Little tweaks or mods

[Dooz]

Hello,

Being skint and not being able to buy one, Ive managed to get an order in for a new 172
as a company car from my work.
Im not allowed to do anything to it in the way of mods but was wondering
(not knowing a lot about cars) if there any little tweaks or mods which could
be done to the car which would not be noticable to my bosses
and would be relatively easy to reverse or remove at short notice if it
had to be handed back or whatever ?? (e.g better spark plugs, air filters etc etc)

 

[Nick Read]

A nitrous kit could be taken out in a couple of hours if you ever needed to give back the car and youd never know it had been there. Nothing else in the car needs to be changed either and itll still work.

Little mods wont really give you any power so not worth doing unless theyre part of an overall plan to do a lot of work.

 

[BenR]

you could do the panel filter, remove cat, yea nitro, lower it by a slight amount as they wont notice. All can be taken out quick..i.e. a day for all

 

[Dooz]

Thanks for the advice, Ive just read all the tuning guides on this site and it was really helpful for a beginner like me.
Sorry to bug, but Ive got a few more questions:
- I take it any filter element from Pipercross, Ramair, K&N etc will do the trick for the panel filter? Do you have any recommendations?
- Im a bit thick when it comes to cars but how do you remove the cat? do you need a whole new exhaust or an exhuast part which replaces the cat?
- nitro sounds really cool!! how much would it cost roughly?
- and finally, sorry for all the questions! will lowering it by a slight amount involve buying new springs AND shocks? and is 25mm a slight amount?

Hope that makes sense!!

 

[Fred@BTM]

The CAT you replace with a bypass pipe. Nitros is about £450ish, and you could get away with Eibach 35mm springs on your clio cos theyre black (like the standard ones) and once theyre covered in all the road dirt no ones going to notice. Theres no need to change the shocks unless you lower it more than 40mm

 

[Nick Read]

Nitrous will cost you a bit more than that, if you want it fitting youre probably looking at £700 to £800 all up. It doesnt really matter which brand of element you go for as long as its not a Renault one or an OEM replacement from a motor factor.

 

[BenR]

ramair have had the best results as they supply the german DTM cars with filters. and they run hooge V8s
get a ram air panel filter, and the eibachs and a cat pipe....sorted!

 

[Dooz]

Ok thanks! ramair, eibachs and a cat pipe it is then! Just looked at costs, just over £200 for the
parts. Lets hope the boss doesnt notice!

Am I right in thinking the cat pipe isnt exactly legal? and it could be removed (and put back on)
relatively easy if the car had to go to a garage for servicing and stuff like that?

 

[Nick Read]

Its perfectly legal, theres nothing to say you cant replace the cat on your car. However, if because of that, the Clio fails its emissions test, then obviously it has to go back on again. And really you shouldnt be driving around with no cat if it makes your car exceed the emissions limits the whole time between MOTs.

But thats like saying you should start taking the bus just cos you get a small chip in the windscreen with 6 months to go before MOT time.

 

[Dooz]

I dont think itll need an MOT for a couple of years (or is it 3?) being a new car.
So sounds like thats the best, and least detectable, option for me.

Thanks for the help.

ps the most ironic thing is that my job involves assessing air quality!!

 

[wallisj]

Do magnex make de-cat pipes for the new 172s?

Or has anyone else used any models?

Ta
J

 

[wallisj]

Also, is the ramair replacement filter element a DIY job?

Anyone care to post some simple instructions if so

Thanks
jamie