My diesel street warrior

Discussion in 'Megane Projects' started by bulardas, Dec 3, 2014.

  1.  
  2. Hello,

    You have a couple of option in refurbishing your arms:
    - buy stock parts
    - buy upgraded parts
    - buy normal Megane arms and change the ball joint and drill them for the anti-rotation link (in case your arms are in a very bad state)

    Stock parts:

    Espace ball-joint:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lemforder...Espace&hash=item35cd38dc07:g:gCQAAOxyEoFSYRze

    Back big bush:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delphi-Lo...656978?hash=item51c6806fd2:g:rjoAAOSwNyFWcH9q

    Front small bush:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delphi-Lo...657173?hash=item51c6807095:g:MYAAAOSwYaFWcH9J

    Aftermarket options:

    Back big bush:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-M...418160?hash=item567377cb70:g:YZsAAOSwBLlVK9OG

    http://www.vibra-technics.co.uk/ren.../702/REN425B/front_bottom_arm_rear_bush_rs225


    Front small bush:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-M...471c406&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=371304418160

    On my car, I used the Vibra-technics bushes with the rest of the parts were OEM.
    Powerflex also makes a 'tunable' small bush, but don't buy that because it a total crap.

    Hope this helps,
    S.
     
  3. hi mate
    thanks very much for that
    i will just go with the standard parts i think as its only a road car
    im going to do the hub swivel bearings at the same time
    are they fairly easy to do?
    would you know the best place to get them?
    cheers
     
  4. Hello,

    Potentially this information worth you around 200-250£.
    The bearings you are after are BK4520. I used INA as a brand, but pretty much anything will do. They should be between 15-30£ per bearing.
    When you install them, makes sure they are completely seated (they should not be flat with the hub, they should be half a mm lower). Maybe this sentence makes no sense now, but when you will install them, everything will make sense.

    S.
     
  5. thanks mate
    i will update when ive done it all! lol
    thanks again
     
  6. Now was this on a 175? If so what's the process?
     
  7. hi mate
    yes its a 175 2008
    process was

    remove battery and tray
    i then drilled and tapped a hole to accept the ball stud as per the picture posted earlier in this thread and then put it all back together.

    ball stud was 10mm m8

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10mm-BALL...094319?hash=item19e995d9af:g:lWAAAOxyJX1TFcYo

    took about 2 hours to complete and has totally transformed the car!
     
  8. To make it even easier, you can drill a 8,5mm hole and use a lock-nut under the plate. I was too lazy to tap the whole. But it will work like a charm any way you do it. If you can do this when you have the front bumper out for other various jobs (most of them related to changing bulbs) your life can be even easier. Anyway nothing that 2 bears can do.

    The most interesting stuff is that we share the same gearbox with M3RS and the guys with the expensive flashy cars are buying a kit that costs 129£ for the same thing. Go figure!

    S.
     
  9. that is because they do not have a guru like you helping them out on here mate! lol

    so if we share the same gearbox as the M3RS could i fit one of them with the lsd in it or are the ratios totally different?

    does the 175 have a 16mm or a 18mm bottom ball joint?
     
  10. Is not about guru'ing anything, is just interest in doing something better and some Renault background.
    The gearbox is the same and if you check this thread (around page 2-3), you will see I already fitted a LSD on my diesel box. You need to find yourself a M3RS gearbox with a LSD inside and just get that. You need to use your final drive and gearbox, because there are some differences in the ratios. If you really want to go soooo far, I can offer you a list of all PK4 versions and the ratios inside, so you can come with your own gearbox ratios based on your needs and funds. But to keep things simple, use your box and LSD from M3RS. If you open your gearbox, make sure you also change your bearings inside and maybe clutch.

    Can't tell you about the ball joint on top of my head. I need to measure it. I have one at home, but I will get there in 1 week time. It is definitely an Espace ball joint from the bigger engines versions. Maybe this helps.

    S.
     
  11. Any info on cup springs and dampers? I'm after the part numbers...
     
  12. My fronts are red dot marked and the front damper reads 8200 647 928.

    I think that's a standard sport unit rather than cup? Anyone confirm?
     
  13. The Cup fronts are: 8200757549
    The Cup rears are: 8200647929.

    The best street driven combo is Cup shocks and Eibach Springs. Decent drop, still decent for UK roads.

    In case anyone is interested:
    MEGANE RS de 2006 AVEC option Chassis Sport
    amortisseur avant : 8200647895
    amortisseur AR : 8200608429
    ressort AV: 8200432277
    ressort AR :8200597623
    barre stab av: 8200167782
    Pas de barre stab AR




    MEGANE RS de 2008 SANS Chassis CUP
    amortisseur avant : 8200677286
    amortisseur AR : 8200523048
    ressort AV: 8200266355
    ressort AR :8200266250
    barre stab av: 8200167783
    pas de barre stab AR




    MEGANE RS de 2008 AVEC Chassis CUP
    amortisseur avant : 8200647895
    amortisseur AR : 8200647896
    ressort AV: 8200647852
    ressort AR :8200597623
    barre stab av: 8200646063
    barre stab ar : 8200545225


    MEGANE R26
    amortisseur avant : 8200647895
    amortisseur AR : 8200647896
    ressort AV: 8200647852
    ressort AR :8200597623
    barre stab av: 8200646063
    barre stab ar : 8200545225

    S.
     
  14. Thanks.

    That list doesn't show the 175 though.

    I was thinking of putting a decent used set of R26 springs and dampers on it. The R26 had the highest spring rate from the research I've done.

    Your thoughts?
     
  15. Your front will be too low and the car will look pitched to front. I've made pretty much the same mistake on my car because I got a great deal on some petrol H&R springs, but the car looked way too shifted and the rear was very light. I had to fabricate some extra spacers to fit between the car and the shock mounts.
    If you look on the Eibach site, you will see whey are offering a stiffer spring for the diesel compared with the petrol to cope with the increased weight on the front axle.

    Definitely you can live with the R26 dampers but you need some diesel springs. Just as a note, I paid 210£ for the shocks, brand new from Renault (if my memory still serves me) - just to check how much sense it makes to buy used R26 shocks.

    The list doesn't have the 175 and I never cared about the OEM diesel springs. On the front, we have the 20mm sway-bar and I installed a 21mm from a Grand-Scenic (15£ from the bay) and the rear sway-bar is just one version. This way you can build the list for the 175.

    Hope it helps,
    S.
     
  16. It does help.

    I guess I was trying to do this as cheaply as possible. My current Sport (non cup) settings isn't too bad. I've the usual replacements, track rod end, track joints, steering bush, drop links, anti twist links and swivel bearings plus tyres all round. That's improves things. For rear discs to go on which will reset the rear camber a little thanks to new wheel bearings.

    I had a competitive price from RPD for new cup springs and dampers but it was still coming in at £640. £400 was for the springs. I suppose I could get the dampers and Eibach springs for around £440 then.

    I have the pano roof, I read in the brochure that they wouldn't supply a cup car with the pano roof. Maybe I'd be asking for trouble if I changed the suspension anyway?
     
  17. I don't think you ask for trouble. I think what they meant to say is that a race car (Cup chassis) should come with so many luxury items which are heavy (especially pano roof).
    The original Renault are very expensive and pretty bad in terms of quality as they snap.

    If you get the Eibach ones, make sure to get the diesel ones (is not easy to find as usually people stock the petrol version only).

    S.
     
  18. What the springs or the roof?

    Ok this is swaying me to cup dampers and some springs at a later date. I wander if the dci cup springs are the same rate just higher? That way I could fit the cup dampers without concern.

    After reading what you put, I did think of starting by fitting some new dci cup dampers to the rear only and fit the 21mm front ARB and poly bushes up front. That might start me in the right direction?
     
  19. Hello L-1011,

    I will try to answer all your questions.
    The ARB in your link is the 22mm (if we trust the seller that he measured correctly). This is the beefiest of all. You have 19, 20, 21 and 22mm. R26 has a 21mm ARB, original 175dCi has a 20mm, Clio R3 Maxi has 22mm. On my car I have a 21mm ARB.
    Would I install it? I think I would be curious to see how it handles, so I would give it a go. With the 21mm, the car still rolls a little too much for my liking. If you add poly-bushes to the ARB, make sure they are the correct size.

    I never had a pano roof (not wealthy enough...) so can't comment about this. Althou' I would love one on my Laguna GT estate.

    Shocks and springs are independent parts and the tuning of the shocks in regards to the spring is very limited. Therefore, you can use pretty much any combination as long as you understand the behaviour of each part.

    Spring gives you the car height and how much the car will dip during braking and during cornering. Also, a pretty important feature of the springs is the curve force vs dimension. If it is a linear spring, it tends to be pretty crashy on normal roads, so what OEMs tend to do is to use some progressive springs. They are not going to attenuate the roads bumps too harsh. The downside of the progressive spring is that you loose more of the total wheel vertical movement on small bumps. So if you race your car very hard, you tend to run out of wheel vertical movement (wheels tucked under your car) and you loose grip because you have no more control.

    Shocks. OEM shocks have no control of high speed damping (expensive) so this is the reason why a bad spring makes the car crashy (no shock control on high-speed movement, especially rebound). Shocks just control how fast they will damp the spring movement. The difference between sport and cup shocks is mostly on the rebound, so the car will settle a little faster a compression with the Cup shocks.

    So, I can't give you a better advice that explain you what does what, so you can choose what fits you better. You can see my own selection on the first page. But what i learned over the years is to get all the parts and install them all at once. You lower the installation cost, you feel better because you feel where your hard earn wage went and you don't risk of changing a part twice (try to open a Renault link a couple of times and reuse it).

    Hope it helps,
    S.
     
  20. Hi yes that helps particularly with regard ARB sizes available and your information regards Megane spring and damper part numbers!

    I've been tuning cars for years and have worked as a race mechanic for a formula Renault team as well as within the automotive training industry so understand chassis components and their interaction. I just don't know the Megane range of OE parts enough to make a singular choice that would be ideal first time.

    This is my daily driver and I commute 50 miles to work.

    I'm not complaining about my standard sport 175 suspension. However having read so much positive press about the cup I was intrigued to refresh my 130k components with cup kit. Then you get reading, and then some more and it leads you to where I am now!

    After learning that a complete set of cup springs and dampers cost £640 discounted I started to wander if their are other options. Cheaper options. Used 175 cup components? Other Megane RS components which I could source second hand and would be an improvement but still cheaper?

    Then you told me about the roll bar which is why I was thinking of upgrading it and just the rear dampers to balance out any induced understeer from such an increase in ARB stiffness.

    I'll fit the parts myself so I'm not worried about trial and error. It's more cost that dissuades me. Not because I'm poor but because I'm trying to limit expense on this car when it doesn't need it (like the suspension).

    Thanks or the information on the roll bar sizes it's very useful!
     
  21. Hello L-1011,

    I understand you and I'm coming from a similar position. I'm an engineer and cost is one of the limitations you have to keep in mind.
    This being said, I recommend you to buy yourself the Eibach diesel springs and keep the original shocks. I think that is the best bang for the buck. Then add the shocks on a latter date, even the R26 shocks if you find them at a good price.

    S.
     
  22. I can get a complete set of dampers and springs from an R26 with 40k on them for £120.

    I'll have a look for those Eibach diesel springs.

    Do you know if the R26 dampers are better than the standard dci sport dampers?

    Cheers
     
  23. I think I had a discussion with someone who worked in the suspension dept and he was saying that rear is almost the same but front has a little more rebound, but not miles away.

    But don't quote me on this.

    S.
     
  24. Ok so looking at the Eibach springs available, these are the ones showing for the 2.0dCi

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1455390755.338243.jpg

    I checked the "2.0 Renaultsport" and indeed they are a different part number. However they are the same as listed against the "2.0 16v model" and most of the others in that range.

    That kind of works against all the logic of the RS dCi being a unique spring rate!?!
     
  25. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1455407156.890698.jpg
     
  26. They are for the non rs model of 2.0dci :wink:
     
  27. But they must match the RS dCi too? Can't see any other option and more importantly the weights should be the same???
     
  28. Ok so sorry to crash your own thread but seen as though we've started discussing the 175 here hopefully it's ok to continue

    So I ordered the Eibach Pro springs from Germany (cheap) and the Cup dampers and top mounts from RPD.

    Then I found that my Eibach supplier doesn't actually have the springs. So he refunded me. So whilst I can buy elsewhere I used the time to research further.

    Their seems to be lots of conflicting feedback about the Eibach Pro spring sets. All say they are a lot softer than R26 and hence that's how they lower the car. One person said they made the car handle like a boat. This concerns me. I appreciate the diesel version is beefier but so is the force applied by the diesel mass so I'm wandering if the Eibachs will be any good?

    I've found some cooksport but again I have reads lots about them being too low. I can't have that.

    So I wandered if my standard 175 dCi Sport springs would be ok to leave in place and put on fresh cup dampers.

    My car doesn't look too high compared to other 175s I've seen. This may be due to springs sagging?

    My car measures 138/130mm at the front from rim to start of arch.
    120/124mm at the rear.
    110mm from the middle of rubber chin spoiler to the ground

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603589.403347.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603600.832348.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603610.686221.jpg
     
  29. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603645.241409.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603655.927933.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603669.861810.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1456603683.385027.jpg
     
  30. Hello,
    I don't mind keeping this here. The stock springs are very bad because they snap and then you break things. I would not keep them.
    I have H&R (the petrol version) on my own dCi and I had to fabricate some extra spacers because front was very low. They are on the limit of being crashy.
    My previous Megane 1.5dCi has Eibach and it was great in terms of drop and hardness/harshness.
    Another friend has another 175dCi with Eibach (diesel version) and is perfect for daily duties. His car is higher than mine, but definitely lower than stock. We both had snapped springs.
    If you are around Warwickshire area, I can show you both cars and the height and you can get a drive inside, to test them first hand.
    S.
     
  31. That offer is great but unfortunately I moved from Worcestershire to Glasgow last year for work so a little too far.

    I understand what you are saying about the stock parts but to date the springs are intact. I assume they are original as I'm the second owner and suspension components were not discussed not appear in the comprehensive history.

    What are your thoughts about my height from the pictures?
     
  32. It looks lower than stock. I will try to do some pics with my car and my friend's car and post them.

    S.
     
  33. Yes it does look lower than others I've seen but I'm 100% sure they are the originals so suspect it may be sagg or fractures.

    Anyway my cup dampers and new top mounts arrived today. Just re-ordered the Eibach Pro from another supplier.

    Let's hope I made the right choice as its cost £500. Fit them myself next leave (Easter) along with the remaining swivel bearing I've got to do.

    Should transform the car (I'm hoping).
     
  34. PS- do I need extended rear bumpstops? R26 ones?
     
  35. Update due....


    RS 175 Lux
     
  36. I'm out UK for a week another couple of days. There are a lot of updates for the coming TD (hybrid turbo, taller shifter, engine mounts, coilovers, brske upgrade, calibration...)

    S.

    Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
     

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