172 to R26

[Xanda73]

Yesterday went from this:



to this



Nothing wrong with the Clio, in fact I'm not entirely sure why I've changed.

Journey to Scotland in Clio - 230 miles, 3.25 hours, 40mpg
Journey back home in R26 - 230 miles, 3.25 hours, 27mpg

It is fast (as was the Clio), it does rattle (as did the Clio), windows don't work (did in Clio), air-con works (didn't in Clio), brakes okay (better in Clio), handling still to ascertain (awesome in Clio).

It feels a lot bigger and more 'grown up', and the exhaust note won't wake the neighbours up at 5 am. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, and so far I'm not disappointed - still adjusting I'd say. It's so different to drive quickly.

​Anybody else have any similar/different experiences that have done the same?

 

[James28]

Both old and new look lovely.
As you said just a bit more grown up. I'd like one.

 

[Ed.innit]

Brakes should be 100x better than the clio, unless it had something special?

 

[Xanda73]

Clio brakes were OEM rear, Brembo HC discs & Mintex M1144 pads front.

​R26 is OEM drilled discs and OEM pads all round. Initial bite was so much better on the clio - inspired so much confidence.

 

[Ed.innit]

Hmm. something wrong with the Meg?

I have OEM R26 stuff, and clio has DS2500's and Brembo HC disks, Meg is loads better, sharper and harder....

 

[.Stevo.C.]

Brakes probably need bled. I've got HC discs & 1144 pads on my Megane and they are night and day compared my old 172.

 

[Stu.]

Where in scotland did you pick it up? Not sure if familiar or not...lol

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Best colour too

 

[Xanda73]

Could be a good shout on them needing bleeding tbh.

I think the car lived in Inverary, but I picked it up in Edinburgh.

​A few posts over on MS seem to suggest that poor fuel economy could be down to the injectors needing replacing. Anybody had this?

 

[Chili Red]

The brakes on my R26 were FAR better than the ones on my 182. Build quality wasn't great but I loved the handling.

Window regulators are a common fault. My aircon compressor failed as well, and also the wiring rusted in the boot which blew the rear numberplate bulb. It would have been pricey to get rewired, but luckily I just squeaked it in under warranty (by one day!).

Mine didn't rattle either, it was a great car. The guy who bought it was well chuffed.

 

[The Russian.]

Your ph1 looked awesome too mate.

 

[The Russian.]

Could be a good shout on them needing bleeding tbh.

I think the car lived in Inverary, but I picked it up in Edinburgh.

​A few posts over on MS seem to suggest that poor fuel economy could be down to the injectors needing replacing. Anybody had this?

Yes injectors are the most common fault for them mate, can pick a decent set of new ones up quite cheap.

 

[lemonnobby]

Check the pads are not seized in the caliper.
Injectors are common.
Also window regs are poor.

 

[Xanda73]

The brakes on my R26 were FAR better than the ones on my 182. Build quality wasn't great but I loved the handling.

Window regulators are a common fault. My aircon compressor failed as well, and also the wiring rusted in the boot which blew the rear numberplate bulb. It would have been pricey to get rewired, but luckily I just squeaked it in under warranty (by one day!).

Mine didn't rattle either, it was a great car. The guy who bought it was well chuffed.

Looking through the cars history, it would seem the number plate light has been replaced or repaired a number of times. It's currently working, but I guess it's got the same fault.

Going to get it booked into Renault for the windows and also the drivers door handle which doesn't lock on the button on the handle, but does on all the other buttons (car has full hands free). There seems to be quite a lot of 'design' faults on the MkII Meganes

 

[Chili Red]

Looking through the cars history, it would seem the number plate light has been replaced or repaired a number of times. It's currently working, but I guess it's got the same fault.

Yep, water gets in somehow - keep an eye on that.

They do have quite a few common faults, but luckily nothing too eye-watering to fix. I made use of my warranty! I think Renault spent all the money on the LSD.

 

[Darren61]

Came from a LY R26 to the Clio (due to buying a house) and I've got to say, after 3 months of driving the 182, I felt much more confident in throwing the Megane around. Its power delivery was brilliant and they look so good. Great choice in white. Looks lovely. Great step from the Clio, I think I'm going to be back in an R26 sometime soon.

The brakes don't give brilliant 'initial bite' but once you've ditched the OEM drilled ones and put the solid HC's on there with some ferodo pads it will feel a million times better, flush the fluid and you won't look back

 

[Bobby.]

I went from a 182 to a R26 then back to a 182. the meg is better in just about every way, but they can be money pits if not looked after.

 

[mikeh]

but they can be money pits if not looked after.

This is why it's worth spending a few extra £££ to get one from a dealer.

You have an absolutely minimum of six months to find any faults/niggles that arise.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

^Not really.

LIke any car, you can find excellent ones from 'enthusiasts'. I got mine from a MeganeSport member. No issues at all.

 

[mikeh]

Sometimes you get lucky. I'm not sure you'd go to a Casino and gamble £1k away on the same odds, though?

How do you reliably determine that an owner is an enthusiast? Surely membership of a forum doesn't determine that.

I'd far sooner have consumer rights on my side when I spend £6k+ on a car. Looking around, most Megane owners seem to be pricing their cars at a similar level to dealer prices anyway.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I personally always try to avoid dealers if I can. The only car I've ever bought from a dealer was the Lotus, but then I was spending £28k!
If you do your research then you have nothing to worry about.

And most enthusiasts on forums have a project thread, so you can see what's been done to it over the years and how well its been looked after.

 

[Xanda73]

Re the dealers versus private - I've had issues in the past trying to get dealers to accept liability for warranty claims so now would rather pay less and take my chances.

On the brakes - are we saying the non drilled HC discs are better than OEM? I know you're all telling me that R26 should be miles better than the Clio, but I find it hard to imagine.

 

[Renault Wolverhampton]

i found the same on my old cup.the brakes of the 182 were 10000 times better than the drilled ones on the megane it was the first thing i swapped over and i'd only done 300 miles

 

[MartinR]

^^^ And thats someone who knows about them being money pits.

 

[mikeh]

Re the dealers versus private - I've had issues in the past trying to get dealers to accept liability for warranty claims so now would rather pay less and take my chances.

There are some better than others. A friend of mine paid £3k for a 7 year old MG ZR160 and the headgasket failed four months after he collected it - the dealer had the car collected from the Isle of Wight the very next day, dropping a courtesy car off at the same time - sorted within a week and delivered back to my friends doorstep.

The law is on your side, though.

Unless the private sale is significantly cheaper, I see no reason not to purchase from a dealer, IMO.

 

[Renault Wolverhampton]

^^^ And thats someone who knows about them being money pits.

still paying for the 3 engine rebuilds now!!!!!

 

[loggyboy]

Looking through the cars history, it would seem the number plate light has been replaced or repaired a number of times. It's currently working, but I guess it's got the same fault.

Going to get it booked into Renault for the windows and also the drivers door handle which doesn't lock on the button on the handle, but does on all the other buttons (car has full hands free). There seems to be quite a lot of 'design' faults on the MkII Meganes

Becareful with the numberplate lights, I blew a fuse on the wifes GT150 when replacing a bulb and had to remove the battery, tray and god knows what else just to get to the fuse.

Also with the windows, before you spend money on new regulators, check the connections. Our dealer replaced all the regulators prior to purchase as they were playing up, but the windows went again a few days later. I did some googling and found the connectors to be a common fault, so I cleaned them up, and used some brush on plasti-dip to seal the cable entrys, and it solved the problem.

This is why it's worth spending a few extra £££ to get one from a dealer.
You have an absolutely minimum of six months to find any faults/niggles that arise.

Not really true as you can get a warranty identical to those any independent dealer will offer you yourself, and pay less for it. Unless its a main dealer offering its own in house used car warranty theres very little an independant can offer over a private sale.

 

[Craig.M]

its nice, but personally i would of kept the clio, but then again i have never liked the big arse on megs.

 

[Xanda73]

its nice, but personally i would of kept the clio, but then again i have never liked the big arse on megs.

TBH I was like that about the arse, but they do grow on you and with the R26.R spoiler it does break up the rear a bit.

As I said, there was nothing at all wrong mechanically with the Clio. Cosmetically it could have done with a few quid spending on it, but I just felt it was getting 'too old'. It was only on 76k miles though and drove brilliantly. I fear you may be right about keeping it

As fast as it is and more grown up, it's nowhere near as exciting to drive - well yet anyway. The 172 goaded you on for more, constantly. This doesn't. Almost every journey in the Clio left me amused or on a high similar to how karting does.

I wouldn't call the R26 boring as such, and nor have I seen anybody else, but I'm so glad I didn't buy a really boring car (VAG 3.2/1.8T)

 

[callum_bell]

i have a drawer full of connectors for the window regulators, the renault garage i worked at if the windows weren't working it got a new regulator and a wiring repair kit, the kit came with extra connectors for the windows and another connector that just so happens to fit the rear number plate lights.

I did these all the time, if the window stops working you can make it work by just unplugging and plugging it back in as a quick fix but the connectors will need replaced. i only changed the connectors on my 225 and never had an issue again.

Also if you wanna unplug it you dont need the panel off just whip out the speaker and you can get your hand into it if the window is stuck up that is.

IIRC renualt give 75% contribution for window regulators for upto 7 years

 

[Xanda73]

Well, it went into Renault Blackburn for the windows and the r/h/s door lock button.

Came out without working windows, without new door lock button & 2 new faults. Optical sensor on r/s/h door handle does open the locks now, and a really annoying rattle from the passenger door.

They had no parts in stock with which to fix any of the faults. Day off work, petrol money & train fare wasted. At least the receptionist looked slightly embarrassed. f**king useless.

 

[bill]

yeah they are f**king useless tw@ts, dented my bonnet on the clio when it went in for bonnet release catch, then denied it, all sorted now though, thanks to renault uk! r26 for me next, but i dont want to sell the cup!

 

[Wick]

I personally always try to avoid dealers if I can. The only car I've ever bought from a dealer was the Lotus, but then I was spending £28k!
If you do your research then you have nothing to worry about.

And most enthusiasts on forums have a project thread, so you can see what's been done to it over the years and how well its been looked after.

True but you can still be unlucky... The VX being a prime example.

 

[Xanda73]

yeah they are f**king useless tw@ts, dented my bonnet on the clio when it went in for bonnet release catch, then denied it, all sorted now though, thanks to renault uk! r26 for me next, but i dont want to sell the cup!

Your cup will be way more fun, not really any slower, and use half the fuel almost, of a replacement R26. If I still had the 172 I can't think of a time when I would prefer to use the R26 tbh. Even with the diff it understeers where the Clio would grip. Seats are nice though. Should of bought a 182 Trophy I think.

 

[.Stevo.C.]

Your cup will be way more fun, not really any slower, and use half the fuel almost, of a replacement R26. If I still had the 172 I can't think of a time when I would prefer to use the R26 tbh. Even with the diff it understeers where the Clio would grip. Seats are nice though. Should of bought a 182 Trophy I think.

I'd much rather have an R26 over a 182 Trophy.

 

[TimR26]

Something must be wrong if it doesn't handle and grip better than a 172.

 

[Xanda73]

Something must be wrong if it doesn't handle and grip better than a 172.

Possibly. Some of it will be confidence I'm sure (in that I had loads in the Clio and not so much in the Megane).