Here is the story so far of my naturally aspirated Clio 16v...
Stock Stats 1.8 16v F7P 137bhp 109ft/lb (Flywheel figures)
A little back ground. I have always liked these cars, the Williams especially but I wanted something that was abit different, I could use as a track tool and on road while keeping its original look (more of a sleeper in a way). As the 16v handling is pretty tight already, modifiying the suspension to suit is not really a coil over job for me. The GMax springs & dampers with torsion bar adjusted to approx 35-40mm is more than enough. Remembering that handling is as much about feedback as going around the corner fast imo. Exhaust system was a combination of magnex and scorpion keeping a more original look with a small backbox exit on the full system and the silenced decat helped remove most of the raspy sounds from running a less silenced system.
The car when I got it had a replacement engine fitted due to the old bottom end spinning a bearing and the plan was to fit the Williams engine that I had to the car which had 39,120miles on it (very low for these cars). Unfortunitly my 16v that I had bought had low oil pressure (0 Bar at 4,000rpm at 100*C) and started making the nasty death rattle on cold start and sounded abit tappy when hot. A closer inspection of the sump and a phone call to the previous owner confirmed a new sump was fitted with far too much silicon which blocked the oil picked and was starving the bearings etc of oil pressure. After cleaning out the pickup and fitting the sump correctly it got me through until I got aronud to fitting my williams engine 3month's later (if your going to buy a 16v or williams make sure oil pressure held is at least 3bar on cold start, 0.3bar on idle at 100*C and 3bar at 80*C at 3,500rpm these are my personal minimum figures from experience).
After talking to my friend Craig at APDevelopments.co.uk about increasing power, we determined that the best thing to do was Gas Flow & Port the cylinder head, run a set of (catcams 5502225 10.9mm lift 261* duration) camshafts with vernier pullies on maximum advance and a remap with good running gear. I then used the Renault 5 GT Turbo uprated clutch, JC5 reconditioned williams gearbox, Renault 19 front gearbox mount and a few other optional extras. The engine made 185bhp (161bhp at the wheels) and 165ft/lb was quite lively and lots of fun on track. A worthy conversion if you are aiming to gain a car which is alot of fun to drive and is capable of running a 13.9second qtr mile at around the 98mph figure.
After having the hybrid for around 8months, I decided to go for more power, capable of running a low 13second qtr with an ATB diff and slicks with terminals of around 105mph and once again a road car which I can use on track. For me the fun comes from racing. I call it sleeper thrills/non turbo thrills I hope you enjoy the rest of the project & thanks for reading...
Pictures when I bought it
Stock Stats 1.8 16v F7P 137bhp 109ft/lb (Flywheel figures)
A little back ground. I have always liked these cars, the Williams especially but I wanted something that was abit different, I could use as a track tool and on road while keeping its original look (more of a sleeper in a way). As the 16v handling is pretty tight already, modifiying the suspension to suit is not really a coil over job for me. The GMax springs & dampers with torsion bar adjusted to approx 35-40mm is more than enough. Remembering that handling is as much about feedback as going around the corner fast imo. Exhaust system was a combination of magnex and scorpion keeping a more original look with a small backbox exit on the full system and the silenced decat helped remove most of the raspy sounds from running a less silenced system.
The car when I got it had a replacement engine fitted due to the old bottom end spinning a bearing and the plan was to fit the Williams engine that I had to the car which had 39,120miles on it (very low for these cars). Unfortunitly my 16v that I had bought had low oil pressure (0 Bar at 4,000rpm at 100*C) and started making the nasty death rattle on cold start and sounded abit tappy when hot. A closer inspection of the sump and a phone call to the previous owner confirmed a new sump was fitted with far too much silicon which blocked the oil picked and was starving the bearings etc of oil pressure. After cleaning out the pickup and fitting the sump correctly it got me through until I got aronud to fitting my williams engine 3month's later (if your going to buy a 16v or williams make sure oil pressure held is at least 3bar on cold start, 0.3bar on idle at 100*C and 3bar at 80*C at 3,500rpm these are my personal minimum figures from experience).
After talking to my friend Craig at APDevelopments.co.uk about increasing power, we determined that the best thing to do was Gas Flow & Port the cylinder head, run a set of (catcams 5502225 10.9mm lift 261* duration) camshafts with vernier pullies on maximum advance and a remap with good running gear. I then used the Renault 5 GT Turbo uprated clutch, JC5 reconditioned williams gearbox, Renault 19 front gearbox mount and a few other optional extras. The engine made 185bhp (161bhp at the wheels) and 165ft/lb was quite lively and lots of fun on track. A worthy conversion if you are aiming to gain a car which is alot of fun to drive and is capable of running a 13.9second qtr mile at around the 98mph figure.
After having the hybrid for around 8months, I decided to go for more power, capable of running a low 13second qtr with an ATB diff and slicks with terminals of around 105mph and once again a road car which I can use on track. For me the fun comes from racing. I call it sleeper thrills/non turbo thrills I hope you enjoy the rest of the project & thanks for reading...
Pictures when I bought it
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