BB 172 turbo - my test drive views...

[Jas]

I was lucky enough to get a drive in the BB 172 turbo yesterday.
It was only a 15 minute drive, but heres the views from my time behind the wheel...

Firstly, Ill explain a bit about the car. The turbo kit is in late stages of development, and BB have installed it on their 172 Exclusive (the Mk1 shape).
On the rolling road yesterday, the car achieved 270 bhp (engine) / 250 bhp at the wheels, with a massive 267 lbs/ft torque (see pics below - thanks to White16valver for the pics). The final turbo conversion is expected to be slightly less power, as BB are stress testing it at the moment.

http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1091437325__bb1.jpg

http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1091437346__bb2.jpg

Driving away from the garage through the 30 speed limit, the car behaved pretty much as my Mk1 172 does, there was no inclination that anything was different under the bonnet. As a bonus, the re-mapped chip seems to have got rid of some of the hesitancy my 172 suffers when you pull off from standstill.

So we hit the national speed limit, I was being polite not wanting to wreck their car - Andy (BB) says You can floor it and take it to the limiter you know, so I did - well, as far as I could because in this thing you soon run out of road. Once the turbo kicks in, the acceleration is non-stop, and picks up speed like no other car Ive driven. The only downside I could see was that the car had a small amount of torque steer, which youd expect really. It didnt worry me, it was easily handled. Overtaking becomes a doddle, Id love to have seen the faces of the drivers we blitzed past, but I was too busy gripping the steering wheel and glancing at the rapidly increasing speedo!

Overall, a fantastic drive that left me with a big smile on my face.

Id like to point out, this isnt a sales pitch for BB, just my views on a turbod 172. And the fact Id love one, or love that much power in my 172. Now itd be good to drive the K-Tec one for comparison.

(I also had a drive in the 16v low compression turbo, but thats to be told another time!)

 

[badinvincible]

270bhp? ouch

 

[Dan Page]

love a drive of a standard 172 let alone a turbod one! nice one mate!

 

[David]

sounds absol,utely great. would you say the imrpovements justify the hefty price tag?

 

[Ally]

Holy sh*t - 270bhp in a Clio?

200 lbs/ft torque at 3000rpm, bloody hell that must shift without even flogging the arse off it. (the 172 I think has peak 200 Nm at 5250rpm - not sure what that is in lbs/ft but its a lot less). What sort of performance are we talking about from that? And what about power-to-weight? That must be phenomenal.

 

[Yugguy]

how much are they charging?

 

[Tom]

Quote: Originally posted by Yugguy on 02 August 2004

how much are they charging?

Its in the early stages. Prices or even rough prices wont be kicking about until the conversion development is finished.

 

[Jas]

As Tom says, prices arent yet confirmed, but I think its going to cheaper than the 16v conversion, as less engine preparation work is needed.

 

[blink172]

That looks the nads, any idea of cost given?

 

[JJ172]

Are the clutch and gearbox standard? They have trouble coping with a std 172 setup let alone all that extra power!

 

[CocoPops]

Yeah even a hint of a price would be enough for most to start saving, or give up the idea! hehe.

 

[langers]

This isnt fair, ive got to wait 3 years for the warranty to run out .. then im going to "kev" the tits out of my little.... or by then I might have grown up.

 

[Clart]

impressive figures

 

[Matbrown]

No we know where all the membership money is going!



Mat.

 

[Yugguy]

it would be nice if they could flatten that torque curve a bit.

 

[dannyt]

so what did the turbo valver drive like then Jas?

Danny

 

[_Tom]

Quote: Originally posted by dannyt on 02 August 2004


so what did the turbo valver drive like then Jas?

Danny

Yeah i wanna know this too!

 

[Jas]

Quote: Originally posted by dannyt on 02 August 2004


so what did the turbo valver drive like then Jas?

Danny

I liked it a lot. Its not as quick as the 172 turbo, but great fun, and a lot quicker than my standard 16v (as youd expect really!)

Its still frighteningly quick!

[Edited by Jas on 02 August 2004 at 1:18pm]

 

[dannyt]

what was the horsepower figures for it like, spec, pics etc?

Would it be worth getting if any of us had enough pennies???

Danny

 

[Jas]

You can probably find all the details on BBs website. I think their one is running 200bhp at the wheels.

 

[Chad]

Looks like one of my kidneys is going on Ebay then.

 

[Ant1]

i went out in the k-tec 172 turbo today as passanger & it was fookin fast. & sounded amazing. It would be good to see the power gains for both companys + cost. Im going to get mine done but i need to see this information first. Might be a long wait

 

[ortontom2]

when u say a little torque steer, was that in a straight line?



i do think that the clio will not be able to handle such power, the cup is on its boarder now.



Too much may kill the handling, why cant people just tune it to 220 or 210. Thats more than enough and probably on a tight circuit would be quicker than a car with 270.



Front wheeled drive wont take it too well.



Trust me I had a turbo techniks pug 1.9. with 180-190 bhp on tap......understeered like crazy.



was fun though.

 

[Rasclart]

Quote: Originally posted by ortontom2 on 02 August 2004


when u say a little torque steer, was that in a straight line?



i do think that the clio will not be able to handle such power, the cup is on its boarder now.



Too much may kill the handling, why cant people just tune it to 220 or 210. Thats more than enough and probably on a tight circuit would be quicker than a car with 270.



Front wheeled drive wont take it too well.



Trust me I had a turbo techniks pug 1.9. with 180-190 bhp on tap......understeered like crazy.



was fun though.





hehe think u summed it up there, fun and unique and taking it to the limits and beyond!

 

[TheJesus]

i cant see them selling to many of these. interesting to know it can be done, but id rather keep the £5-7k and put it into another turbod machine that okay, prolly wont be as quick, but a lot more reliable and with a handling setup to match the power.

powerful no doubt, but a rip off too IMO. They will need to be about £3k all in before they even become a consideration to most.

 

[cliotuRS]

^^^^ totally agree. performance may be awesome but if effect handling then theres no point having a clio then is there, thats what it all comes down to with these cars. id prefer a 1.5k-1.7k tune up with head + cams smt7 + sports cat that should bring another 18-20bhp and another 20lbft of torque, potencially a higher top speed and redline at 7.5k. this would push a 182 to 197-200bhp and although 0-60 may not be greatly affected (although it will a little so 6.0 to 60 instead of 6.3, it will be in the midrange where it will pull harder for longer. not waste too much fuel (compared with 260bhp turbo anyway feck imagine economy on that bugger !!) and not have to declare to insurance becuase they are non visible mods by and large.

however... 3-3.2k including VAT and fitting would be a real explorable option for many 172 / 182 owners and will make more money for ktec / bb than selling just 2, 3 expensive 6K kits in the midterm and long run.

autodelta can do it. cheaper. turbo technics are moderalty low and a host of others are cheaper too with proven reliablity record. the cost must be no more than 3.2k really pushing it at 3.5K.

Ideally 3k



IMO of course, there will always be one rich kid or mad enthusiast who does it. but people want to mod a car that they will still own for three years and sell, not buy the car and then save up for three years to mod !!!!!

Still it looks impressive and a cheaper lower power version may not be the answer iam looking for if N/A tuning comes close enough and doesnt wreck handling.



[Edited by cliotuRS on 02 August 2004 at 7:34pm]

 

[Jas]

In answer to a few of the above Qs:

The final bhp of the kit is expected to be around 240/250

Costs are not yet available as parts prices are still being negotiated and confirmed with their suppliers. The final price will also be dependant on demand, if there are only 2 people want the conversions, the cost will be higher than if 10 or 20 people want one. BB will probably do several prices depending on the demand. Obviously 20 people buying the kit means BB get the parts cheaper and pass the reduced cost on to the customer.

More info will no doubt be posted on here when we have it...

 

[Yugguy]

3k Id consider, but not much more. Id also want info about the longevity of the engine afterwards.

 

[edde]

Quote: Originally posted by Yugguy on 04 August 2004

3k Id consider, but not much more. Id also want info about the longevity of the engine afterwards.

You could get a spare 172 engine for £500 or so if you wanted and use that to build the turbo on.

 

[Ant1]

id pay £4,000 as long as the job is done right!