Having owned my 250 for 3 years & never experiencing driving another, i am curious as to the steering/handling traits of the car. As i live in Somerset , the vast majority of B roads are shite. My experience of hard & fast overtakes has sometimes called for brown trousers, go to overtake,accelerate hard , hit the centre crest of the road & the car pulls sharply towards the opposite side hedge,then you correct it which tends to pull you towards what you are overtaking. Hopefully you will get the jist of what i`m on about. Perhaps this is normal as i`ve never owned a car with a lsd, but if i change the springs(lower it),will it make it worse? Do i need to get my tracking checked out? Is there adjustment for camber? Any feedback would be helpful. (apart from comments on heavy handed overtaking!).
This is something I have been wondering for a while. This also happens quite a bit depending on the road surface and camber. I think this car is really camber sensitive, but I think this might just be a trait of a car that has some much power and torque going through the front wheels.
My other half hates it! Used to have an Audi S3 (nice,but yawn), safe & predictable overtaking. I think its what makes the Megane fun (although not all the time)>
No car has perfect handing just think of track/race setup cars even on smooth flat track Tarmac with lots of upgraded suspension ect even they can come unstuck. My old Subaru impreza with 4x4 and very expensive coil overs was still lively on B roads and my brothers focus rs is worse than my 250 cup, Imo the cup chassis Megane is good just compare it with any other fwd car with similar power of same roads. The fact you have only driven your cup for so long maybe driving something else you may have actually browned your trousers lol. joking aside imo messing with the setup on a cup not such a good idea as for tracking, tyres always tell a story poor tracking will always unevenly wear tyres remember good tyres =good grip.
It is certainly 'liveley' that's what I like about it, used to have a golf gti, which was quick, but very boring to drive.
Reason i`m asking is that i`m going back to the `Ring` after a few years off. So i`d rather go there setup correctly, rather than have it not quite right.
Hence the reason i was asking. Its the only car i`ve owned which makes me slightly nervous at high speed.Think i will get the tracking done. I presume they will have the tolerances as to what Renault recommend?
I have this too.. The roads locally to me aren't great, bludgeoned with potholes and don't make for comfortable driving - especially with a cup packed RS! I took the car to Renault shortly after buying it and was told it was due to the front tyre width.. not sure if that is actually the reason, but I used Goodyear F1's which are fu**ers for tramlining anyway.
I will get my tracking looked at soon & report back. Will probably be fine & its just a trait of the car. As for what a dealer tells me, i would take it with a pinch of salt( talking from previous experience).
You will probably find trackings out, mine was way out. Cup pack cars tend to lose there tracking due to the stiff setup
Get your tracking looked at on a hunter (or other computer alignment machine) as opposed to just plain tracking gauges.
When I first got my R26 (different car I know) it was really bad over road camber changes when accelerating hard, especially the crown of the road. In my case the lower hub swivel bearing was shot and was causing the issue. A quick trip to Mark Blacks to fit a replacement and the car was transformed. Have you checked that the hub moves freely to make sure the hub swivel bearing isn't shot? I am told the way to test is to jack the front up, remove the wheel, disconnect the track control arm from the hub, and then see if you can easily move the hub by hand. It should be relatively easy to move, if not then the swivel hub bearing is gone.
More food for thought. Cheers for the feedback. Much appreciated. Are the swivel hub bearings the ones that are forever on Ebay being sold by a foreign chap?
Mine it's not so bad. It's a bit camber sensitive, I notice it got better going from the original pilot sport 235/40/18 to the current supersport 225/40/18.
Yeah thats them, I got mine through him but R-Sport wimbledon sell them and won't charge you 10 quid per joint on postage! I had to do all 4 of mine this year
Not trying to come across as a thick tw*t, but i probably will. Did you pick up/notice that they were shagged or was this from An mot or dealer?
My cup 265 tugs you all over the road under hard acceleration but only on an uneven surface. It's just the diff working it's magic. Because both wheels are pulling at the same time, if one side is over the camber in the road etc it will pull in that direction. If the road surface has a lot of variation with bumps etc it will tug from side to side as the wheels dip into the bumps. Takes a bit of getting used to and hanging onto the steering wheel but it's totally normal.
They are pretty noticeable when they are on their way out, Squeek and creak at low speed, Vague steering, Increased tyre wear and generally feels "off"
Steerings sharp & precise, & tyre wear is as ok as its going to be. The only thing is the skip/judder on full lock maneuvering into my garage,but, as said before, this is normal(& worse with worn tyres).
I thought it was just me I live in peterborough the B roads are awful at times I don't even trust it sometimes!
I noticed an increase in "twitchiness" since I had the downpipe+remap, the higher torque makes it more nervous, especially if the road is not flat.
