Ricardos Petrol Blue Supercharged 182 Project

[Craig.]

Pre forged engine, mine was making 260bhp & around 220lbs ft @ 0.5bar which is 7.2psi

 

[Ricardos]

Did you not consider getting RS tuning to map it on stanard ecu? Would've been even cheaper then surely?

Bet your a little excited to pick it up now

From day one it's always been my intention to achieve more power whilst trying to keep costs at a sensible level. The kit itself was a good price, a couple of hundred more to complete, yes remapping the stock ECU was the next step to keep costs down. The more we progressed into the build it soon became clear that yes admittedly it would be more expensive to go standalone but what we achieve in return would pay dividends in all ways in the long run.

 

[Craig.]

You'll only end up wanting more power anyway :evil: so you would have needed standalone in the future, just like Ive done.

 

[dmallett]

From day one it's always been my intention to achieve more power whilst trying to keep costs at a sensible level. The kit itself was a good price, a couple of hundred more to complete, yes remapping the stock ECU was the next step to keep costs down. The more we progressed into the build it soon became clear that yes admittedly it would be more expensive to go standalone but what we achieve in return would pay dividends in all ways in the long run.

Fair enough! I expect mapping to be better on standalone too

 

[DannyR]

It's not the torque that kills the bottom end, it's the amount of air blowing past the rings that does it.

That's why the PSI should be dropped. Mine at 10 PSI started breathing oil within a month.

 

[Tutuur]

this makes so little sense

 

[dmallett]

Nice to meet you tonight! Car looks/sounds great! Love how simple and standard the engine bay looks, almost like it rolled out of the factory like this!

Cant quite get my head round the colour as it seems to change so much, I took a random picture of it.

 

[Kyle 86]

Good to see ya again Rich. The PB is lovely mate :approve:

 

[barrythecat]

i had only seen pics of petrol blue and always liked it......now i have seen yours in the flesh,i'm in love with the colour,stunning up close

 

[Ricardos]

Saturday 31st May: D Day, picking up the Clio from Chris at EFI Parts.

So after 3 months from starting the conversion it's now time to pick up the Clio from EFI parts in Runcorn. 2 weeks ago I had the task of taking the Clio up to Runcorn to have the Adaptronic ECU wired into the OE loom and mapped with the supercharger, that was an early start and a 12 hour round trip. Saturday was no different, a 5am train from Southend to Liverpool St, the underground, and then the 7.07am train from London Euston to Runcorn arriving just after 9am. I had to kill a couple of hours as Chris wasn't open till 11am so I popped into Runcorn for a full English

Sitting in a Wetherspoons I'm contemplating what the whole supercharger experience was going to be like, since it was booked in this was pretty much on the back of my mind for the 2 weeks while it was at EFI. When Chris e-mailed me the power figures last Monday I was mildly excited about having the extra power, I mean who wouldn't be. On paper it's gained 70bhp and around 50ft/lbs torque, what's not to like about having that extra power. The all important question is what would the real time power actually feel like, yet again supercharged opposed to turbo which is where I've come from historically owning big boosted Renault 5s with T28 turbos and bags of torque.

Words to describe the power on first impression:

Progressive, pulls and pulls, weird, slightly underwhelming at first.

At EFI I did take it out for the first drive, the problem for me was I didn't want to go 'crazy' with something unknown, coupled with not knowing the local area I couldn't and didn't want to ring it's neck out within minutes of picking it up. Obviously this gave me no idea, also being a supercharger it performs completely different to a turbo. If it was turbo I would have felt the torque coming in even from the initial drive, I would have heard the surge on part throttle but with the charger you don't get any noise feedback. The car is noisy, you do hear a whistle noise from the charger as it spins but that's it.

Thoughts after that drive:

I've just spent thousands doing this, I'm not 100% convinced yet but know there must be more to this as I've not had the chance to really give it a go. Maybe the 234 mile drive home will give me more of a chance to open it up.

With that I paid the bill, headed to the nearest Shell petrol station and brimmed up with 98 V Power as it was mapped on that fuel. It cruises lovely at 70-77mph and can hear the charger whistle, the beauty of retaining the original ECU is keeping the OE luxuries such as cruise control so parts of the drive were on cruise. It keeps the refinement of driving like you’d be off boost if it was turbocharged when on the motorways or dual carriageway. When it comes into it’s own is full throttle in say 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] or 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] year, it just pulls really hard from low down and just keeps pulling. It then just stretches it’s legs and opens up and pulls as the revs climb.
It’s just weird, weird in hard to describe. A mate who’s had a supercharged Clio said to me you don’t get an idea of how quick it is until you come up against something that should be so much quicker but stays with it or beats it. He’s right, it does feel quick but I guess I’ll see how quick it is sooner or later.

Now it’s back I had to address the main problem which has been around for months but not dealt with as the conversion took up the time plus the car being away. Rear coilovers, knocking, diagnosed as leaking. As they’re under warranty I’m having them refurbed but needed a replacement set of dampers and springs to fit as a temporary replacement while the coilovers are away at Spax. After a couple of texts yesterday to TheEvilGiraffe he kindly donated me some dampers and springs he had spare. The dampers were in Harlow as he’d lent them to Dr Jekyll, I cheekily asked by text what were the chances of helping me fit them to which the reply was “yeah all good we’ll head up to Harlow Thursday and fit them”
So after work today I picked up Rob and we headed up to Harlow where Mark works to fit the dampers/springs. I have to say a really big thanks to Mark, Rob, and AlexW who turned up, between us all they were fitted along with having the exhaust realigned to sit in the recess so much better. The drive home was a lot smoother and felt a bit more confident in pushing the Clio a little bit more. Really appreciate the time spent on it tonight, now it’s ready for French Car Show this Saturday.

 

[Jekyll]

Nice write up there.

Happy to help Rich. As said, if you ever need me/my work place I'm always available

I heard you talking about it but wasn't paying too much attention as I didn't realise you was going FCS. We could of cleaned the inside of the wheels while it was up on the ramps

 

[Martin.]

Nice to hear your first thoughts. Keep us posted with how things feel and change as you get further into ownership mate.

And its good to hear about CS man love. Some good guys on here always happy to help others out.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Always welcome Rich

Big thanks to DrJ for his hospitality !!

Loved the car but I must be getting old as my ph1 is so quiet in comparison haha !!

It pulls well.. When you get some proper coilovers on I'll take you out for a blast from the passenger seat :evil:

 

[Christopher.]

Great write up mate. Il hunt for your car at FCS, have 2 petrol blue's together

 

[Mr R.]

Very happy for you mate, you've got the weather for doing a few miles in it to.

Can't wait to see it rich.

 

[AlexW]

Was a good evening, even if I was dishing out abuse and general bullshitting.

Will try and catch you tomorrow.

 

[Ricardos]

7 Days

707 miles

35.1 MPG average

So it's been a week since picking up the Clio, for some reason the supercharger feels much better the more miles I put on it. After the long drive back last Saturday (234 miles) it sat at home until Thursday when I drove it to work then up to Harlow with Rob to fit the temporary rear dampers and springs. This weekend I put another 320 odd miles driving to Swindon on the Friday then to French car Show today. The power feels great, it picks up so well, gains momentum really quickly it just puts a smile on my face now.

I had a right result too regarding the leaking Spax coilover. They were purchased from K Tec and are still under the Spax 2 year warranty so I took them with me with the invoice to FCS. I spoke to them today and they've kindly taken them off me at the show which has saved me the cost of sending them by courier so now they'll be sent to Spax to be refurbished/repaired. Hopefully the turnaround time won't be too long.

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

 

[incy-spider]

Really like this!!

 

[Mr R.]

Very, very nice indeed mate.

 

[Ricardos]

Thanks Scott and Incey, it's such a hoot to drive. You treat it as a daily but know when you press on when needed it's right there. The breather filter I ordered has been delivered so I can sort that out, and when I hit 1k miles after the conversion I'll give it an oil and filter change again.

 

[Matt@codered]

Lovely car that!

 

[Ricardos]

Lovely car that!

Cheers Matt, are you back in Kent now?

 

[Matt@codered]

At the moment mate yes, but we move from our house on the 20th.

 

[Stefan.]

so so nice!!!

 

[Jekyll]

Good to hear Rich. How's that exhaust? Still lined up ok?

 

[Ricardos]

Good to hear Rich. How's that exhaust? Still lined up ok?

The exhaust is still looking good after those inserts were fitted, spot on Mark

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

The exhaust is still looking good after those inserts were fitted, spot on Mark

Engineering genius at work.. oh, and Mark too.

 

[Ricardos]

Another small job I did on the breather filter for the hose that comes off the inlet, I don't like the chrome so I primed and VHT painted it.

IMG_1509 by Ricard o1, on Flickr

IMG_1515 by Ricard o1, on Flickr

IMG_1516 by Ricard o1, on Flickr

IMG_1516 by Ricard o1, on Flickr

IMG_1522 by Ricard o1, on Flickr

 

[Tutuur]

Was lovely having a chat again mate! Car looked great!

 

[Cub.]

I saw this at FCS, tucked away near the R5s. Was lovely, and so subtle (even with the RRoad readout on the dash)

Interesting to read about the experience with the 'charger so thanks for detailing it. I am hoping to charge mine at some point. In a way, it appeals more to me that you've said it doesn't act anything like a turbo in terms of power delivery, as I'm seeking the same power delivery as an N/A as it is what I am used to on track, just more power. If that makes sense?

I love PB, and this is a corker of a car

 

[Jekyll]

The exhaust is still looking good after those inserts were fitted, spot on Mark

Engineering genius at work.. oh, and Mark too.

:clown:

 

[Ricardos]

I saw this at FCS, tucked away near the R5s. Was lovely, and so subtle (even with the RRoad readout on the dash)

Interesting to read about the experience with the 'charger so thanks for detailing it. I am hoping to charge mine at some point. In a way, it appeals more to me that you've said it doesn't act anything like a turbo in terms of power delivery, as I'm seeking the same power delivery as an N/A as it is what I am used to on track, just more power. If that makes sense?

I love PB, and this is a corker of a car

Thanks Cub. The more I think about it the more I love the fact I've done it for so many reasons. It can be driven everyday like it's never been converted but know it's there instantly when I put my foot down, and does it very quickly but progressively. It's a 2nd car to me, I've not driven it since FCS and probably won't until the weekend but even then I won't go out of way to go mad in it. I'd really like to book an evening or daytime trackday to see how it performs against other cars.

I treat it like it's never been done, sounds silly but when modifying a car with (on paper) that much more power paranoia tends to set in. Reliability issues being the main concern. For some reason the supercharger doesn't give me any cause for concern where as the turbocharger conversion would. With the charger you don't have to deal with the exhaust side, so looking at the list below that's 5 potential scenarios with the turbocharger that could go wrong you won't have to worry about. I'm not here to scaremonger or put people off turbocharging, everything I've listed below is my personal opinion and what went through my mind when making the decision which way I should go.


No turbo exhaust manifold
No downpipe change
Turbo bolted at the back (ease of access)
Heat issues from the turbo
Turbo oil and return feeds (potential leaks)
Progressive power and torque better for gearbox and clutch


With this supercharger kit it feels like something Renault could have done from the off, coupled with everything under the bonnet it IMO looks as OE as it can be. I think you'd have to look a couple of times to soon realise there's something different about the engine bay, from day one it was always my aim to keep things as 'factory OE' looking and stealth looking as possible

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

 

[Ricardos]

So, just to recap I have the full Spax coilover setup on the PB, the rear damper unit was leaking so I had them taken off last Thursday and replaced with a temporary spring and damper setup. They were then sent to Spax on Monday and assumed they'd just rebuild the old units, so I was pleasantly surprised on two counts 1: They arrived today 2: They've sent me 2 brand new rear dampers.

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

. by Ricard o1, on Flickr

 

[incy-spider]

Result!!

 

[tomhunt85]

Can't fault that

 

[Ricardos]

Well worth keeping hold of the invoices when you buy parts, Spax have a 2 year warranty and have to say they've gone above what I was expecting in terms of customer service

 

[AlexW]

Epicness!

Now, fit those with less hassle eh?

 

[Ricardos]

Epicness!

Now, fit those with less hassle eh?

A straightforward fit I then need to reset the damper stiffness and ride height, I should have measured the clicks and the thread adjuster on the old units before they went away as it felt pretty stable before they failed. It was all set up properly by the previous owner so now I'm thinking I'll have the geo sorted front and rear

 

[AlexW]

Slam it, you can feel like 17 again.

Ride height will be easy enough, damper adjustment won't be so easy.

Would be good to get it setup properly though, Rear will more than likely be out on camber/toe.

 

[Jekyll]

Result mate! We was saying it would be a result if they just gave you new ones, perhaps they were listening to us!