Word of Caution

[Yiannis197]

you realise that its not just ultimate speed that makes a car fun ...

All the truth in a few words. Couldn't agree more with you Dave. The fun you are getting for it's money is simply phenomenal. No need to mess about, buy it, drive it and if/when you want something quicker buy a straight line fast car, job done.

Great thread litchy!

 

[MikeLYR27]

I guess for me I didn't have a clear plan and at time made rash decisions or was 'sheep like' in my thinking without considering the consequences. This approach can leave you open to mistakes. The worse being letting a non renaultsport mechanic do my cambelt. Although like Paul says, common mistake.

For example,
V6 airbox is a great mod. No real downside but by the time you've bought the box (if you can find one) pipe, plate and relocated battery in boot, theres no change out of £500.
Throttle body. Another good mod. The problem being is you really need to remap car cause if feels like it pushes the power further up the rev range. So a £80 mod now needs a £300 remap. Alright if you've not had one.
Remap. One of the first things you do when buying a clio. So you remap, £300. Then you decided you want a V6 airbox so another £300, then you decide to fit TB...you see where I'm going if you don't have a plan and patience...
Decat. Great mod but does create a flatsport thats hit and miss to remap out. Change the airbox or TB, you notice it more...yep another remap.
Cams. The clio should have come with them standard. Forget the idea of its only 10-15bhp. Its not the point. Not about power. Makes driving the car so much better I can't tell you but its £1500 big ones.

Its been one crazy ride and love the NA experience. Just wished I had more patience and a better plan. Hindsight is an exact science though. I would encourage those to do the same with caution but the finished product makes driving it a pleasure.

I would of thought remapping the car each time you did something would be fairly obvious? I did all mine in 1 hit for this reason, reckon I spent a lot less money.

 

[ben_r1]

Sometimes I wonder whether all the money spent on the Clio would have been put to better use on more track days and tuition in the near STD setup car...

 

[litchy]

I guess I'm saying that sometimes better waiting than running what can be blindlessly into mods. I'm not being preachy, just my experience on my own car. The one thing I will say though is 'some cars' are really down on power. If you think the average is between 180-185bhp, some even less, some chosen mods can make a HUGE difference. Visit to rs tuning, map and exhaust could give you easy 10-15bhp on a unwell car.
Your car might not be as healthy as you think!!!

 

[sir_dave]

Sometimes I wonder whether all the money spent on the Clio would have been put to better use on more track days and tuition in the near STD setup car...

Quite possibly, although having been on a karting track with you, you're not too shabby from memory, if not slightly rough :tongue_smilie:

Tuition is very important though for track driving imho. Absolutely no point chucking money at a car to make it faster if you cant even get 100% from the standard setup ...

 

[fmp]

bottom line, as litchy says....

plan your mods, look at the bigger picture.

 

[fmp]

I know that people have an issue with the overall CS forum, but it is very worthwhile having a read on there (as well as on here) before doing anything engine wise to the 197/200, it is after all, a very similar setup to the 1*2.

...

But equally, there are a few people on there that are 'experts' and give pretty duff advice.

Or people literally bum a particular tuner and therefore slag off others.

Whilst a fair amount of info on there is sound, there is still a fairly decent chunk that is BS or people jumping on a bandwagon (my pet hate of all forums)

I guess people just need to gather as much info as possible before jumping in feet first!

 

[Benmc]

I've thought strongly on throttle bodies too but still can't decide if it's worth it :/ I'm focusing more on the handling side of things now too ...

 

[A2ON]

Sometimes I wonder whether all the money spent on the Clio would have been put to better use on more track days and tuition in the near STD setup car...

Yup no questions about that !

 

[dangerdaz]

Sometimes I wonder whether all the money spent on the Clio would have been put to better use on more track days and tuition in the near STD setup car...

Definately..but then all our cars would be the same..how droll! 8)

 

[A2ON]

Definately..but then all our cars would be the same..how droll! 8)

But track days would be megga ! lol

 

[henderson]

I guess for me I didn't have a clear plan and at time made rash decisions or was 'sheep like' in my thinking without considering the consequences. This approach can leave you open to mistakes. The worse being letting a non renaultsport mechanic do my cambelt. Although like Paul says, common mistake.

For example,
V6 airbox is a great mod. No real downside but by the time you've bought the box (if you can find one) pipe, plate and relocated battery in boot, theres no change out of £500.
Throttle body. Another good mod. The problem being is you really need to remap car cause if feels like it pushes the power further up the rev range. So a £80 mod now needs a £300 remap. Alright if you've not had one.
Remap. One of the first things you do when buying a clio. So you remap, £300. Then you decided you want a V6 airbox so another £300, then you decide to fit TB...you see where I'm going if you don't have a plan and patience...
Decat. Great mod but does create a flatsport thats hit and miss to remap out. Change the airbox or TB, you notice it more...yep another remap.
Cams. The clio should have come with them standard. Forget the idea of its only 10-15bhp. Its not the point. Not about power. Makes driving the car so much better I can't tell you but its £1500 big ones.

Its been one crazy ride and love the NA experience. Just wished I had more patience and a better plan. Hindsight is an exact science though. I would encourage those to do the same with caution but the finished product makes driving it a pleasure.

really get yr point litchy and i no its still alot of money but once you've been mapped at RS Tuning they will tweak yr map for any further mods at the price of £100 an hour i was told,still got the price of petrol backwards and forwards to the place as well though i suppose