After some discussion (fitting a 172 isn't the easiest car in the World) Ivan kindly sent us these instructions..

Ecotek Fitting on a Clio 172 Mk2:

Remove the plastic engine cover (4 Star Screws) and locate the Vacuum pipe see picture left.

Pull the pipe off the inlet manifold - this requires some force. Remove old clip and replace with a new Jubilee clip. Place the existing rubber pipe on the Ecotek and fix with a Jubilee clip. You will now need a new piece of rubber pipe of about 3 inches in length and an internal diameter of about 9mm (any good car shop - ask for fuel / emission hose or 9mm servo hose if they have it).

Place the new rubber pipe on the Manifold and Jubilee clip it on to secure. Then place another Jubilee clip on the pipe for the next step.

Next push the Ecotek into the new piece of pipe which is attached to the inlet manifold and fix with the Jubilee clip already there - as per above, tune the Ecotek then slip on the filter and tighten - see picture right. Replace plastic engine cover.

A filter is recommended on the Clio 172 because the Vacuum pipe is next to the bulk head and can be just heard in the cabin. With a filter the sound is deadened considerably.

Pieces used: 4 Jubilee clips (13mm), 3 inches of rubber pipe with internal diameter of 9mm (full length of pipe was about 16 inches and this was fuel line). Total cost about £6.

These pictures (as all the pictures on this site) can be expanded by clicking on them - to return simply click the 'back' button on your browser.

Thanks Ivan!

The Clio 16v isn't the easiest either - Nick Read of the Renault Sports Club contacted us to tell us off for saying that it was easy! He said; "So far there are two Renault Sports Club members to my knowledge with Ecoteks. Mine is a Renault 1.8 16v Clio and Alan has a 2.0 Megane (the 16v engine is the same block as mine). You can see what he says on the excellent Cliosport web site by Clicking here.

As I said on the Club discussion group it is a right nuisance to fit the Ecotek because of the layout of the engine and especially in the Clio, the lack of 'headroom' above the cylinder head and inlet manifold. This is the very reason a 16v Clio has the bulge in the bonnet...I can't remember but I think the Renault 19 16v has more room and a Megane would. A smaller engined Clio would also be fairly roomy.

The vacuum pipe from the brake servo only extends as far as the side of the head. Once it gets there it goes into a metal pipe which follows the edge of the head, turns a corner and runs between the cylinder head and inlet manifold, above the injector rail. Finally it does another right angle turn to face the middle of the manifold head on, but then turns into a 2 inch length of rubber hose again which is joined to the manifold.

So with the metal pipework in place there is not enough room for the Ecotek's two 'tails' to fit, even if you started disconnecting all the electrical cables and various pipes that run across this 2 inch gap. So I cut back the metal pipe just past the right angle bend to attach a v. short length of hose here, which would give enough room for the ecotek. Now the problem is that the metal servo pipe is tagged to another smaller gauge metal vacuum pipe (I think it was from the fuel pressure regulator or something like that). Because of this, you cannot push fit a hose onto the new end you have made, and the two pipes cannot be separated. So I had to cut a big inch long chunk out of the servo pipe at the first corner by the side of the cylinder head and join a long piece of pipe there, bypassing the majority of the servo pipe, but leaving it in place.

The Ecotek will now fit but it must lie horizontally or will foul the plastic manifold cover and the bonnet. A silencer will not fit, I tried, and even lying sideways there is absolutely no room without it touching both the manifold and the bonnet. If anything this made the vibrations worse!

All said and done though I swear by my Ecotek and have definitely seen improvements of 2mpg around town and 4mpg on the motorway. The main thing is the improvement in response and available torque when you put your foot down. I don't know whether it is the Ecotek or not, but I recently had my 16v tested on a rolling road. The only engine mods I have are a heatshielded K&N filter with some custom cold-air ducting, a Magnex s/s exhaust from the cat back, and finally the ecotek. This gave 154 bhp max against a factory figure of 137bhp max, and my car is 7 years old. A 12 percent increase is more than you would expect from a filter and exhaust."

For anyone interested the club address is www.renaultsportsclub.co.uk and Steve Miles the bloke who runs the club is at stephen.miles3@ntlworld.com

The excellent Clio Sport web site now has their own Ecotek fitting guide, click on this link: www.cliosport.net - go to Articles - then Cliosport Articles then Ecotek - they confirm it definitely makes more than a noticeable difference!

Here is an illustration of the fitting for the Fiat Marea and is typical of the 2.0i 20v engines from John - apparently it works perfectly there and is relatively quiet with the PiperX Filter fitted.

Updated Sept 2002: "I've had my valve fitted to my Fiat Marea 20v for a few months now & it continues to deliver smoother torque/power delivery together with fuel savings."

Thanks John!