Car history and current Megane RS
Discussion
So, having lurked for a looooonnnng time, I thought I'd sign up, and post the obligatory car history / pics.
Started driving in 1999 - first car was a 1990 'G' reg Rover 414 Si in dark red - I thought as a first car it was great - was plenty quick enough for me and allowed me to travel from Coventry to Southampton lots (my girlfriend at the time was in Southampton for uni) without too much fuss. It then started to fall apart.... For one trip to Southampton I had to hire a Vauxhall Astra as the Rover was in for repair. I actually loved the Astra (I know, I know, but I only had the Rover to compare it to!), so a few months later I decided to stop ploughing money in to the Rover and bought a blue 'T' reg 1.6 Astra. I ran the Astra for a couple of years, before a 'new look' Astra caught my eye on a chance trip to a Vauxhall dealer. I took one out for a test drive and then signed up for one there and then. What swayed my decision making on this particular car? Was it the power, or the handling, or the excellent (ahem) build quality? No. It was the flippy key. Yes, that's right - I spent several thousand £ on a brand new car because it had a flippy key. Anyway, several weeks later, I took ownership of a brand new, '04' plated 1.6 Astra SXi in silver. The car was massively under powered (I thought) as a mates '02' plate 1.6 Focus would slowly disappear in to the distance on regular outings. I ran the Astra for 2 years before getting bored, so looked to change again, and move up the power band...... At this point the Focus ST's had not long been released, so after having a look at one I placed an order for a brand new '06' plate Focus ST 2 in blue. After nearly 6 moths of waiting Ford hadn't even begun to build the car (despite telling me I'd have the car after 4 months) so I cancelled the order and looked elsewhere. A friend was looking to get rid of his '52' plate Leon Cupra (the 1.8T, 180bhp version) as he needed something a bit more economical for commuting to work, so we swapped the finance over on the cars and he had my Astra and I had the Leon. I really enjoyed this car, but again, after a couple of years, started to crave a bit more power. I looked around and went back to the ST - I test drove one at a dealership and enjoyed it, but sitting next to it was a Renault Megane R26, so test drove that too. I immediately knew which car was for me and set about searching for a Megane 225 / R26. After a search I found a '55' plate phase 1 225 in blue with only 17k on the clock. I bought it and ran it until last year (had it 4 years). I loved the car, and although it did have the inherent Megane 'issues' (window regs, hub bearings etc) it still put a grin on my face every time I drove it. Unfortunately the clutch started to go, so I thought it was time to chop it in, so last year started to look for a Megane 250. I took a trip to my local dealers, who had a nearly new one in group stock. I took it for a test drive and signed up for it - 2 weeks later I picked up my '12' plate, Oyster Grey Megane RS250 - full fat with cup pack and SatNav. The car had 5k miles on it at the time. Anyway, enough rambling, on with some pictures....
Started driving in 1999 - first car was a 1990 'G' reg Rover 414 Si in dark red - I thought as a first car it was great - was plenty quick enough for me and allowed me to travel from Coventry to Southampton lots (my girlfriend at the time was in Southampton for uni) without too much fuss. It then started to fall apart.... For one trip to Southampton I had to hire a Vauxhall Astra as the Rover was in for repair. I actually loved the Astra (I know, I know, but I only had the Rover to compare it to!), so a few months later I decided to stop ploughing money in to the Rover and bought a blue 'T' reg 1.6 Astra. I ran the Astra for a couple of years, before a 'new look' Astra caught my eye on a chance trip to a Vauxhall dealer. I took one out for a test drive and then signed up for one there and then. What swayed my decision making on this particular car? Was it the power, or the handling, or the excellent (ahem) build quality? No. It was the flippy key. Yes, that's right - I spent several thousand £ on a brand new car because it had a flippy key. Anyway, several weeks later, I took ownership of a brand new, '04' plated 1.6 Astra SXi in silver. The car was massively under powered (I thought) as a mates '02' plate 1.6 Focus would slowly disappear in to the distance on regular outings. I ran the Astra for 2 years before getting bored, so looked to change again, and move up the power band...... At this point the Focus ST's had not long been released, so after having a look at one I placed an order for a brand new '06' plate Focus ST 2 in blue. After nearly 6 moths of waiting Ford hadn't even begun to build the car (despite telling me I'd have the car after 4 months) so I cancelled the order and looked elsewhere. A friend was looking to get rid of his '52' plate Leon Cupra (the 1.8T, 180bhp version) as he needed something a bit more economical for commuting to work, so we swapped the finance over on the cars and he had my Astra and I had the Leon. I really enjoyed this car, but again, after a couple of years, started to crave a bit more power. I looked around and went back to the ST - I test drove one at a dealership and enjoyed it, but sitting next to it was a Renault Megane R26, so test drove that too. I immediately knew which car was for me and set about searching for a Megane 225 / R26. After a search I found a '55' plate phase 1 225 in blue with only 17k on the clock. I bought it and ran it until last year (had it 4 years). I loved the car, and although it did have the inherent Megane 'issues' (window regs, hub bearings etc) it still put a grin on my face every time I drove it. Unfortunately the clutch started to go, so I thought it was time to chop it in, so last year started to look for a Megane 250. I took a trip to my local dealers, who had a nearly new one in group stock. I took it for a test drive and signed up for it - 2 weeks later I picked up my '12' plate, Oyster Grey Megane RS250 - full fat with cup pack and SatNav. The car had 5k miles on it at the time. Anyway, enough rambling, on with some pictures....
The 250 is better put together (although in fairness it wouldn't take a lot) than the 225, although for raw smiles per miles the 225 edges it for me. My 225 was mapped, so was a bit 'edgier' than normal, and it was very obvious that you were going fast - the 250 is more grown up, in that under 3k revs it is very useable around town etc (I hesitate to use the word "sedate"), but above 3k revs it is a different animal, but also very deceptive - it doesn't give the impression of going as quickly as you actually are (I hope that makes sense?!).
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