Mike Rotch's RenaultSport Clio 200T

[Mike Rotch]

Glad to hear you are enjoying the car @Mike Rotch, though you seem to barely put any mileage on it

Thanks @Bram Turismo Yeah, I only get to use it on weekends, which is a luxury - when I do use it, I can enjoy it!

I really am glad I stuck to my guns on the colour too. As for the wheels, I think they would look great and if I can find a set of the 18" Cups I'll seriously consider it. I really do like the silver 17" though, from some angles the look really chunky which I really dig.

Next item I am toying with is a remap tbh. That can give me another 20-30hp and 20ishnm without anything else. Might let the car age a bit more before I slip on that slope.

 

[Pete05]

Thanks @Bram Turismo Yeah, I only get to use it on weekends, which is a luxury - when I do use it, I can enjoy it!

I really am glad I stuck to my guns on the colour too. As for the wheels, I think they would look great and if I can find a set of the 18" Cups I'll seriously consider it. I really do like the silver 17" though, from some angles the look really chunky which I really dig.

Next item I am toying with is a remap tbh. That can give me another 20-30hp and 20ishnm without anything else. Might let the car age a bit more before I slip on that slope.

Hmmm, 18" Cup upgrade hey?

You'll have to run rubber bands for tyres or the overall rolling diameter of the new rims/tyres will throw your speedo out at the very least & could play hocus pocus with various sensors.

It's not as easy as it used to be & some modern cars don't like it at all.
Get on the forums & see if it can be done without too much trouble.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Hmmm, 18" Cup upgrade hey?

You'll have to run rubber bands for tyres or the overall rolling diameter of the new rims/tyres will throw your speedo out at the very least & could play hocus pocus with various sensors.

It's not as easy as it used to be & some modern cars don't like it at all.
Get on the forums & see if it can be done without too much trouble.

18" are standard on the Cup chassis; and the rubber stays the same between 18" and 17" (215/40/17 or 18), it's just the rim that changes in size. I thought so long as the rubber was the same, it was all good ?

 

[Pete05]

18" are standard on the Cup chassis; and the rubber stays the same between 18" and 17" (215/40/17 or 18), it's just the rim that changes in size. I thought so long as the rubber was the same, it was all good ?

The difference between those two sizes if the rubber stays the same is, the 18" wheels have a 25.4mm greater rolling circumference.
That's +4.21% which could be enough to throw your speedo out to the point where an indicated 100km/h is actually 104.21km/h & you know how anal the cops can be when they're holding a radar gun.

If you drop down to 215/35 on the 18s, the difference drops down to +3.9mm or +0.65% meaning that when you're indicating 100km/h, you'll be doing 100.65km/h.

Food for thought.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Hm! I did not realise this! 👍

 

[Pete05]

Hm! I did not realise this! 👍

A lot of people don't mate & swear they weren't speeding because their speedo said they were being good.
Then the realisation hits home...

I had a quick look around at what's on the market in 215/35R18 & although the selection isn't what I'd call fantastic, there's more choice than having to settle for cheapies from China.

The other thing to consider with the rubber rings is this.
You CANNOT legally go lower in Load Rating.
For example, if your current tyre is 215/40R17 91W, that 91 is critical as your Load Rating.
You can go up or, stay the same but that's it.

 

[Mike Rotch]

After some research on the OzR forum, turns out the 18s are 215/40/R18 an the 17s are 215/45/R17s.... So my original assertion was of course, wrong .

 

[Pete05]

After some research on the OzR forum, turns out the 18s are 215/40/R18 an the 17s are 215/45/R17s.... So my original assertion was of course, wrong .

Ok so even that change to 18s would have you going 0.62km/h over the indicated speed at 100.

A pretty safe change I'd say 👍

A much better selection of brands too when it comes to shopping for licorice rings.

 

[GDII]

I've got this exact problem but I was aware of it prior to changing wheels and tyres.

The factory MR2 wheels and tyres are 195/60R14 on 14x6+45 front and 205/60R14 on 14x7+45 rear.
My new wheels and tyres are 215/40R17 on 17x8+37 for the front which is 2.35% out. Not an issue as the speedo is on the rear wheels. On the rear however is the issue with 245/40R17 on 17x9+29 which is 4.17% out. So at 50kph I have to drive 46 and at 100kph I have to drive at 96-97. I know this so not an issue with speeding. It did slow the car down in acceleration a noticeable amount and to stay at 50 you sometimes need to drop it into 3rd to keep the engine happy on steeper hills where 4th used to be fine. Ideally I'd want 235/40R17 but prices of tyres made me go for the 245. They are Bridgestone RE003 so I didn't skimp on a good tyre but a buy 3 get one free deal can't be passed up.

 

[PASM]

I've got this exact problem but I was aware of it prior to changing wheels and tyres.

The factory MR2 wheels and tyres are 195/60R14 on 14x6+45 front and 205/60R14 on 14x7+45 rear.
My new wheels and tyres are 215/40R17 on 17x8+37 for the front which is 2.35% out. Not an issue as the speedo is on the rear wheels. On the rear however is the issue with 245/40R17 on 17x9+29 which is 4.17% out. So at 50kph I have to drive 46 and at 100kph I have to drive at 96-97. I know this so not an issue with speeding. It did slow the car down in acceleration a noticeable amount and to stay at 50 you sometimes need to drop it into 3rd to keep the engine happy on steeper hills where 4th used to be fine. Ideally I'd want 235/40R17 but prices of tyres made me go for the 245. They are Bridgestone RE003 so I didn't skimp on a good tyre but a buy 3 get one free deal can't be passed up.

Those values 17x9+29, I take it the +29 is the ET value of the rim? The inset our outset of the rim?

 

[GDII]

Those values 17x9+29, I take it the +29 is the ET value of the rim? The inset our outset of the rim?

The +29 is the offset or ET. So the dimension from the centre of the wheel to the mounting face. + is toward he outside of the wheel while - is toward the inside. So a 0 would mean the mounting face is right in the middle of the wheel.
I guess that translates to inset being +offset and outset being -offset.

 

[PASM]

Yes and this is very important for wheel geometry with the suspension movement and also how the wheel bearings are loaded. I know the Clio III RS has ET 68, which is quite inset.

 

[Pete05]

Yes and this is very important for wheel geometry with the suspension movement and also how the wheel bearings are loaded. I know the Clio III RS has ET 68, which is quite inset.

Important for those reasons you've stated but, also because Australia (Victoria at least) has laws about altering the track of vehicles.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Been a while since the last update, but not a whole lot to report. I've been on a few drives around the roads I got busted on last year, that I hadn't been to since. I was of course more restrained this time And of course my left rear C pillar creak came back to keep me company, after a 10 month hiatus. Seems to only appear on this one ribbon of road!

I have made a few highway trips up to Newcastle from Sydney (~150km) and there is one awful part where the road is an embarrassment and despite the dampers, you really get jostled around. I feel sorry for anyone travelling that part in anything resembling a track suspension.

I decided not to get the wheel rim fixed, after reading reviews about a few alloy repairers around town, and the horror stories around colour matching. I am pretty sure these are clear coated too, so I don't want to substitute one problem with another one that would snowball. At some point down the line I'll use very high grit paper to sand down the rough edges and live with it.

I have a philosophy that if I fix this, another blemish will appear somewhere and I'll forever be chasing one around the car.

I found a tuner out west that works exclusively on RS cars and can offer a mapping that basically increases power to the same as the RS220 (+15kw + ~30nm). Keen to try it, but it ain't cheap and feels a bit frivilous.

Taken with Fuji 160 on my RB67:

 

[GDII]

Yay!! Updates!!

I love these sort of photos. Almost like the car is gone back in time, like it shouldn't exist in the scene but fits so well.

For your wheel, knock back the sharp edges but then protect the bare aluminium with a clear coat of something. I've been using my CarPro DLUX on any chips I get in my paint on the wheels to stop water getting under the paint and causing worm like corrosion in the future.

 

[Mike Rotch]

I love these sort of photos. Almost like the car is gone back in time, like it shouldn't exist in the scene but fits so well.

Thanks mate - the good news is I have a roll of 35mm on it's way to the lab and it's full of car shorts from between May and now; I can't even recall what is on there as it lived in the boot and got to see daylight whenever it felt appropriate.

Thanks for the DLUX tip 👍

 

[Mike Rotch]

Update on the door seal sitch:

I got a highly "personalised" sms from my servicing dealer telling me that "your Fiat/ Lexus/ Renault/ Citroen parts have arrived, please call us"....which I did. The disinterested parts manager told me they'd fit the front seals if I book the car in, but I would need to find a panel beater to fit the rear ones, as they require drilling into the door to be seated.

I decided to forgo the dealer's general disinterest and lack of knowledge, collected the seal kits and will work out what to do with them myself. As a reminder, about 2.5 years into the model life, someone changed the manufacturing to forgo the secondary door seals and to resort to just the "on body" ; the door just have top seals. The design of the door changed to remove the fitment plugs, hence retro fitting them is not straight forward.

And some pics from 35mm Fuji 160 that was shot over the course of 6 months

 

[Pete05]

Update on the door seal sitch:

I got a highly "personalised" sms from my servicing dealer telling me that "your Fiat/ Lexus/ Renault/ Citroen parts have arrived, please call us"....which I did. The disinterested parts manager told me they'd fit the front seals if I book the car in, but I would need to find a panel beater to fit the rear ones, as they require drilling into the door to be seated.

I decided to forgo the dealer's general disinterest and lack of knowledge, collected the seal kits and will work out what to do with them myself. As a reminder, about 2.5 years into the model life, someone changed the manufacturing to forgo the secondary door seals and to resort to just the "on body" ; the door just have top seals. The design of the door changed to remove the fitment plugs, hence retro fitting them is not straight forward.

And some pics from 35mm Fuji 160 that was shot over the course of 6 months

No way would I be taking my Fiat/Lexus/Renault/Citroen back to that dealer

I hope you don't take your Fiat/Lexus/Renault/Citroen back there either

 

[Mike Rotch]

Update - albeit brief as I haven't been able to do much as I have been limited in spirited driving duties due to a fractured left wrist.

This however didn't stop me from fitting a dashcam I have been wanting to put one in for ages but procrastinated...until I had a cast and then felt compelled to fit one! I found a second hand Goluk T1 off ebay for small change and fitment was way easier than I imagined. I got hold of some cheap trim removers and they made it quite easy to tuck and hide the wire away in the headliner and A-Pillar.

So far, so good! Here is what it looks like from the o/s:

As you can see, waterspots! This is a no-no, so as soon as my cast came off, it was time for a wash and reapplication of Collinite. At the risk of sounding like an uber-fanboi, it is simply brilliant.

I last applied it in May and although it is still beading like mad, I wanted to top it up with a new application (crappy phone pic):

 

[Mike Rotch]

Minor update:

Dashcam is good, although it took me a while to figure out why it kept on defaulting new recordings to 11PM on December the 2nd....because I have not hardwired it, whenever the ignition goes off it must reset to a factory setting. Easy solved by just keeping my phones wifi on when I start the car so it can synch times.
Here is a sample from my trip to the Blue Mountains yesterday. Bit of a story in 30 secs...I hit north of 80kph by the time the 80kph sign was passed and as I got over the crest, I spotted the white Hyundai which I thought was a cop car for a split second, hence a dab of the brakes


Of course a week after colliniting, it rained. But man, I am still pleased:

And then after a drive home, almost all the water has sheeted off from panels not subjected to road spray:

 

[ExigeEvan]

Minor update:

Dashcam is good, although it took me a while to figure out why it kept on defaulting new recordings to 11PM on December the 2nd....because I have not hardwired it, whenever the ignition goes off it must reset to a factory setting. Easy solved by just keeping my phones wifi on when I start the car so it can synch times.

I would return it! Dash cams should nearly always be wired to an ignition-switched fuse. Wiring them always on usually makes you dependent on the cameras internal battery protection circuit which usually kicks in at 11.4V and has only caused me trouble in the past.

 

[Mike Rotch]

I would return it! Dash cams should nearly always be wired to an ignition-switched fuse. Wiring them always on usually makes you dependent on the cameras internal battery protection circuit which usually kicks in at 11.4V and has only caused me trouble in the past.

I have it plugged into the cig lighter - I don't really want it wired to the car's battery as I don't trust the camera to reliably switch off and not drain the car battery.

 

[Watchman]

 

 

[ExigeEvan]

I have it plugged into the cig lighter - I don't really want it wired to the car's battery as I don't trust the camera to reliably switch off and not drain the car battery.

If you hard wire it to a fuse that only receives power when the ignition is on then there's no chance it will drain the battery. That's normal procedure.


More importantly, it shouldn't be losing the date just because it is losing power. Suggests there is a fault with the Hold Up Battery (HUB).

 

[Mike Rotch]

Update

So after ages of blithering about, I dropped some dime on a ebay discounted new K&N sports panel filter. The Renault forums are positive about them but logically I couldn't fathom how it would make a difference as I reasoned the ECU would simply take any additional airflow and output the exact same everything post that.

But I figured what was to lose besides some money.

If it is a placebo effect, it is a mighty convincing one! Comfort mode (=auto/lazy mode for the gearbox) is the true test. It is well known for having a gas pedal akin to a 70's turbo; when needing some urgent forward momentum there not much response until about 40% throttle and then a wave of go presents in a hurry.

Now the gas pedal feels much more "firm" - there is significantly more throttle response in other words in this gearbox mode. Added to which, there is finally some intake whoosh (although suitably discrete to the outside world and reserve for the driver). I'm a happy lad. Sport/Race is plenty sensitive enough so hard to tell any difference there. Another curious effect is now the gearbox is happy to drive around in higher gears at much lower RPM before it feels the need to change down.

 

[Pete05]

Update

So after ages of blithering about, I dropped some dime on a ebay discounted new K&N sports panel filter. The Renault forums are positive about them but logically I couldn't fathom how it would make a difference as I reasoned the ECU would simply take any additional airflow and output the exact same everything post that.

But I figured what was to lose besides some money.

If it is a placebo effect, it is a mighty convincing one! Comfort mode (=auto/lazy mode for the gearbox) is the true test. It is well known for having a gas pedal akin to a 70's turbo; when needing some urgent forward momentum there not much response until about 40% throttle and then a wave of go presents in a hurry.

Now the gas pedal feels much more "firm" - there is significantly more throttle response in other words in this gearbox mode. Added to which, there is finally some intake whoosh (although suitably discrete to the outside world and reserve for the driver). I'm a happy lad. Sport/Race is plenty sensitive enough so hard to tell any difference there. Another curious effect is now the gearbox is happy to drive around in higher gears at much lower RPM before it feels the need to change down.

Just beware how much of the filter oil you use when cleaning the filter.

Too much has a side effect of it ending up further down the intake & it can bugger things in the throttle body.

Otherwise, it's happy days

 

[GDII]

Just beware how much of the filter oil you use when cleaning the filter.

Too much has a side effect of it ending up further down the intake & it can bugger things in the throttle body.

Otherwise, it's happy days

And if it runs a Hotwire AFM like most cars these days it will make it dirty and make the engine run badly.

 

[Pete05]

And if it runs a Hotwire AFM like most cars these days it will make it dirty and make the engine run badly.

Yeah this too.

It was exactly this that put me off the idea of running one in my car.

 

[Mike Rotch]

*well that sucks - looks like the image hosting site I was using are being d1cks, hence all the red X's

Gee whiz - over 6 months since my last update

Well, the impending 2 year anniversary (which also co-incides with hitting 10,000 km on the clock) is about as good a reason as any to fix that

So yeah, only around 4,700 km done this year - probably 80% weekend traffic and 20% highways and back roads. Since I stuck the panel filter in, fuel consumption has shown a remarkable decline. Could be the panel filter..... or my right foot This last 12 months has had me averaging about 8.7l/100km or ~27mpg. When in comfort mode it is pretty frugal, but when you stick it in sport or race mode, I am sure a hidden flap opens up somewhere and literally dumps fuel straight onto the road from the fuel tank. Hoon around for a bit and the fuel needle will just about move in front of your eyes.

So far head has triumphed over heart regarding a remap - I barely get to unleash 200hp on the road now, so adding another 25hp to that seems a bit of a frivolous exercise. Truth be told, 200hp is plenty for a car this size and mass, anything more and I'd be relying on willpower to keep my licence...

I think my head may be losing the argument on another mod - will keep you posted

I still get big buzz out of driving the car, even if it's down the road to the shops. And the buzz is complete looking at reflecting of the LY paint whenever I can. Just cannot beat it when it is bathed in sun.

There are some annoyances, which I guess is part and parcel of any car. The media interface is highly annoying; a bit laggy and sometimes cracks the grumpies and refused to skip tracks on screen, the maps can very occasionally decide to reboot itself (usually at the worst time) etc.

Everybody flaps their chops at the EDC, but really, I don't want a manual and the EDC is perfect for my needs. I don't miss a manual for my application of the car in the slightest, and driven with some mechanical sympathy (the same one would extend to a manual), it is just about as smooth.

In terms of build quality - no complaints. Actually pretty robust - hit the edge of a pothole going uh...faster then I should have been on a country road and got out expecting a cracked rim. Got lucky 👍

On exceptionally bumpy roads there is a mystery creak in the passenger C pillar - but it comes and goes. The one semi-regular failure popping up on forums is that the cold air charge pipe between the intercooler and turbo splits at a poorly designed elbow, requiring a trip to the stealership to replace it. There are aftermarket ones, but that will be for post warranty - and I am hoping as I was at the tail end of phase 1, they sorted it out. All the ones splitting are 2014/15 ones with heavy mileage.

Renault has taken strides backwards in Australia of late - first cutting the warranty of new RS models from 5 to 3 years without announcing it (i could theoretically sell mine now with a longer warranty left than a brand new one) and they have made an absolute meal of the Megane4 RS's release, so a lot of fanboy's are turning to other brands now - a big pity really. Hopefully that turns around soon.

 

[Shaun]

Can't believe it's two years already, and the low km's. I've ridden my bike more that double that in that time.

Still love that colour though and it should be compulsory for that model. Would look great going down the Great Ocean Road which reminds me I need to get back to you.