Hillclimb and Sprint Megane RS250 -

Thought it was maybe time to start a project thread and introduce myself after a few months of lurking around and asking noddy new boy questions due to my almost non existent knowledge of the Megane.
I have been racing an Impreza for around 11 years but took the decision in 2017 to break the car and take a step back from racing for a while. This was a really difficult decision as I had built the car from a pretty standard 1992 Ver 1 Import Type RA (lightest Impreza made) to a full blown race car weighing 1060kg with 551 BHP at the wheels. I initially competed in The Scottish Hill Climb and sprint championship which was a pretty successful period then more recently once the car had been built for the 2nd time from a bare shell into a lightweight full on race car I moved to Super Lap Scotland which for those that don't know is very similar to Time Attack but based at Knockhill but this year I believe it has had an away round.
Some pics below of the Impreza as it was back in 2008 when I bought it and before I broke it late 2017.

 

I am not yet sure how far I will take the Megane but I doubt it will be as radical as the Impreza. One of the issues you have when you move from highly modified road car to full race car is you soon find you cant use the car as much as you used too. Even tho the Impreza was still road legal ish cough cough you couldn't really use it on the road lol.

In terms of building the car I done pretty much everything myself except the basic engine build and the geometry. I made the cannards myself from scratch, totally rewired the car from scratch, fitted the fibre glass doors, Perspex windows etc etc sure you get the picture. I have put some pics below of other aspects of the car.

 

So the Megane, here goes, after I broke the Impreza it was obvious I still needed something to tinker with so had always liked the look of the Clio Mk3 197/200 so one came up from a lad that had bought some of the Impreza bits, it was nice had all the right bits but needed a bit of TLC. I ended up changing every ball joint, every front bush and discs pads all round and a rear caliper as well as all the fluids and general service bits. Other than that the car was immaculate and the engine was tight and quiet and the gearbox was pretty smooth.




So once I had got it too this stage it was time for a track day, I put on some sticky Dunlop X22 semi slicks that I had used on the Impreza and off I went to Knockhill for a track day. The car handled really well even on k=just Cup dampers and springs but it was just so slooooooooow I could have read a book going up the straight, so maybe this was just a step too far lol. It was sold 4 days later.

Given how the car handled and I actually really liked it I decided to start hunting for a nice RS250. Eventually one came up the deal was done and I headed down south to collect it. The car was on average mileage 73k but was immaculate with a massive folder of receipts including a gearbox rebuild with new clutch etc due to whining bearings, it had been well looked after and properly serviced so it was bought back in Sept 18.

 

So what have I done with it, not a massive amount yet I drove it for 2 months after collecting it then put it in the garage and started looking at what I wanted to do with it and get a right good look at it. I was actually very very happy with what I found it is as nice underneath as it is outside and inside. So far I have only really done service items. Engine oil and filter, gearbox oil, fuel filterr, thermostat and new fluid, new 6 piece brake hoses, 4 parts Goodridge, brake fluid change, KTEC clutch damper delete hose, rear caliper springs, Mr Pink pins and new spark plugs. I did have to cut off both hose fittings o the rear hard pipe as they were seized but simple job to replace the fittings and reswage.
I had hoped to be a lot further on than I am with it but work and the pub has got in the way and the fact that one of the reasons for breaking the Impreza was to stop being in the garage every minute I had off work.

I have started collecting a few parts, full set of front hubs and lower arms which have all been vapour blasted and then I clear coated them New ball joints and bearings have been fitted to the hubs so they are sat waiting to go on, the arms are waiting on some spherical bearings which Alyn at AS Performance is sourcing for me. I am going to keep the standard cup dampers for now but will fit a set of Eibach springs. I have also picked up a sports cat and 3" exhaust so they will go on next. I am still waiting on my intercooler from the recent Airtech group buy which will also go on before it is mapped. I will probably change the fuel pump before mapping a0 to future proof it and b0 because the car has 73k miles on it and nothing will kill an engine quicker than a failing fuel pump.

 

Yeh I want to get back out and compete in some way, my preference is Tom go back to the sprints, it's not as sore on the car but the downside isn't the power. The Megane would be in the over 2000cc road car class so right in with all the Impreza's Andy Evo's and it just won't be competitive so I have to make the decision can I do the events for fun or do I need to be competative if as I suspect turning up to mke the numbers up won't cut it then it's probably back to SLS where the classes are based on power to weight so it may have a fighting chance but again I know from experience that it's difficult to compete against the Impreza's and Evo's even if you are even ish on power especially in the wet.

 

To be honest I think that's where I will end up but I still have the centre console from the Impreza and the wiring so I could easily strip the megane out and do the same wiring and ECU wise to it but again it takes away from how useable the car is and not convinced I have the same drive to start again from scratch. It's the weight that is the issue with the Megane the power to weight is not brilliant even if the do handle well.

 

The one thing that I have focused on for now is getting air into the turbo, the standard air box may well work fairly well with a decent panel filter but the more cold air you can force in there the better. I have removed the battery box and air filter housing and been messing around looking at options for moving things around to accommodate an air filetr the same size as I had on the Impreza. At this point I don't intend moving the battery to the boot or inside the car but intend to move the battery rearwards to where the current air filter box is and then create room for the induction filter. The induction filter hard pipe will run inboard of the brake master cylinder pretty much where the symposer pipe runs now and end up just behind the headlight. I will then look to duct cold air up to the filter from the front somewhere, not got that far lol. I will also be moving the ECU and the relay boxes around a little, not much needs changed in terms of the wiring just a couple of 12V feeder cables and a couple of main earths so pretty simple. Have put some pics below, I have cut a bit more off the box and have marked the mounting hole positions to pick up on some of the fixings already there but will create some more. I will also be fitting a new gearbox mount and will smooth of the triangular protrusions that you can see I the mock up, they will go so the holes wont be needed in the final box. The composite box in the pictures is purely for mock up and the final box will be alloy which I will have powder coated and it will have the fixings etc in place for the ecu and fuse box as well as pick ups for the battery once I decide what battery I am going to use.

 

Yip that's the issue especially when your talking about 1/10ths of seconds in sprints with no power limits. You would not have kept up with the EVO in the wet I have watched some very capable front and rear wheel drive cars disappearing in the rear mirror in the wet both in corners and straights.

 

Does anyone have the bolts from a front arm or could accurately measure the diameter of them for me with a digital micrometre. I know they are either M10 or M12 but either need a couple of bolts or the exact diameter would be greatly appreciated. Bolts that go through the bushes as per picture