bugster70

Looks really good, but I'm possibly a little biased (having a white Trophy+ myself, with black wheels)! The previous owner of my car also had the Renault badges plasti-dipped black and other chrome badges removed, which I reckon really cleaned it up and took the black on white look a little further. On seats, it's getting cold in Canberra and my family were amazed (actually, horrified) to learn that I actively chose the Recaros over the standard seats, especially when I told them that the standard seats were heated! Oh well, there's always my wife's car if they insist on going in something with heated seats (she even has a heated steering wheel, go figure).

That's a nice way to ask what I was thinking about!

+1 for the 2118 - but not in gold.

Personally? Not at all. If the engine was replaced under warranty by Renault, then it should be fine (as long as there are proper records to reflect that this is what actually happened). And if the guys at Virage gave it a clean bill of health, that'd be good enough for me. If this car is still under warranty, then even better.

Definitely, lots more choice if you cast the net wider. I bought mine from interstate - I live in Canberra and bought mine from a guy in Melbourne (and, funnily enough, the car was originally a Canberra car, so it's now back home! ). Before agreeing to buying the car, I asked the owner to take it to one of the local Renault specialist garages that forum members seem to rate very highly (Alpine Affaire - the other one with a good reputation in Melbourne is Virage Motors) for a health check. The guys at AA did a great job, checked it all over and gave me a call to tell me their views. Gave me the confidence to go ahead with the deal.

Now that's a really good suggestion. If you're after something that's a limited edition, the 8:08 ticks that box, and it has a host of extra goodies too. It was certainly a model I seriously considered buying before settling on the Trophy+ (personally not a huge fan of the RB8, mainly 'cos of the Red Bull branding/stickers, although I have to admit the paint scheme is pretty sensational).

Just to throw a spanner in the works, but why have you limited it to these two models only? Everyone's different, but personally I reckon the 'best' pre-facelift model was the Trophy+. Ok, so it's not a limited edition car like the RB, but it had pretty much every extra (bi-xenon lights, sat nav, fixed glass roof, etc) as standard - and this was important to me. The only option was really the Recaro seats, and I made sure I found one with that option (although many people prefer the extra comfort - and heated! - standard leather seats that these cars came with). Just something else to consider. But, for what it's worth, out of the two you've listed, I'd personally go for the RB8.

Wow, that does look awesome in LY. Whilst I love the look of Meg IIIs in that colour, I'm not sure I'm brave enough to own one myself - must be turning into a boring old f@rt! Love the RS though, what a fantastic little garage you have there. A mate of mine bought the very first RS3 delivered in Canberra and that thing was mental, ridiculously quick for something out of the box. And the sound that Audi has coming out of those pipes, just glorious. Yep, I'm very envious!

Nice car, I'm very jealous (I'm looking to buy a 265 when I get back to Oz too). Love your pics too, they look professional!

Thanks for the info tomchrono (and apologies for the delay responding, I've been away for a long weekend). Yeah, my two are a bit older (currently 10 and 12) so can obviously easily hop in and out of the back. They're hardly big either, so if there's room in the back for adults there'll be acres of room for them. I'm thinking I really need to see the Recaros in the flesh to see how much space they sacrifice, but I'm hoping I won't have to cross them off the list! Sounds like a fine stable of cars you've owned. Totally understand re getting tired of going fast in a straight line too, which is why I'm so looking forward to Meg III ownership! Can hardly wait to get back to Oz to start looking for one of these in earnest.

I'll start reading! But very happy to hear from anyone who has had some experience with reflashing these cars.

Reading you loud and clear! Can't wait to get back into something that actually handles. Been trying to read up on reflash options too but, like the XR6T, it seems like an area with lots of differing opinions! At this stage I'm saying I'm going to be a good boy and just limit myself to a basic reflash (and maybe minor mods such as you have mentioned), so thinking Bluefin might be a good option for me? Don't want the ECU to be locked, don't want any issues with the dealer (could come back to bite me hard if SWMBO gets wind of it) and no need for advanced data logging, etc. Any other products you think I should be researching?

Thanks for the official welcome No152. Yes, it does sound like the car of choice in my price range and I'm trying to stay restrained - especially when it comes to modding. As you'll have seen from some of my other posts, I have previously owned a modded XR6T that was getting around 310kW at the rear wheels. Stupidly fast in a straight line but not much fun in the twisties. I started off thinking I'd just do a remap/reflash, but the power was addictive and I ended up doing a whole lot more, much to my wife's disdain. She has made me promise I won't do the same to any future car I buy! Of course, I don't really think I can do that, so any changes I do make will need to be subtle. Again, I'm thinking just a remap/Stage 1 tune, but I've been here before...

Hi all, I've made a couple of posts in other topics already but thought I'd say g'day here and introduce myself properly. I'm currently in the very odd (and somewhat uncomfortable) position of not actually owning any vehicles at the moment as my family and I are living in Jakarta and sold everything before we came. But we're looking forward to coming back at the end of the year and buying a couple of cars, one form of shopping I do actually love! It's my wife's turn to have the 'family' car, and she's keen on the CX-5, which is fine by me. I've been told I can get something a little more selfish this time and have become fixated on getting into an RS250 or RS265. Not 100% sure I've got her over the line with a two-door car yet, but the kids are still young and I reckon they'll be fine to jump in the back for a few years yet. I keep telling her that this was a car designed to seat 5 adults! Anyway, there seems to be loads of great info on this forum and I'm looking forward to learning more about - and hopefully eventually owning one of - these amazing cars. I've already been made to feel welcome here, so thanks for that, and I look forward to getting to know some of you better. Cheers!