RenaultSport Clio RS 197 Exhaust System Advice

RenaultSport Clio 197 Exhaust System from YozzaSport.

The following article should give you everything that you need to know about the Clio 197 exhaust system, and the sports and race systems that are available to replace it from YozzaSport.

A video showing the system on a 197 Clio:

More YozzaSport 197 Exhaust Videos are available here: 197 Exhaust Videos

We designed our YozzaSport 197 exhaust system to be used as a trackday orientated road system, intended so that the original Catalytic converter could be used if desired, or that you could use the de-cat pipe that we supply with the system. It is louder and more sporty than the Renault original part, but, when using a de-cat on the 197 one should bear in mind that the system is a little more complex than the previous Clio exhaust systems.

With the decat pipe on the car the system is more of a Group N exhaust system, in that we would recommend that you re-map the car to iron out any flat spots. The Clio 197 is in a very high state of tune from the factory, and we often find that a modification such as a replacement airbox and a de-cat can make a considerable flat-spot at around 2,400 rpm. We would recommend that you talk to Henk at FastChip in the Netherlands, we have worked with him on a number of projects mapping our vehicles, and he has been excellent. We also hear of a number of customers taking their cars to RS Tuning in Leeds for mapping after having our exhaust systems – however, we don’t have any specific experience with deaing with them.

Another important consideration when we designed the exhaust system is that the rear diffuser is present to create extra downforce for the rear of the car – in essence allowing a smaller rear boot spoiler. Other manufacturers such as Milltek Sport (Milltek link #1 and Milltek link #2) and Ktec Racing (K-tec Link #1 and K-tec Link #2) both offer exhaust systems with rear tail pipes that protrude from the rear diffuser. We have been asked by customers to supply exhausts which are like this, however, we refuse on the basis that we do not want to produce an exhaust system which could interrupt the downforce effect of the rear diffuser. Interupting the flow of air with a visible tailpipe may look fabulous, however we are not prepared to offer a product that may reduce rear downforce on a car as reliant on this technology as the Clio RS.

Some videos of the system can be found on YouTube here (decatted #1) and again here (decatted #2) and with the cat back system here (cat-back clio 197 system) and a little drive by

The standard renaultsport exaust system that you will find on the car from the factory is a 2 piece system. The 4-2-1 exhaust manifold includes the first catalytic converter (seen below):

The centre section has the second catalytic converter, and then a silencer before going into the backbox – I have included the pictures below – they are not dramatic, but show what I am talking about. Then the centre pipe:

and then the backbox below.

With the exhaust system being hidden behind the rear diffuser, it is obviously hard to see that it is as large as it is, but, rest assured, it is rather large, and weighs about 25 kg if I remember rightly. We designed our system to be a like for like replacement, not requiring any modifications to the exhaust hangers, which are a common failure on the clio 172 and clio 182′s. The intention is that the system gives you a good increase in mid-range torque, gives you a few more BHP across the rev range. If you put a de-cat on a clio 197 however, you will find that you will get a metallic ringing which sounds like a baffle gone on your exhaust – this is not the case – it is simply the harmonics of the engine, you will hear the same noise on the car if you run it without the exhaust system on at all (IE just running it with the manifold on) This is the only reason that we supply the system as a cat-back system. The de-cat is there as an optional extra which we would recommend for trackday use only. I have included a picture of both the de-cat on a car and the adaption pipe that we supply with the system so that you can use your standard secondary catalytic converter.

I would not recommend a sports cat for use on the Clio 197, simply, it is a waste of money – the fact that the car has two in-line cats means that if you put a sports cat in place of the second cat, the restriction is still present at the first cat, and you will obviously exacerbate the noise that the engine / exhaust manifold makes when the secondary cat is utilised.

I hope this clears up any questions that you may have about the Clio 197 and F1 team exhaust systems

Clio 197 Decat Pipe

Clio 197 Cat-Back Adaption Pipe

Some more pictures of the Clio 197 Exhaust system below

Some Other Links That You May Find Useful:

The only exhaust companies that I would purchase systems from:

JP Exhausts – Our own exhaust manufacturer, we have developed all of the RenaultSport exhausts with them, and have always been delighted with the quality of their products and service.
Orbisoud – Manufacturer of Group N RenaultSport Exhausts
SuperSprint – Italian manufacturer of high quality exhaust systems – we are also a distributor of their products: SuperSprint

Other Exhaust Manufacturers who you might be interested in:

BTB Exhausts
Milltek
Janspeed Exhausts
Hayward and Scott Exhausts

Always a hooligan,

/y0z

Tags: 197 cat back exhaust, 197 de-cat, Clio 197, Clio 197 Exhaust, clio 197 sports exhaust, milltek, orbisoud, orbisound, supersprint clio, yozzasport exhuast