The time came
- Thread starter MikeHiow
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 8 Sep 2005
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- 3,684
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- Chichester
Fred@BTM and in more detail with sideways danny. Their explanation ties up perfectly with aforementioned friend who has done several and is who I will be borrowing the tools from (and who I'll be calling if I have any problems)
I also have someone who works at the local Renault dealer obtaining me the relevant parts of Renault's workshop manual for clarification.
Rest assured, I'm not jumping into this thinking "ah, it's just a cambelt" - I've done my research when I originally looked at the local 172 with a snapped cambelt.
I often wonder if some of these stories are manufactured by one of these specialists, I mean a lot of them seem to be "had a customer come in today for me to sort the timing out after xxxxx hashed the job".
My friend has done three de-phaser pulleys now and a few more cambelts, not one has had an issue.
Fair enough, fred knows his stuff, good luck
I may well, depends when he has time as I want it done asap and he is booked solid at work and privately. He is always there as a fallback option, regardless.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 May 2003
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- 34,520
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You have someone? You mean you called up their sales desk and asked someone. You don't 'have' them
.You always try and make it sound like your have these people on your payroll or something, it's hilarious!
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
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- 11,099
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- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
You have someone? You mean you called up their sales desk and asked someone. You don't 'have' them
You always try and make it sound like your have these people on your payroll or something, it's hilarious!
Like something out of Gone in 60 seconds.
So a little update on how I'm getting on with the Clio.
I've had a few opportunities to really put it through it's paces now, and it continues to impress, although this isn't without it's downsides, either.
When it is really pushed on anything but a near perfect road surface you can certainly feel everything it is doing, but I've found it quite "snatchy" and almost crashy on bumpy roads - this leads to a fun, adrenaline filled experience but can make a full on blast tiresome after a while. That said, I suspect the dampers aren't as good as they once were, so these will be replaced with some OEM items or something of equal quality at some point. I'm also going to get some camber bolts, new top mounts and some camber shims for the rear pending a readout on a hunter machine, so I can get the geometry spot on, as I doubt that is perfect after 6 years and 135k on the road.
When you get on to a reasonable well kept road though, it all makes sense. The car turns in with ridiculous accuracy and feels like it corners very flat which inspires confidence to take it to the limit all the way. The car does push wide if you overcook turn in, as you'd expect with a FWD car, but it does come about quite quickly. I need to experiment with tyre pressures first before looking at a RARB and possibly an LSD in the future - if you could address this balance issue and allow yourself to get on the power faster with the aid of an LSD, I'd be over the moon with the car, although I'd be a little concerned that the LSD could amplify my concerns with the car being snatchy on bumpy roads.
In terms of performance, I always knew these cars were pretty quick but I've continued to be surprised in this department here, too. The car doesn't feel slow when it is "on cam", and the noise it makes is quite addictive now
Beyond that, the brakes are certainly capable of stopping you but lack initial bite and feel - the discs are ready to be changed, so some OEM (or Brembo HC) discs - whichever I find cheaper, pads and braided lines will be ordered in due course, I'm still researching pad choices though.
In town, the low down torque makes things more than acceptable but there isn't anything more exciting to report here. On a more relaxed run, the cruise control makes things very relaxed and since lowering the seat and finding the right position, the car is a lot more comfortable than my initial reports, although it is still a small hatchback with hard suspension, so not ideal but more than acceptable for running around. One annoyance here is the lack of reach adjustment on the steering wheel - given it's upwards angle and my short arms, I have to sit too close to the pedals to be even close to comfortable on the steering wheel - I've found the happy medium, but it's far from perfect. I think for track days and autotests, I'll need to invest in some thin soled shoes so I can get one notch closer, either that or invest in a new wheel with a bit more "dish" to it, but I'm not keen to lose the cruise control just yet.
I was a doubter and originally dismissed the 182, but it is now easy to see why they are so popular, and most of my concerns are a mixture of our particularly crap roads and me being picky. I'd definitely recommend trying one if you're looking for this kind of thing, but you need more than a 10 minute test drive and you need to push it.
I've had a few opportunities to really put it through it's paces now, and it continues to impress, although this isn't without it's downsides, either.
When it is really pushed on anything but a near perfect road surface you can certainly feel everything it is doing, but I've found it quite "snatchy" and almost crashy on bumpy roads - this leads to a fun, adrenaline filled experience but can make a full on blast tiresome after a while. That said, I suspect the dampers aren't as good as they once were, so these will be replaced with some OEM items or something of equal quality at some point. I'm also going to get some camber bolts, new top mounts and some camber shims for the rear pending a readout on a hunter machine, so I can get the geometry spot on, as I doubt that is perfect after 6 years and 135k on the road.
When you get on to a reasonable well kept road though, it all makes sense. The car turns in with ridiculous accuracy and feels like it corners very flat which inspires confidence to take it to the limit all the way. The car does push wide if you overcook turn in, as you'd expect with a FWD car, but it does come about quite quickly. I need to experiment with tyre pressures first before looking at a RARB and possibly an LSD in the future - if you could address this balance issue and allow yourself to get on the power faster with the aid of an LSD, I'd be over the moon with the car, although I'd be a little concerned that the LSD could amplify my concerns with the car being snatchy on bumpy roads.
In terms of performance, I always knew these cars were pretty quick but I've continued to be surprised in this department here, too. The car doesn't feel slow when it is "on cam", and the noise it makes is quite addictive now
Beyond that, the brakes are certainly capable of stopping you but lack initial bite and feel - the discs are ready to be changed, so some OEM (or Brembo HC) discs - whichever I find cheaper, pads and braided lines will be ordered in due course, I'm still researching pad choices though.
In town, the low down torque makes things more than acceptable but there isn't anything more exciting to report here. On a more relaxed run, the cruise control makes things very relaxed and since lowering the seat and finding the right position, the car is a lot more comfortable than my initial reports, although it is still a small hatchback with hard suspension, so not ideal but more than acceptable for running around. One annoyance here is the lack of reach adjustment on the steering wheel - given it's upwards angle and my short arms, I have to sit too close to the pedals to be even close to comfortable on the steering wheel - I've found the happy medium, but it's far from perfect. I think for track days and autotests, I'll need to invest in some thin soled shoes so I can get one notch closer, either that or invest in a new wheel with a bit more "dish" to it, but I'm not keen to lose the cruise control just yet.
I was a doubter and originally dismissed the 182, but it is now easy to see why they are so popular, and most of my concerns are a mixture of our particularly crap roads and me being picky. I'd definitely recommend trying one if you're looking for this kind of thing, but you need more than a 10 minute test drive and you need to push it.
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I can't wait to see you lot at the meet. Tearing lumps out of each other just like on here.
Like thats going to happen
LOL, face to face you won't get a peep out of any of them
Looking forward to the cambelt change thread.
When I had a flirt with buying a Trophy the local Renault dealer quoted me £600 for the belt as the one I was looking at was due soon. Did seem like a lot of money. I paid half that for my Impreza.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
LOL, face to face you won't get a peep out of any of them
Can tell you've never been to a meet - most people here are as bold at the meets as they are on the forum, and nothing is taken too seriously.
Not that it matters as Mike has already said he isn't attending.
I can't wait to see you lot at the meet. Tearing lumps out of each other just like on here.
Like thats going to happen
LOL, face to face you won't get a peep out of any of them
Both wrong. Fox makes Chuck Norris look like Julian Clary. It's OK if you don't look him directly in the eyes.
But seriously, as Fox just said there is plenty of banter face-to-face at meets
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2007
- Posts
- 11,099
- Location
- West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
Both wrong. Fox makes Chuck Norris look like Julian Clary. It's OK if you don't look him directly in the eyes.
But seriously, as Fox just said there is plenty of banter face-to-face at meets
Not from my experience - only with people they are familiar with. Banter is banter but a lot of what is exchanged on here is never said face to face.
Funny how your balls shrink when you could potentially get a shoeing
For instance I'll quite happily call Freefaller a garlic-munching, diesel-civic-driving-fairy on here, then spend the whole meet giving him a wide berth, making sure he doesn't crush my face