Trophy modifications?

[marky-p]

Hi all.

I'm seriously thinking about buying a Trophy in the next couple of months or so when the cash comes through and have a few questions. As always, after getting used to a car we start craving more power, however, with this car I don't think I'd go as far as increasing engine capacity or turbocharging to avoid spending ridiculous money.
What do you guys think of this modest list of mods and what companies would you recommend?

1) remapped ecu
2) induction kit
3) sports exhaust
4) high-lift cams
5) throttle bodies?

Any other suggestions?

Cheers!

 

[OliS]

Hi Mark,

I'm in the situation of craving more power at the moment, and my short list is pretty similar to yours. I am planning to do the mods in two stages -

First stage

Exhaust incl sports cat - The one at the top of my list is Orbisoud. 7MAT posted some info about it recently - http://cliotrophy.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=727
Induction Kit - I reckon ITG have got the best IK on the market - http://www.itgairfilters.com/maxogensys ... ogen&ID=19
Remapped ECU - A company called Fastchip do a couple of remapped ECU's, one for std and one for use with the two mods above. Nik recently fitted the std version - http://cliotrophy.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=855

Second stage

Cams, headwork, throttle bodies, programable ECU - but this is a long way off yet so I don't have any real defined ideas about what I will do.

Good websites/companies to check out -
http://www.yozzasport.co.uk/store/index.php
http://www.hillpower.co.uk/
http://www.bbperformancetuning.co.uk/
http://www.k-tecracing.com/

 

[iain_c]

id just do filter zaust and remap. Any more and your looking at ££££.
If you crave more speed just buy a faster car :?

 

[Neophyte]

Hi Mark,

I'm in the situation of craving more power at the moment, and my short list is pretty similar to yours. I am planning to do the mods in two stages -

First stage

Exhaust incl sports cat - The one at the top of my list is Orbisoud. 7MAT posted some info about it recently - http://cliotrophy.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=727
Induction Kit - I reckon ITG have got the best IK on the market - http://www.itgairfilters.com/maxogensys ... ogen&ID=19
Remapped ECU - A company called Fastchip do a couple of remapped ECU's, one for std and one for use with the two mods above. Nik recently fitted the std version - http://cliotrophy.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=855
...

Interesting post, thanks. Reading this forum is giving rise to lots of expensive ideas! Today saw me order new front bulbs (H1, H7, W5W & PY21W), CG lock and wiper stalk; but an ecu mod....

 

[marky-p]

olis,

How much do you think you'll spend in the end?

 

[Gary G]

Oli, you forgot GDI lol :wink:

 

[OliS]

Sorry Gary, did not realise the website had been set up now, looks great btw!

Guys, make sure you check out - http://www.greydevilindustries.com/

As for cost, the first stage alone is going to end up at about £1500, second stage, well it probably ain't worth thinking about right now!

 

[Gary G]

No way near finished and it only went live yesterday!!! Bear with us, its only going to get better 8)

 

[Nik]

Nice site

 

[Gary G]

Cheers dude 8)

 

[George K]

As a new comer to the Clio world I have spent the last few months trying to assess the priorities. If, after a season, I decide that more power is needed (and who wouldn’t) and I can see a respite in work on the house (old properties are unfortunately like the Forth Bridge) then my inclination is to go for:

Stage 1: Modified inlet manifold and Re-map
Stage 2: Cams.

The rationale behind this approach is:

The inlet manifold seems to be a well documented restriction (rather like the weakest link in the chain) and is quite a poor design, so anything that can be done to improve it must be worthwhile. The main sources are Ben Rushworth of Angel-Works or Nick Hill of Hillpower.

A re-map is essential to optimise the engine for the change in air-flow. The advice that I have received is to go for a good re-map (not sure where yet) as this will retain all the sophistication of the standard ECU and will deal with ignition and fuelling both below 4,000 and above where the engine runs open-loop. Apparently the piggy-back will not do all of this. The option of going for an alternative ECU is probably un-necessarily expensive for the mods that I am contemplating and does bring with it quite a lot of issues in terms of cold start, low speed drivability and emissions – it however would be essential for throttle bodies.

Cams; the Angel-Works cams have much greater lift than standard without going to excessive duration and appear to give a major increase in mid range torque. The Clio weighs about 1,070 kilos and so a nice fat torque curve will translate into lots of usable power where it is needed. Just see how low your revs really drop in the slow and mid-speed corners and you will see what I mean. I do not have the lift and duration details for the Piper cams, but suspect that they will not have so much lift – to achieve this the Angel-Works cams are made from new billets – hence are expensive.

As far as inlet and exhaust is concerned, my personal preference is to keep the car as quiet as possible. From an embarrassingly long career of modifying with cars I have come to the conclusion that the gains are more in perception than in reality. It is interesting to look at the pressure drops along a standard inlet system and normally that across the air box is the smallest problem. Looking at the Trophy it would seem that the most obvious restriction is that the flexible pipe into the airbox is smaller than the diameter of the throttle body (this is often the case as it is intended to cancel out the effect of a dirty filter). I know that there is a valve in this pipe just under the n/s headlamp, which is either there to reduce drive-by induction noise or to help mid range torque, but have yet to take it all apart to have a good look. My gut feel is to make up a bigger feed, ensuring that it has good supply of cold air. There is every chance that this change will make the engine run weak and so a re-map would be indicated.

I have yet to discover the benefits of head-work or where this fits into the scheme of things – it will all depend on the standard flow rates. To get a good job done will be expensive and will need someone who has already or can do proper flow testing.

Throttle bodies are of course the ultimate way to go, but to get a good set up will be expensive (and as I said above will need a new management system) and are probably only really relevant if going for a much more ambitious state of tune and are aiming for 225 plus bhp. Then you might as well buy a different car.

 

[Gary G]

You are spot on in my opinion George

...FYI Ben has a very swish looking flow bench, think its a SuperFlow from the states or something. I'm not very well informed with regards to how well the OE head flows but I'm sure Ben would be able to fill you in.

 

[7MAT]

Gary

I'm interested in knowing more about the inlet manifold porting.

How long does the work take, do you have any ported manifolds in stock that could be swapped over on an exchange basis?

 

[marky-p]

Wow.....looks like I need to really do some research on modding!
You know, the main reasons I'm aiming for a Trophy are:

1) It being the top Evo hot hatch and coming 3rd in last year's Evo Car of the Year ahead of cars like the Gallardo and the M6.

2) The fact that it was only £15.5k brand new and is relatively cheap to run. (I need a 'new-ish' car for reliability as my car keeps dying on me).

3) The practicality of it's size, me being single I don't need the space. Where else can you find a car that's new or a year old in the top of it's class with that combo of speed and handing, for that price and those running costs?

Anything faster (brand new) and you're looking at £20k+, which I don't have!

 

[Gary G]

Mat, you will need to talk to Ben R (Angel Works) http://www.angel-works.co.uk

 

[chiefsilverback]

If you crave more speed just buy a faster car :?

Personally I'm of this opinion, I'd rather put the money towards a new car than constantly trying to improve the car I have.

In the real world you will never really be able to exploit any where near the Trophy's full potential on the road, so there's no real need to improve on it.

This is my view so don't let me stop you, but in a thread on Seatcupra.net where one of the guys has just taken his Leon Cupra R to 380BHP he said something to the effect of "it's been a lot of work and money, but when the sun is shining, the roads are dry and the traffic is light it's all worth it."

I pointed out that when the sun is shining and the roads are warm, dry and empty I'd much rather be in a 2 seat, convertible, mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car than stuck in a 5 door family hatchback.........

 

[Nik]

LOL, very true :lol:

 

[George K]

The sum is relatively easy; if the mods plus the net cost of the Trophy is still a good deal then modify, otherwise change the car. As the Trophy is cheap, light, has air-con and has four seats the equation will probably say that it is worth spending £2-3,000 before it ceases to make sense. It also depends on what you want to use if for; for trackwork a competitive Elise will prove an endless drain on your resources, (there are so many reasons to continually upgrade them - which is where this discussion started! ) a Caterham or Westfield is not an everyday car and none of them are at all practical.

 

[Steve]

If you crave more speed just buy a faster car :?

Personally I'm of this opinion, I'd rather put the money towards a new car than constantly trying to improve the car I have.

In the real world you will never really be able to exploit any where near the Trophy's full potential on the road, so there's no real need to improve on it.

This is my view so don't let me stop you, but in a thread on Seatcupra.net where one of the guys has just taken his Leon Cupra R to 380BHP he said something to the effect of "it's been a lot of work and money, but when the sun is shining, the roads are dry and the traffic is light it's all worth it."

I pointed out that when the sun is shining and the roads are warm, dry and empty I'd much rather be in a 2 seat, convertible, mid-engined, rear wheel drive sports car than stuck in a 5 door family hatchback.........

:lol: :lol: Sorry, just trawling through the old posts there couldn't help seeing one of your first posts chief! Sorry, no mods are you saying? :lol: :lol: