our albi blue 197

[aaron-rs197]

not really a project car but heres a few pics to show the few small things we've done so far

after many telephone calls to the dvla, we finally managed to get our plates off retention and put on to this car!

remapped ecu







heko wind deflectors



new discs and pads up front







to do list:
maybe a cup spoiler
nice set of floor mats
refurb alloy wheels
new tires all round

 

[mitchell197]

Looks lovely that! What do you guys specialize in and where are you based?

 

[Roy]

Looking good.Blue is growing on me

 

[Reconciled Chaos]

Lovely looking Albi there!

 

[aaron-rs197]

had remap removed at weekend as i felt it wasn't really doing much. Afterwards I stuck a tank of normal BP petrol in along with a shot of Miller's Petrol Power Ecomax (used to use the diesel version in my old Fiesta; worked brilliantly...) and instantly it's driving much better than ever before. She pulls harder, quicker throttle response, slightly better MPG. I was quite skeptical about petrol additives but this seems to be a winner for me anyway..

 

[N0ddie]

Surely just run the car on either Tesco Momentum 99 or Shell V-Power to solve running issues?

 

[-Eddie-]

Lovely looking car. Interesting about the remap too!

 

[Yiannis197]

Bloody hell the state of those discs!!

Looking good, what are the issues with the remap then? Was it a generic or a custom one?

 

[aaron-rs197]

Bloody hell the state of those discs!!

Looking good, what are the issues with the remap then? Was it a generic or a custom one?

Poor maintenance from previous owner!! used the condition of brakes to get money off so all good! as for the remap.. just didn't feel it was performing how it should be. it started off OK when I got the map in September last year. Felt more responsive and more drivable in lower rev ranges. It was a generic map from a local mapper. If I live nearer to RSTuning or KTec then I would of gone there TBH but its just too far to go for a remap. Since having the remap I've experimented with different performance fuels etc to get the most of the map but no significant changes were noticed. The first thing I noticed when getting the remap is the transition between low and high revs (VVT kicking in?) was less noticeable but I thought that was just part of the map smoothing out the power curve. I though the "kick" was quite a fun characteristic of the Clio and that was also one reason for having the map taken off.

Surely just run the car on either Tesco Momentum 99 or Shell V-Power to solve running issues?

normal regime is two tanks of Tesco 99 then a tank of normal BP/Shell then two Tesco 99 and so on. Didn't make much difference with the remap. on the way back from getting the map deleted it was BP/Shell time so I filled up and thought I would give a shot of Miller's a try given how successful the diesel version had been on my previous cars. Almost instantly the car felt more alive than before remap or during remap. was really surprised as i thought petrol additives were just bull****. I will keep chucking a shot in with every fill up from now on just to make sure I'm not seeing effects of ECU settling down after map deletion.

 

[930Tech]

That looks to be in good condition.

 

[aaron-rs197]

snap of our AB197 and the inlaw's Corsa VXR.. 36k service tomorrow and all round belt change at Two Techs, Dartford. £££

 

[Leethelips]

My favourite colour ( I may be biased though)

 

[_Chris.T_]

What exhaust/tips are on it?

 

[aaron-rs197]

What exhaust/tips are on it?

i believe they are these - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_765089_langId_-1_categoryId_165537

 

[aaron-rs197]

just had 36k service, belts and water pump done by Terry at Two Techs in Dartford. Excellent service from these guys. Will be using again even though it's an hours drive. They use genuine renault parts and give 10% discount as im a forum member!!

couple of suspension issues to be sorted next Saturday as well as fitting refurbished front calipers and replacing fluid with some Motul RBF600 <--- can anyone rate this?

I have sat on my desk, some HEL braided lines. Is it worth fitting them? I don't do track days so maybe I wont see any benefit? can someone advise plz?

Thanks

 

[aaron-rs197]

new n/s trackrod end fitted today along with 2 new engine mounts and front calipers (refurbished by @Stephenvenning). upgraded the brake fluid too. car feels as good as new. nice tight, responsive steering and solid feeling brakes. liking this car more and more as things get sorted. just need to get the alloys refurbed back to OEM as they are kerbed to s**t then its a happy car and a happy me lol.

 

[Stephenvenning]

I'm glad you like the brakes, we need pictures!

 

[aaron-rs197]

so i get some nicely refurbished alloys on the clio, the wife takes it out, 10 mins down the road and wallop, straight into a kurb. nice split in the sidewall and a chip taken out the alloy. i give up i really do!!!

 

[Chris]

OWUCH, and contis


Car looks good though

 

[aaron-rs197]

so the car goes to the Toyota dealership tomorrow afternoon to be part-ex'd in for a 5 door diesel Auris. The wife decided she needed to have one last round of "pot-holing" before we traded the clio in and split the continental that has only seen 500 ish miles... running round like mad this evening trying to find a budget tyre! women eh! so after work tomorrow i will have my last blast round the country lanes on the way to the dealers... i know it sounds sad and everything but i think i will be upset when i leave the dealership as i love that car, its my pride and joy and i've spent so much time and money on her and always gets compliments and heads turning when driving through town and its just such a fun pure car to drive!! but the baby comes first etc blah blah!!

with a bit of luck i will either have another 197 (for myself, not shared with the wife) in a few years or maybe part ex this auris in for a clio 200T (seem more family friendly to me) once prices drop a bit and issues have been ironed out. who knows.. i've signed up to couple of other toyota/diesel forums and posted a hello thread but so far i have had no friendly welcomes like you get on this forum.. anyways thanks for everything all the advice etc. c'ya around