Had my car back a week following engine conversion at LAD. Must say i am really pleased with it. Took some in gear times just with a stopwatch on the speedo and seems to be a fair bit quicker than a standard cup and the engine is likely to be still quite tight with only 1200 miles on it. Subjectively I would say performance was similar to a mk3 Subaru WRX but not quite as quick as my previous car an original Subaru Turbo. There do not appear to be any downsides as car idles perfectlly and seems better throughout the rev range. Claimed power is about 168 at the wheels 200 the crank and you just leave your car for a week. Throttle bodies or a supercharger may be even better but this is a no hassle option that I would definitely recommend. I think there is a review of the LADs own car coming up in Car & Car Conversions or go and visit them in Morcambe and see what you think.
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Had my car back a week following engine conversion at LAD. Must say i am really pleased with it. Took some in gear times just with a stopwatch on the speedo and seems to be a fair bit quicker than a standard cup and the engine is likely to be still quite tight with only 1200 miles on it. Subjectively I would say performance was similar to a mk3 Subaru WRX but not quite as quick as my previous car an original Subaru Turbo. There do not appear to be any downsides as car idles perfectlly and seems better throughout the rev range. Claimed power is about 168 at the wheels 200 the crank and you just leave your car for a week. Throttle bodies or a supercharger may be even better but this is a no hassle option that I would definitely recommend. I think there is a review of the LADs own car coming up in Car & Car Conversions or go and visit them in Morcambe and see what you think.
This is a great add!!!!
And where is the conversion in head work? what do they do?
std manifold and TB and cams? and only a midly worked head.......i didnt think they touched the bottom end? or is t a reference to the actual milage of the car in total?
Cost and what was done exactly?
The head in std trim flows enogh for well over 200bhp, so i doubt increasing flow alone gained anything, unless specific work was done on the seats to improve flow, but even then, low lifts only account for a tiny amount of time and dont gain much on a performance engine.
Ta!
Ben
Not meant to be an add - and I did not post anything for a week as I was not that familiar with the clio before i had it converted so quite difficult to judge performance accurately but in gear times I have measured (crudely) showed 3rd gear times for 10mph increments consistently at about 1.8s from 50 -80 4th for 10mph increments and 4th gear 2.8s all the way from 60 - 100. The figures I have on the cup from EVO are fairly close up to about 80 in fourth but slower thereafter. For a sport to match a cup assuming similar passenger load I guess you would need about 9% more power (15bhp) so I think there must be at least 20bhp - when I get a chance I will try and get a power run on it. Cost is £1200 for engine work - not sure of details but as far as I know just head work and possibly altered cam timing? Obviously i have spent my own money on it so I want to be pleased with it so the best way for people to judge is wait for the CCC roadtest or go and try a car for themselves. LADs own car is a cup with filter and exhaust as well and that does feel quicker than my car - but then you would expect that. Not sure if it has lost anything at the bottom of the rev range but no obvious problems.
Greg
1200 quid a for a touchup on a head tat flows great as std and altering of cam timing that already has VVT phasing to advance the inlet!!!??
Doesnt seem very good VFM and i realy dont think gains with headwork alone will be that good, spesh with the patheticly sized TB.
Im with you Dogmaul.......something smells rather offensive.
Fair comment, I just relied on reputation ( magazine reviews over many years) and demonstrator test drive. The conversion is essentially just cylinder head work, the cams are not changed all I did not know was whether the cam timing was changed or not? As for the price I chose to spend some of the money I saved by buying an import on the conversion. Although this conversion is not cheap a decent filter and chip would cost you £450 with minimal labour so head porting + fitting will always be quite a lot more.
im sure LAD have a dubious reputation anyway dont they. yes flowing a head costs alot but what ben is quite rightly saying is there is very little you can do to it to make it better as its all ready very good. and im sure you would hav ebeen better off with a nice pair of TBs oh and the noise
trust me mate.....fitting is no more than 200 to engine bulders....its easy work...
but a head that gosts a grand should be something REALLY REALLY special...im talking BTCC spec here.....
And from my findings, the 172 head is good for 215BHP on std cams, with unchanged timing on quad TBs. So, flow was never a problem.........all their conversions seem to be ported heads with nothing else.....a head wont give anything unless you use the right combination of parts to reap that power.
I dont like forced induction.
Low boost use is fine, but high boost applications ona small motor leads to lag, and id rather have an engine running off cam then off boost. The noise is also a million times more sexy.
If you have them fit TBs, you will need a new ECU, not a remap, the std RENIX system is not capable of running quad throttlebodies, more importantly, it wasnt desogned to.
K-Tec dont, then you must go where there is a RR......
I really would do some research and not jump in teh deep end head first with lead boots on. I see far too much of this, people not knowing what is what and ending up not going for it.
EK9 + Mfactory gearing..
wow, dis ones a bit bitchy! but hey, rightly so as 1200 for wot? i rang prima racing after demon tweeks told me they dont do tbs for the 172 as they had problems with the electronics, prima quoted 2950 (Queens royal english pound) the guy said theyd had no such problems, altho it was hard work talking to him as he was not that helpful and i had to really squeeze him for info...like he didnt believe i could afford it i think...wanka. havnt spoken to k-tek so dont kno bout their price, sounds good tho.
I wish id never started this!
For the record I have nothing to do with LAD just passing on information I thought this was what the forum was for. The only reason I looked up the K-tec and Hill prices was because you were all telling me what a prat I was for spending £1200. I am new to the forum because I have just bought a 172 and had it modified. Maybe I could have got a better option somewhere else but Im pleased with my car and was pleased with the service I got all I ever suggested was try the demonstrator or read the magazine review.
sorry Greg, i dont think we were meat to start an arguement, but just a lack of info and a great writeup after a heated discussion previously....kinda alot of coincedences.
Anyway, LAD are not the most highly rated anymore due to their overblown claims which they never deliver. Although, not quite down there with Prima! lol
GregMcN, dont worry mate! You should have seen the replys I got when I first posted here... I was taged as a criminal!!! eheh
All the ppl here just want know whats best for their cars! some "tuning enterprises" just dont deliver what they promise. LAD has started to go that way...
Keep on posting here at cliosport.net and youll see that everybody is ok (cant say that about BenR thou
eheheh joking mate!)at least you got the balls to try head work on a 172. Congratiolations! If it doesnt deliver more power, it will if you go to TBs more than a std head.
Keep up!
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