Trackday Car Advice & Info

[RTS Motorsport]

Hi all

Im after some opinions & advice on a trackday car im hoping to start putting together. My initial thought are to base it on a 197. I must stress that the car wont see a public highway. Track only. It will be based upon a complete blank canvas with essentially the whole car being rebuilt. I dont want to have to worry about the dreaded rot or rust however so in terms of the body work, this will remain untouched

Positive & Negative comments welcomed and encouraged

Thanks in advance

 

[NJH]

197 looks a fantastic base for a track car IMHO. Having been through the ground up build of a race car I would say the areas that are well worth while investing time and money in are the cage, suspension and final setup when its all built i.e. corner weighting, damper setup, geo etc. Unless the rules of a particular championship dictate the cage installation I would also always weld in the cage with full bracing on A and B posts of the car and as tight as possible to the shell. This makes a big difference to the cars stiffness. Mine is welded in 13 places. Suspension has caused me a lot of pain. I have GAZ remote reservoir 2 ways on mine but the front left strut blew 3 times and is currently leaking,,,,again. Stuff like AST, Nitron, Ohlins etc. is expensive but no way I am putting cheapo coilovers on a car again, just to much grief.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

NJH....a man who speaks my language!!

All you mention is exactly the route i will be taking. I built my last car and competed in the MLR Sprint Series and time attack, so no stones were left un-turned. The engine will be the last thing to be touched with the chassis and brakes being the first. Looking at a 197, i think plenty of weight can be saved. From the simple to obvious, to the not so obvious and almost pointless. Many dont realise that by removing weight your ultimately releasing free hp. Just remove the rear seats and door cards is not weight reduction..

Coilovers will be without doubt Nitron 3 way. Fantastic piece of kit with fantastic customer service

 

[andybond]

I think the budget willl also determine which route you might take ?

If its a crackers buget , buy a x85 clio cup racecar shell , with sadev box. That will be crackers quick , or put the meg 250 engine in the clio and seam weld the chassis. The coilvers etc are standard trackday upgrades.

I really rated the meg as a drivers car , more so than the clios I had driven. The clio 172 however is a very good steer , but I would be wanting boost in one.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

A built meg engine will be a must, but i want to look into the cooling issues people mention before i would commit to the conversion. Their are a few tricks to try which i havent seen mentioned so maybe an answer to the problem in that.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Budget wise....not too bonkers. I like to evolve a car and feel the improvements with each stage of progression. It will also be built over a period of time with a build as i earn approach rather than open chequebook approach which has been the norm in previous years.

 

[andybond]

I am a believer in the sadev sequential boxes. I saw one at coombe a few years back and the speed it could shift and blat through the box was incredible.

I believe the clio / f4r 774 cooling issues are down to a too small rad for the engine. The meg runs warm as standard ! I reckon a decent custom rad would cure it.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

A decent rad, cooler thermostat, oil cooler will all help. Custom rad would be my first call. Look at the possibility of a double pass or thicker job. I would also look to have the intercooler done at the same time and see whether we could develop the 2 to work in unison.

 

[andybond]

I wouldnt fanny around with the stat tbh. Engine is designed to run at a temp. Used to be a bodge on the 5 gt turbos that. Generally just maked the issue though.

I know a very competent engineering company should you need any assistance.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Spot on Andy. A sequential box would be nice, but at circa £6k unlikely unless a good used one became available.

The gearbox would be stripped cryo treated and superfinished to add the extra strength. Those treatments done correctly along with a box built correctly with tight tolerances should be more than capable. Quaiffe diff. Job done

 

[andybond]

The other snag with the sadev box is it cant take much torque. Even a mild tune on a meg engine will blow it to smitherines.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Sequential boxes arent really designed for big bhp applications

 

[andybond]

Oh I dunno. I think the sadev box is designed for its requirements..

 

[NJH]

How many hours are the Sadev boxes good for these days? This is the one area that has always worried me about sequential boxes don't forget they are also banned in many parts of club level circuit racing. No doubt about it though you gain a lot of lap time, a mate of mine did a session in a Porsche 997 cup car, he told me he was amazed how smooth it was on up shifts just seamless continuous acceleration. That car required perfect heel and toe downshifts though.

Paul@ Tech-1 in Poole told me last week he has done 21 Meg-Clio conversions now, 14 when he was at K-tec and 7 since leaving. The couple I have seen had extra vents added to the bonnet but I couldn't tell what else he does or has picked up along the way. Its a big part of why I decided not to bother going down the crazy root with my R26, just not worth it when 197s are so cheap and 225 Megs can also be found really cheap, potentially buy both cars for the price of a nice R26. Definitely in the back of my mind though for a future project.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Anybody know of any mot failure 197's in need of some love?

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Seen a few 197's on ebay for £3500...reckon i could get for £3k. Anything about even cheaper?

 

[andybond]

You know about the dodgy box on the 197?

 

[RTS Motorsport]

I do now lol. What should i be looking for? Had an old clio 16v years ago and that had a tendancy to spit the circlip out

 

[andybond]

Synchromesh failure either on 2nd or more common 3rd gear. Bugger to engage and crunches.

 

[RTS Motorsport]

Ok bud cheers. Noticable more at high or low rpm? Any simple fixes or is it a case of a different box?