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For a car that’s barely worth a couple of grand, it’s quite the kick in the kidneys to have to fork out £270 for an auxiliary belt change. But that’s exactly what I have just done.
Thanks to the tight squeeze of an engine bay that the 182’s 2.0-litre F4R unit lives in, changing the aux belt requires lots of parts to be removed, including the front bumper and grille, to make access possible. That’s why I took the car to Mark Fish Motorsport in Harlow, a respected Renault Sport specialist that has unrivalled knowledge of Dieppe’s performance models, to have the work done.
Turns out I was lucky because, as Mark found, the aux belt was on its last legs, despite being changed on time at the three-year interval. It seems a hole in the front section of the wheel arch liner has been allowing small stones and road muck onto the belt, causing it to occasionally slip and show premature signs of ageing.
“It could have gone soon,” Mark said. “I would get a new arch liner pretty quickly.”
Renault charges £48 for the front section alone. That’s the other kidney kicked.
At least the car is now three years away from its next big bill, the cam belt change, which coincides with the next aux change. That job will provide future me with a near £700 bill, but I’ll worry about that in 2021.
For now, it’s time to enjoy this unusually consistent good summer weather with the Clio, which is handling sweetly on its settled Bilstein B14 coilovers and continuing to put a smile on my face.
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48 quid a kick?
Sam mate, if you care so much your kidneys, what about not remove them? But I wonder how much it costs you a pint, 5p?
You want parts to cost you what on average, 1p?
For what its worth...
I have Bilstein B14s on my GT86. I dont find them too firm. I suppose the contrast with the standard car is pretty much how you describe your Clio now. Its nuggety and a bit uncompromising at town speeds, but on a fast B road it flows. It isnt uncomfortable. My stock Abarth 500 was worse.
Basically I can drive it now with less concern for broken road surfaces, where the standard set up felt nervous. Big improvement. And most people rate the stock GT86 set up so thats pretty good.
Anyway - food for thought...
Interesting
Very interesting. I ran the Subaru BRZ long-termer on the Autocar fleet so understand what you mean. B14s are still appealing, but I may wait until something needs replacing before I consider a switch for now. Journalism doesn't leave me with many pennies at the end of each month sadly
Spring rates
I agree with your approach to spring rates. It has been recognised for decades that spring frequencies of about 1.5 Hz are perfect for a road going but sporty car and I believe this is just as applicable now as it was in the '60s. Unfortunately everyone seems to think stiff (up to and beyond 2Hz) springs make cars handle best so most coilovers seem to cater for this demand. I would always steer clear of coilovers for that reason.
Just don't get tempted to the Dark Side after your track day on that lovely smooth tarmac, that is so unrepresentative of real roads....
Truth
I used to run semi-slick tyres on track, which made the 182 lean like a 2CV. Thankfully, with road tyres it corners far more flat. But you are right, trackdays do make coilovers sound tempting. I shall try and resist..