Megane RS265 Daily/Track toy
Discussion
So after a long time forum lurking with an ST180 I have decided to put up a few pictures of the car that replaced it.
I loved the ST it was a great car but it was starting to show it’s age and I had a few gremlins over the last year, one of which appeared to be one of the only uk based ST180’s where my ABS pump just upped and died out of nowhere. So after spending better part of 4K in 4months last year I was already browsing. Then this year a wheel bearing failed which is only minor admittedly but it just tipped me over the edge and I decided I had to get rid.
So the fiesta was “stage 2” mapped with a whole bunch of mods and was pushing around 240bhp which made it a fun and nimble thing to throw around.
But whilst I was browsing I couldn’t really settle on a car to look for. Part of me wanted to look at things that were higher end German and big engines but these cars are mostly 30k+ and frankly I don’t have that sort of cash! So I went back to looking at bigger hot hatches. My car history is mainly this sort of car having owned golf gti, m135i, focus st & an original focus rs so I needed something in that ball park again.
I looked at the newer focus, golf r, s3’s that are all around the 20k mark and just none of them really interested me and because of my job I’ve driven most of them so wanted something a bit more engaging. In a passing conversation a friend mentioned Megane RS’ and it’s not something that had ever really crossed my mind. So I set about looking for one with some nice mods that I could use daily but thrash on track when the mood suits me. I ended up talking to Performance Only a dealership in Manchester who sells almost exclusively Megane RS’ in various guises. After a bit of back and fourth and sorting figures out id agreed to purchase a black rs265 with 40k miles and a whole host of mods.
Black has never really been a colour I considered owning/wanted to own just due to how easily marked it is and how obvious they are but the car was too good a spec to completely discount the colour.
So once everything was agreed I made the arrangements and made the 5/6hour drive from just near Brighton up to Manchester to collect the car. Collection day came round and everything was paid for and sorted on a car I’d never driven, hadn't even driven a Megane let alone the one I was buying. We sorted paperwork out and then went out in the car and within minutes I could tell it was the right choice. It is so much fun on the road the power delivery is surprisingly brutal and it revs out very quickly for a turbo engine and with the track mods it already has it handles to go with it.
So an overview of the mods are;
Engine/Power:
Milltek Cat Back Exhaust
ITG Induction Kit
Airtec Intercooler
CLM Boost Hoses
Forge Recirculation Valve
Remapped By EFI To 308bhp & 350ft-lb ft
Suspension/Handling:
BC Racing Adjustable Coilovers
Front Camber Adjustable Top Mounts
Shorter Drop Links
Pure Motorsport Rear Camber Shims
Uprated Lower Swivel Joints
Polybushed Front Wishbones
Polybushed Rear Axle
Track Geometry Set
4 x Nankang AR1 Tyres
Wheel Stud & Nut Conversion
Braking:
Brembo High Carbon Plain Discs
Dixcel Front Brake Pads
PBS Pro Track Rear Brake Pads
HEL Braided Brake Lines
RBF660 Brake Fluid
Interior:
2 x Recaro Pole Position Bucket Seats
Pure Track Side Mounts
TRS 4 Point Harnesses
ZeroPointOne Shifter
SW Motorsport Rear Roll Cage
SW Mororsport rear strut bar
Exterior:
17x9 ATS GTR Wheels Refurbished In Gloss Black With Nankang AR1 Tyres
Maxton Rear Spoiler Extension
ITG Front Bumper Intake Scoop
Black Badges Front & Rear
Black Exhaust Surround
I’ve covered around 3k miles in the 2months I’ve had it and a track evening at brands and it’s been an incredible purchase. The only 2 down sides I can think of are 1) the radio is a bit crap no DAB and the quality is pretty poor but that’s easily fixable 2) worst time to buy a track prepped car as fuel gets more and more expensive but I’m having fun doing it!
For now the car will stay as it is I just need to purchase another set of alloys to run as road wheels. As good as the ar1’s are in the correct conditions I can’t see them being great over winter so I’ll buy a slightly narrower set of alloys so I can get some decent road tyres on it and just enjoy the car
I loved the ST it was a great car but it was starting to show it’s age and I had a few gremlins over the last year, one of which appeared to be one of the only uk based ST180’s where my ABS pump just upped and died out of nowhere. So after spending better part of 4K in 4months last year I was already browsing. Then this year a wheel bearing failed which is only minor admittedly but it just tipped me over the edge and I decided I had to get rid.
So the fiesta was “stage 2” mapped with a whole bunch of mods and was pushing around 240bhp which made it a fun and nimble thing to throw around.
But whilst I was browsing I couldn’t really settle on a car to look for. Part of me wanted to look at things that were higher end German and big engines but these cars are mostly 30k+ and frankly I don’t have that sort of cash! So I went back to looking at bigger hot hatches. My car history is mainly this sort of car having owned golf gti, m135i, focus st & an original focus rs so I needed something in that ball park again.
I looked at the newer focus, golf r, s3’s that are all around the 20k mark and just none of them really interested me and because of my job I’ve driven most of them so wanted something a bit more engaging. In a passing conversation a friend mentioned Megane RS’ and it’s not something that had ever really crossed my mind. So I set about looking for one with some nice mods that I could use daily but thrash on track when the mood suits me. I ended up talking to Performance Only a dealership in Manchester who sells almost exclusively Megane RS’ in various guises. After a bit of back and fourth and sorting figures out id agreed to purchase a black rs265 with 40k miles and a whole host of mods.
Black has never really been a colour I considered owning/wanted to own just due to how easily marked it is and how obvious they are but the car was too good a spec to completely discount the colour.
So once everything was agreed I made the arrangements and made the 5/6hour drive from just near Brighton up to Manchester to collect the car. Collection day came round and everything was paid for and sorted on a car I’d never driven, hadn't even driven a Megane let alone the one I was buying. We sorted paperwork out and then went out in the car and within minutes I could tell it was the right choice. It is so much fun on the road the power delivery is surprisingly brutal and it revs out very quickly for a turbo engine and with the track mods it already has it handles to go with it.
So an overview of the mods are;
Engine/Power:
Milltek Cat Back Exhaust
ITG Induction Kit
Airtec Intercooler
CLM Boost Hoses
Forge Recirculation Valve
Remapped By EFI To 308bhp & 350ft-lb ft
Suspension/Handling:
BC Racing Adjustable Coilovers
Front Camber Adjustable Top Mounts
Shorter Drop Links
Pure Motorsport Rear Camber Shims
Uprated Lower Swivel Joints
Polybushed Front Wishbones
Polybushed Rear Axle
Track Geometry Set
4 x Nankang AR1 Tyres
Wheel Stud & Nut Conversion
Braking:
Brembo High Carbon Plain Discs
Dixcel Front Brake Pads
PBS Pro Track Rear Brake Pads
HEL Braided Brake Lines
RBF660 Brake Fluid
Interior:
2 x Recaro Pole Position Bucket Seats
Pure Track Side Mounts
TRS 4 Point Harnesses
ZeroPointOne Shifter
SW Motorsport Rear Roll Cage
SW Mororsport rear strut bar
Exterior:
17x9 ATS GTR Wheels Refurbished In Gloss Black With Nankang AR1 Tyres
Maxton Rear Spoiler Extension
ITG Front Bumper Intake Scoop
Black Badges Front & Rear
Black Exhaust Surround
I’ve covered around 3k miles in the 2months I’ve had it and a track evening at brands and it’s been an incredible purchase. The only 2 down sides I can think of are 1) the radio is a bit crap no DAB and the quality is pretty poor but that’s easily fixable 2) worst time to buy a track prepped car as fuel gets more and more expensive but I’m having fun doing it!
For now the car will stay as it is I just need to purchase another set of alloys to run as road wheels. As good as the ar1’s are in the correct conditions I can’t see them being great over winter so I’ll buy a slightly narrower set of alloys so I can get some decent road tyres on it and just enjoy the car
roadie said:
This car will be an absolutely great track car. I still miss my 265 Cup for enthusiastic driving and would have loved to have taken it round my local track, Thruxton.
Yeah so far I’ve had an evening at brands as it’s my local and it was a monster. Just everything was a better than the fiesta was on track. I want to replace the front pads as I wasn’t overly happy with them for my style of driving I needed more bite but I’ll do that once they’re dead. For the rest of the year I think the plan is atleast one further afield track day probably Donnington then Brands day and evening so should get s fair bit of use this year
Kaveney said:
Another one in the club : )
Car looks amazing with some great upgrades.
Might see you on track soon ( if I ever stop pis*ing around with my one )
Yeah I have a feeling from previous posts on the fiesta pages and stuff you're not a million miles away from me down the south too tbh! Car looks amazing with some great upgrades.
Might see you on track soon ( if I ever stop pis*ing around with my one )
So after searching for alloys to replace the ATS ones in dsily duties I have managed to buy a set.
At first the initial go to was going to be some Team Dynamic 1.2’s but these are a little bit over done on these cars now so I was trying to find something a bit different.
After checking some forums I stumbled across these. They are a set of OZ Racing Veloce GT's. Diamond cut lip which I rarely like but that happens to look quite nice on these and still keeps a slightly "race car" aesthetic which is basically the whole deal with this car. They've been cleaned up and polished and waxed and will most likely go on the car over the weekend!
At first the initial go to was going to be some Team Dynamic 1.2’s but these are a little bit over done on these cars now so I was trying to find something a bit different.
After checking some forums I stumbled across these. They are a set of OZ Racing Veloce GT's. Diamond cut lip which I rarely like but that happens to look quite nice on these and still keeps a slightly "race car" aesthetic which is basically the whole deal with this car. They've been cleaned up and polished and waxed and will most likely go on the car over the weekend!
Edited by tomkingshott on Wednesday 10th August 08:31
Kaveney said:
They look very nice and I only went for the TD pro race 1.3 as i got them for a sill price .
Are you going to run two sets of wheels and tyres ?
Yeah it wasn't a dig at anyone with TD's as I had them on the fiesta and they were a distinct possibility for me this time round again I just went for something different. I did want the new TD LTE things but they are really expensive! Yeah I will be, the ATS will basically be track day alloys and tyres like a real snob! The OZ’s will just be rest of the time type thing Are you going to run two sets of wheels and tyres ?
Edited by tomkingshott on Thursday 11th August 08:04
So the good news is the wheels fit;
However the bad news is that I was a muppet and never considered was my wheel nuts which actually don’t fit the OZ’s at all. So I’ve had to order a set of Muteki super tuner nuts which are the narrowest ones I can get to fit the wheels. They should hopefully turn up today or tomorrow and then attempt number 2 to fit them at the weekend
However the bad news is that I was a muppet and never considered was my wheel nuts which actually don’t fit the OZ’s at all. So I’ve had to order a set of Muteki super tuner nuts which are the narrowest ones I can get to fit the wheels. They should hopefully turn up today or tomorrow and then attempt number 2 to fit them at the weekend
So the wheels are finally on! The muteki super tuner nuts fitted perfectly which is good because they cost 70 quid which is…well excuse this but frankly nuts!
The wheels are now actually 18’s over 17’s but the ride height hasn’t needed any adjustment and doesn’t scrub which is great. Next up is going to be getting the alignment redone properly and then hopefully 2 more track days before the year is out
The wheels are now actually 18’s over 17’s but the ride height hasn’t needed any adjustment and doesn’t scrub which is great. Next up is going to be getting the alignment redone properly and then hopefully 2 more track days before the year is out
Edited by tomkingshott on Sunday 21st August 20:49
So had my alignment sorted the other week as the whole time I’ve owned the car the steering has been just off centre enough for it to annoy me!
I visited Nad UK down in littlehampton and he was really good. The front was only slightly out of the specs I understood it to have talking literally s few minutes either side of where it should be. The back however was massively out 0.12 one side and 0.36 the other so one side was 3x further out. So he spent a fair bit of time adjusting it but they are now back to within a few minutes of each other. There’s still room for improvement which will be with some adjustable drop links added into the mix and some corner weighting. This will be something I’ll get done next year before track season and for now the car can stay as it is
I visited Nad UK down in littlehampton and he was really good. The front was only slightly out of the specs I understood it to have talking literally s few minutes either side of where it should be. The back however was massively out 0.12 one side and 0.36 the other so one side was 3x further out. So he spent a fair bit of time adjusting it but they are now back to within a few minutes of each other. There’s still room for improvement which will be with some adjustable drop links added into the mix and some corner weighting. This will be something I’ll get done next year before track season and for now the car can stay as it is
Have a soft spot for a well sorted Renault Sport - and you can't go wrong if you're dealing with Alex @ Performance Only! He's just taking in my old white R26 F1 and I'm seriously tempted to give it a home again.
Love the look of the new wheels too, nice to see something other than TDs or ProTracks at the moment!
Love the look of the new wheels too, nice to see something other than TDs or ProTracks at the moment!
christhreadgill said:
Have a soft spot for a well sorted Renault Sport - and you can't go wrong if you're dealing with Alex @ Performance Only! He's just taking in my old white R26 F1 and I'm seriously tempted to give it a home again.
Love the look of the new wheels too, nice to see something other than TDs or ProTracks at the moment!
No he was really easy to deal with and the car has been brilliant! Is that the white track spec one? That thing looks like it would be a right laugh! Love the look of the new wheels too, nice to see something other than TDs or ProTracks at the moment!
Yeah I got lucky with the wheels as TD's was going to be my initial choice then just happened to see those.
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