Modified Renault Clio 172 2010-07-12
Make: Renault
Model: Clio 172
Neil Freestone's modified Renault Clio 172
Just over a year or so ago, Neil Freestone entered the world of Fast Car on a part-time basis. He was working as a designer at our publishing company, and from time to time we used to borrow him to help out with crayon duties. Then our Art Editor at the time, Skidz, went on holiday for a year, Initial G got promoted and Neil came to work full-time at FC HQ.
Before he was allowed to actually work on the magazine, he’d need a nickname – but that was an easy task. Y’see, the four-eyed crazy horse likes cider, lives in some weird place called Shepton Mallet, loves cheddar cheese and has an amazing collection of model combine harvesters.
So ‘Wurzel’ was born. At this time our new crayon monkey was tuning his Clio on a budget, but with the big money job of his dreams signed and sealed, he embarked on taking his car to the next level. This is what happened…
subtle touches
The 172 is a really popular motor, so there are plenty of tuning parts out there. Having said this, though, it’s actually quite a tough job getting a decent performance gain without going balls-deep. So no messing about, that’s exactly what Wurzel has done! After exploring various different throttle body options, our man decided to tread where no other Clio owner has been before.
With the expert help of Fred at BTM Performance, Jenvey Dynamics, Matt at Tour-de-force and RS Fabrications, Wurz’s 172 is now packing a killer throttle body conversion and ECU set up. Now ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved the sound of a set of bodies at full chat and the noise this Clio makes is positively off the chain! Check out next month’s mag for the full story on the engine tuning.
Now if you know Wurzel, then you’ll be well aware of his quirky – some would say anal – attention to detail. Even the smallest imperfection can make him quite, well… angry. Things that you or I might overlook will keep our humble designer awake at night. And that’s why this interior is a subtle work of art. Okay, so it’s not massively different to the original 172’s innards – but it has a kind of ‘special edition’ feel. Kinda like the interior of a BMW CSL.
Wurzel’s achieved this by mixing materials and finishes to create a tough, purposeful feel. The Sparco EVO bum rests were purchased second-hand from another Clio owner and came complete with custom sub-frames allowing the tasty seats to be bolted straight in. OMP 4-point harnesses wrap around the eye-popping Caged rollover protection system and keep Mr Wurzel strapped in nice and tight. The yellow powder coat on the cage keys in perfectly with the stitching on the Alcantara-trimmed door cards, handbrake and gear gaiters.
It’s these little touches that keep everything tied together that make this car so sweet. Then there’s the
way the dash, which has been give the full Get Flocked treatment, blends so well with the rest of the interior. It’s simple, but very, very effective. Nice one, brother Wurzel, nice one.
The Clio looks the nuts dropped using FK coilovers over a sweet set of 8×16 and 9×16-inch Image billet splits, but believe it or not, Wurzel’s not finished yet: “The chassis is tight already but I want it even better” he explains. “It handles sweet, the wheels are the nuts, but the plan is to eventually buy another car and turn this one into a full-on weapon.”
This ‘stage 2’ build will see a balls-deep track suspension rig with super-trick coilovers, upgraded anti-roll bars and a serious set-up to make it handle like Stacey Slater after a night on the neat vodka. Sweet!
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