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BIGASH/FF-Racing X85 Clio Cup Racer Project



  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

You'll have a bus pass by then anyway :p
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Unfortunately not in CSCC, Sequential would be awesome but not allowed it. Dogbox is allowed but it goes against what I want to do with the car and that is to cut down on long term running costs. Hope your well Chip :)

Maybe a straight cut gearkit with conventional synchro engagement would be a good option? although still going to put costs up obviously, but at least it would allow you to select some better ratios as I would imagine currently you arent using 5th gear if its a standard box?

Im good thanks mate, although no doubt going to be doing those 3am days you mention from saturday through the two bank holidays next week desperately trying to get my mk1 ready for llandow even though I know that is probably a highly unrealistic aim, gotta try though.
Course the silly thing is if I do manage to get it ready and get it there, it will be so far from setup or mapped properly that I will no doubt be slower than in our mk2 which is actually pretty good now considering its only a basic spec, lol
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Looking at ratios, what can be done to 5th, as it's not used much at all..?

What you really want to be doing is a taller first and then 4 gears close together after that, so that you can really keep it on the boil, especially from how peaky ash describes his delivery as being.
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Maybe a straight cut gearkit with conventional synchro engagement would be a good option? although still going to put costs up obviously, but at least it would allow you to select some better ratios as I would imagine currently you arent using 5th gear if its a standard box?
££££££££££££££
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

££££££££££££££

Yes of course to a certain extent, although you are only talking probably 2-3K (not looked into it for that box but based on others im more familiar with) for the gearkit on top of the normal rebuild costs next time the box is out though, and once you have the gearkit its no more expensive on an ongoing basis then really.
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Try 4-5k by the time you've changed the final drive and put in a proper diff
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Try 4-5k by the time you've changed the final drive and put in a proper diff

Surely he already has a diff to offset against that though?
And if you have time on your side, there is always the option of a secondhand gearkit to consider.
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Why would you not fit a plate diff though if your spending thousands on a gear kit? You'd want to change the final drive and that's expensive so your. At £4k easy. I priced it up a while ago. Anyway pointless discussion as I'm sure James wants a car that works first before spunking another few thousand pounds away. It definatley isn't something that's needed at his and our currnet level as I'm sure we have proven
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Yeah I'm pretty sure being able to actually get a gear is higher on his priorities than squeezing a few extra mph out of each gear lol
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Why would you not fit a plate diff though if your spending thousands on a gear kit? You'd want to change the final drive and that's expensive so your. At £4k easy. I priced it up a while ago. Anyway pointless discussion as I'm sure James wants a car that works first before spunking another few thousand pounds away. It definatley isn't something that's needed at his and our currnet level as I'm sure we have proven

You misunderstood what I meant by "to offset against that" in my post, I mean that if he has a quaiffe diff or similar currnetly then he would see good money back for it.

Like you say though, im sure there are better things to spend money on at this point if its not his box that has gone just yet, I was just making a suggestion for next time he has to spend on a box anyway.
 
  Evo 5 RS
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Spending money on a JC5 is just dead weight anyway. I spoke to Quaiffe a few months ago as they're not far from me and they just laugh at the idea of trying to get anything other than the differential out of these boxes
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Spending money on a JC5 is just dead weight anyway.

Agreed, ( unless you have no choice but to be stuck with one of course ) its certainly not a box I would have in any car by choice, hence my first question was is he allowed to change it.
 
  Evo 5 RS
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

I inquired about syncro strengthening kits which they do for some boxes, but not this one lol.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

I inquired about syncro strengthening kits which they do for some boxes, but not this one lol.
Such a shame, cause the F4R is a strong engine really, god knows why for such a good engine renault insisted on licensing cadburys to make the gearboxes for them.
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Hence why were sticking with the stock box. It does a reasonable job for what it Costs, We can't change it for anything else and Agency can repair then cheap enough. No other choice really.
 
  182cup & 172 racecar
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

If we had that sort of money for a box, we'd sell the Clio, and put that money together and buy something a little special me thinks.
 
  BMW Z4
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Try 4-5k by the time you've changed the final drive and put in a proper diff

No way jay. I am doing exactly this and it's costing me £1900.

Recon Box
New race bearings
Gripper Diff
Shorter final drive ratio

£1900 all in.
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Think 4-5k was including the gear kit.

Thats the price quaife give for a 106 straight cut dog box inc diff and final drive.
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Jack is correct. That inudes a straight cut gear kit
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Gripper do them to fit their diffs
 
  BMW Z4
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Discussed it with Gripepr and they have supplied it buddy. It should be a lot faster through the gears now.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Discussed it with Gripepr and they have supplied it buddy. It should be a lot faster through the gears now.

I recently changed the final drive on my ITB corsa from a 3.55 to a 3.94 and the difference in pace now is quite noticeable, I would have liked to have lengthened first and got the other cogs closer together but just not worth the cost when the whole car only owes me a few K in the first place.
I did it by using the bits from a Daewoo 1.5 16v gearbox which happily interchange with astra GTE gearbox parts.

It may be that similar is possible with the FD from a lower spec clio, but Im not as familiar with Clio boxes as I am with vauxhall ones.
Well worth looking elsewhere in the range though to see what can be had cheaply, it only cost me 150 quid and a bit of my own time to do my corsa final drive ratio change :)
 
  172 Race Car
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

No its not possible. Th lowest stock finals drive ratio that's compatible is the phase2/182. After months of research and Agency buying in loads of final drives for us to find a better one
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

No its not possible. Th lowest stock finals drive ratio that's compatible is the phase2/182. After months of research and Agency buying in loads of final drives for us to find a better one

Ah thats a pain.

13" wheels it is then, lol
 
  BMW Z4
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

13 inch wheels and some furry dice :)
 

Sir_Dave

ClioSport Trader
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Surely for this build, which seems to have been somewhat blank chequebook (cant imagine TDF are cheap lol), he would be better off putting a VAG box/dogbox/some other funky thing not made of cheese into it - surely better off spending a little extra now, to gain additional reliability in the future?

Getting it rebuilt by Agency every 5 minutes is a cheap way of doing things for sure, but rather inconvenient if it goes pop during a race, a trackday is bad enough!!
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Surely for this build, which seems to have been somewhat blank chequebook (cant imagine TDF are cheap lol), he would be better off putting a VAG box/dogbox/some other funky thing not made of cheese into it - surely better off spending a little extra now, to gain additional reliability in the future?

Getting it rebuilt by Agency every 5 minutes is a cheap way of doing things for sure, but rather inconvenient if it goes pop during a race, a trackday is bad enough!!


Series regulations means he cant.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Surely for this build, which seems to have been somewhat blank chequebook (cant imagine TDF are cheap lol), he would be better off putting a VAG box/dogbox/some other funky thing not made of cheese into it - surely better off spending a little extra now, to gain additional reliability in the future?

I was told that wasnt an option for the series they are in when I asked about that a couple of pages back.

I agree though that it seems to be a car with a lot of money put into it (gotta be well into the tens of thousands now) so a few grand to sort either a quaiffe box or some other upgraded box that is allowed seems to be money that would be relatively well spent at some point.



Getting it rebuilt by Agency every 5 minutes is a cheap way of doing things for sure, but rather inconvenient if it goes pop during a race, a trackday is bad enough!!
Agreed, you can really feel the frustration Ash is ending up with when the car lets him down during a race.
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Maybe a straight cut gearkit with conventional synchro engagement would be a good option? although still going to put costs up obviously, but at least it would allow you to select some better ratios as I would imagine currently you arent using 5th gear if its a standard box?

Im good thanks mate, although no doubt going to be doing those 3am days you mention from saturday through the two bank holidays next week desperately trying to get my mk1 ready for llandow even though I know that is probably a highly unrealistic aim, gotta try though.
Course the silly thing is if I do manage to get it ready and get it there, it will be so far from setup or mapped properly that I will no doubt be slower than in our mk2 which is actually pretty good now considering its only a basic spec, lol

No I don't even know that 5th exists yet lol! I think for now I have got to work with the stock gearbox mainly for money reasons :(

Ohh dear I feel for you mate :( If I lived closer then I would offer to come down and help (Probably wouldn't be much use though ;)) God luck with it!

I'm sure you'll still have a laugh in it even if its not all complete :)
Surely for this build, which seems to have been somewhat blank chequebook (cant imagine TDF are cheap lol), he would be better off putting a VAG box/dogbox/some other funky thing not made of cheese into it - surely better off spending a little extra now, to gain additional reliability in the future?

Getting it rebuilt by Agency every 5 minutes is a cheap way of doing things for sure, but rather inconvenient if it goes pop during a race, a trackday is bad enough!!

Unfortunately as mentioned we aren't able to run any other gearbox apart from yes we could put dog gears into it. This didn't even come into the equation when we built the car as it was originally built to still be road legal and for track days, only later on did I decide to go racing with it and bin off the number plates. In hindsight everyone was right that I should of just forgotten about it being a road car, I did one journey into Leeds in it and then I cancelled the insurance the very next day! If I could spend a bit more now to make it more reliable I would try and do that as that was the plan from day one to build a reliable car, I can't see any other option as Jay says it is 4-5k for the straight cut box with associated bits and bobs, its also really not suitable for me at the moment either because from my research it sounds like you need to get every gear change spot on and every blip correct other wise you can damage the box very quickly and I can't payout every few times the car is out for new gears etc. Unfortunately we keep getting let down by component failures and these are out of anyones hands.

I had a chat with Matt at TDF and luckily it seems that the box isn't damaged but we had a monumental failure of the clutch something or other. I guess the box will need rebuilding once a season at a cost of £300 ish so still much cheaper than any other option even if it is still not ideal. Yes failure at circuit will be very frustrating but a risk it's looking like i'm going to have to take :(

I really wish it was a blank chequebook build but if you were to call Matt and ask he would certainly vouch for the fact it hasn't been. Everypart that was added onto the build was costed up and then I made the decision as to weather it was affordable and then worth it or not. Yes ALOT of money has been spent and looking back I think I was nieve and under estimated the long term maintenance costs and thought it was better to spend more on the build but it's all a learning game for me at the moment and I will just have to deal with it as best as possible for here on in :)
Agreed, you can really feel the frustration Ash is ending up with when the car lets him down during a race.
Yes mate it really does frustrate me but it's only because it is an alien environment for me, I don't understand the industry and haven't any experience of what to expect. I now understand that I need to deal with failures and get sorted and get it back together quickly and move on :)


Positive update coming this evening when I get chance :)
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Worth having a spare box maybe in case one does let go?
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

Worth having a spare box maybe in case one does let go?

With a spare diff you mean?

He'll be nearly at the cost of selling his and buying a straight cut box.

By the way ash, straight cut cogs with better ratios doesnt have to mean dog engagement, for most boxes (cant say 100% for the renault one as like I say my expertise lies elsewhere) you can get straight cut gearkits that still use the synchros if you wish.
 
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

With a spare diff you mean?

He'll be nearly at the cost of selling his and buying a straight cut box.

By the way ash, straight cut cogs with better ratios doesnt have to mean dog engagement, for most boxes (cant say 100% for the renault one as like I say my expertise lies elsewhere) you can get straight cut gearkits that still use the synchros if you wish.

What is the benefit of dog gears but keeping the synchros?
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Re: James/BigAsh 182 Race Car by TDF... It doesn't get much better than this! *Pic He

What is the benefit of dog gears but keeping the synchros?

NOT dog gears, you are confusing terms, straight cut gears.

The benefits are:
Less side loading on the bearings
Far easier to change ratios to anything you want as they are more readily available
Cool noise, lol

The 2nd one of those being the one that is going to make you significantly faster on track in most cases.
 


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