Right I'm looking at options to lower a Megane 250 Cup, whilst still retaining as close to original ride quality Options so far : Lowering Springs - Currently a toss up between H&R, Cooksport or Grams Bilstein B14 Coilovers H&R Monotube Coilovers The car is used as a daily, and will only see the track possibly 2-3 times a year, so I'm not that fussed on all out performance. £1000 is the absolute maximum budget, but in all honesty I'd rather spend less than that and don't mind looking into second hand kits So basically I'm after; something to get rid of the laughable arch gap, but retain good comfort levels whilst reducing some of the body roll. Advice and opinions would be appreciated! Many Thanks
Obviously I understand that the Coilovers will be a step up from Lowering Springs on standard shocks, but I'd be interested to know the difference in ride quality if anyone's ever compared or upgraded?
Im currently on cooksports and actually quite enjoy them - if you want to save some money but upgrade grams/cooksports and some r26 front shocks - assuming you have a mk2.
I'm on H&R lowering springs and sort of in the same situation: Daily driver with some trackdays a year. Personally I'd say: Go for the H&R (or Eibach whatever) and spend some money on tires too.
B14's and adjustable top mounts if you can. Springs/Shocks isn't a step up from OEM at all, Other than looks.
Im running h&r coilovers, dropped 40mm, got to say the ride isnt has harsh as the cup suspension, its alot more comfortable, and alot flatter in the corners. Absolutely love them
Thanks for that! How do you find them compared to the original suspension? I think you're right Jamie. I had Cooksports on my Clio 182 which was an improvement over standard in handling (worse ride quality though), but changing to Spax Coilovers was an even bigger step up performance wise - however that was a fairly stiff setup, more so than what I want on the Megane! Do you think the B14's are as forgiving comfort wise as the original setup for daily driving? Also any recommendations on adjustable top mounts - something I haven't looked into at all. I assume to adjust camber? On my 182 I ran solid top mounts which definitely helped turn in, but I'd rather not go this far on the Megane as ride quality did suffer! Perfect thanks for that, nice to hear a right up on them!
B14s are a bit stiffer than Cup setup, Spring rates themselves aint massively stiffer but the damping is better. Silverproject top mounts are cheap and work well, The Megane really needs camber on the front axle more than anything else tbh
Thanks Jamie, I'll look into them How much negative camber are we talking hear? Anything more than -2? Just trying to work out with yearly mileage, don't want to be wearing tyre edges too quickly
After buying your springs £150 and topmounts £130 your looking at nearly £300. May aswell buy used coilys for bit more
That's my thinking in all honesty, I learnt with my 182 that you might as well parts you want straight away, as say going lowering Springs then Coilovers just works out more expensive and hassle in the long run
I mean ive got H&R springs at the moment but they are black instead of blue which are listed as 'Race' springs and make it an inch lower than the blue and stiffer, i think the ride in my car on cup shocks and AD08s is terrible. Handles fairly good considering but when i was looking at the silver project top mounts i thought its pointless as im going to want coilovers anyway
You'd still want Adjustable top mounts with the Coilovers I'd of thought? Unless purchasing Coilovers which come with adjustable top mounts...
Interesting thread. I have a 275 and was also thinking of springs intitially but as you say, it could well be wasted money. So I'm looking at coilovers. B14's sound interesting. But heard good things about KW V3 and clubsports. But much much more money those. How much would B14's and some topmounts cost?
From what I've read and researched if your doing much track work B14's will be too soft, they're more suited to daily use with the odd track day here and there. You'd be looking at about £930 with adjustable top mounts from the best prices I can find
I'm running the b14 coilovers on my RS265! There great for fast Road and daily driving. Ive done one track day on them so far the car definitely felt alot flatter in the corners than cup suspension.
Still reading up on this. And I've been in touch with a local specialist. If money was no object then I'd be looking to get a KW clubsport, Nitrons, or Intrax setup. These seem to be the best options. But they could be £3-5000 Would love to but can't So in the £2000 budget what is there out there that will make a good daily and occasional track setup? (6 trackdays a year) OP did you make any decisions on this? (Oh and sorry, think I'm taking your thread over a bit. Should maybe have started my own. Sorry)
No worries, more than welcome to ask! I haven't come to a conclusion in all honesty - I'm currently thinking of just putting some springs on for the time being, and then looking into getting some better Coilovers (despite me saying I wouldn't haha) I'm currently happy enough with the handling for the time being, although it does feel like there's a bit too much body roll but I can't see me doing a track day this year now so would rather just run Springs over winter than get salt, etc on some new Coilovers over winter I just can't stand the arch gap at the moment!
Yeah actually these seem like an option. Price wise anyway. Just need to read up what they are like. I'll try to find some reviews.
H&R or Cooksports, the problem with springs is no one would say swap from one to another to compare them so it's purely subjective!
I'd still say that B14snand topmounts are the best bang for buck setup you can get for them, if it's not going to be used heavily in track then all the top end setups are wasted imo. Spend the change on some worthwhile stuff
Good advice. £3000 would get me a lot of trackdays one recommendation I've had is BC coilovers. Don't know much about them? How do they compare to say the b14's or the kw clubsports?
BC don't do a setup for the MK3 because t they are a good adjustable option for those on a budget for the MK2s
From what you've said above I 100% wouldn't bother with coilovers. The Mk3 handles great out of the box and if you're using it primarily as daily with 2 - 3 track days a year there you're better of spending the money on tires and brakes if you havent done so already. The lowering springs available (cooksport / h&R etc) all get rid of that annoying gap so go with one of those. I ran cooksport springs on my last 250 and if I bought another Megane id get them again straight away. 182's have a much softer ride compared to a Mk3 megane so a set of coilovers on will yield a bigger difference. I've been down this road myself and spending that amount of money on something that only marginally improves track performance and doesnt make your day to day driving experience any more enjoyable, even making it more annoying, is fruitless.
Wicked post, and I think you've summed it up perfectly! I ruined my Clio 182 by going too far - black polybushed, solid top mounts, Coilovers, etc. As a track car fantastic, but not a daily doing 20,000 miles a year! As you said, for the slight improvement performance wise, was it really worth it? I'll admit it did transform it, but with the Megane I'm looking to keep it a lot more daily orientated, and certainly not ruin it, so I think Springs could be the way forward...
Sensible advice. Nothing worse than spending on a mod that isn't really utilised. Plus, better off working up to the OEM suspension limits on track with some decent boots and brakes first.
Excellent advice there. So easy to get suckered in to spending big money. If you're on track every week then fair enough. If you're not then springs may be the cost effective way ahead. That said I really want some Clubsports haha.
Hi My car now on cup dampers with grams springs. But I want to be some lower. B14 kit will be nice replacement over my setup?
