Mk3 Laguna GT205

[Djw John]

I browse PH most days but very rarely contribute, but I know there's a few other on here who for some godforsaken reason also like french cars, especially if they're big, fast and depreciated to about a 1/10th of what they were new!

My car history is fairly long (53 cars I think plus about 12 for my wife) with a couple of themes running through it, the main one being I think I've add about 17 clios! So a few years ago after going from a Megane 225 that broke all the time to a 1.8 Focus that I couldn't stand we bought this as the new family car

02-DSC_0015 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Guess what? It broke all the time, nothing that ever caused a fail to proceed but there was always something needing done to it. I suspect it had been mapped as it already had 225 injectors in it and it was about the same pace as a friends 260bhp Megane.

Thanks to its issues we bought a 9-3 Aero estate as the family car with the plan to sell the Laguna, get me something dull and allow me to keep my ph1 172. But it took me about a year to get round to even advertising it as I loved the stupid, useless, annoying, brillant thing!

Anyway, a few more cars came and went and about 4 years ago we fancied getting a mk3 GT205 since their reputation is so much better and a lot of the electrical issues are sorted. Went along and was ready to buy it then found the baby seat just wouldn't fit well in it so sacked it off and got a terrible S-max with the 2.5 engine from the focus, MPG in the teens, ended up leasing a Leon for 3 years and it was the best car decision I've made in years.

But we're not here for the good car decisions, we're here for this one. Around April 21 I was changing jobs with my commute going from 130 miles a day to 8 so I could go back to petrol, budget of circa 3k, had to be something not totally run of the mill.

Browsing the usual places and I spotted a mk3 Laguna GT205 up for strong money in the same blue as the last one. Saved it and over the next few weeks it slowly came down to a more palatable point. When I saw it had been reduced heavily one Sunday morning I was straight over to it and came back with

1 by john.holligan, on Flickr

2 by john.holligan, on Flickr

When I got home and had a proper look through the history I realised that its the exact same car we'd viewed previously!

Details are 84,000 miles or so I think, 4 owners, had some big ticket items done to it like the 4 wheel steering refurbed as well as the timing belt. Turns out its rarer than I realised with only 50 petrol hatchbacks being sold, unclear how many of them are Malta Blue which at the time was unique to the Laguna GT. The spoiler seems to be a very rare option too.

It started off like as a demo in Inverness as far as I can work out and had been really cared for over its 13 years. It has signs of wear and tear about it but for the money I paid I was delighted.

To be continued...

Edited by Djw John on Tuesday 18th January 21:08

[Zlat502]

I believe Bearman (off the shed thread) is fond of the Mark III Laguna's.

Interested to see how you get on with it OP, if you do not mind me asking what ballpark money did it fall into? Roughly 'Shed of the Week' territory or are these a fair bit more due to rarity?

[The Bearded Tit]

One of the best-looking cars Renault made. Shame these are so rare with people flocking to the pointless crossover SUV. Someone local has a Mk3 Coupe and it's stunning to look at.

[Macron]

Oof, love it, what was the bill for the 4WS?!

[Djw John]

First job, get rid of the random red pinstriping that was all over the place (inside and out) along with Renaultsport stickers on the front doors, give it a clean and start the hideous job of tint removal as the rear window was almost impossible to see through.

4 by john.holligan, on Flickr

5 by john.holligan, on Flickr

6 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Headlights needed a polish (and still do!)

7 by john.holligan, on Flickr

It already had an aftermarket headunit in it that I hated so quickly swapped an Alpine in

8 by john.holligan, on Flickr

It also had amp wiring already..... Well, I had this lying around and despite being 38 in it went!

9 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Time to start using it. I did 2000 miles that first month (was still at the old job) but also managed some day trips with the family

Untitled by john.holligan, on Flickr

even went into England as far as anyone would want to

11 by john.holligan, on Flickr

[Djw John]

Zlat502 said:

I believe Bearman (off the shed thread) is fond of the Mark III Laguna's.

Interested to see how you get on with it OP, if you do not mind me asking what ballpark money did it fall into? Roughly 'Shed of the Week' territory or are these a fair bit more due to rarity?

A bit more than that, rare or not the appetite isn't great for them, the ad for it was also very poor so I certainly felt I'd done pretty well at circa 2k iirc.

The Bearded Tit said:

One of the best-looking cars Renault made. Shame these are so rare with people flocking to the pointless crossover SUV. Someone local has a Mk3 Coupe and it's stunning to look at.

From some angles its a good looking thing to my eyes, from some other angles it's not! The coupes are lovely, my best mate has a Monaco one and it's done him well.

Macron said:

Oof, love it, what was the bill for the 4WS?!

Not as much as you think, he was clever and replaced the part of the module that was broken, not the whole module. Hopefully I don't regret his actions!

[sutoka]

Used to play Sunday League with a guy who had a strange relationship with the Laguna. He used to pick them up for peanuts like £100-£200. Drove them for a few months and if they went boom he scraped them for £150 and went and got another.

Must have had about 4-5 different Lagunas in a season.

[757]

Not entirely sure why I like these Laguna's, looks great! Nice car OP - Must be the 'leftfield' nature of them, bit like the SAAB's were.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Are those seats as comfortable as they look?
How does it drive? I've previously considered these but was put off by the potential expense of an aging 4 wheel steering system in a very rare car.

[littlebasher]

sutoka said:

Used to play Sunday League with a guy who had a strange relationship with the Laguna. He used to pick them up for peanuts like £100-£200. Drove them for a few months and if they went boom he scraped them for £150 and went and got another.

Must have had about 4-5 different Lagunas in a season.

5 or 6 years ago, i was picking up facelift Mk II models for peanuts on Facebook, fixing them and then selling them on.

Every one was a cheap and easy fix, especially the electronic handbrake which was always a broken wire under the rear seat.

Better built than their reputation deserved really, even if changing the rear bushes was a bd job!

[Zlat502]

Those front seats look very nice.

[Djw John]

sutoka said:

Used to play Sunday League with a guy who had a strange relationship with the Laguna. He used to pick them up for peanuts like £100-£200. Drove them for a few months and if they went boom he scraped them for £150 and went and got another.

Must have had about 4-5 different Lagunas in a season.

Probably the best way to do it! Comfy, free motoring.

757 said:

Not entirely sure why I like these Laguna's, looks great! Nice car OP - Must be the 'leftfield' nature of them, bit like the SAAB's were.

I've had 2 Lagunas and 3 Saabs so far, the saabs have their own issues and don't drive as well but do feel more solid.

Cambs_Stuart said:

Are those seats as comfortable as they look?
How does it drive? I've previously considered these but was put off by the potential expense of an aging 4 wheel steering system in a very rare car.

They are, heated too, although not proper bum burners, just a mild warmth even on max.

On the road it drives very nicely. To the point that I wasn't comfortable finding out how hard it needed to be pushed to make it understeer. At the time it had dunlop sport max on all round which are ok but far from the best tyre ever. It's obviously not as light as a clio but it corners better than any laguna has a right too! Back then the main handling issues were that it rolled a lot and it would light up the inside tyre if you accelerated a bit hard off a damp corner and that was about it.

There seems to be some expertise around it, when you include the diesels I think theres about 1000 4WS Lagunas around. Or were around anyway! It doesn't need to be as scary as you'd think, especially if you can work on it yourself.

A subject we will come back to shortly.....

Edited by Djw John on Tuesday 18th January 21:43

[Djw John]

Next things on the list were the wee annoyances that can easily be fixed.

For example, rubbish mats

13 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Genuine mats

12 by john.holligan, on Flickr

14 by john.holligan, on Flickr

And even some genuine wipers!

15 by john.holligan, on Flickr

I also replaced the front discs with brembo HC, got some braided lines, some Castrol Super Response brake fluid and some Ferodo DS1.11 pads for the front. A strange purchase for a laguna I'm sure you'll agree

[Djw John]

So after buying those pads to do one job it was time to put them to work

17 by john.holligan, on Flickr

21 by john.holligan, on Flickr

18 by john.holligan, on Flickr

19 by john.holligan, on Flickr

20 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Yup, a track evening at Knockhill.

There were a few takeaways from that evening. Firstly, the ESP did my head in, switches back on at 30mph and absolutely kills power on corner exit. Incredibly sensitive system. But at the same time completely outwitted by the 4WS. On the road the 4WS makes the car better than it should be, on the track it simply causes issues for me and my 'exuberant' style. IMO it takes too long to go lock to lock which causes some issues, the main one being massive oversteer. It was huge fun but also hugely slow, just as well it was a track day so times dont matter eh? Yeah.......

The tyres didn't exactly cope well either, this made for a slow drive home

22 by john.holligan, on Flickr

All the sliding about had even got the rears a bit too warm!

23 by john.holligan, on Flickr

[Djw John]

So what did I do the next day after destroying my tyres? Thats right, I ordered lowering springs, as you can see above the roll was incredible (and I had another car to use anyway)

25 by john.holligan, on Flickr

And then I did my usual and got carried away. There's no point putting new springs on 87,000 mile old shocks is there? And theres no point putting new shocks and springs onto 87,000 mile old top mounts is there? Or all that onto old drop links either? Idiot.

37 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Still at least it all looked nice and shiny

39 by john.holligan, on Flickr

A little too shiny.... So after realising that the bumpstops where still on the old bits and the neighbours probably wondering what those words they heard were I was left with this

40 by john.holligan, on Flickr

I did also get new tyres fitted, went up from 225/45/18 to 235/40/18, exactly the same rolling diameter, tiniest little bit wider, £200 cheaper! Michelin Pilot Sport 4 going on an old french bucket, gotta love it!

26 by john.holligan, on Flickr

Perfect fit as well

27 by john.holligan, on Flickr

I'll come back to the after pics in a bit, theres a story to be told next!

Edited by Djw John on Tuesday 18th January 22:03

[850R]

That's stunning!!

[Cambs_Stuart]

Looks really good. What spring did you go for? How is the ride now?

[Djw John]

Cheers 850R, very kind!

Cambs_Stuart I went for Eibach Pro, so quite a subtle drop, about 15-20mm or so and it rides just as well as before, I don't think you'd know it was lowered at all from the way it rides. It feels like it corners flatter and deals with its weight better, I plan to do another couple of days on track so will see what the handling difference on and over the limit is soon hopefully!

[Cambs_Stuart]

Eibach definitely seem to know what they're doing. Mechanically, how similar are these to the RS megane's?

[Davie]

Completely random but I'm fairly near Knockhill and that style of houses are very similar to ones in the village I live in / are quite common around this area. Can't say I've noted the car in my travels but then again, we might be in coneyeky different areas!