RE: Renaultsport Megane R26.R: PH Heroes

[Alex]

Matt Bird said:

Alex said:

"Perhaps the Megane simply was too compromised."

Don't you mean uncompromised?

No. The car is uncompromising in its intention to be the ultimate FWD hatch and compromised as a regular everyday car through having two racing seats with harnesses, no radio, less sound deadening and so on.

Matt

A compromise is to include qualities or elements of different things. For example, a car that tries to be comfortable and sporty. A car that is focused on just being sporty is uncompromised.

[TrackMegane]

kambites said:

TrackMegane said:

kambites said:

So if you wanted to create the best handling modern four-seater hot hatch that you could, what would you start with if not an R26.R, and why?

An R26. Best of both worlds then

The R26 feels some way behind the R26.R to drive though. How much would it cost to bring it up to R26.R spec?

Depends what you want to do. All from Renault its lots.

Cheaper option is cheap r26, plastic windows and bucket seats.

My R26 has cost around 10k in total and its now .r spec, Plastic windows, carbon bonnet, carbon bucket seats, Full cage, no airbags. Plus i have extras, Suspension etc the new engine will take it to around 12-13k but then i'll have a reliable 330/330+ car

[don logan]

kambites said:

So if you wanted to create the best handling modern four-seater hot hatch that you could, what would you start with if not an R26.R, and why? Maybe it would be easier to strip out and lighten an R26 or even a previous generation RS Clio? No-one else seems to be able to get anywhere near Renault in terms of FWD handling these days, so there's not an enormous amount of choice without doing a lot of setup work oneself.

ETA: I don't really understand why you'd be so against the idea. Do you really think adding ~20kg, mostly at floor-pan level, would ruin the way the car drives? That's about a quarter of a tank of fuel and probably located in a better place than the fuel.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 18th September 16:03

For a start it wouldn`t be adding it to floor-pan level which is where the front seats are mounted, there is a large step up to where rear seats could be mounted and what`s the point of mentioning how light the seats could be if nobody would be sitting in them?

There must be stLOADS of aftermarket lightweight specials out there based on all different manufacturers that are as good if not better than a factory offering but there`s not really any point in comparing if what you like / want is a car built by the factory!

[kambites]

Hmm, probably better (or at least cheaper) to start with a normal R26 then, yeah. Out of interest, what does your car weigh compared to an R26.R?

[kambites]

don logan said:

There must be stLOADS of aftermarket lightweight specials out there based on all different manufacturers that are as good if not better than a factory offering but there`s not really any point in comparing if what you like / want is a car built by the factory!

I didn't say there was, but I don't.

The problem with stripping lots of weight out of a car that's designed to be heavy, is you have to do the suspension calibration yourself. The good thing about the Meganne is that there is already an extremely highly regarded off-the-shelf suspension setup designed for a relatively stripped out car. As has been pointed out though, you could use any Meganne for that, strip the weight out and fit R26.R suspension components which would probably work out cheaper than butchering something as valuable as an R26.R.

[don logan]

TrackMegane said:

kambites said:

TrackMegane said:

kambites said:

So if you wanted to create the best handling modern four-seater hot hatch that you could, what would you start with if not an R26.R, and why?

An R26. Best of both worlds then

The R26 feels some way behind the R26.R to drive though. How much would it cost to bring it up to R26.R spec?

Depends what you want to do. All from Renault its lots.

Cheaper option is cheap r26, plastic windows and bucket seats.

My R26 has cost around 10k in total and its now .r spec, Plastic windows, carbon bonnet, carbon bucket seats, Full cage, no airbags. Plus i have extras, Suspension etc the new engine will take it to around 12-13k but then i'll have a reliable 330/330+ car

Exactly, it`s not witchcraft, it`s not impossible to do, the only thing is that the modified to R spec car may be harder to sell and will continue to depreciate at a more "normal" rate, spending approximately £13k modifying an R26 (including the car)isn`t for me (though I have done this on other cars that I own)

[kambites]

don logan said:

Exactly, it`s not witchcraft, it`s not impossible to do, the only thing is that the modified to R spec car may be harder to sell and will continue to depreciate at a more "normal" rate, spending approximately £13k modifying an R26 (including the car)isn`t for me (though I have done this on other cars that I own)

I'm sure significantly modifying an R26.R, especially in such a strange way, would do equally horrible things to its value, though.

[TrackMegane]

kambites said:

don logan said:

Exactly, it`s not witchcraft, it`s not impossible to do, the only thing is that the modified to R spec car may be harder to sell and will continue to depreciate at a more "normal" rate, spending approximately £13k modifying an R26 (including the car)isn`t for me (though I have done this on other cars that I own)

I'm sure significantly modifying an R26.R, especially in such a strange way, would do equally horrible things to its value, though.

Modded .r's do seem to take a lot longer to sell. There is RStunings old .r for sale at the moment for 17k iirc and that has a fully forged engine capable of silly power. People that want an .r want Ti system, Cage & R888 spec'd OE


13k over 3 years including the car i think is pretty reasonable

[TrackMegane]

kambites said:

don logan said:

There must be stLOADS of aftermarket lightweight specials out there based on all different manufacturers that are as good if not better than a factory offering but there`s not really any point in comparing if what you like / want is a car built by the factory!

I didn't say there was, but I don't.

The problem with stripping lots of weight out of a car that's designed to be heavy, is you have to do the suspension calibration yourself. The good thing about the Meganne is that there is already an extremely highly regarded off-the-shelf suspension setup designed for a relatively stripped out car. As has been pointed out though, you could use any Meganne for that, strip the weight out and fit R26.R suspension components which would probably work out cheaper than butchering something as valuable as an R26.R.

Get a price for the .r suspension from renault you'll be in for a shock.

BC, Nitron, KW etc all do suspension kits for the megane. Mine will weigh slightly more than a .r but has more power. Ive had people in GT3's asking about it on track days because for a stty looking car they are excellent track cars

[kambites]

Yeah I can't imagine it being cheap... £10k for a full set?

[TrackMegane]

kambites said:

Yeah I can't imagine it being cheap... £10k for a full set?

Some .r prices


Front discs (each) £103.94
rear discs (each) £103.94
front shocks (each) £200.20
rear shocks (each) £158.94
bonnet £960
cage £1800

[kambites]

That's not too bad, really. The dampers, especially, are remarkably cheap.

[don logan]

TrackMegane said:

Get a price for the .r suspension from renault you'll be in for a shock.

BC, Nitron, KW etc all do suspension kits for the megane. Mine will weigh slightly more than a .r but has more power. Ive had people in GT3's asking about it on track days because for a stty looking car they are excellent track cars

Get a price for the seats and he`ll get a shock!

I`m nervous about changing suspension on mine because it`s so compliant on uneven roads and allows you to carry so much speed over them yet still have body control, i`m worried that I`ll fk it by being overly hard which might be fine on a billiard table of a track but not in the Alps!

[TrackMegane]

iirc the base plates for the seats are near 2k the seats 5k, plastic windows around 1.5k

[Calza]

soad said:

exceed said:

Yes, stage 1/2 is about 270-280bhp.

Think you can get to about 300bhp with a few more mods.

Haven't heard of much more...

That's more like it. 230 from a 2-litre turbo sounded a bit low to me.

300lb-ft is regarded as the safe limit (bhp is normally similar) on standard internals.

Remap, Inter cooler, Intake / Exhaust and injectors will see that safely and comfortably.

[kambites]

I probably wouldn't bother with CFRP seats; the weight saving over GRP isn't worth the cost, IMO.

The plastic windows sound a bit steep.

[TrackMegane]

My R26, which has everything the same as the .r minus the 2 degree offset difference on wheels. Plus i have adjustable top mounts on mine



I wasn't a Renault fan until i drove one now i'm sold. The clios i have a 172 is a bit meh i prefer my Abarth 500

[GraemeP]

Calza said:

soad said:

exceed said:

Yes, stage 1/2 is about 270-280bhp.

Think you can get to about 300bhp with a few more mods.

Haven't heard of much more...

That's more like it. 230 from a 2-litre turbo sounded a bit low to me.

300lb-ft is regarded as the safe limit (bhp is normally similar) on standard internals.

Remap, Inter cooler, Intake / Exhaust and injectors will see that safely and comfortably.

That plus ARP rod bolts, and lots of Forge bits are what mine have - mostly done at RS Tuning. I was at a trackday a few years back (LoT Cadwell park) in my Caterham and there was a modded R26.R there - it was absolutely doing the business alongside 300bhp Exiges running sticky rubber.

I'm not some diehard Renault fan, and that may go some way to make up why I enjoy mine so much (low expectations Vs the delivery it gives). All I can say is that for (fairly) disposable money you can have a car that is a hoot on the road, can run a few trackdays, and you can forgive it the odd part falling off and sensor failing. I do fear for my license a little with it though. Save yourself a heap of money and buy a modified R26 F1, and go and abuse it ;o)

[TrackMegane]

GraemeP said:

Calza said:

soad said:

exceed said:

Yes, stage 1/2 is about 270-280bhp.

Think you can get to about 300bhp with a few more mods.

Haven't heard of much more...

That's more like it. 230 from a 2-litre turbo sounded a bit low to me.

300lb-ft is regarded as the safe limit (bhp is normally similar) on standard internals.

Remap, Inter cooler, Intake / Exhaust and injectors will see that safely and comfortably.

That plus ARP rod bolts, and lots of Forge bits are what mine have - mostly done at RS Tuning. I was at a trackday a few years back (LoT Cadwell park) in my Caterham and there was a modded R26.R there - it was absolutely doing the business alongside 300bhp Exiges running sticky rubber.

I'm not some diehard Renault fan, and that may go some way to make up why I enjoy mine so much (low expectations Vs the delivery it gives). All I can say is that for (fairly) disposable money you can have a car that is a hoot on the road, can run a few trackdays, and you can forgive it the odd part falling off and sensor failing. I do fear for my license a little with it though. Save yourself a heap of money and buy a modified R26 F1, and go and abuse it ;o)

Don't need rod bolts for 300lb-ft. You can have standard internals, FMIC, Exhaust, Hybird and run 300/300 with no issues. Yes some have gone pop years ago but nothing recently

[Calza]

TrackMegane said:

GraemeP said:

Calza said:

soad said:

exceed said:

Yes, stage 1/2 is about 270-280bhp.

Think you can get to about 300bhp with a few more mods.

Haven't heard of much more...

That's more like it. 230 from a 2-litre turbo sounded a bit low to me.

300lb-ft is regarded as the safe limit (bhp is normally similar) on standard internals.

Remap, Inter cooler, Intake / Exhaust and injectors will see that safely and comfortably.

That plus ARP rod bolts, and lots of Forge bits are what mine have - mostly done at RS Tuning. I was at a trackday a few years back (LoT Cadwell park) in my Caterham and there was a modded R26.R there - it was absolutely doing the business alongside 300bhp Exiges running sticky rubber.

I'm not some diehard Renault fan, and that may go some way to make up why I enjoy mine so much (low expectations Vs the delivery it gives). All I can say is that for (fairly) disposable money you can have a car that is a hoot on the road, can run a few trackdays, and you can forgive it the odd part falling off and sensor failing. I do fear for my license a little with it though. Save yourself a heap of money and buy a modified R26 F1, and go and abuse it ;o)

Don't need rod bolts for 300lb-ft. You can have standard internals, FMIC, Exhaust, Hybird and run 300/300 with no issues. Yes some have gone pop years ago but nothing recently

But you need it for peace of mind past 300, and those mods will take you beyond that.