£390 off ebay as a project car, needs a service and some minor work, will hopefully be worth more than I paid when i'm done with it. Comes with HPI clear and an MOT till december too which is nice.

----------------------------------------------------------

As of 8/7/12, waiting on a damn oil filter, wouldve had one from eurocar parts but have a halfords trade discount card and was assured they'd have one in yesterday, now they say not till tuesday if I pay today.

Trip computor reading 000--- on startup, can see a little oil has been escaping from the old filter, damn you halfords!

----------------------------------------------------------

As of 9/7/12 changed the awful mismatched front ditchfinders to a pair of Dunlop sports, difference is night and day, now have confidence in the braking and turning abilities. Finally getting 37mpg on the trip computor around town.

Wasted £1.99 on a 'new car smell' air freshener that actually smells like an old peoples home.

When tyres were changed had a good look at the underside and brakes, turns out the brakes are virtually brand new. Just need to tidy up the bodywork now and fit the new window regulator.
----------------------------------------------------------


23/7 Getting window regulator ordered this week, getting more accustomed to the car now, only other Renault of this age i've driven is a 172 Clio.
So lets start with Dislikes;

Steering is lighter than a 172, but boasts a much tighter turning circle (172 Clios seem to have the turning circle of an SUV).

Clutch is quite light to use.

Engine is so quiet everytime I pull upto traffic lights i'm convinced its cut out.

Can wheelspin in 2nd under hard acceleration.

Speakers are of a low quality.

Boot access point is tiny, and rear seats may as well not exist with my long legs requiring the front seat to be touching the rear seats.

Trip computer wont tell me how many miles you have left in a tank if less than a so far undiscovered amount.

Rides very high.

Gearchange not rifle bolt sharp.

Rubbish cup holders.

Can feel a bit unsettled at high speeds in heavy winds.

Self cancelling indicaters far too keen to auto cancel.

Likes;

Fair turn of pace for a 1.6.

Brakes feel strong.

Very comfortable seats.

Can now get high 30's mpg, drove to a job interview 20 miles away which raised the average to over 40mpg.

Nice bright headlights.

Glovebox illuminates at night if headlights are on.

Rev happy engine.

Alloy wheel design easy to clean.

Routine maintainence is moderately easy.

Simplified HT lead design unplugs and unbolts meaning no messing around reconnecting leads in the correct firing order.

Doesnt attract any unwanted Police attention, so I dont get pulled over every 5 minutes because of my age.

-----------------------------------------------------------
8/8/12

Owned it for a month now, waiting on renparts to get a window regulator in so I can do the drivers side electric window and sell it.

Discovered it has torsion beam rear suspension whereas I had assumed it would have semi indipendant as do the 172 Clios (never looked under a cooking Clio). No great shakes but teaches me that I cant assume similar aged cars of the same manufacturer will be the same mechanically.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Drove down to cornwall fault free. Well the jouney down was. Speedbumps on the local estate made the exhaust fall off. A £3 clip later and it was back on and as quiet as ever. 440 miles of motorway and the Megane loved every one. Cruising at around 88mph and getting 41mpg.

------------------------------------------------------------

Still waiting on an electric window regulator, might have to bite the bullet and buy brand new if I cant find one soon, everything seems to be specific to the coupe audio and electrical wise. Want rid of it soon its far too small a car inside, a Clio has more room inside!
------------------------------------------------------------

3/10/12

Finally got a window regulator from Ireland thanks to Eco Car Parts or something very similar. Unfortunately broke my retaining clip and threw away the old lower support plastic piece. Car is now secure, but window tried to jump out the guides and doesnt lower evenly so is locked 'up'. Fitted new driveshafts and ball joints, went with GSF as they bought my old driveshafts as exchange. Hopefully this will solve the noise from the front and the tell tale driveshaft noise whilst cornering.

Still need to fit new ARB bushes and source the final window componants and then I can finally sell it on. Have learned alot so far, and not spent too much on it other than Dunlop front tyres. In hindsight I should have gone for Michilins all round as the back end is still a bit 'lively'.

------------------------------------------------------------

4/10/12

Driveshafts and ball joints seem to have made a really positive difference judging by my breif drive after fitting. No more noises from the from and the new ball joints seem to have made the steering feel more positive. Also removed part of my exhaust stability 'improvement', a series of metal cable ties limiting movement (and therefore noise) they had been rattling for a while which I mistook for a loose manifold from my exhaust having fallen off, having spent a few hours trying to remove the bizarre plastic box behind the throttle body to get at the manifold, it seems to collect oil, maybe Renault think its lubricating the air?

Car is now rattle free and steering alright for a change.

Ordered a replacement centre for my gear knob as the previous one was rubbed smooth. Plumped for a nice gloss black centre with embossed lettering, it looks stock but with the option for different coloured numbering. The old part really let the otherwise nicely kept interior down.
Just need a pair of window trims for the exterior (the old ones go mouldy or else the aluminium strip corrodes), a new clutch pedal rubber and the clip and lower runner for the electric window and then i'll be looking to move on.

-----------------------------------------------------------

10/11/2012


Still havnt sorted the final parts for the window, still need a clip and a lower plastic support for it. Am now getting irritated by the poor paintwork on the roof. Have recently started working again so toying with the idea of wrapping it (gloss black, I doubt they will be able to match metallic blue in a wrap), and maybe sourcing some 172 or 182 clio alloys for it. Considering what I can do cure the megane shimmy from the rear and the general rear ends livliness.

(which I would assume is to do with a torsion beam being very stiff in comparison to the front ARB and springs?)

Thinking I might put it through the MOT and use it for work and wait untill I can afford something better outright and then sell it once I have a replacement ready to go.

Also noticed a slight 'wound' in my front o/s Dunlop. I dont know if this is an MOT failure or not, though I suspect it is, I was trained to look for marks on tyres doing mock MOTs in college.

So I think I will need to replace them before the MOT, annoying as the rears are still ditchfinders and I was planning on putting the fronts on the back and getting 2 Michilins on the front.

I dont like the dunlops feel and will be planning on changing all four to Michilin Exaltos, which is what my Dad has always run on his RS Clio 172, of course thinking it will make my car feel like an underpowered 172 in a way.

------------------------------------------------------------
13/11/12

Considering what to do if I do keep it for the 1 years ncb. Its getting a new headunit and will get uprated front speakers in decemeber (the rears are already 2-way units so I assume aftermarket). I'm thinking a roof wrap is on the cards regardless of any of the below, because of the paint cracking on the roof.

Just dressing it up a bit really, theres not much potential in it besides light asthetics and some engine bling.


.

------------------------------------------------------------

28/11/12

Found a clip for my electric window, the motor is fine, the window is clipped in securely, but it still tries to 'jump' out the frame, just noticed the guide thing on the edge of the actual glass is damaged.

There was a coupe at my local scrappy, but not sure if the window it has is the same tint as mine, it looked greener on the silver of the car next to my blue, I didnt remove it get the clip to compare the shade so will have to go back on my next day off and if its still there, compare.
If that doesnt solve it i'll be needing new window trim as mine has a wound from removing the glass a few times when fitting the various regulaters. It needs a passenger side trim too as the aluminium strip that keeps it rigid had corroded slightly.

It is also due an MOT within 7 days.
It should pass without any advisories as everything that is part of the criteria for the MOT is spot on. Besides some external trim issues in the window frames and the cracked paint on the roof its solid and well serviced mechanically.


------------------------------------------------------------
14/12/12

The Megane failed its MOT, needs new windscreen, chip over 10mm in A zone, emissions failed on the lambda, but co2 and HC reading were pass so means exhaust was blowing causing the lambda reading to appear as a fail.

Got new exhaust fitted for £39.95 from Ablefit tyres in Bristol. Absolute bargin!

It also needs the ARB bushes doing (by myself on sunday), a bearing pressing in (which i'm going to get a 2nd opinion on before I get it pressed in, i'm not convinced its worn), and a CV boot putting on (thanks to a screwdriver head sized hole I discovered right next to the metal clip on the wheel side of the hub).

An expensive month for me, fortunately my insurance has windscreen cover with £75 excess. Getting the bearing pressed in will cost me £70. The other parts have cost me another £70 again.

I have also discovered the place I got my exhaust fitted does dirt cheap tyres.

By some lucky coincidence I had the hindsight to buy all my beer, tobacco, rizla, petrol and various Christmas gifts before my MOT so I dont lose out at all, I just wont be buying any sausage rolls when out in town.

------------------------------------------------------------
3/3/13



Rear nearside shock was found to be leaking in febuary, had ordered a pair of Koni str.t from Larkspeed but had to cancell the order due to the delivery time being 13 weeks. So I need to get a new pair of rear shocks from GSF as Renault no longer make the oe dampers which isnt ideal. But I cant run a leaking damper so it'll have to do. Means £90 I could be spending elsewhere.

Made two trips down to cornwall trouble free, my mpg was low 30's on the first trip which was acceptable considering how little time it took to get to the penwith area from wiltshire. The second trip I saw 39.8 most of the way with low 40s in parts crusing at 4000rpm.

I found a small patch of rust near the rear sill so need to weld in a plate and reapply underseal to make sure no more rust appears.

I was given a sub by a mate down in cornwall, you'll not find a more ghetto install, a 750w massively heavy driver screwed into an old speaker box from a rig run off a puny 250w amp. Redneck audio Cornish style.

Unfortunately it seems I will have to keep the car for longer then first expected so will be restoring and very lightly upgrading to suit me.

Sorting out the grubby trim around the windows, other small bits of trim, new numberplates, new badging where the old ones have discoloured, fresh underseal and some high quality gearbox oil are first on the agenda.
Then uprated dampers all round with a small drop on the front, a proper geometry set up and steel braided brake lines with pads to compliment.

------------------------------------------------------------
9/4/13

Let down on my rear shocks, fitted some OE Sachs from euro car parts, found a discount code online so got a bit off.

Found a new scrappy too, a much more customer focused layout to the one I usually try, everything is on one level, no stacked cars, no rules against tool bags etc, and with some great little roads leading to it.
So far i've recovered fresh window sill trim to replace the manky side, a spoiler with non corroding paintwork and some side impact mesh that mine was lacking.

Have everything I need for the window to work just apprehensive to do the work myself as I have now broken countless regulaters thanks to the shit horseshoe clip that snaps into pieces if you look at it in the wrong way. Plus the fact the twunt salesman who had tried fixing it previously had managed to remove the guide rubber from the inside meaning the window was always forced out of the frame at a very bad angle and the plastic clips in the regulater broke before it could push my window to the point of breaking.

I have now fixed the rubber piece back into place so the window slides up and down perfectly, however the most recent regulater went so far beyond its intended reach it broke out the top of the mechanism. So I have yet another regulator to replace it with.

It has now been decided the car stays for another year, its cost too much and taken too long, and I'll try to get some money back buying a few cheap fiestas to fix up and sell on that I know wont be a PITA to find parts for.

------------------------------------------------------------

14/4/2013

Car got rear ended, its a write off. Various parts collected to tidy the car up are obviously no longer requires and thus available for sale. Including;
new rear spoiler,
window regulator,
splitter,
chrome surround front grills etc.

Other parts available, PM me.

-------------------general summary-----------------
I must say that Meganes of this age lack potential, torsion beam rear suspension, a lack of readily available tuning parts and the fact that on coupes you are limited to a maximum of 5" rear speakers mean these are best enjoyed as standard.

They are capable for the class and age of car, the 1.6 16v engines are sweet revvers with a nice induction bark with the rubbish fabric feed removed from the resonator box, they do however need decent branded tyres all round as the back end can be lively, on power through a corner they lock in nicely to the line of the bend, just dont dream of lifting off.

They would also benefit from uprated brake pads and steel braided brake lines, because although the brakes are of a decent size for the age and have no trouble stopping they lack the feel of a sportier set up. Mine were however virtually brand new so I couldnt justify throwing away brand new pads and lines for the sake of feeling.

I also hear that they benefit from a 172/182 dogbone mount. The gearstick does move around an awful lot at rest and under load. The stock item appears to be made out of old condoms.

Average MPG readout has recorded a low of 17.9 and a high of 44.2. A friend whos dad owns one claims he sees 50mpg at a mind numbing 58mph motorway cruise. I get 41mpg at 88mph.


------------------------upgrades----------------------



Foglight tint. £12

Upgraded audio. £60 (most of it was free)

PH sticker. £2.50

------------------------------------------------------------

Final summary.

I was fairly sad about the Megane getting written off, it still had issues but due to the amount of time i'd spent working on it meant it had become mine.

It was never great but it had a 'personality' because of its faults, quirks, and fair turn of pace. Driving a Courtesy car really makes me miss having 'just' 110bhp and a mobile rear end. Now I have to find another car i'm realising how lucky I was to get a mechanically sound motor for £390, the body was tatty, very polished, but still tatty, good brakes once you get used to the force required on the pedal to utilise them, and running on toyo T1Rs really quite nimble.

The soundsystem made the interior rattle very badly and the sub was never fixed down.
The drivers window had never worked and I had just discovered the week before what was wrong the whole time (a rubber guide had become dislodged, took 2 seconds to reattach.)
It would get 39mpg cruising at 90, 46mpg at 60 and a shocking 29mpg around town (5th gear in 30 zones, never going above 2500rpm around town, still shit economy). But it never broke down and never had any mechanical issues at all.

It was the reaction from other people that suprised me most, friends thought it was quite rare and different, people would chat to me at petrol stations like it was something other than a cheapo 90s french coupe.

It was a fun first car and a bit different, but I dont think i'd buy another, despite how cheap they are. The torsion bar rear suspension set up is too old school compared to even cars of the same age, I never had the drivers seat the way I wanted it, I just couldnt get the right position. The rear seats are as pointless as those in a MINI but the boot is big enough to stop it from being completely impracticle.

It was far to softly set up to drive in a really sporting way, it never felt confidence inspiring. It punishes a heavy handed approach to corners. Throw it around and the back end will slide out, feed it in and it'll grip.