Clio Williams/16V Rally car info

[u33db]

Does anyone have any info or pics on the above cars? If you could email me anything id be grateful - thinking of doing a website about them etc....



Get me at mailto:dougal.brown@ingen-ideas.com">dougal.brown@ingen-ideas.com

 

[Ben H]

Lots and lots! Hang on and Ill post some of it here!

 

[u33db]

Thanks!

 

[Ben H]

OK! Before I start, I have to make clear that there seems to be no single source of authoritative information on the Clio Mk1 rally cars, certainly not in English anyway. What follows is kind of a hash of some info Ive gathered myself over the past few years, so its by no means definitive and there could be some mistakes.

Renault had been at the forefront of Group B rallying with the 350bhp Maxi 5 Turbo in the mid 1980s, when Group B was axed due a string of fatal accidents. The Maxi 5 was legendary for its tarmac capabilities - notably beating the 420bhp 4WD Peugeot 205 T16 and Lancia 037 Rally on the blacktop at the Tour de Corse in 1985.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_44_full.jpg

Renault 5 Turbo 2

That was some real pedigree in Renaults blood, but it also represented an almost unattainable benchmark for the first Clio rally car in 1992... almost unattainable. By 1992, Group B was a distant memory and Group A was now the premier rallying arena. It was also now attracting cars like the Lancia Delta Integrale and Ford Escort Cosworth. The first works Clio was homologated as the Clio 16V, so had to use the 1764cc engine.

Unlike the 5 GT Turbos engine, the Clio 16Vs F7P was not a turbo unit and could never reach power figures like the Maxi 5 Turbo. However, the 1.8 works Clio was, mile for mile, even faster than the Maxi 5 Turbo on the tarmac. That is some achievement!! It was intended for Group N rallying, but actually eventually entered into Group A (against all the 4WD turbo nutters). It was that good!!

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_25_full.jpg

The Clio 16V - homologation car for the 1992 Group A & N works Clio

The Mk1 Clios finest hour came in 1993, when it got the famed 2.0 F7R lump. To meet rally rules, this car could now not be homologated as the Clio 16V and was instead homologated as the special edition 2.0 Clio Williams. Renault had decided to push out the boat and go for the full 2.0 litres that rally regulations allowed, but also wanted an engine with more torque at lower revs. The result was the F7R engine - not much more powerful than the F7P 1.8, but with a much better torque curve. It was estimated at the time that the 2.0 was 1.5-2.0 seconds per mile faster than the 1.8 - which was already faster than the Maxi 5 Turbo.

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_41_full.jpg

Clio Williams - homologation car for the 1993-5 Group A & N Clio

Renault later produced the Maxi Clio 2.0 for the 1994 season - fat arches being the most obvious addition to the car. This is the one that everyone remembers and it had a very successful season, giving the 4WD turbo cars some bloody noses. I think it carried on into the 1995 season, but finished after this because the Williams had finished production by then and with it ended the ability to homologate the Clio works car.

Various pics of Group A 1994-5 Clio Maxi below:

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_43_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_40_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_27_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/10/web/286000-286999/286766_3_full.jpg

 

[Tom_16v]

Damn those Clios are phat!

 

[Dean]

bloody hell a rally car on 18s!

they look ace

mint!

 

[Nick Read]

Trust Ben to be the Clio nerd...nice one mate. The one everyone remembers the most is the Ragnotti car, the silver Maxi in the Diac livery. In fact Ive got a small scale model of it and a Tamiya radio control version as well. Wicked.

 

[Nick Read]

http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/Cliosport/Gallery/Full/1065469516__cliomaxipost9501.jpgOne other thing, I have got a scan of a Maxi schematic. It came from Renault Sport poster of the time. Sam Steffenson in Sweden used to have them for sale, poster size, but as far as I can tell theyve gone under. I wonder if RS still have the scematic posters for sale? They were bloody wicked, all colour with cutaway bits showing the details of the engine etc.

And heres my new Maxi bumper:

http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/Cliosport/Gallery/Full/1065469447__38IG0002.jpg

 

[Daz.]

Can you get a complete Maxi kit?

http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/Cliosport/Gallery/Full/1065476877__snow.jpg

Id love to see that on a Clio! Im a big fan of the standard ashape but I could seriously see that on my car!

 

[northy]

Top one pal. That R5 looks the buisness. Ive just bought some old magazine reviews for the williams. Nice to hear what they said about them when new. Ill scan them in and hopefully add it to the homepage menu , when I get chance.

RiCh

 

[steve a]

I want the maxi front bumper! how much and from where?

 

[Nick Read]

LOL top secret Steve! Well the Maxi kits have always been available from Prima although I dread to think what their delivery times are. However that is the full wide-arch kit which is a serious undertaking. Colin did it on his and it looks totally mental but its a big job.

I only wanted the front bumper because I need bigger intakes to fit my oil cooler, chargecooler rad and brake ducts. I had done it by cutting all my original valver intakes right up to the front face so they were basically three big holes. but it looked untidy...if only I could build a Maxi bumper just slightly scaled down to fit standard valver wings. And lo and behold, PSG now make them. However at the moment theyre special order only and about £250 delivered. Plus they dont have any mounts at all, you need to fiddle about with angle iron and stikaflex, rivets etc. But it will look totally wicked so thats alright then really!

 

[steve a]

Nice one Nick. very nice bumper not only in the looks department but also like you say good for air feeds coolers etc.

 

[Nick Read]

Exactly. Thats the main reason I got it, simple shape, comes out slightly forward of a normal bumper so plenty of room to play around with. Im fed up with skinning my knuckles trying to get stuff to fit in the standard bumper but at the same time dont want a huge snowplough on there. I think the Maxi strikes just the right balance, chunky and practical but not OTT. It should work out that my oil cooler will fit almost perfectly in the drivers side hole, a double brake duct scoop will go in the passenger side and feed the air filter, and then theres enough room in the central hole to fit my chargecooler rad if I need to reposition it.

 

[Tiger]

Colis_S has a pearl black maxi clio, i think hes getting more work done to it, but i saw pics a couple of months ago, and its by far the nicest clio on this forum! dont know when any pics will be revealed though :-(

 

[16v_paddy]

Thread from the dead also curious if anyone has bumped anything older now lol

I've been searching like fcuk but can't seem to find the info I'm after :dapprove: but does anyone know if the 1.8 works rally cars were using the standard inlet or ITB's?