Renaultsport Mégane R26 F1 Edition Liquid Yellow #1245

[someguycalledtom]

Introducing my new car which Ive had for a week now after replacing a 07 BMW 130i manual.

Pre children I had a couple of year old Twingo 133 and always had the idea of trying some else from the Renaultsport range when I had the chance.I always originally looking at Clio 197/200s but when this popped up in arguably the best colour ever I had to have it.

With these not being young cars anymore this one especially needed a few cosmetic points addressing to bring it back to where I want it.Mechaically all seems good so far.....







Lists have been made (small items mainly) and I'm waiting for things to arrive.Plans are to keep it pretty much as it is now,clean it up and have some fun with it.

First job completed a couple of days after buying it was fixing a common issue on these.



After



Someone had kindly changed EVERY interior bulb for cheap LED version.These have now been changed to standard items.Much better.

So far I'm over the moon with it.

Thanks

[someguycalledtom]

As you do with every "New" car you buy,you Google the Reg to find its dirty secrets.Turns out it used to be owned by a fellow Pistonheads user who I've emailed as I'd love to here how he found it.Great picture by the way.



Also a place I'm sure every Renaultsport car has been....

[danb79]

Looks a cracking car that Tom; great colour...

Proper chalk n cheese from your 130i

Never owned one, but have been out in a few R26s and they are superb; they just want to go and go I found as well

[someguycalledtom]

danb79 said:

Looks a cracking car that Tom; great colour...

Proper chalk n cheese from your 130i

Never owned one, but have been out in a few R26s and they are superb; they just want to go and go I found as well

Thanks Dan.Yeh completely different to the 130i,I enjoyed it but the engine was the stand out piece and to enjoy the incredible sound you had to rev it and by that time I found i was over the speed limit too often!

[Mad Maximus]

Properly nice colour in a great car.

[Smitters]

Absolutely loved mine, and it's sadly missed. I've got some front wings, a rear bumper and some brake discs that need a good home. If you ever need anything, drop me a PM.

[tumble dryer]

[someguycalledtom]

Smitters said:

Absolutely loved mine, and it's sadly missed. I've got some front wings, a rear bumper and some brake discs that need a good home. If you ever need anything, drop me a PM.

Thanks I'll bear that in mind!

[TheDoggingFather]

someguycalledtom said:

As you do with every "New" car you buy,you Google the Reg to find its dirty secrets.Turns out it used to be owned by a fellow Pistonheads user who I've emailed as I'd love to here how he found it.Great picture by the way.



Also a place I'm sure every Renaultsport car has been....

[/url]

That photo was Andrew Whyte's work, fantastic photographer and formally of this parish. I've not seen him in years tho.

Lovely Megane and in the best colour, enjoy!

[swampy442]

1. 1640 checking in. I don't know which market the Australian ones were intended for but we didn't get Recaro's which really grates me.

[someguycalledtom]

swampy442 said:

# 1640 checking in. I don't know which market the Australian ones were intended for but we didn't get Recaro's which really grates me.

Just read through your thread.Looks a great example to condition considering the miles really shows how bad our climate is!

That is a shame ref the seats,the Recaros are lovely although they are mega high.Currently looking at lower seat frames as its like sitting on a bar stool.

Look forward to any updates you have.

P.S appreciate the engine bay picture,im currently going back to standard recirc valve so this helps.

[John D.]

Cool car.

[someguycalledtom]

Thanks Guys, approaching 300 miles in the car now all is good apart from a pulling/notchyness in the steering.Ive only check tyre pressures so far so it's a job for the new year.Ive never driven a car with an LSD before but I need to check alignment and swivel hub bearing as heard they can go.

I've replaced the ultra bright LED number plate lamps with normal bulb style units


I've re fitted the "FIA" stickers to the rear side windows and to keep the Christmas spirit I've re fitted the "Elf" lubricants sticker to the rear window.

Nipped to Salford Quays last night to watch some football so managed to get the first picture in my ownership


Probably won't get used now till after New Year where I may finally get around the list of jobs to do.Thanks

[thomasrs50]

Always loved these and the coulour looks amazing.

A few years ago, I was looking at the Clio RS which were being sold for around 10 000 euro (7500 GBP) at the time... Had a look a few days ago, stopped scrolling trough the classifieds when I saw the asking price nowadays.

[swampy442]

someguycalledtom said:

swampy442 said:

# 1640 checking in. I don't know which market the Australian ones were intended for but we didn't get Recaro's which really grates me.

Just read through your thread.Looks a great example to condition considering the miles really shows how bad our climate is!

That is a shame ref the seats,the Recaros are lovely although they are mega high.Currently looking at lower seat frames as its like sitting on a bar stool.

Look forward to any updates you have.

P.S appreciate the engine bay picture,im currently going back to standard recirc valve so this helps.

No problem at all, if you need anything specific give me a shout. I never understood why you sat so high and who decided it, you feel like youre sat on the car not in it.

And if you have any strange steering activity it's 99% swivel bearings. There is a mod people do where you replace the lower mounting bolt with a drilled one fitted with a grease nipple, a common sense idea for UK roads

Edited by swampy442 on Friday 2nd January 00:07

[someguycalledtom]

swampy442 said:

No problem at all, if you need anything specific give me a shout. I never understood why you sat so high and who decided it, you feel like youre sat on the car not in it.

And if you have any strange steering activity it's 99% swivel bearings. There is a mod people do where you replace the lower mounting bolt with a drilled one fitted with a grease nipple, a common sense idea for UK roads

Edited by swampy442 on Friday 2nd January 00:07

Thanks haven't tackled anything yet but hoping to make a start when family life allows.

The steering issue is almost at low speeds the steering is "too" light and when around the 30mph speed wanders over the round.Ive already looked at getting a spare of hubs and building them.Just need to look into where to get the bearing etccc from.

[swampy442]

KAM racing sell them, you can get them on eBay,, plenty out there as its a fairly common replacement

[someguycalledtom]

Update : Few jobs ticked off the ever increasing list of "Things To Do"

Month or so ago i changed the oil and filter along with the coolant.While the car was on the ramp i had a poke around looking for something worn on the suspension/steering to try and get the bottom of the steering issue.

I felt like it was coming from the steering rack so ive ordered the parts just looking for some free time to get them fitted.

Now a few annoying jobs ive sorted.The N/S/R light had mold/moss inside.This now sorted with a air line.



Also replaced the fuel pipe from the fuel rail to the hard line with proper fuel grade line.This was before.Why it was not cut shorter i have no idea.....



Treated the car to its first wash in my ownership.



And the best part finally fitted my VBD drivers seat frame.Completely changes the driving experience.Seats in Renault are far too high with your knees hitting the bottom of the steering wheel.This lowers the seat 62mm.Huge difference.One thing that would annoy me was not having the Renault decals on the new frame so i contacted a company on IG and they made a copy from a picture i took.



Lots more to do.TBC

[someguycalledtom]

Chipping away slowly, managed to get few jobs done recently.Meganes seem to have plastic wheel bolt covers but not on the "locker".Mine where looking brown next to Black wheels so wired brushed them.Better.


A not so small job.Ive hated the tinted rear 3 windows every since I've had the car.Just really not my taste,after the car had sat in the sun all day I thought it was the perfect time.Using a hair dryer I heated it some more,however not enough to remove the glue with the film attached .Leaving hours of glue removing.Really happy with the outcome.The before picture doesn't show how dark they used to be.

Before -


After -


I almost forgot,a job I've been putting of since again I got the car has been the dump valve set up.It had a "blanking plate" in place of the standard turbo recirculation valve and a Forge Motorsport dump valve fitted.Again really not too my taste so removed (pig of a job) and replaced with standard items.