Due to the Clio 197T being a (never ending) project, I needed a daily/weekend fun car. So I bought the Megane 265 Cup of a friend of mine who was a first owner. It's a full fat spec car with leather interior (Recaro Sportster CS seats, of course), TomTom nav, Cup suspension, tire pressure monitors, auto AC, 19" wheels with 235/35/19 CUP2's. It also came with: Stage 1 hybrid, KTR Stage 1 IC, KTR intake, KTR downpipe, 630cc injectors, Akrapovič titanium exhaust, Forge intake hose, Forge BOV, PaulRS remap, KTR braided brake lines, Wiechers Sport front strut brace. Of course, I've bought a couple of things in advance once I knew I was going to buy (some) Megane 3 RS: KW Clubsport (loved them on the Clio so I had to have them on the Megane too), our uprated ball joints, and Meyle HD drop links (didn't need to, but wanted to) braided hoses (fail, didn't know that I already had them on the car ), black wheel studs, GT Performance intake hose, RS amblems in red/black, Black Renault Diamonds (front/back), Removed the rear wiper. Installed KW Clubsports, uprated ball joints, and had the car corner weighted The car theme is black & red, so I wanted the same in the interior - and I saw the guys doing the stitches with a special touch up pen - so I thought - what the hell - if it works, great, and if not - will have them restitched. Took all weekend but I managed to do the whole interieur:
Wanted an AFR/boost/oil temp/pressure gauge, so I bought a PLX gauge and it's modules (not too happy with them, in 5-10% of the time the gauge sometimes freezes and I have to unplug the main module). It's oil temp, not water. In the meantime, a friend of mine with the R26 convinced me to sell the 16/19T to him, so I bought a 20T hybrid. The car made 377bhp/501Nm on their dyno and 348bhp (which is, IMHO, a more realistic figure) on the other dyno later. Found out that the Akrapovič exhaust (paid 2400€) doesn't have a flexi pipe, instead of using the stock flexi pipe, I bought the GT Performance one which has a bigger diameter (shame on Akrapovič). And while the car was in the air, decided to replace the OEM crankshaft pulley (~1468g) with our lightweight crankshaft pulley (~340g), and the difference was awesome - the throttle response is much better (something in between "Linear" and "Extreme" for you guys with the RS Monitor) and (maybe the Placebo effect) it seems like the car spools a bit faster in lower gears. It was pretty fast, it made 10.6s 100-200km/h measured with the Dragy and 9.9s using mobile GPS app only - but that's not as precise as the Dragy with an external 10Hz receiver which is very precise. Wanted to try it out against my Cagiva Raptor (hence the nickname, had it since 2002), so I let my father drive it, and of course, he destroyed me in the Megane. Some of my detailing products I use (can't use them all - the car has Gyeon Q2 DuraBead ceramic coat)
Bought the OZ Ultraleggera's in 9x18 & 8x18 of a friend, and had them painted in red. IMHO, the car looks great with them (central caps missing, ordered carbon ones from OZ): Didn't like the yellow seat belts so I ordered the ones from ED35, much nicer combo: It was a time for a brake service (this picture was taken before a friend told me he was in a rush and had to replace the brakes on his M3RS so I switched to OEM rotors, Castrol SRF brake fluid, Ferodo DS Uno in the front, and DS2500 in the rear) Washed and replaced OEM RS rubber mats with the new OEM ones: The winter was over so it was time for some semislick tires for the Ultra's - I went for Toyo R888R's. Had them on the OZ Alleggerita's on the Clio. Time for a regular service before the Nurburgring trip Sitting nice on the R888R's In the garage before the trip: The story continues (when I find the time to upload it all).
First the mods and then I'll write all the trips/runs/trackdays I've been to. Takes a bit of time. Today is a bank holiday.
OK, so let's move forward with the story... on (one of) my Nurburgring trip(s) I blew the engine so this was an opportunity to forge the internals, and I even got a new hybrid. Had the time to do the intercooler hoses with the DEI gold tape (probably didn't make much if any difference, but I had the time), also did the DP with the DEI titanium wrap. Modifications to fit the oil temp/pressure sensor on the oil pan, and got the new hybrid from Engine Dynamics. Done and putting the engine back in the car Gave it a wash Bought a set of winter wheels/tires in the meantime (usually my rebuilding lasts for months so I wanted to be prepared ). I know I know...let's just say - "it's an acquired taste". Installed the Whiteline anti roll bar and Meyle HD drop links Seats are now retrimmed in leather/alcantara with red stitching
Some recent pictures of the car: Me praying to anyone up there who would listen - to have one season without (major) failures.
In this Covid-19 situation, I had some time to do/cut the towers too so I can adjust the camber on my KW Clubsport's. Don't know why Renault did such small holes on the Megane 3 RS while on my Clio 197 I didn't have to cut the towers like most of us with the camber plates on the Megane 3 RS.
Looks a weapon! Some great mods and the black/red scheme works really well. What are your winter wheels?
THX but the pics have nothing to do with me. A friend of mine is a professional photographer. Asked me to take a couple of photos. How could I refuse?
Looks very clean and aggressive, hope you enjoy in good health Any idea what root cause was for engine to go before forging?
I was stupid. There were 3 of us in the car (total weight ~380kh, fully loaded booth, just put in full tank of Aral102), and in 6th gear at 120km/h I floored the throttle, and the piston decided he wanted to see the German Autobahn at 210km/h. The 4th rod literally welded itself to the crankshaft. The further you look from the oil pump the poorer was the lubrification. Only the first bearing looked like new, like the oil pump failed.
Haven't wrote anything in a while, been busy. In this crazy year, I've managed to do the Road/racetrip that I've planned - Zandvoort+Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Nurburgring (Germany) - SPA+Brussels (Belgium). Made more than 3700km in 8 days, spent <500L of petrol and had a great time! You can also follow me on instagram (Rene_Raptor6767) for more photos. Will post only track photos here. Zandvoort Nurburgring SPA
Last Satuday the guys from Blacklisted organised a Sprint rallye through the city of Čakovec. Had to attend that too.
Even managed to do some track days at Grobnik race track this year, and hopefully will do at least one more if the Covid19 situation doesn't get in the way.
Always wanted to do the Osijek Street Race with my car - unfortunately, I had a boost leak (hose), but I still decided to race. Managed to get to the Top16 in the class. Didn't expect that - just wanted to do one more thing off my bucket list this year.
Well, seems like somebody had a great fun Those trips are great man, good company, wonderful roads and places and lot of experiences. When will be my next one!! Glad for you mate!
Next is the Grossglockner (east) & Red Bull Ring 24-26.10.2020. if Austria doesn't go to lockdown. Looking forward to RBR. Done it with the Clio but never with the Megane. Fingers crossed.
Hi, kill me if I can remember, set it up a couple of months ago and been playing with the setup a couple of times later. It's a 20T hybrid.
IMHO, oil pump failure. Looked like there was no lubrication. CSS Tuning Slovenia. The car is currently at their place, replacing the clutch and while in process - installing the KTR lightweight SMF.
Remap also from CSS Slovenia. Everything from the turbo, installation and remapping was done in-house. I'm using a pulley we make with the AC. Like I have been using it with the Clio for +10 years.
