MikeC90

Speaking of pics, I'm liking the rolling ribbon of pictures up the top, nice touch

So are you thinking Improved Production or straight Production? My gut feeling is that a well driven 172/182 with smart modification can definitely be competitive in the IPRA category. Sounds lime you are coming from a FWD background already? In my experience the FWD Clio is genuinely quick in fast corners compared to 'better' cars. I think this is at least in part because you can drive it like a loon with almost no fear of it biting back (snap oversteer). I'm often held up by fully track prepared cars (MX5, RX3/7, Escorts etc in T1 and T2 at Queensland Raceway. Both are quite bumpy, and when following those guys you can see them working really hard to managed oversteer all the way through (loosing time in the process). By contrast, once you get the nose of the Clio pointing at the apex, your work is pretty much done, just get on the power and loosen off steering angle as you bounce your way through. The flip side is that the inherent stability also equates to a 'slow' front end in the tight stuff. As I've said earlier, my cars setup is a log way short of what it could be, so I'm sure I can improve this aspect... but it's definitely not up to scratch in tight/slow corners. Coming into the tighter corners at QR or Lakeside the Clio does well under brakes and is usually quite close to anything doing a similar lap time. Sadly it is then painful to watch them skip away by a car length or so while I'm battling understeer and a lack of traction. Correct geo, better damping and an LSD would do wonders for the car, but as it sits, slow corners are a definite weakness...

Interesting thoughts... What suspension setup did you have on the 172? I'm yet to do anything with the geo on mine, it even has the low caster wishbones, and it ain't half bad. No doubt on an equivalent tyre the 200 has a sharper front end as the two cars sit now, but I'd hope the difference between the two will be somewhat reduced once I've got more caster and better roll geometry on 172. The brakes is an interesting one too. No doubt the larger footprint of the 200 gives it some added stability under brakes, but I don't find the 200's brakes even close to my 172 in terms of power - feels every one of the 250-300kg heavier! I should have the Brembos installed on the 172 shortly, which I'm hoping will increase outright power but also aid progression/feel, which is an area the 200 is superior (all of my Brembo equipped RS' have had really nice modulation). I reckon the closer to stock the car will be, the more I'd favour a 197/200. The further from stock (i.e. fixing geo issues, adding power) you go, the more I'd favour a 172/182.

Nope, open diffs all-round! My 2 cents is that a 172 or 182 makes a better car to start with. You can improve on most of the suspension geometry shortcomings of the 172/182 fairly easily, and the relative wobbliness of the chassis would be largely rectified with a cage, but you can't chop 200kg out of the 197/200... Depending on which class you go for, you can also eek a decent bit of power from the 172/182. The IPRA rules are essentially open for the engine if you keep the block and head the same - so you can go bananas with the bottom end, flowing the head, cams, ITB's etc if you've got the $$$. Also no minimum weight in that class if you retain the original engine... The production class is obviously much more constrained, so I suspect the cars on track performance would be similar in there. Mine is only lightly modified (http://www.ozrenaultsport.com/index.php?/topic/23285-mikes-2002-172-project/) and my times are pretty close to what I'd need to be competitive in the <2000cc Improved Production Class in QLD. Around lakeside I'm down to mid 62's. The fastest 2.0L class cars in IPRA are just under 60, most around low 61's and the tail enders up in the 63's. By the time I improve my brakes, sort out the front suspension geo (terrible atm), put some higher quality dampers in, get round to installing my cams and one day get an LSD in there, I can very easily see myself cracking 60 seconds with this car...

X2, the only RS engine failure I know of in Brisbane was a 250... Meg 3's also have the gearbox mount issue. When it fails (and several have) it drops the box and destroys a lot of things... If you search the net you'll find horror stories for every car ever made haha! So I would say don't base your choice too much on that stuff. Without doubt the Megane is a better all-rounder (quicker, more comfortable, more space, more frugal etc), but the Clio has a bit more soul with the NA engine and isn't far behind the Meg for the other points mentioned. If you can stretch to a 275 Trophy R than that is a different comparison all together... I'd take a 275R over a Clio 3 I think

Welcome! Glad to hear you are enjoying the car, should provide many years of fun. Good luck keeping it clean Love the Ring and rear facing pics too The Focus certainly isn't looking quite as composed as the Megane haha!

It's a bit hard to say really. I don't think I've ever had the Skoda's system intervene... Due to the long wheelbase it's really quite stable. The car is certainly capable of oversteer, but only really on the change of direction (say through a roundabout). If you just lift off through a fast sweeper it won't really do much other than tighten the line a fraction. The TC gets a fair work out though, with 350-400Nm, an open diff, 225 rubber and the centre of gravity further back than most FWD cars. 2nd gear requires judicious input even in perfect conditions... I think what stands out to me with the 200's system is that it intervenes when you don't expect it to. With my other 3 RS's the system only seems to come alive just at that moment when you realise you've overcooked it a little. With the 200 it often kicks in just at the moment you think you've tightened the line perfectly and are about to get on the throttle. To summarise, I think in both of my Megs I had ESP intervene perhaps once or twice ever in dry conditions (more in the wet of course) over 4 years. In my 172 I don't recall it ever coming on in the dry (and I chuck that thing around a fair bit...), but with the 200 I reckon I could count double figures in a few months. Of those occasions, maybe 1 was justified. I suspect Renault may have been more conservative with the 200's ESP calibration, as it has a MUCH sharper front end than any of my other RS products (172, R26, 250). A Sport mode like the 250 would be handy, loosen things off a bit when conditions are good. I'd also add that it may also be due to the 200 requiring a more 'aggressive' approach than the others. In either of the Megs you don't need to generate oversteer mid corner anywhere near as much because you can rely on the diff to really tighten the line. The 172 is super light so really just hops and skips through a corner, with a real knack of self correcting any unwanted angle changes without any conscious effort. By contrast the 200 needs to be worked a bit harder to dive into an apex and be in position to get on the throttle. As a consequence I feel like you need to create more of an angle more of the time, thus more ESP intervention I suppose.

I find the 200's system really obtrusive compared with all my other RS's. It cuts in quite often when you've intentionally induced oversteer, turning a nice slide into a clumsy wobble... The 172's is waaaay better in my opinion, always there when you need it, and almost never there when you don't. If the 197's is yet more conservative, that would be a PITA... Your angels sound like ESP ones to me...

All over it, that's exactly what I did with mine. You have two weeks from the date of purchase to register in QLD. The refund will go to the new owner as it belongs to the car, not the previous owner. I have a cheque from NSW Transport sitting on my table right now If you google, there is a form to fill out with a check list of items you need to post with it. All pretty straight forward, and turnaround was abut two weeks.

Congratulations on the purchase Little bit frustrating I'm sure having the lighting gremlins... but you'll get those sorted and completely forget about them Regarding the mapping, I'm pretty sure you should have the whole lot in all modes, but the conservative throttle map in Normal mode takes the edge off of things unless you really stamp on the pedal. For any sort of enthusiastic driving, you'll want to use Sport...

I can highly recommend James from Autoglamour. I was always a sceptic of paint protection, but after buying my 250 and seeing positive feedback on here I thought I'd give it a go. I certainly wasn't disappointed! See the pictures in the link below for how my paint looked after 3 years, and how your Recaro bolsters shuld look after that period if you look after them http://www.ozrenaultsport.com/index.php?/topic/23906-2012-megane-rs-250-cup-trophee/

To me the quality of the damping and the influence of the diff are what really set the PH 3 Meg apart from the crowd. They combine to allow real commitment to corners where most other cars from a similar performance bracket are getting unwieldy and need to back off. I remember a mate of mine was blown away after a back to back run with his E46 M3. Of course the BM's engine is in another league, but where he had to really wrestle it through a few long/fast/rough sweepers, the Megane was beautifully composed and efficient, with a consistent slip angle most of the way through the bend. Enjoy

Geez mate, you needed to pick up my car when it was for sale... I ended up selling that within your budget. It was in superb condition and had some tasty mods. That gives you a good idea of what you can get for the money - the car above 22k looks pretty average... http://www.ozrenaultsport.com/index.php?/topic/23906-2012-megane-rs-250-cup-trophee/

Welcome Fred! Nice change of scenery for you hey? What are you going to be doing with Mcelrea??? It will definitely be good to catch up on a drive day at some stage, pick your brains about some Clio stuff

Changing the filter makes next to no difference, but removing the sound deadening foam from inside of the airbox does