JPS 197

[Lovell]

Hello, thought i'd start a build thread of the 197 although being nearly 3 years late....

So back 3 years ago i fancied a hot hatch after looking for a Mini cooper s i came home with a clio 197. At the time it was a low mileage car with decent service history and i planned on keeping it for a year tidying up a few bits and hopefully scratching the itch and then sell it on. Instead as you will see i got carried away...
When i started with a completely standard 197

one of the first things i did was run it on a dyno to make sure there were no running issues

for the first year the car stayed pretty standard, the usual manifold issue came to head and i sorted that with a toyo (wish i spent a bit more for a better manifold) only change i really did was the wheels and brakes being painted, My initial plan was yellow brakes with anthracite wheels but i got talked into bronze

thats pretty much how the car stayed for a while

 

[Beany]

Better late then never... sadly can’t see the pics

 

[Lovell]

Sorry think i have it sussed now in order as they would of been in the original post

 

[Lovell]

I enjoyed the car for a while and attended a few meets (quite enjoyed detailing at this point)

After the first year of owning the car and attending the clio sport weekender i decided on two things the first being the car needed lowering and the second that i wanted to start doing trackdays. so i purchased some Bilstein B14's and got them fitted

once fitted they made the car look loads better and drive a lot better too

I also purchased some cheap laguna silverstones and as my favorite colour is green there was only one choice for the obnoxiously bright track wheels, i wrapped them in some ad08's that i picked up cheap and went on to do my first track day at a small local sprint track

 

[Lovell]

That day i found the car to be quite twitchy on the rear end and although skeptical decided to try a cup spoiler, i had this hydrodipped with a carbon fiber effect

After that i was again pretty content with the car for a while

my next move was where the jps bit started. I decided i fancied some JPS graphics and initially thought about going all out and having the full livery but as a road car thought this would be too much, after a long talk with the man who does my graphics we agreed on a small cup style strip with a JPS emblem

 

[Lovell]

My next move was to add some noise. I thought about this for a long time and decided on a resonated scorpion system with sports cat to keep the car mot friendly. Living at the bottom of a cul-de-sac this also kept the car neighborhood friendly and helps with noise levels on track

Once fitted the car ended up on another dyno (regular occurrence for some reason) and i got a video:

 

[Lovell]

After a couple more outings at curborough the ad08's fitted to the lagunas werent fairing too well and a nail in the one spelled the end of them so i ordered up a set of AR-1's in time for a club trackday at blyton park.

and i have to say what a great tyre these really grip in the dry!!
Couple of clips of those outings:

and a couple of photos

 

[Lovell]

From there i'm not sure what order the parts came in so i'll just list out the other bits done
Some nice mats in theme with the car and this forum

I also purchased a ultra racing front strut brace and rear anti roll bar, i didnt feel much difference with the rear arb but the strut brace made the steering feel sharper!
a few other touches such as de-badging the boot

I fitted some lugs and spacers which improved the cars stance no end!
more of a recent mod was having the steering wheel re-trimmed (gear knob and gaiter are the same)

I changed the pads and disks all round as the disks were showing wear and the pads needed upgrading for track use. I went for some ds1.11 pads up front and standards in the rear, r26 rear disks and some cheap m-tec up front. at the same time i had the lines and fluid changed out

To dress up under the bonnet i made a carbon badge and sprayed the intake manifold, my plans are to spray the cam cover red if i ever get round to it

fitted

 

[Lovell]

Aside from the modifications the cars seen a few days of track use and has held up well for the abuse it been given, my main "stomping ground" is curborough with it being a local track with some competition.
heres a few photos and some clips:
donnington:

sadly this was a short session so didn't really get my head around it:

More recent curborough:

nurburgring:



oulton park

 

[Lovell]

A few more pictures from shows and gatherings

 

[Lovell]

Sorry for the mass of photos ect but it gives a pretty good picture of where the car is currently. Moving forward my plans are to start hillclimbing with the clio with my first event being next month, I'd also like to do another trip to the nurburgring with the car (hopefully get a dry day there). and squeeze a few more track days in. But currently with the cars cambelt being due and needing a clutch i've booked in for all this to be done and a quaife diff to be fitted along with buying some adjustable top mounts and a carbon fiber bonnet. So the car goes in for a week for the mechanical fixes at the end of the month then ill sort the bonnet and top mounts. Sadly the hydrodipped spoiler has suffered from lacquer peel so this needs re painting and will be done at the same time as a few other bits to bring the car back up to standard. so i will try and keep you all posted on the progress going forward.

 

[Pav]

happy with b14s??glad you have made some very puposeful modifications to your car..keep them coming

 

[Lovell]

Yeah i've found the B14's pretty good, they're a happy medium for road and track bit soft for track whilst not being crashy on the road.

 

[Pav]

same as here..glad you like them..

 

[///M]

Well nice mate. Black and gold always looks amazing in my eyes. Few good bits added and being driven like it was meant to. All good.

 

[Lovell]

Thought i'd give another update, so as planned the cam belt, clutch and gearbox were all done along with the quaife being fitted. Initially when i collected the car i found it to be odd when driving and on further inspection i found that one of the wishbone bolts hadn't been tightened by the mechanic used!! Bit of a shame as everything else he did to the car was spot on and the gearbox feels great.

following on from this i started hillclimbing as planned and started with La Vie en Blue at presscot hillclimb this is a french and Italian car event and sadly the weather wasn't on my side but regardless i pushed on and gained a time i was relatively happy with having never driven the hill before. Clip of the best run of the day below

Next i did a open practice day at shelsley and the car pulled well, I've gained enough confidence to stay flat out until bottom ess but i'm still rather cautious through the esses so theres a better time in the car still.

After this i fancied a trackday and have had a hankering to do Cadwell park for a long time so decided to make the longish drive up, Sadly the cheap toyo manifold had decided to start falling apart a few weeks prior to this without me noticing until the car went into limp mode 2 days before the trackday, but after taking it to a local Renault specialist he zero's the lambda readings meaning that the car stood a chance of surviving the day. When i arrived it was by far the quietist track day I've ever attended with around 30 cars signed on and 5 breaking in the first few hours and many leaving early. I managed to complete the day for the car to go into limp mode again on the way home. but luckily 20 minutes of letting the car cool off and we were back in action. I am yet to get the videos of this off the go pro so will add those at a later date.

So for now the cars nearing repair and will be going in to have a predator manifold fitted tomorrow along with a new set of injectors followed by mapping Saturday. Then i'm booked in for another day at Shelley on the 15th September for the Autumn speed finale after which ill be looking to loose some weight out the car ready for next years hillclimb season.

 

[Pav]

Looks like all the changes to the car have paid off..enjoy giving it some...

 

[-Eddie-]

Haven’t seen this thread before so just caught up on the thread.

Nice upgrades and good to see the car being used for its intended purpose - on track!

 

[Johnny 99]

This is a new thread to me too. Like what you have done. Black & gold always looks good to me & JPS is a classic livery. Echo what has been said about being good to see the car getting used properly.

 

[Big Ben]

I think that’s the first footage I’ve ever seen of a hill climb!

Short and sweet. Car certainly sounds good and looked to have plenty of grip