I am seeing a fair few posts on here / elsewhere about engines 'blowing up' past 100k on track. All my previous track cars have been NA non turbo and not had a total failure on track, even on my 160,000 mile Golf GTI years ago. I now have an R26 and thinking remap etc but worried how much longer it will last blasting it around track.... any thoughts?
it all depends on it’s previous owners as in how well it’s been looked after services and stuff Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’ve been having similar concerns / asking similar questions. My R26 Is on 99k, running the standard stage 2 goodies c.285hp. 80% of the last 20k miles have all been track. There is a general concern that as you push on up past this point, you are basically waiting for it to pop. Having said that, the options are either 1) get rid before it pops, in which case you have basically lost the fight anyway 2) air on the side of caution and get a build done - doesn’t make it indestructible, and needs pennies to spare 3) just try and forget about it, enjoy the car, if it pops it pops, another engine can be had for not that much money, and you can decide at that point if you want to part with the pennies to do something a little more solid I’m going with 3.
Best thing is not to push the power too much, service it regularly, i change the oil after every 3 trackdays, i feel this keeps on top of it. Driving on track puts the engine under a huge amount of strain, same as with other components. One trackday must be equal to around 4-5k miles, so doing oil changes as per the recommended intervals is a no no.
Thanks and agree with both of you @GLN RS and @ianplymouth was just interested to know if anything unusual about a Megane over 100k. But yes all good advice and agree with oil change, I used to do it every track day in my 205 gti but was probably overkill
I assume the advice of these 3 points is the same on the mk3... ballpark what do rebuilds cost on mk2’s & mk3’s out of interest? is it something the likes of Mark Black at Midlands Renault Specialists can do, or does it require the attention of someone more niche in engine rebuilding? Thought of Mark as i’m seeing him in a few weeks time for maintenance, wondered if this would be his bag too
It all really depends what you want as an end result. Basically rods and pistons are the first step, then i would say valves and springs. But there is a basic amount that needs to be done even on the basic build, Oil pump and chain, upgraded main and big end bearings, on top of that will be a full gasket set and new head bolts. The next step is fitting a different turbo, then maybe a set of cams, i tried to find out what the advantage of a set of Cat cams and springs would give to my engine, but it was harder than finding tomorrows lottery numbers, so for me to fit a set of these cams with the possible increase of power maybe at a cost of nearly £1k i thought i would give it a miss. Mine has rods and pistons, Supertec valves and springs, King main and big end bearings, new Genuine oil pump and chain and the turbo. That gave me just under 400hp at the moment, i now have fuel supply problems but it will stay at 388hp for a while now. I rebuilt the engine myself, i have another to do over winter, i do enjoy doing this sort of work As for who you use to do your engine work, just be very careful in who you chose, someone i know is on his 3rd forge build in a year
