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Clio Ricardo's Liquid Yellow 200 EDC
- Thread starter Ricardo
- Start date
Yeah I get that, it's a real struggle finding wheels with a similar ET55 offset and 7.5J width. These Merc rims are bang on, ET53, 7.5J and 18“ with a 5x112 PCD
Scrubs up ok!
HLTs 7.5Jx18" ET47
As much as I like them and the setup I couldn't spend £1300 to be called a copycat
I wont tell anyone if you wont ?
I'd prefer the setup we discussed via PM
I need opinions on the facelift 220 wheels please. I've spoken to Renault and they can get them in for me.
Blimey, it's been a while since I've updated the progress thread. So much has happened since May, time is moving really quickly throughout the year and can't believe we're in August already. It's been a time of being away most weekends, car related or pleasure, both or Clio related purchasing parts. It's probably going to be easier going back in months at a time up until now so it's in chronological order, plus it's easier for me to remember what was going on cross referencing the photos on my phone.
MAY 2017
May comes around and this is the month we attend the French car show and trackday at Circuit de Clastres. This is organised by a car club in the Picardie region of France set over the first weekend (6-7th) with the option of taking part on track for either day or both..... or neither if you just wanted to attend to show off your pride and joy. Big Steve and Millie brought the show to my attention and were also attending so we met up at the Eurotunnel in Folkestone on the Friday 5th May, we decided to make a long weekend of it over 4 days between the Friday and Monday with the show in between. Steve and Millie had plans booked after the show so this gave me the chance to do my own thing. Clastres the track was about 110 south east of Calais but we'd set up camp at a hotel in town called St Quinten which was about a 25 minute north.
With a small stop off break en route we arrived at St Quinten around lunchtime. We checked in, threw the bags in the room then went out for drinks to start the weekend off. With a cheeky conference call to start we had an introductory beer at a small bar then headed round the corner to the main square which was home to the restaurants and bars. We made ourselves at home and became suitably lubricated throughout the afternoon and evening with a meal thrown in for good measure. Friday is done, they know the English contingent have arrived.
Saturday is a reasonably early start, breakfast is done then we head the 25 minutes south to Clastres track. Its busy already and straight away you can see the variety of French cars on show, like everything from decades back to the 70s such as the Gordini right up to present day with the Megane Trophy 275. In between you had an amazing selection of French cars, mostly the stand out Renault 5 GT Turbos. It's always a pleasure to see a Renault 5, a well turned out 5, but when you see them in their own surroundings, left hooker with the French plates.... Awesome, and boy do they know how to roll. The you have the Clios, I was actually surprised to see RHD models own by the French but I guess what with the price of them in France it's actually cheaper to buy them from us here in Britain, much cheaper.
Anyway, we park up in the track paddock area, empty everything that's not needed, have a mooch about then head over to the gazebo for the briefing... Which was exactly that, brief! None of them really spoke any Anglais so they did the briefing all in French first then sign language and spoke in pigeon English for 2 minutes, done! Weather was good, nice and sunny with blue skies, perfect. However this changed around lunchtime when it started to rain, the sad this was it never really changed from that moment on right through till Monday which was a shame. Still the main thing was we both managed to out plenty of dry lap action in, we did go out on the damp to wet track and to be fair both cars did quite well. The Clio on the OE Dunlop Sport Maxx RT tyres were actually pretty good, quite predictable. I kept in on RACE mode in both dry and wet laps and it performed supreme, the linear power means you're not fighting with torque. There's 250 pounds of it but it handles it well on the throttle, the chassis more than deals with it, to be fair it could take much more but that's another story.
The rain hanging about and about 4pm with me running out of V Power we decide to head back to our hotel in St Quinten. Time to shower and head back out for dinner, what I haven't mentioned yet is that Tuur Dekker is also in attendance with some of his friends at Clastres so we arrange to meet up in town for dinner and drinks to catch up properly. So, a few drinks rounds up the Saturday nicely. We've had a decent day out on track with Steve stretching the Meganes legs on its new Michelins and me out in the Clio.
Sunday Steve and Millie have a WW1 tour booked further north so I decide to head down to Reims which is about 90 minutes south of St Quinten. It's a place I've always wanted to visit so it was perfect having the day to head down to see what this disused circuit looked like in the flesh. I've seen club members stop off there en route in France and it looked really cool, so to actually see it for real was amazing. Quite surreal, spooky, crazy to think that only 50-60 years ago this was actually a racetrack. Briiliant to be able to walk amongst the pit area then head up to what would have been VIP rooms or journo rooms. It was also a perfect opportunity to take some photos of the Clio using the Circuit Reims as a backdrop. After that its a brief walkabout in Reims itself then head back north to our next hotel which is located in the town of Arras to meet up with Steve again. This is our last night in France before heading back, I booked a later train home to take a leisurely drive back throughout the day even though Calais was just over an hour away. So another meal and drinks in the main square in Arras it was.
Sunday is a stroll around Arras for a couple of hours taking in the history, a hundred years almost to the month since the battle. After that it's a drive out to Vimy Ridge to see the memorial which is a sight to behold, humbling. With that it's back to Calais then home.
What can I say, the Clio has performed well not only on track but faultless over the 4 days in France.
645.4 MILES
33.2MPG Average
Pics to come, i'm having to type the text first then upload photos after
MAY 2017
May comes around and this is the month we attend the French car show and trackday at Circuit de Clastres. This is organised by a car club in the Picardie region of France set over the first weekend (6-7th) with the option of taking part on track for either day or both..... or neither if you just wanted to attend to show off your pride and joy. Big Steve and Millie brought the show to my attention and were also attending so we met up at the Eurotunnel in Folkestone on the Friday 5th May, we decided to make a long weekend of it over 4 days between the Friday and Monday with the show in between. Steve and Millie had plans booked after the show so this gave me the chance to do my own thing. Clastres the track was about 110 south east of Calais but we'd set up camp at a hotel in town called St Quinten which was about a 25 minute north.
With a small stop off break en route we arrived at St Quinten around lunchtime. We checked in, threw the bags in the room then went out for drinks to start the weekend off. With a cheeky conference call to start we had an introductory beer at a small bar then headed round the corner to the main square which was home to the restaurants and bars. We made ourselves at home and became suitably lubricated throughout the afternoon and evening with a meal thrown in for good measure. Friday is done, they know the English contingent have arrived.
Saturday is a reasonably early start, breakfast is done then we head the 25 minutes south to Clastres track. Its busy already and straight away you can see the variety of French cars on show, like everything from decades back to the 70s such as the Gordini right up to present day with the Megane Trophy 275. In between you had an amazing selection of French cars, mostly the stand out Renault 5 GT Turbos. It's always a pleasure to see a Renault 5, a well turned out 5, but when you see them in their own surroundings, left hooker with the French plates.... Awesome, and boy do they know how to roll. The you have the Clios, I was actually surprised to see RHD models own by the French but I guess what with the price of them in France it's actually cheaper to buy them from us here in Britain, much cheaper.
Anyway, we park up in the track paddock area, empty everything that's not needed, have a mooch about then head over to the gazebo for the briefing... Which was exactly that, brief! None of them really spoke any Anglais so they did the briefing all in French first then sign language and spoke in pigeon English for 2 minutes, done! Weather was good, nice and sunny with blue skies, perfect. However this changed around lunchtime when it started to rain, the sad this was it never really changed from that moment on right through till Monday which was a shame. Still the main thing was we both managed to out plenty of dry lap action in, we did go out on the damp to wet track and to be fair both cars did quite well. The Clio on the OE Dunlop Sport Maxx RT tyres were actually pretty good, quite predictable. I kept in on RACE mode in both dry and wet laps and it performed supreme, the linear power means you're not fighting with torque. There's 250 pounds of it but it handles it well on the throttle, the chassis more than deals with it, to be fair it could take much more but that's another story.
The rain hanging about and about 4pm with me running out of V Power we decide to head back to our hotel in St Quinten. Time to shower and head back out for dinner, what I haven't mentioned yet is that Tuur Dekker is also in attendance with some of his friends at Clastres so we arrange to meet up in town for dinner and drinks to catch up properly. So, a few drinks rounds up the Saturday nicely. We've had a decent day out on track with Steve stretching the Meganes legs on its new Michelins and me out in the Clio.
Sunday Steve and Millie have a WW1 tour booked further north so I decide to head down to Reims which is about 90 minutes south of St Quinten. It's a place I've always wanted to visit so it was perfect having the day to head down to see what this disused circuit looked like in the flesh. I've seen club members stop off there en route in France and it looked really cool, so to actually see it for real was amazing. Quite surreal, spooky, crazy to think that only 50-60 years ago this was actually a racetrack. Briiliant to be able to walk amongst the pit area then head up to what would have been VIP rooms or journo rooms. It was also a perfect opportunity to take some photos of the Clio using the Circuit Reims as a backdrop. After that its a brief walkabout in Reims itself then head back north to our next hotel which is located in the town of Arras to meet up with Steve again. This is our last night in France before heading back, I booked a later train home to take a leisurely drive back throughout the day even though Calais was just over an hour away. So another meal and drinks in the main square in Arras it was.
Sunday is a stroll around Arras for a couple of hours taking in the history, a hundred years almost to the month since the battle. After that it's a drive out to Vimy Ridge to see the memorial which is a sight to behold, humbling. With that it's back to Calais then home.
What can I say, the Clio has performed well not only on track but faultless over the 4 days in France.
645.4 MILES
33.2MPG Average
Pics to come, i'm having to type the text first then upload photos after
And back at Calais Eurotunnel after an amazing 4 days away in one piece. I know it's a relatively new car so in theory it should be trouble free motoring but you just never know. Still the Clio took every mile in its stride, it's a comfortable place to be for long journeys with the option of flipping into RACE mode and giving it complete death of track. It's what Renault do, what RenaultSport models are built for. Keep on top of them with servicing and wear and tear items, they'll gladly return the favour.
On a side note I highly recommend a trip like this to anyone mildly concerned about driving in Europe, driving the 'wrong' side of the road. There aren't any toll roads to negotiate, motorways are clear of traffic and the town and country driving are awesome with the views and sedate driving. It's your holiday break, take as long as you like, soak up the atmosphere on every mile for what France and indeed any European country you drive in has to offer. You'll enjoy it, what with the company of friends along the way it re ally makes for an epic adventure.
On a side note I highly recommend a trip like this to anyone mildly concerned about driving in Europe, driving the 'wrong' side of the road. There aren't any toll roads to negotiate, motorways are clear of traffic and the town and country driving are awesome with the views and sedate driving. It's your holiday break, take as long as you like, soak up the atmosphere on every mile for what France and indeed any European country you drive in has to offer. You'll enjoy it, what with the company of friends along the way it re ally makes for an epic adventure.
Cheers Andy, I don't really use the Clio that much but when it does come out it's for car shows or trips like this when the miles are stacked on in a short space of time. I have to admit I'm trying to keep the miles relatively low, I'm glad it's not an everydayer so I don't feel too bad when I rack up a few hundred over a long weekend.
So that's it for May really, and June. It's revert back to 2nd car mode where I end up taking it out for the sake of missing it and giving it a blast round the local countryside. I've had a couple of weekends away in this time but the car has taken a step back to flying into Europe instead. However, again, wheels are still a topic that keeps coming back to me.
