Second Cliosport Rolling Road Day.
Commentary by Nick Read.
After the success of the first rolling road shootout at Mowatt's in Basildon, Essex, we decided it shouldn't be long before we had another crack of the whip, this time at Power Engineering in Uxbridge, Middlesex.
On the promise of tea and bacon rolls as well as a printed graph of our results, 16 Clios turned up between 8 and 9 in the morning at the venue in an industrial estate just off the M25. Without further ado, the Clios started their runs. The results were calculated as power and torque at the flywheel so were difficult to compare with our data from the first rolling road day where we were given the (more reliable) power at the wheels figures. However we did manage to get a full set of figures for almost every Clio.
Amongst the cars that ran on the day were a 1.4 RT, nine 16vs, three Willys and four 172s; a great turnout and a decent spread of models as well. Unfortunately Lewis (16v?) turned up a bit late in the day to be able to get a run in - by the time he arrived, there was already a monster Evo on the rollers after us, with a manifold that glowed every time it ran for more than half a minute!
During the morning we managed to get through 60 bacon rolls and numerous cups of tea, and we had a few test pilots outside trying each others' Clios over the nicely straight bit of 1/4 mile outside Power Engineering. I left my own souvenir - a pair of perfectly straight 30 foot skidmarks - no picture unfortunately! Afterwards the action moved on to a nearby McDonalds - the idea was we could park up and talk shop, but we managed to get split up a couple of times on the way and none of us were locals - it's tricky keeping 16 Clios together! In the end when we found the McDonalds the car park was rammed already, so we had to weave our way out onto the road again and luckily there was a street opposite with space for all of us to park in a line. Dave was on the end and managed to try a bit of the old chat with the occupants of a black Escort, in the end they moved out of the way so we could get parked up properly.
All in all, we had a brilliant day and I'm sure everyone who went will agree with me when I say that a rolling road day is not just about getting on the rollers on the cheap then going home...it's a great opportunity to meet and chat to other club members, put faces to names, and compare your own Clio with others' in a real head-to-head situation. There were plenty of highlights during the day but special mention goes to Mat's super-strong 2.0 converted 16v running without the headlight for extra hardcore effect, Gary's Willy 3 that sounded like Concorde on the rollers and set off two or three car alarms as it burbled back out onto the road, Arjun's mint 172 that had just come back from Hill Power after a tidy lowering job and sporting a tasty colour coded engine cover and induction kit, and of course the best result of the day - my 180 bhp / 169 lb ft on nitrous - about time seeing as last time I got beaten into second place by Simon's mental 172!
A big thanks to everyone who came - it's you lot who make the club what it is...so without further ado, here are the full results:
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