersports were fitted so it could be used what ever the weather and a second seat was fitted so the experience could be shared:
I got some silencers from Merlin Motorsport for the car, which should of brought it down to 100dB, but it read 104dB on first noise check. Scott warmed them up and got it down to 102dB, but was told that they wouldn't let us out if we were over 100dB. Nathan kindly offered me the use of his Merlin Motorsport silencers, which had 90 degree angles welded to them to take the two pipes away from each other, this was enough to take us down to 98dB and get out on the track. Massive thank you to Nathan, Scott and Jamie in getting it out on the track!!
It was quite an intimidating experience to go from having never driven a race car to driving a full on LHD competition car. It took a bit of getting used to the different sequence required to pull away and as it was such a hot day I had to turn it off and not sit with it idling, meaning it had to do hot starts all the time.
I stalled it most times I tried to go between 1st neutral and reverse, but started to get the hang of it after the 3rd go in the car.
It is an animal! In the right hands it would really shift, I was mostly taking it easy and taking it all in, rather than really exploring the cars limits, but even so I could see how much faster it was than the road car.
Its very hot & very noisy, you can't really see anything behind you and simple things like finding the indicators to let a faster driver past took a bit of thought. Its sensory overload!
Despite the concentration required to get it off the line, once you were moving, it was a highly intuitive car to drive. It just felt right to be sitting around 5k+ RPM all the time and never felt like you were ringing its neck. On the last session I clicked with the car and starting getting a bit of a rhythm together.
The gearbox was just awesome to use and was the standout feature of the car for me, it was really cool being able to change gear wherever you wanted without feeling like you were upsetting the balance of the car.
A little taster of what its like in the cockpit:
[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_PQLcFmguA[/bbvideo]
First time I drove it, a warning light came on the dash 10 mins into the session so I pulled in early. The water temperature had raised and the water level dropped. It just got a bit too hot, so was a reminder that the car needs airflow through it when its on, and for me to use the radiator fans more (it doesn't have side pod fans).
After this, I kept the fan on and kept a close eye on the water temperature, which behaved itself all day and the car was as good as gold.
The car has phenomenal brakes, it also inspired alot more confidence than the road car does. Even on road tyres, it felt like you could really overcook it on the way into a corner chuck it about and still come out the other side.
Apart from driving around the paddock (which was hard to keep the speed down!), the parade lap was the hardest drive, its not the sort of car you can put it in 5th gear and just cruise, it wants to go fast all the time.
I was full of adrenaline all day yesterday and feel extremely privileged to of spent some quality time on track in #19.
Next job is to work on getting a new Overlease sunstrip made up & getting the missing #3's back onto the car.
Before it got to Goodwood, the windscreen was replaced (hence the missing Overlease sunstrip), Pilot Supersports were fitted so it could be used what ever the weather and a second seat was fitted so the experience could be shared:
I got some silencers from Merlin Motorsport for the car, which should of brought it down to 100dB, but it read 104dB on first noise check. Scott warmed them up and got it down to 102dB, but was told that they wouldn't let us out if we were over 100dB. Nathan kindly offered me the use of his Merlin Motorsport silencers, which had 90 degree angles welded to them to take the two pipes away from each other, this was enough to take us down to 98dB and get out on the track. Massive thank you to Nathan, Scott and Jamie in getting it out on the track!!
It was quite an intimidating experience to go from having never driven a race car to driving a full on LHD competition car. It took a bit of getting used to the different sequence required to pull away and as it was such a hot day I had to turn it off and not sit with it idling, meaning it had to do hot starts all the time.
I stalled it most times I tried to go between 1st neutral and reverse, but started to get the hang of it after the 3rd go in the car.
It is an animal! In the right hands it would really shift, I was mostly taking it easy and taking it all in, rather than really exploring the cars limits, but even so I could see how much faster it was than the road car.
Its very hot & very noisy, you can't really see anything behind you and simple things like finding the indicators to let a faster driver past took a bit of thought. Its sensory overload!
Despite the concentration required to get it off the line, once you were moving, it was a highly intuitive car to drive. It just felt right to be sitting around 5k+ RPM all the time and never felt like you were ringing its neck. On the last session I clicked with the car and starting getting a bit of a rhythm together.
The gearbox was just awesome to use and was the standout feature of the car for me, it was really cool being able to change gear wherever you wanted without feeling like you were upsetting the balance of the car.
A little taster of what its like in the cockpit:
[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_PQLcFmguA[/bbvideo]
First time I drove it, a warning light came on the dash 10 mins into the session so I pulled in early. The water temperature had raised and the water level dropped. It just got a bit too hot, so was a reminder that the car needs airflow through it when its on, and for me to use the radiator fans more (it doesn't have side pod fans).
After this, I kept the fan on and kept a close eye on the water temperature, which behaved itself all day and the car was as good as gold.
The car has phenomenal brakes, it also inspired alot more confidence than the road car does. Even on road tyres, it felt like you could really overcook it on the way into a corner chuck it about and still come out the other side.
Apart from driving around the paddock (which was hard to keep the speed down!), the parade lap was the hardest drive, its not the sort of car you can put it in 5th gear and just cruise, it wants to go fast all the time.
I was full of adrenaline all day yesterday and feel extremely privileged to of spent some quality time on track in #19.
Next job is to work on getting a new Overlease sunstrip made up & getting the missing #3's back onto the car.
Last edited by a moderator:
Time for an update!
After ORS last year I had the car back at home and gave it a post track tidy up. In December it was moved into a storage facility and it was there till late July so I havent actually seen it much in the last year, despite good intentions of wanting to arrange another track day.
Scott took the car to his exhaust man to get a more suitable silencer solution on the car to get through Goodwoods strict noise policy. The brief was something sturdy and something that could be easily removed. What he made was just the job, the silencers slide inside the standard pipes and are held via a bracket mounted to the chassis with resilient mounts to stop vibration transmission.
Scott also gave it an oil and filter change and changed the brake fluid before its second outing.
It passed the noise test first time 98dB at 5200rpm. [smilie=yay.gif] In fact I think it must be much quieter than that, as you couldn't hear any exhaust noise when it drove by. It was still just as loud as before in the cockpit though!
First outing was for the parade lap where it was a good chance to see where was damp and where was dry on the circuit, despite what I said last year about it not being the sort of car that you can put in 5th gear and cruise, I in fact found it to cruise pretty well in high gears this time. Driver issues more than car issues I think!
Second outing was a bit of a false start, by the end of the first straight, one of the side trims that go over the windscreen popped off and was flapping around like a good un, so I pulled into the pits to sort it out and then found myself at the back of the que to get back out again.
Next trip out was far more successful and the car was running superb. It felt like it had another 100 horse power over last year, in reality of course, I was just a bit more comfortable with it. I was flying this time and I had a great rhythm built towards the 3rd-4th lap, could really lean on the tyres and the brakes and it was over taking everything!
Behind me from the start was a chap in a 172 exclusive who was there to give tutoring. I was fully expecting him to catch me, but I found out afterwards that he cooked his tyres trying to keep up. It was great to have a bit of a tussle on track which gave me a confidence boost.
I replied by dropping it into second in the chicane and leathering it whilst on the exit over the curb. The Trophy gave me a lesson in piroettting and I spun it big time. Luckily, theres plenty of space there and no harm was done. That session was the best drive I've ever had and will remember it for ever. I was dead chuffed to have Kate in the car with me so she got to experience the car properly after hearing me bang on about it all the time.
I did film this session from inside the car, but the file has corrupted. I am trying to salvage it now and will upload it if I do.
The trophy doesn't like spinning! The engine sound totally changed and the dash lit up when I came to a stop. I remembered Scott telling me if you spin put the clutch down straight away to protect the drive train and turn the car off and on again before trying to drive away, so I did both and then took it alot easier on the next outing, which was the only one I managed to get any video of:
[bbvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/I3Q-h9Q6fL8[/bbvideo]
By the last session which Brett joined me on, I had found a happy balance of speed and caution.
To drive its an assault on the senses, Its extremely loud inside (the camera sound doesn't distort in any other car I've used it in!) and the rock hard suspension makes it a pretty bumpy ride around Goodwood as you might notice in the video. It feels rock steady though, even at high speed.
Overall impressions are of pure admiration for the car, its an animal, raw but so capable! A healthy mixture of intimating and inviting.
If you wanted to use a v6 for track work only, I would recommend looking past the road car, get one of these!! They are ace and such an adrenaline hit.
After last year, I felt a little like it had too narrow a usability band and it would end up being a bit of an ornament. I put this down to the struggle to get through the noise test and me boiling the water in the engine. Second time around, with both these issues understood more and addressed. I dont feel like that at all, you could take this to any circuit in the UK and have a blast in it.
I feel genuinely lucky to of had such an experience twice in this car.
To top it off, the car won the award of best competition car at the show, which was a complete surprise and I was dead chuffed with.
What a car.
After ORS last year I had the car back at home and gave it a post track tidy up. In December it was moved into a storage facility and it was there till late July so I havent actually seen it much in the last year, despite good intentions of wanting to arrange another track day.
Scott took the car to his exhaust man to get a more suitable silencer solution on the car to get through Goodwoods strict noise policy. The brief was something sturdy and something that could be easily removed. What he made was just the job, the silencers slide inside the standard pipes and are held via a bracket mounted to the chassis with resilient mounts to stop vibration transmission.
Scott also gave it an oil and filter change and changed the brake fluid before its second outing.
It passed the noise test first time 98dB at 5200rpm. [smilie=yay.gif] In fact I think it must be much quieter than that, as you couldn't hear any exhaust noise when it drove by. It was still just as loud as before in the cockpit though!
First outing was for the parade lap where it was a good chance to see where was damp and where was dry on the circuit, despite what I said last year about it not being the sort of car that you can put in 5th gear and cruise, I in fact found it to cruise pretty well in high gears this time. Driver issues more than car issues I think!
Second outing was a bit of a false start, by the end of the first straight, one of the side trims that go over the windscreen popped off and was flapping around like a good un, so I pulled into the pits to sort it out and then found myself at the back of the que to get back out again.
Next trip out was far more successful and the car was running superb. It felt like it had another 100 horse power over last year, in reality of course, I was just a bit more comfortable with it. I was flying this time and I had a great rhythm built towards the 3rd-4th lap, could really lean on the tyres and the brakes and it was over taking everything!
Behind me from the start was a chap in a 172 exclusive who was there to give tutoring. I was fully expecting him to catch me, but I found out afterwards that he cooked his tyres trying to keep up. It was great to have a bit of a tussle on track which gave me a confidence boost.
I replied by dropping it into second in the chicane and leathering it whilst on the exit over the curb. The Trophy gave me a lesson in piroettting and I spun it big time. Luckily, theres plenty of space there and no harm was done. That session was the best drive I've ever had and will remember it for ever. I was dead chuffed to have Kate in the car with me so she got to experience the car properly after hearing me bang on about it all the time.
I did film this session from inside the car, but the file has corrupted. I am trying to salvage it now and will upload it if I do.
The trophy doesn't like spinning! The engine sound totally changed and the dash lit up when I came to a stop. I remembered Scott telling me if you spin put the clutch down straight away to protect the drive train and turn the car off and on again before trying to drive away, so I did both and then took it alot easier on the next outing, which was the only one I managed to get any video of:
[bbvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/I3Q-h9Q6fL8[/bbvideo]
By the last session which Brett joined me on, I had found a happy balance of speed and caution.
To drive its an assault on the senses, Its extremely loud inside (the camera sound doesn't distort in any other car I've used it in!) and the rock hard suspension makes it a pretty bumpy ride around Goodwood as you might notice in the video. It feels rock steady though, even at high speed.
Overall impressions are of pure admiration for the car, its an animal, raw but so capable! A healthy mixture of intimating and inviting.
If you wanted to use a v6 for track work only, I would recommend looking past the road car, get one of these!! They are ace and such an adrenaline hit.
After last year, I felt a little like it had too narrow a usability band and it would end up being a bit of an ornament. I put this down to the struggle to get through the noise test and me boiling the water in the engine. Second time around, with both these issues understood more and addressed. I dont feel like that at all, you could take this to any circuit in the UK and have a blast in it.
I feel genuinely lucky to of had such an experience twice in this car.
To top it off, the car won the award of best competition car at the show, which was a complete surprise and I was dead chuffed with.
What a car.
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks Ben, I totally agree.
Found some cracking photos of the spin on http://www.robertclayson.co.uk/
Found some cracking photos of the spin on http://www.robertclayson.co.uk/
Last edited by a moderator:
