Wobba
Member
I finally own another turbo Clio. I started back in 1994 with a R5 Raider, then a 182 turbo a few years ago, and now....a modern experience. I did not like the Mk4's at all when I first saw them, seemed way to big and sat too high...and 197hp still? Seemed a bit anaemic to me considering the power of other manufacturer cars. However, fast forward many years and I now find myself getting older. The plan initially was to have a Mk4 as a daily and keep it basically standard and use my Williams or ph1 172 for the mad days out/track days. So I had a gander and found a car I wanted right there and then, so rather than be sensible and wait I got a remarkably good finance deal on a Trophy. A white one! The only other white car I owned was a GT-R R33, and I literally imported it and sold it fairly soon after for a ridiculous profit.
So, I've not been great at taking pics, which is unusual as usually I do tons of pics, but having moved home recently I've found it a bit tricky to keep the car clean for decent photoshoots, but here it is just before I collected it:
This was back in October...and I've not cleaned it since
The car pulls very well, is in excellent condition. It seems to have been very well kept apart from the tyres, it had three standard PS4's and an odd Uniroyal rain tyre, which has a slight slow puncture and the other tyre just totally died on the rear...this was covered by the dealer, but it was not a tyre of choice...the 205/40/18 is not that common so I had limited choice and needed the car on the road. I'll sort the tyres out in a few weeks. Any recommendations?
My first mod was blacked out badges. After that I popped a KTR air filter in. The old filter was in mint condition, it was good to note it has had a good life. The engine bay was spotless! I did notice a slight clunk on hard left pulling away manoeuvres and the wipers were misbehaving too after a week...a fairly common issue. I got a new motor and set of wiper arms.
So, that solved the issue and it gave me a chance to start learning where everything is in the engine bay, it's quite different to NA Clio's!
Fast forward a couple of weeks, I decided I wanted the car lower...the standard suspension is fine but it is quite harsh. I had to wait a couple of weeks for Ktec to get them in but I finally got some Cooksport springs. These are pretty easy to fit, but compared to earlier models, you have to take the wipers and skuttle off (again) to get the the top mount nuts off and get the front struts out. More ball-ache, but not hard. The front springs don't need compressing to take off safely on the Trophy. Getting the new springs on is easier if you use spring compressors though. The rears are easy, just the same as all the other RS's. The Williams does not have rear springs, just dampers and torsion bars...yes I know it is not technically an RS model...
More random pics:
The little 172 found a new home with its new owner a few months ago. For me it's just not possible right now to have two cars at home without pissing off a lot of new neighbours at my new place. I really loved this car. I remember when it launched EVO put it straight up against the Williams and gave it a hard time against the peoples favourite giant-slayer. The Ph1 is an epic car, don't believe what they said in the media back in those days. It is a 'better' car than the Williams, but what it and its children lacked was the ability to get away with being so light, raw, bulging arches and that F7R engine setup, which had amazing grunt from low down and lovely oldschool sound. The F4R had to start getting up the revs to shine. I think the Williams has more road prescence than all but the V6. It must have been quite a sight to watchers to see me race my Williams 1 against my friend in his V6 255 when going home from FCS one year. He was gutted the Willy was faster ( I was cheating with ITB's, 12.5:1 high compression, gripper diff, TTV flywheel etc hehe)...fond memories.
Anyway, back to the Mk4!
I got the springs fitted, replaced a stabiliser bar on the front right, went for a drive and the clunk noise had gone! Yay! And the Cooksports lower the car about 3cm at the front but it runs smoother too! Amazing! Very impressed. For proper track work I'd probably have to go coilovers but these are totally fine for daily and fast road
The vids I had seen of the EDC shifts had been something that turned me on to the Mk4. Those blaps on gear changes are addictive. The OEM exhaust is ok, but...let's face it...nahhhhhhhh. So, I decided to get a very good value exhaust from France, GT Performance straight pipe from cat back. Kitty likes it
Kitty seal of approval that is
On it went:
It was a bit of a pain to align, but I managed it...still needs a minor adjust though.
First start from cold in normal mode:
First start
So...when it warms up and you are not being a dick, it is not too bad...yes, it crackles when coming off the throttle. When you are on it though in sport/race and doing hard upshifts...it is a beast!!! I love it!
So, these arrived today from KAM Racing along with a parcel shelf clip, which I noticed was missing.
20mm front spacers and 10mm rear shims. I forgot about the longer wheel bolts so I ordered those today and they should appear tomorrow, and I will fit the fronts...maybe the rears too. From experience I know widening the front track will increase the effort to turn so it will feel like understeer, but...looks are everything eh?
Updates and better pics to follow soon.
So, I've not been great at taking pics, which is unusual as usually I do tons of pics, but having moved home recently I've found it a bit tricky to keep the car clean for decent photoshoots, but here it is just before I collected it:
This was back in October...and I've not cleaned it since
The car pulls very well, is in excellent condition. It seems to have been very well kept apart from the tyres, it had three standard PS4's and an odd Uniroyal rain tyre, which has a slight slow puncture and the other tyre just totally died on the rear...this was covered by the dealer, but it was not a tyre of choice...the 205/40/18 is not that common so I had limited choice and needed the car on the road. I'll sort the tyres out in a few weeks. Any recommendations?
My first mod was blacked out badges. After that I popped a KTR air filter in. The old filter was in mint condition, it was good to note it has had a good life. The engine bay was spotless! I did notice a slight clunk on hard left pulling away manoeuvres and the wipers were misbehaving too after a week...a fairly common issue. I got a new motor and set of wiper arms.
So, that solved the issue and it gave me a chance to start learning where everything is in the engine bay, it's quite different to NA Clio's!
Fast forward a couple of weeks, I decided I wanted the car lower...the standard suspension is fine but it is quite harsh. I had to wait a couple of weeks for Ktec to get them in but I finally got some Cooksport springs. These are pretty easy to fit, but compared to earlier models, you have to take the wipers and skuttle off (again) to get the the top mount nuts off and get the front struts out. More ball-ache, but not hard. The front springs don't need compressing to take off safely on the Trophy. Getting the new springs on is easier if you use spring compressors though. The rears are easy, just the same as all the other RS's. The Williams does not have rear springs, just dampers and torsion bars...yes I know it is not technically an RS model...
More random pics:
The little 172 found a new home with its new owner a few months ago. For me it's just not possible right now to have two cars at home without pissing off a lot of new neighbours at my new place. I really loved this car. I remember when it launched EVO put it straight up against the Williams and gave it a hard time against the peoples favourite giant-slayer. The Ph1 is an epic car, don't believe what they said in the media back in those days. It is a 'better' car than the Williams, but what it and its children lacked was the ability to get away with being so light, raw, bulging arches and that F7R engine setup, which had amazing grunt from low down and lovely oldschool sound. The F4R had to start getting up the revs to shine. I think the Williams has more road prescence than all but the V6. It must have been quite a sight to watchers to see me race my Williams 1 against my friend in his V6 255 when going home from FCS one year. He was gutted the Willy was faster ( I was cheating with ITB's, 12.5:1 high compression, gripper diff, TTV flywheel etc hehe)...fond memories.
Anyway, back to the Mk4!
I got the springs fitted, replaced a stabiliser bar on the front right, went for a drive and the clunk noise had gone! Yay! And the Cooksports lower the car about 3cm at the front but it runs smoother too! Amazing! Very impressed. For proper track work I'd probably have to go coilovers but these are totally fine for daily and fast road
The vids I had seen of the EDC shifts had been something that turned me on to the Mk4. Those blaps on gear changes are addictive. The OEM exhaust is ok, but...let's face it...nahhhhhhhh. So, I decided to get a very good value exhaust from France, GT Performance straight pipe from cat back. Kitty likes it
Kitty seal of approval that is
On it went:
It was a bit of a pain to align, but I managed it...still needs a minor adjust though.
First start from cold in normal mode:
First start
So...when it warms up and you are not being a dick, it is not too bad...yes, it crackles when coming off the throttle. When you are on it though in sport/race and doing hard upshifts...it is a beast!!! I love it!
So, these arrived today from KAM Racing along with a parcel shelf clip, which I noticed was missing.
20mm front spacers and 10mm rear shims. I forgot about the longer wheel bolts so I ordered those today and they should appear tomorrow, and I will fit the fronts...maybe the rears too. From experience I know widening the front track will increase the effort to turn so it will feel like understeer, but...looks are everything eh?
Updates and better pics to follow soon.
