Another ZA 197

J

JS197

Hi there guys. I am from sunny South Africa and drive a 197. My car is blue with Cup spoiler (bought it with spoiler already attached). As for modifications, I have a K&N panel filter with full custom exhaust (kept standard branches as it is hard to get someone to really imprve on them), cats removed and remap.

As for South Africa, we experience some different problems over here. I stay in Johannesburg which is 1600m above sea level, so we have to cope with about 17% power loss at altitude on normally aspirated engines. To make matters worse the highest octane rating we get over here is 95. Then, to kick you when you're down, our summers in this rarified, dry air does not do a car any favours on the power delivery front. With the Clio's cramped engine bay and limted airflow when stationary or travelling slowly, the heat build-up under the bonnet is hectic.

Anyway, I love my Clio and it brings a smile to my face everytime I drive it.
 
I am from Pretoria and I can agree 100% with the altitude and petrol problem, it really sucks. All the cool air gets eaten up by our insanely hot summer temperatures. :'(

Only at night when it's cooler you can feel the car has a bit more power.
 
Lotharn said:
I am from Pretoria and I can agree 100% with the altitude and petrol problem, it really sucks. All the cool air gets eaten up by our insanely hot summer temperatures. :'(

Only at night when it's cooler you can feel the car has a bit more power.
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For sure! In fact I actually did some runs on a dyno where we left the car after hard driving to allow the heat to build-up under the bonnet without airflow to get it out and get cooler air in. The inlet manifold acts as a heatsink and we could measurably prove the loss in power, scary! Afterwards we allowed the engine to cool down and gained some impressive power. This has lead me to start thinking about ways to get that heat out of the engine bay faster! Still a work in progress though.
 
Thank you! Very nice site you have here. Lots of useful info and some great Clios owned by the members.
 
JS197 said:
For sure! In fact I actually did some runs on a dyno where we left the car after hard driving to allow the heat to build-up under the bonnet without airflow to get it out and get cooler air in. The inlet manifold acts as a heatsink and we could measurably prove the loss in power, scary! Afterwards we allowed the engine to cool down and gained some impressive power. This has lead me to start thinking about ways to get that heat out of the engine bay faster! Still a work in progress though.
Click to expand...

Permanently remove the bonnet? :-p

Ever thought about a bonnet vent like the Subaru's have? Or even the old Clio Williams?
 
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Thank you for all the welcomes. As I mentioned previously great site you guys have here.

And to Foxspeed, love the Red Baron quote!
 
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