Hello everybody, This is my build thread for the RS. I have some long Renault history from working in they're calibration department and also owning another Megane II 1.5dci. But I always wanted this: Renault Megane RS dCi. A very rare car that puts in the same box the very refined chassis that everybody loves with a state of the art diesel engine. Why do I say state of the art? Because it was the most powerful diesel engine in his class for a couple of good years. Another thing that made me wish this car, was the combination of Bosch and Garrett that makes tuning much easier. I played with a couple of Sagem ECUs from the 225/R26 and also the Delphi from my other 1.5dCi, but nothing beats the Bosch architecture. And why Garrett? So much easy to build a hybrid. As you may already notices, I have big plans for my car and a pretty good one for it. I just need the time, money and will to push it to the end. The main idea is to get a very nice to drive car which will be a daily driver with some weekend action at the track. LIST OF CURRENT MODIFICATIONS: Suspension - new OEM sway bar links - thanks to Ads@renault - BC Racing BR suspension with custom valving by IG-Racing - new OEM inner tie rods - thanks to Ads@renault - wheel hub refurbish - thanks to Fred@BTM Performance - lower arm refurbish (new ball joint and bushes) - thanks to Fred@BTM Performance - new Vibratechnics lower arm rear bush - supplied by Cazan Racing, installed by Fred@BTM Performance - new H&R springs 30mm drop - thanks to Cazan Racing - new anti-rotation link - ebay - new tie rods - ebay - new KYB shock mounts - ebay - 21mm front sway bar (original is 20mm) - ebay Engine - KTEC DPF delete pipe - thanks to previous owner - GTB1856 hybrid Gearbox - shortshifter - my idea, my friend Andrei's work Misc - diy black frame headlights + 55W Xenon - myself - Uniroyal RainSport 3 225/40/18 - internet Everything started in June when I got the car. A nice 175dCi, black, luxe pack, a couple of good things, a couple of bad things... When I bought the car, it already had a DPF delete pipe from KTEC and some shitty software. The car doesn't go into regeneration anymore but all the orange lights on the dash. And to make things even harder, the muppet that "tuned" the car also used a NOREAD tag to be sure it makes my life harder. In the mean time, I bought another ECU to be able to play with no risks. So, first road trip with the car was to Goodwood. The car had to see the competition and the parking lot from Goodwood was a very nice place!
So modifications start. First modification was the short shifter. Easy job to do and the results are astonishing. This really changed my car. I ordered parts for the last 2 months, so when I do the installation, I have everything new. I installation was made by me and my friend Andrei. Everything worked easy. Only thing that we couldn't do it on our own, has the hub and the lower arm refurbishment. So we choose Fred from BTM Performance to help us. Everything happened during a Saturday morning which also coincide with Fred's birthday. He is a real gentleman, helped us with everything. I will definitely work with him in the future. Arm refurbishment: And the final product:
During this installation, I realise how bad our control arm design is. The flex a lot when you push them by hand. Don't believe me? Disconnect your steering tie rod and rotate the whole hub from maximum left to maximum right and you will see the whole arm flexing when you get to the end of your movement. This made me come up with a plan. Until Christmas, I need to make a better design for the arms and produce it short after New Year. So if you are looking for better lower arms for your Megane, check this place from time to time Renault also realised they made a mistake, so check out Clio 197/200 and Megane 250/265/275 lower arms and you will see they are cast aluminium rather than folded sheet of crap metal.
Like it, good work. Always been a fan of the 175's. They move when they've been remapped I can tell you that!
I hope I will have a first design in 1-2 week time. The arms will definitely be more robust, they will incorporate uprated rear bushes (I hate I had to pay 144£ for Vibratechnics one). The current discussion is if we should incorporate adjustable ball joint or fixed. You should, theoretically, be able to dial some camber in, but we are afraid for the joints from the drive shaft. The arm will come as a kit with some couple extra bits to correct the roll center when you lowered the car on springs or coilovers and also correct the dynamic camber gain. We usually lower the car, but we loose a lot of things from the suspension pov. I expect to correct a lot of this things and get the uprated bushes plus a more robust arm, all in one package. So, stay tuned!
Yes Charlie. All Megane II have the same arm. The RS version has a different ball joint and some extra bracket and small hole. So, you will be able to use my arms on any RS.
Bloody Hell music to my ears... I recently done track rod ends and steering arms and the steering still feels a little loose... So I'm in the process of getting bits together to do another big refresh up front... Such as the steering rack bush, the lower arms uprated bushes etc... So I'll be keeping an eye out for these... Can I ask have you got a price in mind or is it too early to tell still.. And will you be doing the kit as a whole I.e. both sides?
Yes, obviously the kit will be made for both sides and it will come as with complete arms with all the bushes and ball joints. So wait a couple of weeks and don't pay the money yet for the lower bushes. As for the price, is still hard to say right now but definitely it should be less than 2 brand new arms from Renault and 2 bushes from Vibra-technics. I will try to keep the prices as low as possible. My initial thought is to make a batch of 5 sets. One for me, the rest will be first came, first served and then I will see the feedback. Now, you are the first 2 guys on my list, so you will get the first chance. As for the bush inside the steering rack, I bought one for my car (130k as right now) and the bush inside was brand new. So I didn't changed in the end.
Is one hour job you can do in front of the house. You need one of this: http://www.sgs-engineering.com/x11-...store=sgs_en&gclid=CIuFv8rKzMICFaXnwgodVDcA9g You can buy it from anywhere. Search for M8 screw with 10mm ball. Remove the battery and the battery tray, so you can have access to the shifter cables. Remove the longitudinal shifter cable (is the top one, easiest to get access to). It has a small clips to pull (or push - don't remember exact, but you will figure it out) Drill a 8.5mm hole in that plate (like in my picture) exactly where the plate is going down, but stay on the same plane like the original bolt. Be sure the shifter cable can pop on the new bolt and still have space to move, so you don't need to remove the original bolt. In my car had plenty of space, so no special concerns there. Put a lock-nut on the other part of the screw and tight them. Install everything back. Job done. For me it was a little easier because I made this modification when I installed the xenons, so the front bumper was off. So a little more access. But you can do it easy. S.
Just wondering where you got your wishbone ball joints and bushes from burladas? Mine need doing but want to avoid replacing the whole unit if possible. Thanks!
The ball joint are normal Espace ones (with a threat on top). You can order the original version from Renault or lots of them on ebay. The big bushes you can find on ebay, but I used the uprated ones from Vibratechnics. If you just want to refurbish your arm, parts should cost you around 50quid, but if you want to upgrade them with better bushes, I recomand you to wait a couple of weeks, because I will produce some better arms completly with better bushes and camber adjustment. S.
Thanks - I did a little more research last night and found out about the Espace ones. Your arms sound interesting - are you fabricating them yourself? I may just get ball joints for the time being and wait.
Hi Bulardas Thanks for the tip, fitted the extra ball joint today, Defo works. Not driven it yet but its noticeably shorter. The only difference is I tapped mine into the plate so its nice and solid. The hardest part was getting the battery tray out! Probably the best value mod I've ever done. Andy
It passed some time since I last updated my build thread. I managed to pass one of the biggest thing on my list. I installed myself an LSD. Everybody said there is none available for the diesel, I knew is not right. It is a GKN Torsen differential from a Megane 250 Cup. It works like a charm. ESP is much happier now when I combine heavy foot with wet roundabouts and diesel torque. I'm very happy with my new add-on. I also installed my home-brew uprated clutch disk. It should be good for 500Nm. So, once we get the hybrid turbo, we will find this out. S.
Good work with the LSD, I think all the people that say it can't be done are just looking for the easy way, IE something that will just drop in. Anything can be made to fit if your willing to put a bit of extra time and effort in to it, As you have proven.
In the meantime, I added another couple of bits on my car X-brace from Ultra Racing. People will say that UR doesn't make a brace for Megane and things... And here is on the car it could be a little thinner but is not that bad. I didn't scraped it yet in 2 weeks and my car is pretty low. Also, because the gearbox is moving a lot when you tip-in/tip-out and it was pretty annoying, I made my filled dog leg mounts. They are fillet with liquid rubber of 53-54 Shore A material. I didn't wanted to make anything harder because this is a daily driver. NVH is losing a couple of points but the gain in gear change feeling and stiffess is a good balance. S.
Haven't seen X-braces on any Meg yet, interesting! Are the differences noticeable, and if so 'where' exactly?
Most of the things you are going to see on my Megane, you would not have seen them yet on other Meganes. From my knowledge, I'm also the first one running a LSD on the diesel. Yes, there are some differences. The front end feels more solid. Best way to realise this, is when you go over bumps. Steering is a little sharper and steady. For the price I paid, I can say it's a good investment. But if I would buy it again, I would try RS-Racing version: https://www.facebook.com/2640942970...4094297084252/328460553980959/?type=1&theater It uses both screws on the chassis and it is lower profile, so smaller chances to touch it. And maybe a little cheaper also. But you have to wait more and I was in a hurry. S.
Out of interest, how were you able to purchase the OEM GKN LSD and get the part numbers? I work with GKN who supply cardan shafts to spec for me (we supply powerful high-speed diesel engines to Sunseeker, Princess etc) and so have contacts there. I was thinking of trying to purchase the OEM R26 LSD from GKN to put in my standard 225 ‘box but all my research has turned up no part numbers! I did wonder if the 250 LSD would fit but didn’t want to go through all the costs to find out that it wouldn’t. I’m sure that the OE GKN LSD would be a lot cheaper than the Quaife version…
PK4 diff (from Mk3) is different than the ND0 (from Mk2). I don't say you cannot make it fit, but is not a drop in solution. I got myself an entire gearbox to get the diff out. S.
I really like this! Just so different to other... Also i agree on the ecu side, i just don't understand why Renault uses such shite engine managements on the RS models. Bosch is way easier/better
I'm happy you like it and you realise this is an unknown path. There are 2 reasons why I chose the diesel version over the classic petrol version: 1. - it has an Bosch EDC16CP33 ECU, so a very nice ECU to work with, which happens to know very well 2. - Garrett GTA1549LV turbo. So building a hybrid turbo shouldn't be such a biggie with all the offers from Garrett own yard. And while speaking, my new turbo is just finished in my friends' hybridisation shop. More to come about this. S.
I've been pretty busy with the Delphi ecu on my 1,5dci but there just isn't much info to find. Never got to the point of getting the turbo pressure higher then 1,3bar without spiking. Did manage to get the rev limiter up to 5000rpm though and just upped the fuel injection a tad so it didn't smoke too much..... Talking about the dci 100 with vnt turbo btw, on the 80 you can just adjust the actuator to get more boost! EDC16 is peanuts, lots of info all over the net! What software do you use? Agree on the turbo side too, lots of gta, gtb and gtc options around! Also the fuel system is way better than on the 1,5's, i was maxxing out the fuel pump pretty quick!
Ok, first guy I can speak the same language. I also have a 1.5dCi 85hp version with wastegated turbo and DCM1.2. I played with that car too (obvious). It was just ECU tuning and I managed to get to 115hp very safely (when I say safely means I made 100.000km without any issue. After exactly 98.200km since I first reflashed the car, the turbo failed. Car had 248.000km in that moment). Now my better half uses the car. I have rail pressure issues only when I floor it in high gears from low rpm. But in rest, enough fuel. Also, I played start of injection to stay out of smoke. So in the end, the car has very happy to run 4500rpm with around 1.35 - 1.4 bar. But I was aware of the limitations of Delphi and I always wanted a Bosch ECU in my car. So, now I have it. About tools, I have everything: Byteshooter, CMD, Piasini, EVC BDM, MPPS, CAN-Clip, DDT2000, WinOLS, ETAS INCA, emulation ECU...you name it, I have it. In my opinion (keep in mind I'm a engine development engineer by day and tuner by night) the diesel version is a way better car than the odd Sagem/Mitsubishi combo you find in a R26. And because we are here, I have to confess that I have aside also a bigger fuel pump for the 2.0 derv, in order to break the barrier of 225hp that people get with the standard hybrid. Injectors are big enough, the pump is what keeps us back. Anything about tuning, I will happily talk about. S.
Oh man this is pure porn..... I like your project very much, Im sad i didnt see it sooner. Ps i prefer the diesels also. Will you raise the rewlimit on your engine and by how much? Ps do you know what will short out on a 1.9dci a fuel pump or injectors?
I found 2 soi maps in the delphi ecu but without proper logging i couldn't play with it without risking of breaking something. i just upped the pressure a bit and worked on the limiters. Mine has 295.000km atm and has been mapped since 230.000km. it's for sale now though so going to put the standard map back in. i see you've almost finished your turbo already? From my research i have a lot of spec sheets for what turbo's are fitted to what vehicles
Hello, I don't know but it is easy to calculate. You need to take from the software a couple of maps like. Torque to IQ conversion, Fuel Pressure map and Main torque limiter and Fuel pump size. Using those information you can calculate what is the maximum fuelling you can get from the injectors, what fuel pressure the pump can keep and things like this. If you get the informations, I can sort out some spreadsheets for you to get the data out. S.
For the SOI, you cannot log anything except in-cylinder pressure. But I made my SOI maps just using the feeling and it seems I made a decent job. In the 2.0derv, I will make it even better because the car had a DPF originally, so I can move the SOI a lot. Yes, the turbo is ready, waiting for shipping. I will have it here in a couple of days, maybe weeks. But I believe I will not have time to install it for a while. Also, i want to build a decent pipe between the turbo and the air-filter and a better air box or cut the original one. Still don't know what I'm going to do. If I have to put a name on the turbo, that should be a GTA1856 in Renault world or simillar to a GTB1756VK. The exhaust wheel is somewhere in between. Also a meth installation is waiting me on the table. I will run pre-turbo injection with a pump and a solenoid. The solenoid will be controlled by the original ECU through the EGR maps (you have all the corrections you want based on air temp, load, boost, rpm, water temp, exterior temp....) Unfortunately, time is not easy to find... S.
Good to see you are so far with it. So much to control with the ecu as long as you know how it works. i know i can calculate soi but it had 2 maps, 1 for pre injection and 1 for main injection. Without logging i don't know which one i'm changing so that's why i didn't touch them. going to put it back to standard tonight as it's for sale and i reckon people will be put off when the dash starts to light up because the fuel pump isn't able to hold up. only made minor mods to the torque limiter as the dci 100 is pretty dead below 2000rpm as standard
Bulardas strange you opted for such a small output turbine, Have you upgraded the turbine (cut a bigger one down to suite a smaller exhaust housing) as the 17 and 18 turbine shafts are known for failure
The turbine wheel is still an unknown to me for the moment. I know we tried a couple of different approaches but I still don't know which one remained on the turbo. 250hp and 500Nm was my target from the beginning. This is my daily driver and I'm sure this power can run pretty safe. There are also 2 more concerns. I wanted a bolt-on turbo, so this is max what you can do on a Renault turbo that fits and also I want to spool decently for track driving. What are you saying about shaft failures and where do you have the info? I'm not aware of this and I would like more details. S.
As i own a 1.9 dci i looked for the most common failures on them. And only a single one came up. And that is the failure of the turbocharger. The 1.9dci 88kW uses the gta1749v if the turbo is pushed hard (and the dci engines are known for their air hungriness) they fail. Sometimes (not that rare) is the failure of the turbine shaft at the narrowing I dont know for sure if the gta18 turbine has the same shaft. On all of the 1756 hibrids the turbo failed exactly by braking the shaft. Some come ower this by using gt2056 turbine and they machine it to fit the 47 turbine housing and use what ever compressor they intended originally.
