Clio PH1 Track Car Megane 225 Conversion

[getikte]

Okay so ive decided to start a thread on my current project. mostly to keep a log of everything im doing but hopefully some of you will enjoy the read.

I have had the PH1 for a year now and enjoyed 8 track days in it so far, it mostly lives at croft as thats my local circuit however its ventured out to cadwell and knockhill too.
As it sits it is a very capable track car and really does punch well above its weight however at cadwell park last month i really did feel it was lacking in the power department.

I went away a little disheartened as ive felt this an issue before, probably a combination of up hill straights and faster straight line cars not getting out of the way even though id be costing round the corners behind them.

Anyway i had croft in 2 weeks time and a roll center correction to fit so was looking forward to that. At croft the car was perfect, better than ever! and i didn't feel the power output was a problem, this was to be my last track day of the year though as as i and probably most of you are always wanting more out of a car i started to think about what could be done over the next few months to improve.

Video of the quickest lap at croft


I parked the car in the unit and began looking at bodies, final drives, turbo conversions....then a very very cheap Megane 225 f1 came up for sale 2 miles down the road, well it would have been rude not to do a buy!

So this is where i am now, i will post updates as i go....

 

[Tomotek]

Looks like this will be a good read. Some good lines too round Croft mate!!.. subscribed


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[getikte]

Thanks mate, ive read your build thread and the quality of that is something else!
ive been round croft a lot now so feel pretty confident around there

 

[Tomotek]

Cheers! Appreciate it mate!. You can tell you've been round a lot!... I've been there quite a few times with previous work but never driven it, defo one for the bucket list!.. the missus is from up in Sunderland originally so have to take the car up when go to visit her parents!

 

[green]

Good luck with the swap :up::up:

Subscribed

 

[getikte]

Cheers! Appreciate it mate!. You can tell you've been round a lot!... I've been there quite a few times with previous work but never driven it, defo one for the bucket list!.. the missus is from up in Sunderland originally so have to take the car up when go to visit her parents!

Its a really good circuit, weirdly the more you drive it the better it gets really would recommend it!

 

[Knuckles]

Looking good! Good effort on doing it yourself too. Look forward to the progress

the missus is from up in Sunderland originally so have to take the car up when go to visit her parents!

Small world! Where in Sunderland is she from?

 

[scotiamr2t]

good to see your keeping it an adding the extra power rather than getting rid, i will be watching the thread with interest

 

[getikte]

Plan is to collect an engine crane from a mates tonight, if im feeling keen i will try and have the engine out tonight

in the mean time i have emailed Motorsport electronics for some information on their ME221 ECU and also EFI parts to see what they can offer.

If anyone has any ECU advice or recommendations that would be massively helpful

 

[scotiamr2t]

@vroomtshh may be able to give some advice on the ME221 clio pnp ECU. Albeit he used it on an ITB build

 

[basket491]

chris at EFI is your man,

otherwiser @windle has done a meg conversion in a 182 ?

 

[dann2707]

Nice to see the build on here. I'm Daniel who commented on your csoc post earlier on. Have a look in my build thread as i've documented a fair bit of the conversion there.

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/daniels-blue-182.749207/

 

[getikte]

chris at EFI is your man,

otherwiser @windle has done a meg conversion in a 182 ?

It was either him or RS tuning as they are pretty close to me, EFI seem to do more custom stuff so they are my preference!

Nice to see the build on here. I'm Daniel who commented on your csoc post earlier on. Have a look in my build thread as i've documented a fair bit of the conversion there.

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/daniels-blue-182.749207/

ahh thanks mate! will have a read of yours ive read a few to get an idea of whats invloved

 

[dann2707]

Yeah I went to EFI and couldn't knock his work at all.

 

[vroomtshh]

@vroomtshh may be able to give some advice on the ME221 clio pnp ECU. Albeit he used it on an ITB build

I can't really recommend anyone buys it, at the current prices. It's not plug and play on a ph1, especially with a megane engine, and there are better options for similar cash. Ultimately, find a mapper first, and buy the ECU he recommends

 

[JamesBryan]

Chris at EFI will probably recommend an Adaptronic ECU as he knows them inside out.

 

[getikte]

Good timing! Chris at EFI just got back to me.
He recommends using the clio ECU IF im happy with under 12psi (240ish bhp) which i am to be honest as for me its about reliability and power delivery not pub talk BHP figures.

At the same time though for future proofing a standalone management would be nice so i have replied asking what options there would be.

adaptronics have stopped making the 420d he used to use and theres no replacement till next year by the looks of it so limited in that respect

 

[getikte]

Yeah I went to EFI and couldn't knock his work at all.

I'm in talks with him now, just read through the megane part of your build mate looks like an epic effort! Shame the photos don't work on it anymore but from what I could see it looks awesome

 

[getikte]

Lack of technical updates from last night but it wasn't completely wasted. Managed to get an engine hoist off a friend so thats ready to go now, just need to find a stand! oh and washed the daily....
Plan is to have the engine out tonight so hopefully will have some sort of update this evening :smile:

 

[bozothenutter]

@getikte, I'm intrigued by your username.....are you dutch by any chance?
getikte in dutch means 'one who has been touched' ie madman

 

[getikte]

@bozothenutter I'm from Newcastle mate so no ties to the Netherlands, I had no idea of the meaning but did always wonder.... it was an old username my brother used for things and it stuck

 

[bozothenutter]

@bozothenutter I'm from Newcastle mate so no ties to the Netherlands, I had no idea of the meaning but did always wonder.... it was an old username my brother used for things and it stuck

know where he got it from? Come to think of it, could be South Afrikan aswell, as afrikaans is mostly dutch.

 

[getikte]

@bozothenutter i honestly have no idea, i will have to ask him when i see him next. Neither of us have any ties to anywhere other than north east England lol

 

[andybond]

Why not use the ECU from the Meg ? I diont know if it helps but I am running a groupbuy at RSTuning at the mo.

 

[getikte]

I had considered it, it seems there are a lot of options. i was going to go down the route of clio loom with clio ecu and omex 600 piggyback. This is the first one of these conversions ive ever done so any advice as to what works best would be a huge help. From what i understand using the megane ECU would mean having to swap all the UCH gear and clocks ect

 

[NorthloopCup]

I had considered it, it seems there are a lot of options. i was going to go down the route of clio loom with clio ecu and omex 600 piggyback. This is the first one of these conversions ive ever done so any advice as to what works best would be a huge help. From what i understand using the megane ECU would mean having to swap all the UCH gear and clocks ect

You could always use the gen90? Bastardise parts of the 225 loom that the ph1 doesn't have and job done. No need to f**k about piggybacking ecus and also future proofs the car should you wish to upgrade.
Scoff mapped mine on a gen90, so it's no drama for him either. Or rs tuning come to think of it.
You can buy the ecu terminals from ktec as well.

 

[bloke]

He recommends using the clio ECU IF im happy with under 12psi (240ish bhp) which i am to be honest as for me its about reliability and power delivery not pub talk BHP figures.

easiest way to do it. mate of mine is doing same conversion and using meg loom, clocks, ecu etc. i told him not to but he's having problem after problem with it and i just keep saying 'i told you so'

 

[getikte]

easiest way to do it. mate of mine is doing same conversion and using meg loom, clocks, ecu etc. i told him not to but he's having problem after problem with it and i just keep saying 'i told you so'

The way I have had it explained to me is to use the clio loom, plus a couple of sensors on the clio ecu with either one piggy back or the FIM should work a treat

 

[RichAwty]

I'd love to know where to even start with something like this, looking forward to seeing how this goes. Also daily looks beautiful :hearteyes:

 

[bloke]

The way I have had it explained to me is to use the clio loom, plus a couple of sensors on the clio ecu with either one piggy back or the FIM should work a treat

clio loom, meg injectors and map sensor plus chris' box of tricks. pretty straightforward.

 

[getikte]

Update:

So I was really keen to try and get the engine out tonight, luckily my unit is half a mile down the road from my work so I headed straight down there after a 9 hour day and began cracking on.

Some absolute melt of a human had used bent bolts on the turbo down pipe so that was a bit of a pain to get off but other than that it all came apart quite well.

3 hours later and the engine is out, subframe is off and I've stripped the engine back of its loom and pipework so all in all pretty happy with how that went.

I ordered an engine stand today so that should be with me soon then I can start to strip the engine back and clean it all up.

 

[windle]

mine runs the full 225 ecu ucu clocks etc but isn't a direct fit but certainly possible. To be fair I have never had any issues at all with mine in terms of running it this way. it starts every time and is a much cheaper option which is what was important to me at the time of doing mine. It was mapped at RS tuning to a very safe 266bhp and 285 torque my few teething issues have been exhaust snapped, brakes were poor but now all sorted and is a very capable car.

I'm not sure pulling it apart for the next phase was such a good idea now lol!

vid of it at oulton park just before I pulled it apart this year for some upgrades:

 

[imprezaworks]

That's quick

 

[Matt555]

If anyone has any ECU advice or recommendations that would be massively helpful[/QUOTE]

I did it using all the Megane wiring and clocks etc, project thread is RS250ish, currently finishing putting the engine in a 197 as I wasn't happy with the brakes on the 172. Don't weld your driveshafts, mine snapped after remapping to 280bhp, need custom ones ideally. Also, word or warning whatever you do do not get the cheap single mass flywheel kit off eBay (techniclutch) it will kill your engine, see my thread....

Other way of doing it is like dann2707 has done using a gen90

 

[getikte]

Update!
So tonight with the help of a couple mates, some beer and pizza the PH1 engine is out. First time taking an engine out of one of these and manage it in 3 hours, that will do me.
It did strike me half way through that I've torn apart a perfectly good track car and a perfectly good Megane 225 F1 but I suppose it's all for the best!

Going to split the engines down tomorrow and get the Megane lump mounted on the engine stand, belts and what not will be getting done and a good tidy up of the clio bay along with re routing the brake lines and a few other bits.

Hopefully these updates will start getting a bit more interesting from here on.

 

[BuCkLeY...]

Lovely to see a ph1 getting so much attention

 

[windle]

mine are welded shafts and have been fine so far. The person who did them has had much more power through some of his other ones without failure yet.
Brakes on mine were shocking at first too, but i renewed the lot fitted brembos of the megane one way valve etc and they really are spot on now can't fault them.

my brother has a similar conversion except he has gone down the gt28 route and adaptronic ECU. same driveshafts as mine again no failures as yet.

mines going more power at the min so will see how they cope then

 

[Matt555]

mine are welded shafts and have been fine so far. The person who did them has had much more power through some of his other ones without failure yet.
Brakes on mine were shocking at first too, but i renewed the lot fitted brembos of the megane one way valve etc and they really are spot on now can't fault them.

my brother has a similar conversion except he has gone down the gt28 route and adaptronic ECU. same driveshafts as mine again no failures as yet.

mines going more power at the min so will see how they cope then

Mine were done by the same bloke. Snapped drivers side after remap on way home..

 

[windle]

I may need the number of your driveshaft guy then lol

 

[Matt555]

I may need the number of your driveshaft guy then lol

May have just been unlucky, either way it snapped clean on the weld. Ended up with customs shafts from Berrisfords