It's been a while!
18 months on, and a fair amount of chance since, car is looking and driving significantly better than it was.
As I'm sure I've mentioned above, the plan with the new engine was to retain all of the things like standard inlet, throttle body, AC, PAS, to retain cruise control and creature comforts and just turn things up a bit over the standard car. I wanted it to be reliable and solid, and just be trackday and abuse proof. I think the end result is really cool, a 197/182 hybrid with some aftermarket parts and little modifications removing all of the faults or weaknesses with the standard engine.
So, the new engine: 197 Cams, 197 Pistons, Magneti Marelli IWP043 330cc injectors, matched inlets, headwork, Supertech valves, ARP rod bolts, woodruff key in crank pulley, oil pump mod, block honed, all new bearings, crank polished and balanced, 3 prong spark plugs, new genuine coil pack, new belt kit, new water pump, Magnecor red leads, MTC silicone coolant hoses, new Expansion tank, everything painted in fresh cast aluminium finish and satin black paint, and some 197 black rocker cover and inlet bolts as a nod to the 197 hybrid spec.
Other tidy up bits include: painting back wall of the engine bay, painting ECU cover with non-snapped bracket, painting other brackets, painting battery tray, painting gearbox and end cover, new fuse box with clips in tact, all new silver jubilee clips, painting front bumper grilles.
Also, a new gearbox,
@JamesBryan's old one. I'd had this for a while with plans to rebuild it when the time came for an LSD, but decided to put this in as-is while I had the opportunity because mine was whining and crunching so badly I doubted it would survive another trackday.
Build done by
@bloke, as was the idea for this hybrid spec beyond just 197 Cams. Credit to Carl's knowledge and expertise that all of this worked perfectly since at the time of this build this was the first car of this specific spec. And the engine has been faultless for 13,000 miles since completion!
To begin with, Engine bay was given a thorough clean and then the back wall of the engine bay, which is usually hidden by sound deadening, was given a coat of Black Gold paint, it's a satin non-clear coated finish from factory, so this glossy finish should be a nice touch since I'm leaving this exposed!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
All of the bits for blasting were all assembled, inlets were looking pretty grubby!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
All done.
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Niall97, on Flickr
Painting then commenced on the engine, gearbox and other bits.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
Can really see the cast aluminium finish to paint on the rocker cover here.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
Painted, and unpainted grilles, much fresher!
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Niall97, on Flickr
Sump, engine mount and other looking fresh after paint!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
Everything done.
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Niall97, on Flickr
Now for some bits.
197 Cams.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
Supertech Valves.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
197 Pistons in the block, anybody who knows what a 182 piston looks like can see how much extra compression these will give with that raised area.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
ARP rod bolts.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
MTC silicone coolant pipes, much nicer than the tired OEM ones.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
Magnecor red leads.
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Niall97, on Flickr
Head came back from the headwork, valves in also.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
All assembled and looking very fresh!
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Niall97, on Flickr
Mounted.
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Niall97, on Flickr
And the finished article! Looking perfect. A blend of fresh OEM finish and some aftermarket & OEM+ upgrades, and subtle changes.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
Oh and one last addition, a PMS shifter. Managed to grab a silver one to match the other silver parts nicely too. I'd pined for one of these for ages after trying the one in Carl's old 172. Should complement the much better condition box nicely. These things transform the driving experience of these cars along side a smaller steering wheel and lower seat. A perfect trio of mods to correct three of the main problems with the standard Clio driving experience!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
Worth mentioning here, Carl ran the car in for me and put a couple of hundred miles on it before we took it to EFI where the run in would be completed on the rollers before an oil change on the day.
The big day, mapping at EFI, it was time to see what the hybrid 197 spec delivered!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
201hp and 172lb-ft. Super happy with that. AC and PAS still in place too. I wanted to break that 200hp barrier just because, but that extra 20lb-ft or so of torque over standard means it pulls really nicely. It's essentially the standard graph just more everywhere! But goes to show that those pistons and headwork gives another 5-10hp over just 197 cams potentially.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
First drive afterwards and wow, it pulls really hard now. I always thought my old engine felt down on torque compared to a friend's standard 182, so this feels night and day. Gets going nicely under 5k, then pulls very hard from 5k onwards and doesn't feel wheezy right up near the limiter either. A very exciting drive with the extra punch!
Some quick pics just because 🥵
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
Also decided to replace the Renaultsport badge with a 197 generation one, looks much more modern and fresh, also a little nod to the 197 hybrid spec of the engine!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
Also a KillAllWipers delete kit made by my friend Dan who runs KillAllWipers, a much slicker solution than Renault's weird half moon plastic wiper trim.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
Back end looking much neater and fresher!
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
And the first big test for the new engine. Oulton Park. Should be a good test, I know the circuit very well and have a very good idea of how a Clio feels around here, so should be a good comparison for the increased power.
BG 182 by
Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
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Niall97, on Flickr
The car performed amazingly. It'd been a while since I'd been to Oulton and the car had a number of new bits such as the Whiteline ARB, seats, steering wheel, PMS shifter, and not to mention the new engine.
The extra torque for getting out of the slower corners like Shell Oils, the chicanes and Lodge was great, I was able to use 3rd instead of 2nd which would've been painful previously. Just that extra bit of pull was really nice too, some added excitement over the standard car. Also it was definitely quicker, as you can see in a video below, stuck to the back of a 220hp stripped and properly setup EP3. So that 20hp makes a decent difference to a 1025kg car!
A flyby on the pit wall, induction sounding aggressive with that higher compression and the cams!
This is very cool too, SSTV Trackday Video were there that day, pretty cool to see a Gran Turisimo playback-esque video from outside the car!