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182 down on power



Hi, I'm new to cliosport.net but not new to RS Clios, having owned previously owned a 172FF, 172 cup and now a 182FF.

I love the 182, however, it doesn't feel like it's as quick as it should be (comparing my previous ones for reference).

The 182 is in good shape and standard other than a catback Toyosports exhaust. I have an inkling that that the Toyosport is why it feels down on power - could this be the case as I've heard they're not very good exhausts and perhaps restrictive? It also makes a bit of a whistle under acceleration so I'm guessing the exhaust has a bit of a leak anyway.

Another thing it does is it drives fairly roughly for the first couple of miles on a cold engine. I know the spark plugs are new so I can probably rule out them, but if it is something like an o2 sensor, could it also be a potential cause of the lack of power or should I be focussing on the Toyosport still?

I'm thinking of putting it on a rolling road as at least I'd now how down on power it really is. It certainly feels like my 172 cup would have mashed it in a straight line although I would've thought they should be similar in performance.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
thanks for your reply, I did think about that too. I presume it's just a case of adjusting the timing is that right? It's been years since I've done that though so I'll need to book it in to a garage for them to take a look.
 

R3k1355

Absolute wetter.
ClioSport Club Member
Needs to go to a specialist to get it sorted really, your average garage will f**k it up for sure.

Main question is when was the cambelt last done, it's it needs doing in the near future there's no point getting the timing sorted on the old belt, might as well bite the bullet and get it changed.
 
Cheers for the input. It wasn't done very long ago (maybe only 1k miles ago). The previous owners mechanic mate bought the cambelt kit (and dephaser) and did it himself. It's therefore a very new belt but perhaps the timing hasn't been done properly.

Luckily there is a Renault specialist where I live in Aylesbury (bucks automotive) so they should be able to sort it properly.

So do you think the exhaust is unlikely to be the cause of a lack of power whether it's a poor system or not? Poor timing would definitely make sense though.
 

R3k1355

Absolute wetter.
ClioSport Club Member
Yea the Toyosports exhaust is a s**t fit, but it's not that bad it'd noticeably rob you of power.
Likewise with the Lambda's, they are known to play up but it'll put a light on the dash to indicate a fault.
Bad plugs/leads can cause some hesitation and a s**t idle, but they'd have to be really bad to massively effect power.

Two main signs of the cambelt being out are: runs like s**t and has s**t-all power.
 

R3k1355

Absolute wetter.
ClioSport Club Member
Doesn't make it run like a total sack of turds and slower than a pushbike though.
 

botfch

ClioSport Club Member
  Clio 182
Will do if its pre cat, mine was a right pig until it got replaced.
 

JamesBryan

ClioSport Club Member
  Titanium 182
Pre cat lambda affects the running of the car as said.

Post cat is just emissions monitoring.
 
Cheers guys, the previous owner reckoned he'd swapped both pre and post cat lambdas but I always take it with a pinch of salt when a seller of a used car says what theyve done. I will consider the lambda and timing as the most likely culprits, and if that doesn't fix it, then I'll look at other things. Would a rolling road test help identify what's up as they monitor things like air/fuel ratio don't they? p.s it's not quite running slower than a sack of turds or pushbike but it won't be winning any land speed records either, lol
 
Forgot to add I will also clean the throttle body with carb cleaner in case it is coked up, and check the air filter isn't dirty too!
 

R3k1355

Absolute wetter.
ClioSport Club Member
It certainly can.

Well mine ran fine when it went.

If you suspect the lambda is fudged then pop down to an MOT station and ask if they can sling it on the emissions machine quickly, will soon tell you if it's doing its job.
 
  dan's cast offs.
Well mine ran fine when it went.

If you suspect the lambda is fudged then pop down to an MOT station and ask if they can sling it on the emissions machine quickly, will soon tell you if it's doing its job.


doesn't actually tell you what the lambda is doing. need to look at live data.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I'll get the timing and lambda checked and go from there. I do have an odb2 reader and Torque app but wouldn't understand the readings of the sensor voltages etc so I'll need to take it to an MOT garage. It's not throwing any fault codes though
 
  dan's cast offs.
pointless taking it to someone who does mot's, all that will tell is emissions not what is causing any problems.
 


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