Had the car over a year now. Thought about doing a thread on here for a while but never got round to it, so what else you going to do during a pandemic? I got the Megane bug after going in a friends r26 for about 30 seconds! Initially I was in the market for an r26 but this came up for what seemed like a steal of a price at the time and the current market. Completely stock and needing a bit of tidying up...
First things first was wheel refurb and take off the red wrap on the front bumper which I wasn’t a fan of and a good clean!
Next up as with all my cars was a full works service for a bit of piece of mind. Amazing that a Renault dealer had apparently changed the pollen filter 6k miles before lol. Pig of a job so don’t blame them for not doing it to be fair lol.
The mods begin! Read loads about the res delete being a great, cheap and cheerful mod so that was first up. Changed the headlight bulbs from the dull yellow to xenon look “off road” and bosh led side lights. Had read several disasters of the lower gearbox mount giving way so it was a must to get this uprated!
Time to put the big brakes to full use! Upgraded brake lines, motul rbf660 fluid and ferrodo ds1.11 pads on. The difference was night and day! Although the pads can be annoyingly squeaky on road use lol. Time to get rid of that horrific beach buggy arch gap! Sourced some H&R springs and the 15mm spacers through the forum. Sitting much nicer
Sourced an airtec intercooler for a bargain on the forum and accompanied it with some ikon motorsport boost hoses. Marmite for some but got the plates printed with a light tint and think they suit the car well.
Time for some fresh rubber (Michelin ps4 all round) and a trip to the ring. The car was phenomenal and faultless the whole trip!
Got the car fully detailed on return, decided to remove the tatty black roof wrap and fitted a maxton spoiler lip.
Found the only place the megane lacked was on the straights/top end at the ring and on the autobahn on the way there lol. Cant find picture but fitted a properfekt recirc valve with 1.3 bar spring to compliment the previous mods fitted and it was time for mapping . Over the moon with the results and the car feels completely different pulling so strong in every gear. If I could go back I'd of probs fitted a sports cat or decat but hey ho.
In all honesty didnt really do anything with the car for months and having started my own business last year, the car got a bit neglected and didnt get much use or any track days due to the work commitments. Booked nurburgring for may 2020 and I knew I wanted a better handling platform this time round to really push the car and get the most out of it. Purchased some freshly refurbed BC coilovers from a forum member and the difference is night and day even on the road, and despite mixed reviews on a soft setting I've found them absolutely fine for road use, although I do avoid roads with speed bumps now being lower. Finally got the ghastly chrome headlight inserts sprayed which I think look 10x better and fitted an £8 Amazon splitter which is probs my favourite thing ever lol! All set for the ring and corona virus struck :-(
Few photos of how she currently sits to date. I'm on the lookout for another set of wheels/tyres to use for track days but other than that, no further plans. Although a year in, now its pretty much where I want it I feel like the journey has only just begun in a sense. Hoping to get on plenty of trackdays and defo still plan on getting to the nurburgring atleast once this year. I had a DSG Audi s3 8p before and the megane is 100x the drivers car the audi could ever be for a fraction of the price. Definitely the best car I've ever had and looking at the current market... the only car I'll ever make money/break even on lol. Cheers for reading, and if you have any questions let me know and I'll try my best to answer . Sean
Nice work! Don't want to be that guy but your tune looks really poor on the top end, Was the car running right?
Great build mate. Amazing how much difference simple changes make to the look of the Megane. Interesting to read your thoughts on the BC's, they are something I have been considering for a while and its good to hear that they ride well on the road. Do you know what spring rates yours are?
Hi jamie, thanks and no worries mate. As far as I know the car was running right. All I can think is the cat restricting the car a little. Aside from the dyno, in terms of feeling it feels alot faster and stronger in every gear, and compared to stock I think it pulls well top end, I've even done some roll racing with faster cars I.e manual e92 m3 stage 2 and a stage 1 audi tts and the car sat with both of these cars all the way.
Thanks! And yes definitely couldnt agree more. The painting of the headlights and little £8 rubber splitter changed the complete look of the front end for me. I am on 10kg front and 7kg rear. 7kg front and rear I'd say is a good option to go for, but yh in terms of road comfort, barring in mind I'm pretty much in and around London I really haven't noticed a big difference from stock, as I found that fairly harsh anyway. Defo reccomend the BC'S and clicked out on soft setting for the road I think you will be suprised :-)
Oh right yh I do see what you mean. In the future I may go for sports cat/decat and maybe a refresh of injectors and bits and go back for mapping and see if can make any difference.
Looks really nice. Again, I'm interested in the BC review. I was considering them too, but read Cooksports and standard shocks are best?! I'm looking to do some trackdays so may end up doing one on the current set up and then upgrading in time.
Definitely recommend doing some track days on the standard suspension first, the standard suspension is very good. Nice to be able to tell the difference after you fit coilovers as well.
