what you can do to a 1.2 clio?

[Martin_172]

lack of ambition in this thread.

tce turbo swap, few goodies, 130bhp, set of coilovers, 172 front brakes, keep it standard looking.


thats what id be doing if i was 17 again, unfortunately there wasnt much i could do to my engine at that age and had to settle for 82bhp! lol

 

[olliewebbuk]

The only way the OPs car will be improved is if he drives it off a cliff.

 

[pendulumx]

The response is always the same sadly when somebody asks this question. "save for a better car" etc. This irritates me. Being a 1.2 16v owner, and knowing full well it's going to be between 1 and 2 years before I can afford my next motor, I have wondered how to get more power. It isn't pointless, and spending money isn't a waste.

I don't understand your logic at all. If you're saving up and it'll be between 1 and 2 years before you can get the car you want, what's the point spending hundreds on mods (for no worthwhile gain) and hundreds again on insurance hikes after declaring the mods (you are going to declare them, right?) when you can just save that money and get the car you want much quicker.

Your suggestion to service the car is good, but I would not call this a way to get 'extra' power, it is just a way to ensure the car keeps performing as a standard car should.

 

[/Jim]

I agree, no "extra" power no, but it certainly will bring any bhp figures back closer to what it had the day it left the factory.

It's not about saving money fast though is it. My plan is i'm saving for a black Ep3 Type R. I could save the money for that in less time than two years, if I devoted more money to saving, however the insurance on a 2ltr v-tec monster is going to be about 2.5 / 3k at my age. If I wait until i'm 21, or even 25, it'll be much less, especially with more NCB.

So saving a hundred or two each month and spending a couple hundred in total on my clio / his clio really isn't going to waste. SOmeone mentioned previously that he upgraded bushes/suspension by 35mm and good tyres, and it handled like a demon. Then said that they regretted spending the money and should have gone on holiday. Really? Should you be on a Clio owners site with the general subject being modifying with a mindset like that?

The main thing is the lad is enjoying it very much and is very excited about all these mods, and is asking for any other/better ideas from more experienced people. He's not a troll. It's a learning experience. I may well be back on this forum in years to come pleading with 18 year olds to save their money. For now, let's get back on topic.

Lower it with your coilovers 30-50mm
Get good Tyres
Good and regular service
Upgrade the anti roll bushes

I'd stay clear of the remap.. As mentioned a lot of money for less than 10hp. The DCI route looks like the best idea out there as said above! Very eco, cheap tax, win win!

 

[Freeman_1986]

OP, Why do u put an explanation mark after every time u say slammed, even in mid sentence :/

 

[Craigus]

I agree, no "extra" power no, but it certainly will bring any bhp figures back closer to what it had the day it left the factory.

It's not about saving money fast though is it. My plan is i'm saving for a black Ep3 Type R. I could save the money for that in less time than two years, if I devoted more money to saving, however the insurance on a 2ltr v-tec monster is going to be about 2.5 / 3k at my age. If I wait until i'm 21, or even 25, it'll be much less, especially with more NCB.

So saving a hundred or two each month and spending a couple hundred in total on my clio / his clio really isn't going to waste. SOmeone mentioned previously that he upgraded bushes/suspension by 35mm and good tyres, and it handled like a demon. Then said that they regretted spending the money and should have gone on holiday. Really? Should you be on a Clio owners site with the general subject being modifying with a mindset like that?

The main thing is the lad is enjoying it very much and is very excited about all these mods, and is asking for any other/better ideas from more experienced people. He's not a troll. It's a learning experience. I may well be back on this forum in years to come pleading with 18 year olds to save their money. For now, let's get back on topic.

Lower it with your coilovers 30-50mm
Get good Tyres
Good and regular service
Upgrade the anti roll bushes

I'd stay clear of the remap.. As mentioned a lot of money for less than 10hp. The DCI route looks like the best idea out there as said above! Very eco, cheap tax, win win!

Is it?

Besides having a little moan, you have basically agreed with what we have said.

 

[/Jim]

I have taken on board what has been said, dropped the opposite side of the argument "Spend nothing / Save every last penny for something faster", and tried to summarise it all and get it back on topic. There are plenty of replica 1.2s that look absolutely mint and they are very reputable members. This is my last post debating about it.

 

[rampantreaper]

To be honest having been there myself all young drivers should be made to drive gutless wonders because you're the reason insurance costs are what they are. And I bet you will forget to tell the insurance. Leave it alone and upgrade it with a 1.4 when you can.lol

 

[NinjaGutz]

To be honest having been there myself all young drivers should be made to drive gutless wonders because you're the reason insurance costs are what they are. And I bet you will forget to tell the insurance. Leave it alone and upgrade it with a 1.4 when you can.lol

Not necessary true, the reason insurance for everyone is high is becasue a select few drive with no insurance or partake in cash for crash scams..

 

[Kane.]

The only thing I bought on my 1.2 was an RS grill and decent tyres, looked smart as it was tbh.

 

[domjolly]

Only thing I did to my 1.2 was to lower it and slap a decent set of wheels and tyres on it that made it more fun to drive as you never really had to slow sown through corners as it could never go near the legal limits lol.

 

[Tomas]

You aren't listening to anything we are saying are you?

ofcourse.....Just all am saying is round my area not many has them round here...but I will see what else would suite the look am going for but am not taking the Pro Race's of the list just let

 

[Tomas]

OP, Why do u put an explanation mark after every time u say slammed, even in mid sentence :/

what does OP mean?? and I dont know haha I guess its just to get my point across

 

[Tomas]

The only thing I bought on my 1.2 was an RS grill and decent tyres, looked smart as it was tbh.

Looks nice , just spray wheels black maybe some tints and get some coilovers...sorted

 

[Craigus]

ofcourse.....Just all am saying is round my area not many has them round here...but I will see what else would suite the look am going for but am not taking the Pro Race's of the list just let

I didn't mean the wheel choice. I meant budget tyres. You will have much more fun if you splash out on some decent rubber, and it might just save your ass a few times.

 

[is1]

Looks nice , just spray wheels black maybe some tints and get some coilovers...sorted

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. Why would you want to paint the wheels black? You'll lose all the detail in the wheel, there will be no contrast between the body and the wheels and it will look like you have no alloys at all or worse, hubcaps.
As for tints, again, why?

I try to resist posting on these threads for as long as I can but then I give in and take to the keyboard.
That car is perfect as it is.

 

[Tomas]

I didn't mean the wheel choice. I meant budget tyres. You will have much more fun if you splash out on some decent rubber, and it might just save your ass a few times.

Oh right....well I will wait and see if I can afford decent tyres like the Parada 2s I will but if not it'll be budget tyres for a while

 

[Tomas]

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. Why would you want to paint the wheels black? You'll lose all the detail in the wheel, there will be no contrast between the body and the wheels and it will look like you have no alloys at all or worse, hubcaps.
As for tints, again, why?

I try to resist posting on these threads for as long as I can but then I give in and take to the keyboard.
That car is perfect as it is.

Its a perfect example of a standard clio...when I say tints a dont mean limo tint just a light smoke or whatever ive got limo on mine but its personal choice...as for the wheels I agree black would lose all wheel of the wheel

 

[Craigus]

Oh right....well I will wait and see if I can afford decent tyres like the Parada 2s I will but if not it'll be budget tyres for a while

Fair enough, but when it is the only thing keeping you on the road and out of a ditch, why would skimp and buy something cheap?

 

[Tomas]

Fair enough, but when it is the only thing keeping you on the road and out of a ditch, why would skimp and buy something cheap?

Yeah I see exactly where your coming from....right lets just say a pay £300quid for Pro Race 1.2s if I where to get some Parada 2's they'd set me back around £180-200quid...I will probalaly get a decent tyres dont worry dude haha

 

[NinjaGutz]

Fair enough, but when it is the only thing keeping you on the road and out of a ditch, why would skimp and buy something cheap?

For sidewayzzz of course

 

[stephen chadwick]

had pro race 1.2 in silver on my black 1.2 16v and loved them never seen another clio down my way with them on. the 'Chavs' normaly have burgerking wheels or wolfrace

 

[Caekii]

On my old 1.2 (Grande) I bought a set of 17" alloys with decent tyres to replace the cheap an nasty steelie / hub cap combination it came from the dealer I bought it from with and left it at that. Had loads of fun with it and then moved on up to the 1.4(S) about a year later adding exhaust, springs and better alloys & rubber and enjoyed that even more.From my experience I wouldnt bother with anything more than servicing and possibly a decent set of wheels and rubber on a 1.2, engine / power wise it wont make a massively noticable bit of difference I'd imagine.

 

[Tomas]

had pro race 1.2 in silver on my black 1.2 16v and loved them never seen another clio down my way with them on. the 'Chavs' normaly have burgerking wheels or wolfrace

yeah all the chav's I see are mostly on wolfrace's, Ive seen the Pro Race 1.2s in silver they look good but for me it has to be black haha

 

[is1]

Silver wheels on a black car, lovely. Nothing wrong with a wheel change if you hold on to the standard wheels.
However, putting cheap tyres on a new set of wheels for cost reasons is just bizarre.
Decent tyres can make a poor car seem good, poor tyres can make a brilliant car seem awful. I know we're not talking supercars but decent tyres will improve braking (without a brake upgrade!), steering feel and response, turn in, grip off the line, ability to "carry" speed, fuel economy ...
What other "mod" can do that?
To put wheels before tyres is mad.

 

[olliewebbuk]

The OP is a lost cause. It's fine though, because he'll soon barrel roll his heap of s**t through a primary school and write it off any way. Purely down to his superb role as an amateur chassis engineer.

 

[Tomas]

The OP is a lost cause. It's fine though, because he'll soon barrel roll his heap of s**t through a primary school and write it off any way. Purely down to his superb role as an amateur chassis engineer.

what the f**k you on about? shut the f**k up with these stupid comments barrel rolling my heap of sh*t thru a primary school! if anyone is going to barrel roll anyway itll be you in ya heap of sh*t 172!

 

[stephen chadwick]

close thread me thinks !

 

[Tomas]

close thread me thinks !

Why close thread? still good to keep open to here different people opinions and all you always get the odd c**t wherever you go dont ya!

 

[olliewebbuk]

what the f**k you on about? shut the f**k up with these stupid comments barrel rolling my heap of sh*t thru a primary school! if anyone is going to barrel roll anyway itll be you in ya heap of sh*t 172!

LOL! Ok pal.

 

[Tomas]

right so what am thinking of doing to help the performance and the engine is:
-KN 57i Induction Kit (anyone recommend these)
-Cold Air Feeds (I know wont see any real gain in BHP but still will help in some ways)

Thats all am thinking of doing wont see a huge gain in BHP I know but will help a lot lot more.....Just a little story...Few days ago I was sat at the red lights and what pulled up next to me was a corsa 1.2 sxi 2004 plate , now am not all that up on racing as its only a 1.2 clio so a dont bother but a thought lets give it a shot! the lad might of had remap/air filters etc...but it shot off a lot quicker than a did a did slowly catch up but this corsa was an 04 so might of just been with it being a more newer engine with some little idiot behind the wheel....but end of story a pulled of the dual carriage way and went where a was going but it did make me think a bit more about what can be done to 1.2 engines to help performance

 

[is1]

right so what am thinking of doing to help the performance and the engine is:
-KN 57i Induction Kit (anyone recommend these)
-Cold Air Feeds (I know wont see any real gain in BHP but still will help in some ways)

Thats all am thinking of doing wont see a huge gain in BHP I know but will help a lot lot more.....Just a little story...Few days ago I was sat at the red lights and what pulled up next to me was a corsa 1.2 sxi 2004 plate , now am not all that up on racing as its only a 1.2 clio so a dont bother but a thought lets give it a shot! the lad might of had remap/air filters etc...but it shot off a lot quicker than a did a did slowly catch up but this corsa was an 04 so might of just been with it being a more newer engine with some little idiot behind the wheel....but end of story a pulled of the dual carriage way and went where a was going but it did make me think a bit more about what can be done to 1.2 engines to help performance

LOL. He probably had a decent set of tyres and got off the line better ;-)

 

[Craigus]

IT WILL NOT HELP. IT WILL MAKE IT WORSE AS YOU WILL GET HEATSOAK.

How many times? Induction kits do not help with BHP on an engine like yours. Cold air feeds are pointless as well.

EDIT: As for your little story, he probably didn't have s**t tyres.

 

[SC03OTT]

Buy 2 of these: http://www.akamoto.co.uk/electric-supercharger.asp#

 

[Tomas]

LOL. He probably had a decent set of tyres and got off the line better ;-)

they where just standard tyres on the sxi rim, and we both got off the line roughly the same but he seemed to just pull away haha

 

[Tomas]

IT WILL NOT HELP. IT WILL MAKE IT WORSE AS YOU WILL GET HEATSOAK.

How many times? Induction kits do not help with BHP on an engine like yours. Cold air feeds are pointless as well.

EDIT: As for your little story, he probably didn't have s**t tyres.

Heaksoak??

 

[is1]

Heaksoak??

No, heatsoak. It means the open filter will just suck in more hot air from the engine bay. Cold air is better than hot air for combustion.
Thus, an IK may make the car produce less power as the engine is taking in hot, less dense air.

 

[Tomas]

No, heatsoak. It means the open filter will just suck in more hot air from the engine bay. Cold air is better than hot air for combustion.
Thus, an IK may make the car produce less power as the engine is taking in hot, less dense air.

yeah , ive heard that before and different forums etc etc so what would you recommend?

 

[is1]

Ultimately, leave it as it is.
If you must, a straight replacement panel which stays within the original airbox (say, K&N) can give a slight improvement in noise and throttle response and is far cheaper.
Needs to be cleaned now and then though.

 

[Tomas]

Ultimately, leave it as it is.
If you must, a straight replacement panel which stays within the original airbox (say, K&N) can give a slight improvement in noise and throttle response and is far cheaper.
Needs to be cleaned now and then though.

Thanks for advice! in a way speed doesn't really bother me...with me getting it slammed on coilovers it seems pointless tuning the engine if you cant go 2minutes without hitting another row of speed bumps but its on the motorways where speed effects me the most but being honest am hardly ever on them , but yeah thanks for the advice