Performance - Clio 197

FMSS9 reduces shift times along with the chance of selecting the wrong gear, making it the ideal modification for track day and fast road driving. Renault hot hatches are well known for having a race inspired accuracy to the way they drive that allows the user to maximise their enjoyment from the road or track. However, the feeling of changing gears certainly isn’t at the same level of accuracy. FMSS9 is an adjustable, well engineered solution to this problem, which makes a remarkable difference especially when changing gears at high RPM. Fitting FMSS9 is as simple as it can get for a gearbox end short shifter; no specialist tools are required and most importantly the gearbox and OEM gearbox linkage stay in situ. Due to these vehicles being older, the OE linkage can be extremely difficult to remove. Therefore, keeping it in place not only saves both time and money on what would be an involved removal of the OEM gearbox linkage, but also maintains the gear weighting to ensure a smooth shift.   Although FMSS9 was designed specifically for the Clio 3 Renault Sport 197/200, it will fit several vehicles that use the same gearbox (TL4). With FMSS9 being an adjustable kit, it allows for up to a 32% decrease in shift length compared to OEM. This can be adjusted closer to the OEM shift length if required. 3D scanning and 3D printed prototypes helped to develop the best solution for this short shifter. The most important part of the development for a short shifter is to ensure that the shift cables aren’t under further deflection than when connected to the OEM. The 3D Scans allowed us to locate the repositioned ball pin along the same plane as the OEM, and then the 3D print helped us to confirm our findings before taking the design to our in-house machine shop. When reviewing the design, it was clear that the shift cable was going to be under tension, therefore a replacement shift cable bracket was developed for the FMSS9 kit. FMSS9 bolts over the OEM shifting mechanism, meaning that installation is far easier than other gearbox end short shifters. The full instructions run through how to fit this to the Clio 3 RS platform, however the TL4 gearbox is shared across other vehicles. Fitting can be carried out in around 1.5 hours with a modest tool set on your driveway.

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