Hi, I'm new to this forum and new to Renaults but thought I would start a blog on what I've been up to. Since passing my test I've been a bit of a Ford nut, having had my fair share of Fiestas, including a couple of ST's, the last one being my pride and joy! Owned it for over two years and loved every minute of it. Spent far too much time on it but it was worth it. I did all the work myself (with my Dad helping out a lot) and the car had Mountune spec KW Variant 1's, Focus RS brembos, Recaro Sportster CS seats, strut braces and a RARB, a full Milltek system etc. A really fun, nippy car that was insane amounts of fun to chuck around but I decided I wanted something a bit more grown-up and with some more poke. The fiesta: So over Christmas I started to look at Meganes. I'd wanted to change my car for a few months but had no idea what I wanted. It was an added bonus when I found out that the insurance was cheaper than the Fiesta! Which was a surprise being 21. Luckily I saw this one come up for sale with an amazing spec, went down to look at it the day after Boxing Day and decided to take it, driving it home the same day! It's got to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. I absolutely love the car. A picture from when I picked it up: It's got a fantastic spec. It's the 250 + Recaros and Cup Pack so it's got the full leather recaros and you all know what the cup pack is, I'm sure. It's also got climate control, Arkansys 3D audio, auto lights and wipers, reverse park sensors and the Renaultsport monitor, which is brilliant! The car was completely standard when I picked it up, but I noticed a 3 month old Milltek system up for sale at a great price so I snapped that up. Unfortunately I don't have any time at the moment to spend on the car so I've not managed to machine polish it yet. I was able to clay bar it and give it a few coats of wax. It had obviously never been done so it was really nice to get that done: Then the next weekend the Milltek arrived: So I fitted that. It took me a little longer than I thought it would as I had to angle grind the standard exhaust in half to remove it: Milltek fitted: Also, I can't believe how stiff the chassis is! I only jacked up the front of the car and still managed to get it this high. Amazing stuff. The exhaust is fantastic, sounds amazing under load and it makes some nice pops too After that I checked the air filter and although it wasn't that bad I decided to replace it with a performance filter anyway. I went for the KTR one, partly because it's yellow and matches the car lol, but also because I'd read good things about it. I wasn't after any more performance as I've decided that the standard intake system must be decent for the engine to be making the power that it does! But I was hoping for a little more noise, which I've not really got. It does sound good though anyway so I'm happy with it! But that's it with the car at the moment, I'm not really going to be doing anything else until the summer as I haven't got the time but I'd love to get it on some KW's and I'm not a massive fan of the wheels so I'm trying to work out what 18's to go for, but haven't got a clue!
Just a quick update. I picked up some new drop links and a new gear knob from Renault the other day and stuck them on this weekend. The gear knob desperately needed replacing and the drop links have cured the slight knocking I had! The old gear knob had perished and worn away. Wasn't looking too great. And the new drop links vs the old ones: Has anyone got any experience with the H&R coilovers?
I've got some more updates to come soon - including the dreaded cambelt ticking noise which is now sorted but not without a fair bit of drama!
How you finding the fit on the air filter? I've read a few things and apparently there not a good fit and need slight modification? I was looking at getting one but didn't want to if the fit was poor!
I hadn't heard anything like that? The fit was fine when I put it in but I did do it in a bit of a rush. I'll check it when I get a bit of time but I would have noticed if there was something wrong. The master tech at Renault in Crewe not bolting the intake pipe up caused more of an issue though haha
Maybe I've read it wrong mate, just didn't want to buy one and not be able to use it but if yours fits ok and you've had no problems then it will be fine! Cheers
Got a BMC filter abd can recommend it throughly, much more air whooshing noise and a snug fit too, a bit more expensive than some others but a quality filter.
How much was the gear knob James as I think mine could do with replacing soonish. Has the cam belt side of things now been sorted as we discussed? Cheers Craig, PS the car looks brilliant must clay mine one day
Hello mate Car looks lovely glad to see another 21 year old with a meg! Although I am 22 now . What was the reason for the droplink changes? Also what change did you notice from the air filter change? Cheers
lovely car mate, fiesta looked good also......i clayed the old mans car yesterday, got way more off than that lol
Finally finished my part-time degree today, so cracked on when I got home! Lots to do. Hopefully there will be some exciting updates soon
Noope, although whilst it's at this stage I was tempted as a Forge one was for sale for £375!! Probably sold for £350 posted which is a bargain. Currently working my way through this list: Repairing faulty headlight washer jets - turns out it's a split in the hose so new hose is on it's way! As of tonight I've managed to get the hub off, so bar trying to remove the pinch bolt for it (which has rounded, and is going to delay me quite a bit) I'm set to replace the drivers side lower ball joint! New exhaust gasket Spark plugs Fit the coilovers when they arrive Order new wheels and get tyres fitted Discs and pads all round And then alignment to get it tracking right. So there's a lot to do and not a lot of time for me to do it at the moment! I'll update soon when I get somewhere with the car
I've got such a long progress thread to write up, but haven't got round to it! I've replaced so much on this car now. I've done the ball joints on both sides, brakes all round, had the front end apart to fix the headlight washer jets, replaced the top mounts, changed the coilovers twice. All sorts! But I thought I would at least put a quick picture up to show how the car is looking now I love it, and will put a full write up together whenever I find the time!
Great stuff, nice to see others with the H&R coilovers as well (I assume you got those). One big question, why did you change the hub balljoints? Did you have creaking/clonking sounds? As mine is currently started doing this, I was considering to replace them myself as well. Did you order those seperate balljoints from Ebay? Or did you manage to get them from Renault? As far as I know, Renault doesn't provide seperate balljoints, but I just want to be sure. And was it an OK job to remove the balljoints? How did you remove them? Sorry for all the questions, but I want to be sure before commencing on this journey
That does indeed look fantastic :cool: I've been contemplating a set of Tibor's myself, not sure i can justify the outlay at the moment but they really set the car off.....
