Hi everyone - thought I would start a project thread for my 250 as I'll inevitably regret not doing it earlier otherwise! Bought it about 3 weeks ago now, is has the following spec: Recaro interior 19's refurbed in black which I much prefer Cup spec Scorpion non-res exhaust ITG filter Possibly a remap - feels a LOT faster than a non-Cup 250 I test-drove! Before the Megane I had a Clio 172 Cup, a great little car - I added H&R coilovers, bucket seats etc and it was great fun! Loving the Megane now though, much faster more refined and the handling is incredible. A few things annoy me about it, but I think they do everyone - the door pulls and the sound system! But other than that it's great. Here's the day I picked it up: And a few from the other day: So far I've done all the obvious things like Silvatec indicators, LED bulbs etc, and a bit of tidying up like polishing the exhaust and that kind of thing. Last weekend me and a mate tackled the first stage of sorting out the audio, which was fitting my trusty Alpine IDA-X100 head unit. This turned out to be quite a long winded job as there isn't a load of room behind the unit! But in now and the Incartec wiring adapter and facia panel are great. Also fitted RCA cables which are currently sat in the passenger footwell! Today we started putting in the speakers, first the woofer from the set of Focal KRX3 3-way components that are going in. Far from a small magnet but fitting doesn't actually look too bad. Today we opened up the speaker hole to fit (hence the paint to stop it rusting!) but they got caught by the rain - next weekend the speaker will go in along with some sound proofing and tweeters. The 3" mids will be a bit more complicated - current plan is to get them in the mirror cover. Finally I made this little adapter to turn the factory USB port in to a USB charging port - basically just an inline 12V socket, USB charger and a bit of soldering! But means I can plug my phone in to charge easily which I quite like, and saves the port being there doing nothing! Again, will get this fitted next weekend. That's it for now - I'll try and keep this updated! Out of interest, has anyone else tried a high-end audio install? Cheers for looking! Alex
Looks great, just had my focal under seat active sub fit in the boot, helped no end let me know how you get on with the speakers as i was looking at focal ones are you dynamating the doors?
I've always been a fan of Focal stuff - had a set of 165K2Ps in the Clio which will now end up in the rear of the Megane. I'll keep this updated! But be warned, fitting won't exactly be plug and play for 17's...... Yes, will be doing a full door sound proofing - this is how the Clio ended up, this will be similar!
Ps can you link me to the wiring adapter (presumably for steering controls?) and the fascia adapter? i have a pioneer unit i may use at a later date if i do the main speakers
This is the CANBUS and steering wheel controls adapter: http://incartec.co.uk/Pages/Product.aspx?P=3561 This is the fascia panel: http://incartec.co.uk/Pages/Product.aspx?P=3542 Both work great! The fascia panel required a small amount of modification to match the Renault one, just filing off a little on the back edge.
It's nice - not mega loud but makes a nice burble and lots of pops! And a good noise when you're high in the revs. It's the non-res version, I imagine the resonated version would be very quiet!
A bit of an audio update following a productive weekend! First job was to get the doors finished off, first sound proofing. I use Skinz as it's cheaper than dynamat, just as good and comes in easier to work with sheets. A total of 12 per door later and they looked like this! That's 6 sheets on the outer skin and 6 inner. Then got the woofer in - fitted the MDF adapter ring I made the other day in to the car using a few big bolts and washers, then fed speaker cable through from inside the car. This turned out to take ages on the passenger side because there's not much access, but got there in the end. Then connected the speaker, added the moisture guard (the foam stuff around the speaker, stops it getting too wet), and screwed it in place. All the screws go through the MDF and in to the metal so it's pretty solid! Next up was the mid-woofers - these are little 3" speakers that provide the mid range. I had decided to put these in the mirror panels, but had no idea how I was going to do it! But decided to just bite the bullet and start cutting the panels up. Cut out some MDF rings, got a bit creative with the glue gun and then after a bit of fiddling I had these: Then some fiberglass and they looked like this: A bit of trimming, mount the speaker and they were in! Then put the crossovers in, amazingly they fit perfectly in the under-seat pockets! Finally ran the tweeter cables and mounted these in place with a little double sided tape, and then done for the weekend! I'll look at getting the mid panels trimmed in the next week or two, then they'll look a lot better. Then need to look at getting the amps in - not sounding great of the head unit at the moment! Anyway that's it for now, I hope someone has found this interesting!
Another quick update - not much progress this week because of an electrical fault with the car which is very frustrating, it's stuck in limp-mode. Have been at KTec today, had to leave it with them so got a 182 courtesy car - could be worse! Hopefully this will be sorted out in the week.....
Great work on the audio, what happens with the dash display with the aftermarket head unit and wiring adapter?
The dash display just has the time, temperature and 'Renault Sport' when RSM is off, and then normal RSM when enabled. Volume control still works during RSM mode too which is nice!
Got the ignition system fault sorted with the help of KTec - turned out to be the TDC sensor after a bit of investigation! So that's all sorted now. While it was there I got it put on the dyne, see results below. Pretty happy with the numbers for a standard car plus Scorpion exhaust! Also finished the routing of the amp power cable, just drilled a hole through the bulkhead in the end. Mounted the fuse holder on the air box lid, looks quite tidy I think!
I wouldn't take too much notice of ktec rollers, I think they position them downhill to produce some of the figures they state at times!
Another little update, again only really audio stuff as funds are preventing anything else at the moment! First of all I got the rear speakers finished off - soundproofing then foam behind them, speakers installed in factory location, then soundproofing to close the panel off. The speakers are the woofers from an old set of Focal speakers I had lying around, probably wouldn't have bothered if I didn't have them doing nothing! They're 17cm, no real problem getting them in the rear despite the originals being 13cm - just drilled out the old one, made a little MDF collar and bolted it all together. They seem to work pretty well, you don't notice them too much but just add a bit more midrange. Another job done at last is covering the fiberglass enclosure I made for the mids ages ago - I was going to get them done professionally in Alcantara but this was looking like ~£150, so I decided to just do it myself with acoustic carpet. Pretty happy with the results! That's it for now, thanks for looking. Hopefully more progress soon!
Do you know if it's possible to fit 6,5" kickers in the front doors without cutting the metal or door card? Maybe by using a collar similar to the one you used above..
It would be possible, but would depend on the speakers used. The ones I used in the front were massive so needed some cutting, but the ones in the back are still large but not so big and would fit in the front just about. I used a 12mm MDF spacer I think. So as long as you don't go for a speaker with a massive magnet you should be ok. Although I think you would still need to grind off the area where the river is, but that's much easier than enlarging the entire hole. And you can't reuse the rivets anyway! Hope this helps.
Nice reviews about this cup project,its a nice and cool project,it also very interesting.I am a mechanic by profession and know well about the vehicles,actually the cars are dense in me and it my passion of life,so this project is same to my job.I like it.
Another update, which pretty much finished off the audio installation! The last big job was to install my Audison BitOne processor and additional amp, then properly fit the subwoofer in the boot. All amps and the processor are placed in the wheel well along with the sub. I made an MDF boot floor with a hole for the sub, then covered it in acoustic carpet which is almost exactly the same as the Renault carpet so looks pretty good! The sub also has a grille for protection. Then I installed the controller for the BitOne (allows you to change sub volume, EQ settings etc) underneath the head unit: Finally made a cover for the sub for when the boot is full, it just sits over the hole. Stored under the passenger seat the rest of the time: And that's the audio done - finally a proper sound system in the Megane! If anyone has any questions please ask away, not necessarily just for a complex install like this! Thanks for looking Alex
Spent a few hours working on the Megane over the weekend - first of all fitting a set of DS2500's. My ABS light had come on a few days before, and looking at the front pads they were pretty low so ordered a new set. I used to run 2500's on my Clio so knew they were pretty good, but only after fitting them do I realise how much better they are than the Yellow Stuff in there before! Sadly it hasn't turned off the light, but hopefully it just needs clearing. Also spent a few hours detailing with a mate: - Washed - Clayed with Autolygm clay - Washed again and dried - Polished with Autoglym super resin - Glazed with some of my mates Poor Boys stuff - Waxed with more Poor Boys stuff - Also sealed wheels and cleaned the brakes Definitely looks much better than before - there are actually reflections visible in the paint! A lot of tar etc was removed during the claying. And that's it - thanks for looking!
I know it's difficult to tell without going on track but how do you find the DS2500s in the megane application? I happily run them in my clio but hear bad reviews with the 250 due to its weight?
On the road, they seem great. I had Yellow Stuff in before, and they feel MUCH better than those (admittedly they were two-thirds-worn, but I wouldn't expect that to make too much difference). The initial bite is better, and definitely more power, plus a nicer feeling pedal (smoother and more feedback). I've never tried the Renault pads so can't comment on the difference there. I also used to run them in my Clio, and from experience there they weren't very nice when really cold and under heavy cold braking they would lock quite easily, so I imagine the same will be true here. At least there's ABS now though! When I say really cold I mean coming off the motorway after half an hour or something like that, but after one pedal application they were fine. Maybe on track the 2500's would get a bit too warm due to the weight of the car, but on the road I don't think you would often get that far. Cheers, hope this helps!
I have the yellow stuff in at the moment and they're a little better than oem for road use. Get a fair bit of noise but then what do you expect with grooved discs. Brakes are nowhere near as good as my 197 - whether that's a weight thing or what I'm not sure. Just ordered some braided hoses so will have a good bleed up with some fluid borrowed from work!
Interesting you mention noise - the 2500's are definitely quieter than the Yellow Stuff I had on before! Would be interesting to hear how you get on with the braided hoses, I'm considering those too.
I'll let you know as soon as I fit them. I'll be needing some pads in a few months so will probably go for the 2500's. Looks like @Fernandez has them at a good price.
As a point of reference my std pads in my 265 have the same feel, brake force etc as the ds2500's i had in my r26. R26 and 265 basically the same weight hence why ive previously referenced the ds2500 being 'similar' to the oem ferodo pad in my 265.
Got another little job ticked off the list at the weekend - the tailing edge of the rear window rubbers have been hanging off for ages and look rubbish! So out came the trusty Loctite black silicone - great stuff, I've used it for countless jobs in the past. Squeeze in a little behind the seal, secure with masking tape: And job done! Sadly now the car seems to have picked up an ABS fault - see thread below, if anyone else has experienced similar problems it would be good to hear from you! http://www.rsmegane.com/showthread.php?4362-ABS-Pump-Fault Cheers Alex
Another update from the last few months. Got the ABS pump problem sorted out, turned out the pump had indeed failed so needed a replacement. Thankfully the warranty covered it, and great service from K-Tec as normal! Also finished off the audio install, tidying up the subwoofer in the boot. Pretty happy with how the floor sits, and to remove you just pull out the thin strip on the right and then the whole floor pops out when the seats are down. There is also a cover to go over the woofer when I need to use the boot: Going in for a 3-year service and MOT this week, as well as a pair of new Pilot Super Sports, front discs, braided lines and lower gearbox mount. I'm hoping the lines remove a bit of brake compliance, and from what I've heard the gearbox mount would tighten up the gearshift a little which I would welcome! Discs were sourced from Ads at Renault Wolverhampton, great service and price! And tyres from Openeo.co.uk, £144 each, about £30 less then the last time I bought any which I was happy with! [/url] Thanks for looking! Alex
