Inferno 225 Fast Road Project

I never set out to purchase a Megane however a deal on a vehicle I was selling meant that the opportunity arose.

I’ve ended up with a 225 in inferno with fsh and belt and pump done 18k ago.

The deal was struck with no prior knowledge of these so bare with me.
Current knowledge is that it’s a stock ph1 with a cone filter and no other mods.

What’s the plan? I miss my old track day saxo vts and this already avoids one of that’s short comings and that was power down the straights.
So, this will be transformed in the coming months into my ideal fast road and trackday toy.
This isn’t my daily but I also don’t want to go too wild that it becomes a dedicated track car.

I’ve a ring Trip with friends booked for end of October so I had better get cracking.

 

So stage one of the cars new look. The car came on stock wheels with track tyres of which the tyres weren’t included in the previous owners deal.

Decided on these running 235/40/18 federal rsr not my first pick but they will survive me getting used to the chassis. They also made sense at the cost.



Much better than poorly sprayed stock wheels. Having now taken this out for some “spirited driving” its exposed some weakness’.
Number one being brakes number seating flying all over
This is the premise for my next mods

 

The next step came as a byproduct of the wheels. The same guy had some KTec Seats for sale which are rebranded Gp Race. I’ve always run buckets in anything I’ve had track orientated as side movement annoys me when trying to concentrate. As said before I have a daily driver so this isn’t a problem.

 

I will be at some point although I quite liked the stock. A small diameter wheel is not my choice however maybe a 330 at a max.

 

Today’s first job,

Removed the k&n filter and swapped it for a ktec kit no obvious Change to noise and glad I didn’t buy new as I’m not overjoyed by the fit

I’m going to order an intake pipe kit to try make it fit better and brighten up the bay

 

second job of the day was to remove the centre box with a handy delete pipe from zaustworx. Took 20mins on the ramp.. initial impressions are that it isn’t much louder but the thuds are now pops and crackles. I’ve done this more for childish reasons than performance over winter I think I will upgrade the whole system when I’ve decided what I am doing power wise.

 

Final job today mounted passenger seat and installed buckles so the factory belts can be used for now

 

Hopefully it will tomorrow as my friend and I are off on a trip round the Peak District.

It has a heat shield and I fitted it as per pics I found on the net but it doesn’t seem as good of a fit as I would expect so I’m wondering if parts are missing

 

Had a hell of a day around the Peak District top to bottom side to side with my mate in his track prepped c2.

Exposed some repairs and flaws in the brakes (which I knew) with some spirited driving.

Fluids, pads and new discs getting fitted next weekend. And something has play on the nsf so I will do some investigating. Need to hurry up ferry on the 26th

 

So a little delay as I've been crazy busy with work..so some of this is retrospective.

Next job on the car was to address the frankly pathetic brakes. Nipped to my mates to nick his ramp..

Parts Fitted
- Goodridge Hoses all round
- Full flush and bleed with ATE typ200
- New Brembo High Carbon front Discs
- Performance Friction Z Rated Pads

This has made for a drastic improvement to pedal feel and confidence in the brakes which now actually work and not catch fire.

 

So post Peaks trip she had developed a misfire and what felt like play in the suspension.

Got it up in the air and couldn't find play anywhere

Decided to see if it was alignment so took it for a check found the issue... 3 degrees toe out one side and 1 degree in the other



The cars got full service history but only specs when its had belt the rest just say service not what. So picked up a full compliment of elf oils and ngk plugs.



Took her to my unit to do a service and scan it came up cylinder 2 so swapped the coil pack but once plugs were pulled misfires were pretty self explanatory don't think they've been swapped in a while...

 

At this point she was driving the best she has in my ownership so took her for some road miles with minime to break in the brakes.

I was starting to fall in love with the thing.. I have more fun in this than many of my previous toys (rs4 spec b5 S4, Subarus, evo4, 400bhp Skyline etc etc).

So packed her for me and my mates eurotrip...amazing the boot space. Ive kept the rear bench and shelf because of this its due to be removed on our return.

 

So lads trip... Obligatory ferry shot onto the continent..

First stop was Amsterdam for some.. "culture"

 

Day two we took a morning run to Den Haag to the Louwman Museum.. well worth the trip if you get chance or are in the area. Its a private collection of over 250 ridiculously rare cars in beautiful settings.



In the afternoon we headed to Zandvoort. Sadly we got there too late in the day to pay for some laps but the track itself looks pretty cool with an insane mixture of cars out.

 

next stop.... NORDSCHLEIFE! above is one of my most frequent holiday pics.. in a petrol station.

The car behaved impeccably despite me forgetting the track on Sunday the only dry day. Put in a 9:21, car had much more in it but doesn't help when the monkey behind the wheel forgot. Apologies on the watermarked pics post pay day ill be buying more of them to put in frames at home.

 

She's now home and parked up for a bit as I'm working away a lot this month, may try take it Cadwell on the weekend but just to watch. Back to driving the daily Post ring plenty of plans over the coming months mainly chassis and drivetrain. Sorry power guys but at the moment these are where it feels lacking. She's also due a spanner check post ring when I get chance to get her to my unit.

 

Been quiet for a while mainly because I’ve been crazy busy at work. Got her to the unit and did a spanner check. And fitted some of the bits that have been arriving.


Little stubby aerial from China. I never listen to the radio and the old one was flaking all over the roof. All of £3


Fitted some forge clamps undecided if these are useful or not but at £20 they were a nice birthday present from my old man.

 

I’ve never been happy with the ride height of the car (tarting I know) so on Black Friday purchased some GRAMS springs as at the moment I’m halfway sold on what final suspension to run.

Finally got around to fitting them Friday. Ended up stripping all the suspension despite my mates protest that you can leave the hub on. Inspected all the swivels and bearings anyway. All good.

Handy that the unit next door lent me his ramp. Shout out Dave for that.

 

Gave her a bath, fitted a sunstrip and some stickers (15seconds off btg for the 20832 sticker) and took a ride out to caffeine and machine at Stratford. 3 1/2 round trip over various roads. At present I’m yet to make my mind up on the set up. I’ll post my thoughts after further driving.



What’s next? Some new lower arms and polybushes. Then in January I think I’ll be going quaife and uprated.
Clutch and flywheel.

It’s 20 years since my old man competed in the nscc speed series next year so at the ripe old age of 34 I’m going to take a foray into clubman motorsport. Expect more mods over the next 3 months but also some odd ones to keep me in class so I don’t end up with the wild cars.

 

One last update. As the Megane’s Becoming more serious in the new year. I bought it a friend to take over b-road and cars&coffee duty.

 

Hi Si, I’ve got rear seat buckles mounted onto the subframes.

 

They had holes for it already

 

Alright mate not had H&R on it so can’t really comment. Only got this one side on pic. Not slammed by any means but looks more purposeful

 

Current feelings is they are a little bouncier than the previous set up but I should imagine they are a much higher poundage.
My passenger Sunday commented the ride was "less comfortable" than before..

My intention is to squeeze a track day in over the Christmas period so ill give track feedback then.

 

Thank you Charlie, I'm growing quite fond of the old lass

 

Relieved it isn't purely cosmetic.. currently running stock boost so im guessing this is my saving grace at the Moment.

 

These are my feelings with the grams but the cars not going to have to attend to them much longer I’ll leave that to the Clio. So I’ll likely see what I think on track.