CLIO 197 CUP - Project TF

[Tarticmonkey]

Hi All,

Welcome to what is my first ever Forum Post, on this or any other forum! Used to using Facebook groups rather than actual forums; however they do not allow you to do build threads properly and with Facebook being a live platform older post seems to be lost quite easily! Plus everyone being able to access via their phone seems less than ideal compared to somewhere like here where actual effort is needed to join/ sign up.

Anyway I digress. I have recently purchased a new to me CLIO 197 CUP for use on U.K Track Days and Ring Trips- TF Sessions only currently hence the name. The goal for this is car is to create something that is a "simple seat stallion" to quote Hert from Hoonigan. A car in which I can get in drive, that is not an overly complex build. (Famous last words I know).

So why a CLIO? High revving NA engine and honestly one of the best handling cars out of the box I have ever driven. That tandemmed with the stellar review Adam Ivell gave of his R27 on Youtube sold me.

The car: the car is a 57 plate 197 CUP (No air con, no rear speakers, basic Dashboard and interior trim ETC). I was in all honestly just looking for a CUP pack car with correct mileage and good history; in fact Ihad no intention of buying car this year, wanting to wait until Jan 2023 to get more money in savings and not wanting to rsuh into things. However I found this car online one night whilst bored. It turned out to be not too far from me with history too., with one downside being a patch of rust on the boot (where all 197's go). I thought this was going to be a potential candidate. Sent the car to a couple of friends with Renaulsport cars who explained that this was an extremely good candidate for what I am looking for at a good price too! A few more questions and umming and ahing. Seller was messaged and a deal was done. Leaving my savings slightly more streamlined and me the proud owner of a CLIO 197 CUP .

Reviewing the history of the car, I believe this has been owned by a member of CLIOsport.net. As the documents are all in a wallet ladled for the forum and there a few positive receipts I missed on collection. Such as for brembo HC discs and DS2500 pads for example. That were hidden among less interesting other maintenance items. I have had the car up in the air and can confirm that it is solid underneath and appears to have been polybushed by a previous owner too!


The car the morning after collection. You can see the daily oil burner too!


Scene photo I took after a little rip as I found the lighting cool!



Went to cars and coffee and met up with a friend with a MINT low mile LY 200, who gave a sticker for the new purchase!

Going to enjoy the car for now but have the Xmas track booked with trackday solutions on the 17th of December with the car!

 

[burrellbloke]

Welcome

 

[Helpimonfire]

If you're following Hert's recipe for a simple seat time stallion, you're going bankrupt

We all go a bit wild with the mods, it never ends up simple!

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Welcome

Thank you

 

[Tarticmonkey]

If you're following Hert's recipe for a simple seat time stallion, you're going bankrupt

We all go a bit wild with the mods, it never ends up simple!

Yeah maybe Hert wasn’t the best example of a simple seat time stallion in hindsight

I will be doing a few mods but I’m telling myself I’m resisting anything too mad for at least a year

 

[burrellbloke]

I will be doing a few mods but I’m telling myself I’m resisting anything too mad for at least a year

That's what I said and people constantly remind me that I said I would not go too far with the car.

 

[RSRowe]

Good to see another getting built for Ring trips - TF scares the absolute shit outta me.

The colour coded rub strips on the doors would suggest it's a cup pack, as opposed to a cup btw.
Obviously they could of been painted at some point

 

[Tarticmonkey]

That's what I said and people constantly remind me that I said I would not go too far with the car.

Only time will tell I think!

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Good to see another getting built for Ring trips - TF scares the absolute shit outta me.

The colour coded rub strips on the doors would suggest it's a cup pack, as opposed to a cup btw.
Obviously they could of been painted at some point

Cheers! I am only fancying TF, as I've done a fair few English track days but for some reason the cost of Ring Track day puts me off... extremely stupid sounding now I have said it out loud...

In regard to painted rub strips, I was in the same opinion of yourself when looking. However, the V5 confirmed it as a CUP, which is the same on my new V5 as well. Also, it has the correct dash and no aircon. So, I suspect they have been painted by a previous owner .

Renaultsport cars are not my speciality (spent 5 years pratting about with R53 Minis) so I am happy to be educated if I am in correct.

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Cheers! I am only fancying TF, as I've done a fair few English track days but for some reason the cost of Ring Track day puts me off... extremely stupid sounding now I have said it out loud...

In regard to painted rub strips, I was in the same opinion of yourself when looking. However, the V5 confirmed it as a CUP, which is the same on my new V5 as well. Also, it has the correct dash and no aircon. So, I suspect they have been painted by a previous owner .

Renaultsport cars are not my speciality (spent 5 years pratting about with R53 Minis) so I am happy to be educated if I am in correct.

Also to confirm it has a proper key not a key card!

 

[RSRowe]

If it’s a proper key, then it’s 100% a true cup.

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Just doing some late night searching looking for some minor mods for the car. I am struggling to find a definitive answer regarding whether a panel filter or full induction kit would be be the better option for the car? My gut feel based off of previous experience with Mk7 fiesta st's (I'm getting the word....) and mini's says panel filter. What is the typical set up ran on track? The car already has a miltek cat back as a breathing mod.

I have also seen people fitting the V6 airbox to these. Is this an OEM plus style mod? Or does it actually have a positive performance gain?

A good friend has also recommended that fresh CUP dampers with H&R is a very good set up and would be preferred over something like KTR coils as "budget friendly" option. What are peoples thoughts to this?

I have a look at some of your guys build threads (not fully so apologies if my questions have been answered there) and respect them. Or in the case of RSrowe followed on instagram for a while it turns out LOL . So your opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Helpimonfire]

A lot of mixed reviews on power gains with induction. I have a KTR intake and I probably lost a tiny bit of power but it does make a nice noise. V6 airboxes seem to be the best gains but it's literally a couple hp, if that. I originally ran a panel filter in mine and that seemed absolutely fine.

Suspension is dependant on budget as always, Cup dampers and H&R springs will be decent but will lack the adjustability, the lower end KTR coilovers aren't worth the money and speaking to someone racing in the KTR Clio championship, their "high end" offerings aren't that good either. Lots of guys on here run GAZ Gold coilovers but they're £1200+ I believe. Bilstein B14's are a bit soft from all accounts for track work and they don't come with top mounts so that would be an extra cost.

 

[RSRowe]

I ran H&R springs with Cup shocks for years. They’re a great setup, especially for the ring.
It’s just the lack of adjustability like Martin says - for me, this wasn’t an issue until a group of my mates bought Clios and we started pushing harder and harder on track.

View attachment 1DF21F70-E4B9-49A6-8B0F-620AE7FD6898.jpeg

I also run the V6 airbox. It did feel to pick up slightly better, but I also ported the inlet manifold at the same time.

 

[burrellbloke]

If you want some fun noise that perhaps does not give any power gains then get the K-Tec induction kit. It makes your drive entertaining. People talk about suffering with heat soak, or that there is a slight loss of a few bhp in power, with this kit but it really depends if you want an entraining induction noise or a system that will not lose any power. A panel filter in the stock air box will probably give you better performance over the K-Tec kit but we are talking about 1 or 2 bhp. I have got a V6 inbox. I could not tell you what difference it has made in power as the car has not been on dyno since it was installed. To put a V6 airbox in you have to move some of the electrics and relocate the battery. I have got a V6 airbox, ported and gas flowed inlet manifolds, and a cold air feed - one day I will put in on a dyno to see if there has actually been any gains since I removed the K-Tec induction kit.

My car came with a cup suspension set up. I then moved to some Bilstein B14s and later installed some Gaz Golds. Clios handle really well on stock suspension for fast roads and a few track days. The B14s were even better as they were height adjustable, but not damper adjustable and without camber adjustable top mounts they were not camber adjustable. The B14s were good but I found them too bouncy on track days. Gaz Golds are expensive, albeit not as expensive as something like ASTs, but they seem to be what most people are looking for doing track days in Clios. Height, damper and camber adjustable. If you get something more expensive than Gaz Golds you can get rebound adjustable coilovers.

Quite a few people run YellowSpeed coilers on Clios. They are about £850. They are height, damper and camber adjustable.

I have not seen many reviews of the K-Tec budget coilovers but I do know a few people are running them on this forum.

 

[Big Ben]

Unless you’re chasing lap times a Ktec induction kit is the way to go. Only suffered noticeably if stuck in traffic but still I’d have the noise over any/if any minimal losses. Mine mapped to a healthy 198hp when it was installed.
Grams springs and cup shocks were decent for light track use. I then moved to Gaz which was a step up naturally but the price reflects this.

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate it! As a novice with these cars, it is great to get an insight to them like this!

In regards to suspension my gut is telling me to try H&R's as something to try but thinking along the lines of what friends are running on different cars.I have one friend running top tier ohlins on an R56 JCW, similar on an NC MX5 and then a friend running Meister Rs on an ST150. SO possibly the yellow speed or GAZ's would be the best bet. With the finest man maths they are not that much more compared with them and especially not when looking at doing a full refresh of dampers as well when doing springs. When changing to coils do you need to change anything else additionally on these? Or would be recommended in changing as well? Just wanting to understand the full picture.

In regards to induction kit I will do some more digging. The idea of a V6 airbox sounds appealing a lot but the faf doesn't sound ideal. In favour of keeping it simple I will invest in a panel filter in the meantime! The friend with LY 200 has also talked of getting his car mapped so gains might be required! .

 

[Tarticmonkey]

I ran H&R springs with Cup shocks for years. They’re a great setup, especially for the ring.
It’s just the lack of adjustability like Martin says - for me, this wasn’t an issue until a group of my mates bought Clios and we started pushing harder and harder on track.

View attachment 152242

I also run the V6 airbox. It did feel to pick up slightly better, but I also ported the inlet manifold at the same time.

Epic photo! What suspension are you running now out of interest?

 

[Tarticmonkey]

Also, I am based quite near Rickyrpm (South Yorks). Does anyone have experience in dealing with him? I have messaged him on instagram and he seems decent enough to deal with ! Or if anyone else has other recommendations for specialists around the north?

 

[RSRowe]

Epic photo! What suspension are you running now out of interest?

It’s on Gaz Golds now.