Osterman's RS250 Cup

As I've been pestering people with queries on here for a while, I thought I should probably post up a project thread and actually introduce myself.

I've always been a hot-hatch fan but have never had a Renault before. Prior to this I was driving a lovely Golf R but thanks to an office move it ended up sat on the driveway all week and I couldn't justify the cost of it any longer so I took the opportunity to PX it for some cash and a well specced RS250 Cup with all the options I was after:
-Recaros
-Visibility Pack (Xenons)
-18" wheels
-Automatic dual zone climate control
-Automatic headlights & wipers
-Carminat TomTom
-TPMS
-KTEC induction kit (comedy noises)

It came with a reassuringly thick folder of receipts and a set of Michelin PS4 tyres all-round with a good amount of tread left on them. Pics from the handover and first day back home:





Although I did this to free up some money, I was a bit worried about dropping down to an older and ostenibly slower car, but I've been really pleasantly surprised on the drive back. We basically stuck to back roads from Thetford through to King's Lynn and I think I already get what people say about the RS cars. The Golf would certainly have been quicker, mainly due to the confidence inspiring effect of the AWD, but the drive in the Megane was so much more of an event. Hustling it through the gears and feeling the diff pull it through the corners was just fantastic and really addictive. Much more than the Golf I also get the feeling that there's more to learn about the car and how to drive it well. In a straight line though, once you're up and running, I really don't think there's all that much between it and the Golf.

I also had doubts about the comfort of the Recaros for a longer journey as they feel so thin, but both me and my 60yo dad felt no discomfort after an hour spent hooning it round the Norfolk scenery.

Next up was an OBD monitor and after much prying and snapping of plastic, I got access to the OBD port and tried out my OBDLink LX. Just a bit of a play at this stage checking thinks like boost level (1.1bar so it's not mapped) and oil temperatures etc. Something I just wanted to hand for track days / more serious driving etc.

Also turns out that a previous owner replaced all the speakers with Pioneer ones. The sounds isn't that impressive but the old Golf had the full 500W Dynaudio setup so it was never going to be that great. Still, from all accounts the otherwise standard stereo is crap, so nice to have a bit of an upgrade for free.

Finally I installed the red bulbs (not LED) in the interior so it now looks like the inside of a brothel and you need a torch to read anything. Result. Photos taken on a potato obviously:




Still on with the cosmetics I thought a private plate would do a good job of both smartening up car and hiding the age (it's an '11 plate):



Turned out the previous owner has done me yet another favour and had the wheel retrimmed in Alcantara. Was certainly nicer than the leather but it had clearly been done a while back as all the pile was flattened down. 10 minutes with some detergent and a cloth though and it's looking pretty decent again:



I also decided to update the boot screen of the satnav to fit the car (as opposed to a picture of some kind of French MPV):



and then finally for now, some side stripes just to break things up a little:



Not much happening to it for the next few weeks but I've got a track-day (Snetterton) planned in June and will be sorting some new pads and fluid (probably PFZ and Motul RBF). I also think I've got a wheel bearing on the way out so that'll need sorting.

After all of that it's hopefully just a case of enjoying the car this summer, getting a few more trackdays in and then going down the traditional route of remap / IC / oil cooler up at RS Tuning towards the back end of the year.

 

It was a DSG and as a daily it's unbeatable.

That said, it's probably it's biggest weakness too. Probably a bit trite to say but sometimes it's just too perfect. Launch it off the line and there's literally nothing for you to do until you get to license losing territory. No need to correct the steering due to the road surface, no need to control the throttle if it's wet. Just mash it to the floor and let the Haldex and ECU sort it all out. Even with a decent amount of lock on, you can still floor it and it'll just grip and go. As a result, it's difficult to get a huge amount of driving enjoyment out of it. The enjoyment comes from just moving quickly, rather than actually doing any 'driving', not least as the steering has basically no feel or feedback.

When you're not flat-out though it's a really nice place to be. DSG + adaptive cruise makes it an absolute dream in traffic too. I had the upgraded Dynaudio speakers which were pretty decent as well.

 

Yeah, don't get me wrong, it was an absolutely fantastic car. If I was doing more miles, I'd probably still be in it.

DCC is pretty great BTW too. I had it and left it in comfort 100% of the time on the road which gave it a really great ride without much body roll. Standard was ok while Sport / Race is really only acceptable on track IMHO, just too jiggly otherwise.

 

Some new bits for fitting later this week....

 

Turns out I won't be getting the car mapped after all...

 

He didn't have any fucking insurance either.