PASM's Wheels | Clio RS & BMW 330i - Update #9: New daily!

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PASM

WRS Race Admin
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Netherlands
The Netherlands
GTP_PASM
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Hi GTP Folk! :gtpflag:

If you are, like me, a real car guy; then you've come to the right place. Of course preferences differ, but that's the beauty of it as well. You get to exchange opinions about stuff, maybe even get a great idea from someone. Or you get inspired by what someone else has bought or done to their car.

I've owned my BMW E30 for almost 6 years now. It has been quite the experience. What a car for it's age it is. Mine came imported from Switzerland, by a company who are specialized in E30's. It's not faultless, but it hangs on for it's 33 year old age. And it powered me through my first lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Lately, the maintenance is stacking up, especially things I can not take care of myself like the sills are starting to go. The fun I have driving it was becoming less, so I started to look for a replacement last March.

After a bit of a brainstorm, I came up with a list. It had to be something sporty again. Practicality was not needed. I was on a budget though. So that landed me with a few of these:
  • Mini Cooper (S) R50 2004-2006
  • Mini Cooper (S) R56 2007-2008
  • Toyota Celica 1.8 VVTi 1999-2005
  • Suzuki Swift Sport 2006-2010
  • Ford Fiesta ST 2004-2008
  • Renault Twingo RS 133 2008-2009
I really liked the idea of a hot hatch. Relatively lightweight, great handling, preferably an atmospheric engine, etc. A real drivers' car. The Celica somehow fell by the wayside first. The Fiesta ST was hard to find in good and original condition. I test drove the Twingo RS and the Swift Sport. The Twingo didn't convince me. The Cup suspension was way too harsh, but it kept the car very steady in the corners. Such a shame that the engine couldn't deliver on the potential of the chassis. The Swift was already better. Very linear and driveable engine. A bit softer sprung but still communicative.

I also drove the R56 Cooper and R56 Cooper S. The Cooper felt like a really grown up car, a mini BMW in a way, not a surprise when it is exactly that. Nothing too exciting in terms of engine delivery, overall it's just a steady package with a bit of a sporty side. The Cooper S was excellent in every way, but a bit out of my initial price range.

This got me to thinking about my budget. If I was considering a Mini Cooper S R56, then there's one car I've always admired in the hot hatch segment: the Renault Clio RS 197. It got great press when it launched and even more so with the Cup suspension. So I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

I then test drove a red 2006 Clio 197 and I knew I had found the right kind of car. Luckily I had done my research and I knew the weak spots to look out for. Unfortunately, the red one had a terrible resonance in the exhaust at 2500 rpm, and it had the infamous crunch on third gear. That indicates that the synchromesh is starting to fail. There were more minor defects and the car was already quite high mileage. The red Clio was not the one for me.

What followed was a period of watching the internet for good cars. I couldn't quite find the right one in the Netherlands, so I also kept an eye on Belgian and German sites. I was doing more research into the spec of the 197 and the differences with the 200. Personally I hate the look of the 200, but it was more widely available with a Cup chassis. So the search was for a 197 with the Cup chassis. I also found out about the limited edition R27 F1 Team. Packed with all the right goodies as standard, especially the Recaro seats, it was my preference. On the other hand I wouldn't disregard a neat looking non-R27. I spotted a white R27 in Germany, but it was sold the day before I was supposed to have a look at it. Back to the drawing board.

A few weeks went by, I was still hoping to find one before the end of Summer. Then the Nimbus Grey R27 popped up. The ad listed a nice list of regular maintenance and some tasteful parts. The owner made the right noises, so I was convinced this could be a good one. When I went down to have a look, did a test drive, I was sold! The negatives about the car were the leaky AC condenser and some wear marks on the driver seat and steering wheel. Nearly all Clios I've seen have those wear marks when they have done more than 100.000 km, so I wasn't too worried. Managed to get a bit off the asking price and drove it home two days later, on German export plates.

What a brilliant little car! It really hurt that the process of getting it registered in the Netherlands took almost two weeks. I only got to drive it once in that period, to go through the check-up of the Dutch equivalent of the DMV / DVLA. Last Wednesday I finally received my license plates, the wait was over!

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Fun - Renault Clio RS 197 R27 F1 Team "Pluto"

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Specs

Body Style - 3-door hatchback
Engine - F4R830 1998 cc I4
Power - 197 PS / 145 kW @ 7250 rpm
Torque - 215 Nm @ 5550 rpm
Transmission - 6 speed manual TL4-024
Drivetrain - Front-engine, Front-wheel drive
Weight - 1235 kg
Brakes - Front: 312 mm vented Brembo 4-piston, Rear: 300 mm single piston sliding caliper
Tires - Front and Rear: 215/45 R17
Trackday set: Yokohama Advan Neova AD08RS on OEM 197 Anthracite wheels
Street and Winter set: Michelin CrossClimate+ on OEM Renault Laguna Silverstone wheels
0-100 km/h Sprint - 6,9 sec
Top Speed - 223 km/h
Built - Sept 2008
Mileage - 198.000 km

Mods

Front Brake Pads - Street: Ferodo DS Performance - Track: Ferodo DS 1.11
Middle and Rear Exhaust Silencer - Fox Sport Exhaust
Top Torsion Engine Mount - Powerflex
Bottom Gearbox Torque Link Mount - Vibra-Techics

Plans / To Do
  • Repair AC
  • New Xenon bulbs
  • Front brake calipers
  • Replace timing belt, upgraded conrod bolts, big end bearings and front hub bearings
  • Retrim seat bolster
  • Retrim steering wheel
  • Buy dedicated track front brake pads

Daily - BMW E90 330iA High Executive

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Specs

Body Style - 4-door sedan
Engine - N53B30A 2996 cc I6
Power - 272 PS / 200 kW @ 6700 rpm
Torque - 320 Nm @ 2750 rpm
Transmission - 6 speed automatic ZF GA6HP19Z
Drivetrain - Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive
Weight - 1470 kg
Brakes - Front: 348 mm vented single piston sliding caliper, Rear: 336 mm vented single piston sliding caliper
Summer wheels: Bridgestone Potenza RE050A RFT - Front: 225/45 R17, Rear: 255/40R17
Winter wheels: Goodyear UltraGrip RFT - Front: 225/45 R17
0-100 km/h Sprint - 6,3 sec
Top Speed - 250 km/h
Built - Nov 2007
Mileage - 233.000 km
Options: M-Sport suspension, Sport seats, foldable tow bar, iDrive Professional, Cupholders (yes, those where not standard :P)


Plans / To Do
  • Solve misfires - new sparkplugs and coils
  • Replace rear dampers
  • Fix oil heat exchanger oil leak
  • Replace faulty angel eye bulb - LED bulbs fitted
  • General service - Engine oil+filter, cabin filter
  • Renew oil, filter and seals of transmission
  • Replace rear wheel bearings and parking brake shoes​
  • Replace engine and transmission mounts​
  • New rear tyres and alignment
  • Diagnose and fix running on 5 cylinders​
  • Summer rim refurb​

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Sold - BMW 318i E30 sedan


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Specs

Body Style - 4-door sedan
Engine - M10 1766 cc I4
Power - 105 PS / 77 kW @ 5800 rpm
Torque - 145 Nm @ 4500 rpm
Transmission - 5 speed manual Getrag 240
Drivetrain - Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive
Weight - 1022 kg
Brakes - Front: 260 mm single piston sliding caliper, Rear: Drum brakes
Tires - Front and Rear: 195/55 R15 Dunlop Sport BluResponse
0-100 km/h Sprint - 11,2 sec
Top Speed - 185 km/h
Built - Aug 1984
Mileage - 198.000 km

Mods

Springs - 40 mm lowering springs



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1. First detail and photos
2. Maintenance - Cabin & Air filter, spark plugs
3. Set of winter wheels acquired
4. Inspection and Cleaning - "Winter" wheels mounted, wheel well and scuttle clean
5. Accessories - Chrome style blinkers fitted
6. Trackdays - TT Circuit Assen 24 Feb 2018
- Photoshoot around town
7. Trackdays - NUUUUURB
8. Trackdays - The Ring and TT Circuit, brakes overhaul
9. New daily!

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TWINGO Cup
... the engine couldn't deliver on the potential of the chassis.
We heard you say this about your Dad's diesel BMW, as you were flooring it on the Nordschleife! :lol:

I remember the chat on the way to France about replacing the E30, glad you found 2x power and agility. :cheers:
 
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Thanks Lucas.

Yes, similar conclusion, very different cars :lol: That Twingo just was bouncing all over normal roads and speed bumps because of it's short wheel base.

I have to give @GTP_Dutchy some photo credit for the black and white E30 shot ;)
 
Congratulations PASM :cheers: Welcome to the RenaultSport family :cheers:

I am with you on the styling, 197 over same gen 200 all the time, but either or, they are still cracking cars!
 
Update #1

We should make some awesome pics of that car aswell ;p

I gave the Clio an extensive detail (for me, I'm a bit of a novice at detailing) Saturday. Too bad it was raining most of the day, luckily I had a dry place to work.
  1. Thorough rinse
  2. Wash
  3. Rinse
  4. De-iron of the front wheels, rear wheels with normal wheel cleaner
  5. Rinse again
  6. Clay of the front bumper, front part of the side skirts and some other spots of cooked on contamination
  7. Drying
  8. Polish
  9. Wax
Pretty happy with the result. I managed to get out some light scratching near the edge of the driver's door. General state of the paint was really excellent. Far better than cars I've worked on before.

I was due a long drive across half the country yesterday, so I set out a route with some nice roads. Roads that offer some driving fun are really scarce in the Netherlands, but I managed to find some! Pics were made, though with my phone, so the awesome pics will have to wait.

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Good luck with the car Bart.Didn't know you were a detailer?
I started it a couple of years ago and I think it's pretty addictive,exploring different products/brands with better results:lol:
All the best Bart
:cheers:
 
Thank you Erik. I do it as a hobby. Never did do it professionally, but helped my dad from time to time on his car. Also the E30 and I helped some of my friends every once and a while. I agree with you, it is quite addictive. My gripe has always been that I had to detail around the rust on the E30 hehe.

So far I've worked mainly with Meguiars, Poorboys World and Pro Vision Rain Clear. Last Saturday I tried AutoGlym Super Resin Polish, worked in by hand. Gave a nice result. Wasn't quite convinced this polish would also leave a wax-like protection, so I added some myself. What have you experienced?
 
Well...I think I can write a book in the meanwhile about this hobby.
Won't post it here cause it'll takf md 3 days or so.
In a nutshell:everyone has his own preference about brands,machines and the steps to follow.
You did a beamer and from what I've heard those paints ( all the german ones btw) are as hard as a rock and require a rather agressive approach when they need to be polished.
Dependable on the state of the paint I usually start washin it wit stuff you do the dishes with ( degrease)
Then Meguairs clay and detailer lube.
Wash and degrease again.
1 (or 2 step) polish with 3M fast cut polish on Meguairs Dual action polishing machine
Degrease
Meguairs step 1 polish
Degrease
Meguairs step 3 polish
Degrease
Meguairs tech 2.0 wax
And as topping (only in spring and summer) Meguairs Ultimate liquid.
So I see a car 7 times during the process and it takes me at least 2 days to finish.
But...amazing results.
And that's what counts :cheers:
 
Thanks @Punknoodle. That 275 Trophy must have been something. Then you really have the grunt to match the chassis and make supercar owners cry on a twisty mountain road.

The AD08R's are great. I've done about 800 km on the road now and they are much better behaved than I imagined them. Of course, you get great dry grip and stuff like feedback and response to turn in is great, but that's what you expect of a trackday minded tire. Nothing to report yet on ultimate grip or longevity on a track. Traction in 1st gear full throttle is great. It also handles wet roads really well, it didn't feel unstable at all. NVH is good too, I can't hear much rolling noise cruising at 80 / 100 km/h. The noise might get worse as they wear down, now they are still practically new. The previous owner bought them last April.

The AD08R's come highly recommended from German Clio III RS owners, many believing it is the #1 tire that suits the car best. I have read that it handles the winter fine, as long as there is no snow. I also believe it is the best for my purpose with the car ;)
 
Good to hear. Track performance is fairly well documented with the AD08s, Clubsprint class use them at WTAC but I've never known anyone with them on their street car so it's interesting hearing an opinion from that point of view.
 
Suposedly the newer AD08R has a little better wet grip than the non-R. I guess the true test comes this autumn.
 
Great choice 👍

Drove a 200 Cup for the first time the other day. It's right up there with the R26.R as the best hot hatch I've ever driven. Renault Sport absolutely nailed this generation of Clio.
 
I think so too. Some might argue that the Clio 2 RS 182 Trophy was even more pure, but there were only 500 sold in RHD for the UK and 50 in LHD for Switzerland. I'm not a fan of the Clio 2 styling, and the cabin is quite old looking. Not to mention the really bad steering wheel position.

Other than that, I don't know a car in it's class that rivals the Clio 3 Cup. Maybe the Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP Kit, also a limited numbers car that is worth quite a lot these days. And it's a 2 seater.

The R26.R is a special car too. Where did you get to drive that one? Some nice roads?
 
The R26.R is a special car too. Where did you get to drive that one? Some nice roads?
I'm in the fortunate position of being able to drive cars like that for my job!

Drove it back-to-back with a Megane Trophy-R on my local track last year. The Trophy-R was quicker and its brakes lasted longer, but the R26.R had lovely steering feel and such a wonderfully balanced chassis.

The Clio 200 Cup was in Wales on some really tricky B-roads. It's hard to think of a car that would have been better over those particular roads.
 
I'm in the fortunate position of being able to drive cars like that for my job!

Drove it back-to-back with a Megane Trophy-R on my local track last year. The Trophy-R was quicker and its brakes lasted longer, but the R26.R had lovely steering feel and such a wonderfully balanced chassis.

The Clio 200 Cup was in Wales on some really tricky B-roads. It's hard to think of a car that would have been better over those particular roads.

Excellent! I have heard that the Clio III RS shares the disc and caliper setup with the Megane II RS, including the R26.R. The slotted discs would fit the Clio, but they are almost twice as expensive and I wonder what advantage they would give on a track. Maybe the brake fluid was older on the R26.R or the fluid wasn't up to it. Or the brake pads themselves were overheating. Quite difficult to diagnose where the problem might originate from. I hope my current setup with the uprated pads work well enough on the Nordschleife.
 
Excellent! I have heard that the Clio III RS shares the disc and caliper setup with the Megane II RS, including the R26.R.
Not just that - I think Renault's clever torque-steer reducing front suspension is similar too (it's similar to what Ford used to call a "revo knuckle", but Renault got there first and didn't make as much of a fuss about it...)

I think the R26.R's braking issues were just one of those slightly-older-car things. Brakes are probably one of the biggest advances in modern performance cars compared to even stuff that's only 10 or 15 years old. It's amazing how late and how consistently you can brake in some of the high-end hot hatches at the moment (Trophy Rs, Golf Clubsport Ss etc) - they shrug off track use without much thought. A fluid and pad change probably wouldn't have hurt the R26.R though - I expect it leads a fairly hard life!
 
Update #2

Did some regular maintenance things that were due or soon to be replaced.
  • Cabin filter
  • Air filter
  • Spark plugs
Pretty straightforward things. I found the repair manual, that made things even easier. In 20+ years of automotive design between the E30 and the Clio, a lot more stuff is covered in plastic hehe. The old spark plugs were 8.000 km overdue, so about time! The old ones looked fine in terms of color, but the spark gap was a bit large.

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I installed an AUX-cable, so I can listen to Radio Le Mans podcasts on my phone :D I routed it through the glove compartment. The cable is just the right size if I mount my phone in a vent cradle I plan on buying, so I can use it to navigate as well.

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And my favorite part, sitting in these seats :bowdown:

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Update #3

I sourced a set of second hand genuine Renault 17 inch wheels to fit the winter tires.

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I plan on cleaning them thoroughly and then plastidip them when the tires are on. I'm thinking of matte black, any other suggestions?

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Something like this:

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