Kangoo Compact (aka Racevan3)

[Brigsy]

Small update.

Moving some gear about today and it will fit a set of 4x 18" wheels in the back at a push and a pair of 13" r888r. Need to move my engine hoist and measured it up, id have to tilt the seat forward or leave the back doors open to get it in as about 150mm too long for the loadspace

So basically as useless as ever as a van.

Mot tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Running in is done! Well as good as it gets.

Last few miles done on good Friday, went to Croft for a look round as a javelin trackday was on, then had another ride up to Whitby.

Kangoo got a bit of attention at Croft a few people were looking round it and head scratching

Macro to pick chicken up on the Sat.

Just under 600 miles done so changed oil over to fully synthetic millers cfs 10/50 nt+ on Sunday. Oil pissing down my arm for the 4th time in last few weeks hate taking meg oil filters off!

Took it for a blast out and oil pressure is even better with the 50w in. See 4bar and rising at 3k+ rpm at 80deg oil temps.

Give it a couple of pulls in 2nd and 3rd gear keeping an eye on afr to check for misfires or anything else untoward. Seemed lively and fuelling is safe, more or less the same as the old engine.

It makes some mega bangs like the old engine when you roll off the throttle/heel and toe which results in a fair sized flash out of the back lol.

Megane Rs converted Kangoo bangs and flames

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Give it a wash today as it was pitted. Pissed down straight after id finished typically. C2v3 beading up ok!

3 weeks until mapping. Were pretty much good to go fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[otterspotter]

First time I've come across this, looks ace!!

Thought you'd chopped it to start with lol.

Good luck 👍

 

[Brigsy]

First time I've come across this, looks ace!!

Thought you'd chopped it to start with lol.

Good luck 👍

Cheers mate. It is a quirky little thing everybody thinks ive chopped it with it being so rare in the uk.

 

[Brigsy]

Small update

Give the interior a deep clean yesterday. The rubber floor mat had deep engrained muck in it which i could not shift. Anyway done a decent mix of apc and used a brush on a drill to really agitate the muck, and it came up spot on. Cleaned the leather on the steering wheel and seats and conditioned it.

Took it out again tonight for a blast out and around 650 miles done in total on the new engine. Id say its ready for mapping now.

Also stiffened up the rebound on the rear Ast shocks and the turn in feels mega. I think it could do with 80nm springs on the back so can wind some rebound off, will get some ordered soon to try out.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Transporter T4]

Awesome build this, enjoying it all

 

[Brigsy]

Updates.

Had the Kangoo in at EfiParts a couple of weeks ago for mapping.

Strapped on the dyno.

Old map was quite far off and boost was going to the moon so couldnt do a run up without tuning.

Chris got down to business and started dialling it in. Seen low 300hps straight away. Few runs in mid 300s, then he started pushing it. Could hear it popping flames and loud bangs on each run was class.

Finished up at 372hp/322ft/lbs. Graph super smooth and overall this engine is loads better than the old one. Chris said it was a pleasure to tune as with the lower c/r it can handle plenty of ign timing to keep it nice and cool and it breathes well as the usual 250 engine will need 26psi of boost to make similar hp. Turbo is maxed out power wise and 630cc injectors are at 85% duty.

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With this being a bit of a quirky setup and a bit fussy on the road, Chris wanted me to road test to make sure fuelling was right. Unfortunately it was absolutely pissing down on the day so i couldnt load it up properly on the dual carriageway, was wheelspinning all over.

On way home i finally got to dry roads and give it a tickle and its a bit lean on the afr in the mid range sadly. This is the same issue i had on the old engine a while ago and we ended up road tuning it to iron the issues out.

Ive done some datalogging on the road tonight and the problem is its overboosting in the midrange slightly 24/25psi. The oem meg s3000 ecu as protection closes the throttle to reign the boost back to target of 23psi, and in these circumstances it can go lean, big time unfortunately. Its not helped by a a little bit too much preload on the acutuator and a super sensitive N75 valve. So just needs some n75 pmw duty taking out in the mid range to sort it out and i can get out there and enjoy it to its full potential.

This has once again highlighted that overall the stock meg s3000 is dogshit and stretched at higher power levels, and it needs an upgrade badly for better safety features and control. So i have purchased an Ecumaster Black setup with vag coils and clio 197 pnp loom that i will mod to suit.

This will also allow me to have full sequential injection, vvt, boost by gear etc. Its going to sit there ready until i get chance to install later on in the year, if i pull it apart now itll sit there for ages.

Other jobs done too albeit small ones.

Phillips silvervision bulbs fitted to the rear indicators. The orange coating on the old bulbs was peeling off so had to go.

Also changed pollen filter. Id not done this and it looks like nobody else has for many years! Manky!

Also been chasing a small coolant leak. I done all the diag including pressure test and it was not visible.

Anyway ive found it now as its stinking of coolant inside, the heater matrix is leaking. This is prob due to the fact that i mega flushed it whilst heater was out as heater was a bit lukewarm, and tons of s**t came out but its disturbed too much.

On the plus side its an easy swap, glovebox out and fit from the side no need to remove dash. Got one on order.

Thanks for reading. We will get it there eventually!!

 

[Donny_Dog]

Unlucky there dude. Great update though.

What's the situation with EFi, can he map that new ECU? Did you inform him of the updates when you got home and what did he say? Does it mean you can use the van, if you just back some preload off? Does my Mrs even like me? Questions questions.

 

[Brigsy]

Ive been in touch with Chris and ive fed back the datalogs, ill flash the ecu with updated map with mpps and go out and do some more datalogging. Id pop down and get it sorted but its hard for me to get over in the week as 2.5hours away.

Could wind some preload off actuator but it will change the boost pressure all the way through where it only needs adjusting in the mid range. If it was on a standalone ecu id have it sorted here in 10 mins with simple adjustments to n75 duty.

Chris can map the ecumaster no problem as he mapped my turbo trophy on the same ecu.

 

[Steve James]

TDLR - im an idiot and keep buying scrap Renaults and a new project is in stock

A few months ago in my old job i had a 68reg Kangoo, got it with delivery mileage brand new. Noted pretty crap in diesel form, and handling average however i had heard that the underpinnings were very similar to meg/mk3 clio, and confirmed when having a look underneath briefly.

Said vanView attachment 1441926

Returned when i left the job, good riddance to tracker and 62mph speed limiter. Thought to myself that it would probably be sound, with more power and better handling.

At the time i still had my old Kangoo 172 (Racevan2), which was leagues ahead. Lacked a bit of straight line speed, and deep down im a turbo man missed the turbo torque so sold which stuck some money back in the pot.

With the drive looking less cluttered and bank balance up a few quid said no more projects until my Extra (Racevan1) is back on the road.

Had the idea of a Megane rs powered Kangoo2 for a while, and seen the compact version. The compact is the same length as Clio2. Compared to the usual ml version of the Kangoo2 its like a micro machine.

Press pic of the compact next to mlView attachment 1441927
Thinking this would be a great project to do once the Extra is done, sat on the idea. The compact is rare to find for sale, as from what i gather nobody bought them with the 4 foot load space in the rear making them pretty useless as a van.

Mrs was looking and seen one for sale on Facebook marketplace, needing a new engine and only down the road. Made the mistake of going for a look, looked pretty unloved but bodywork quite good, engine totally shot. Stuck a low bid in, scrap money and the fella was up for it.

Collected on the back of my mates truck this weekView attachment 1441930
Short arse
View attachment 1441929
Cleaned up and roof rack removed and pushed into position.View attachment 1441931
Current engine bay half a dci lump with melted pistons on cyl 1 & 4

View attachment 1441933

Had a good look round and the subframe looks pretty identical to meg2 or clio3. Meg rs track control arms, hubs and brembos bolt on as one as already been done, so handling should be great. Mounts look identical to megane, so in theory a meg lump and ndo box should go in (pk box fits).

Wiring may or may not be tricky, however i have been thinking about this, and there is a few options, if all else fails standalone ecu and stack dash.

So will get the Extra done, and then start on this. Watch this space

You still got the extra? I owned that in my 5 turbo days. Think I sold to Haz or Scoff at nocturnal! but can't remember.

 

[Danith]

Want one!!!!

 

[Brigsy]

You still got the extra? I owned that in my 5 turbo days. Think I sold to Haz or Scoff at nocturnal! but can't remember.

Still got my Extra. Haz started making a pickup with his, long time ago now!

 

[Steve James]

Still got my Extra. Haz started making a pickup with his, long time ago now!

Remember that, the blue one. Wonder if it ever got finished.

 

[Brigsy]

Remember that, the blue one. Wonder if it ever got finished.

Scrapped sadly as he had to get rid of it as no storage when they moved out of the old nocturnal developments lockup, must be almost 20year ago now. I still keep in touch with Haz hes still kicking about and modifying the renaults.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates.

Heater matrix arrived. Changed it on Sat morning, 45 mins to do was almost a pleasure compared to every other one ive done on other cars, just glovebox to remove and withdraw from the side no need to remove full dash.

Leak was easy to spot.

Also changed the oil to water modine sandwich plate as ive had an annoying oil leak from that area on both engines even though i changed the seal. Anyway touch wood it seems to be leak free and holding coolant level ok and no more oil leaks.

Flashed the ecu with revised map from Chris the other day with a chinese spec mpps v18 clone. Still needs more duty removing from n75 so waiting for another revised map to be sent over. We will get it sorted eventually its a rare occurance this one but it is what it is.

Ive been using it a bit for the daily stuff. A few pics of it out and about. Still love the comp mo6.

Its marking its territory on the drive on cold start too, guess which side the exhaust is!!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Kangoo has been behaving itself and holding all its fluids. Still needs the map tweaking.

The back always looked a little bit plain so done a thing

Was suprisingly easy to fit with a squeegee and soapy water spray, took 1:30 to do. Had to mark out and chop where badges land, as i like the compact badge and couldnt be arsed removing it. Added bonus of hiding the crap paint on the back doors.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[RSRowe]

Looks ace!

 

[Clio_fool]

@STICKER TWONK please make a proper speed limit sticker for Jon 🙏.

 

[Brigsy]

Proper sticker would be spot on as my number 1 looks shite

 

[Clio_fool]

Proper sticker would be spot on as my number 1 looks shite

It took me a while to spot it 😂.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates.

Chris @ efi sent a revised map over yesterday with some N75 duty removed so flashed it on today with MPPS.

Took it out for a datalog and its better but still needs a bit more n75 duty removing between 4-5500rpm.

Can be seen on the logs below where it is closing the throttle to reign the boost back in and going lean.

Ended up showing up a new jag suv thing that was mega impatient behind me when exiting a roundabout. I was only wanting to do a short pull in 3rd exiting the roundabout for logging purposes so planted the throttle and it went backwards fast.

It absolutely blows the tyres off in 3rd gear when the turbo spools, new engine feels super strong. Massive bangs out the back when you roll off the throttle. Cant wait to be able to use it to its full potential. It needs the ecumaster on it now really but i dont want to miss CSF.

Also seen this on the back of a random van in asda the other day. Tempted to add The same lettering

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Yarp]

Updates.

Chris @ efi sent a revised map over yesterday with some N75 duty removed so flashed it on today with MPPS.View attachment 1647136
Took it out for a datalog and its better but still needs a bit more n75 duty removing between 4-5500rpm.

Can be seen on the logs below where it is closing the throttle to reign the boost back in and going lean.
View attachment 1647137

Ended up showing up a new jag suv thing that was mega impatient behind me when exiting a roundabout. I was only wanting to do a short pull in 3rd exiting the roundabout for logging purposes so planted the throttle and it went backwards fast.

It absolutely blows the tyres off in 3rd gear when the turbo spools, new engine feels super strong. Massive bangs out the back when you roll off the throttle. Cant wait to be able to use it to its full potential. It needs the ecumaster on it now really but i dont want to miss CSF.

Also seen this on the back of a random van in asda the other day. Tempted to add The same letteringView attachment 1647138

Thanks for reading!!

Before we started branding the vans, loads of the lads at our old place used to get people kicking off with their shite driving. In most cases it was probably justified.

“I’m going to phone highway maintenance and complain”

“Aye pet, you crack on and do that, when you find the number let us have it”

Add the letters and maybe add a how’s my driving number on 👍

 

[Clio_fool]

Put racetrack maintenance on it instead 😂.

 

[Brigsy]

Before we started branding the vans, loads of the lads at our old place used to get people kicking off with their shite driving. In most cases it was probably justified.

“I’m going to phone highway maintenance and complain”

“Aye pet, you crack on and do that, when you find the number let us have it”

Add the letters and maybe add a how’s my driving number on 👍

Tempted to do the hows my driving sticker on😆

Put racetrack maintenance on it instead 😂.

That is a great idea, tempted

 

[photo_ed]

@Brigsy - this van of yours it putting one of the biggest smiles ever on my face. I absolutely love it! Keep up the good work mate. 😀

 

[Ricardos]

Buy a cheapie SIM only card, burner phone, then put the number on the back with a 'Hows my driving?'

Look forward to seeing the messages....

 

[Brigsy]

Quick blast out to Whitby in the nice weather yesterday.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Also took the Kangoo to Oulton Park for Autos de France.

Cleaned 7am last Friday before it got really hot. Trim gel on, tyre black give it some tlc.

Pic back to back with the trophy before setting off. I think the trophy is longer!

Made it to Oulton without hassle..mrs was driving it said hot as fcuk driving it with no ac!

Made a new Kangoo friend at Oulton.

Maxi vs compact.

Cant go past a garage without filling up. 29mpg reported on trip.

Great weekend..even took it for a blast to Whitby and back on the Sunday evening.

Flashed a revised map on from Chris with some more N75 duty removed. Mpps v18 doing the business.

This has cured the overboost/throttle closing. Afr is bang on 11.8/9 now and boost 21-22psi so all good. Checking logs and bang on, no knock r****d or nothing. So all good for some hard use and fun.

Best get the ds1:11 pads back in and the semi slicks back on with Anglesey a few weeks away!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Brigsy]

Found the dealer leaflet for compact on ebay so bought it. 500kg payload apparantly

Not been out for high speed datalogging yet. Ive started to prep it for CSF early. Will be nice to do more than 6 laps this year🤞

 

[Sj1782]

That was an hour well spent of reading! Credit to you on the build looks mega!! Look forward to seeing it at csf 👌

 

[Brigsy]

Cheers mate. Hopefully all little niggles will be ironed out asap.

List of bits to do.

Still slight overboost in certain circumstances. Im checking hardware related this weekend, and have another map tweak from Chris ready to flash on.
Semi slicks to fit.
Ds1.11 pads to fit.
Fresh oil and filter.
Geo check and adjust.

Fingers crossed thats it. As its a Renault it will no doubt try and fcuk me over last minute.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Dug out the Compomotive mo6 in rare r26r offset that i had refurbed white last year with new cup2 connects. Quick clean off and a coat of Gtechniq c5 wheel armour.

Had a spare hour Sat morning so got them fitted as fancied a change. Also refitted the DS1.11 front pads ready for CSF whilst front wheels were off.

Love the white on white.

Also got to the bottom of my continuous overboost issues. Checked the actuator with my chinese mityvac and the diaphragm has split, couldnt write it!



Changed for another green dot actuator i had in stock that works. Done some data logging and boost pressure is down to a pityful 12psi in the midrange then up to 18psi at the higher rpm's.

Ill have to book it back in with Chris for some more dyno time to get the n75 duty reset. We will get there eventually.

Thanks for reading!

 

[RSRowe]

I bet you’re on Chris’s Christmas card list with how often you’re there

 

[Brigsy]

I bet you’re on Chris’s Christmas card list with how often you’re there

Ohh mate, it will be 5th time lucky.

Im just hoping i can get it sorted before CSF.

 

[Danith]

White on white looks mint.

 

[Brigsy]

White on white looks mint.

Cheers mate. Forgot how bad the white shows the brake dust a few hard brakes and they are pitted already

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Managed to get the Kangoo booked into Efi last Wed pm slot. Worked out grand, as i was working in Huddersfield in the am so work mileage covered the fuel and half way there so not too far to go.

Raised a few eyebrows on site rolling into an over 55s complex with 3" exhaust and one silencer. Had to roll in as it loves the odd loud bang out of the exhaust.

Site visit done and put efi post code into Waze, it took me from Hudds via A635 which was a great drive even though pissing down, passing Dovestone reservior. Roads were dead so could make a bit of progress before the millions of speed cameras. Give me chance to test the michelin pilotsport cup2 connects, grip suprisingly good in the wet, was expecting them to be a bit skittish but overall great.

Arrive at Efi mid afternoon and straight on the dyno.

First run with 100% n75 duty only give us 18psi on the new actuator so had to give actuator max preload available. Que swearing and burned hands

With actuator preload set the next run made 22psi tailing off at the top. I had a spare meg3 rs 250 n75 so fitted that to see if it would hold more boost. It did indeed hold a little bit more up top of the rpm range but not enough to make the same power as last map.

We did see 360hp a few runs but settled at 349hp/305ft/lb so 20hp or so down from last time.

I asked Chris to keep torque low as poss for max traction, its not a diesel so dont need loads of torque and it keeps the transmission happy.

If i changed the actuator i could get the peak hp up again but not investing anymore in the stock ecu/20t hybrid as its all coming out over winter.

As usual the curves are lovely and smooth. Me and Chris took it for some datalogging on the street and can confirm there are no overboost issues, no throttle closing and afr is exactly the same as the dyno runs.



With less peak torque its epic on the road, its a case of less is more and can use 2nd gear onwards as it struggled with traction in first 3 gears at 372hp.

Mega long day as was out the door at 730am and back by 930pm. 300 miles/full tank of juice but great outcome.

Thats one job off the list for CSF.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Had a look at the old damaged actuator. It looks like its either been dropped or crushed at some point (not by me) didnt notice until removed. Assume it was working before diaphragm split.

Its in the bin now and that saga is over.

Got a pair of michelin pilotsport 5 to replace the bald ones on the anthracite comps.

Fitted my Spa dual boost/intake temp gauge. Had this in the drawer for 18 months but not got round to it.

New panel made for 3 gauges.

Fitted. Wiring a carry on to get in the engine bay. Many hours later

Note - 55 above on intake temp as i need a boss tig welding into my boost hose.

Washed it and took to Makro on the chicken run

Give it some on the way back and the fcuking gear cable popped out of the holder so only had 3rd & 4th gear! Not had any issues with it in 10k miles since conversion too.

Que some swearing and lost skin managed to pop it back in, for it to pop out again when almost home after blowing the doors off a corsa vxr.

The cable holder on pk gearbox is plastic and crap design. The cable now has a large jubilee clip round it to secure it, which is a bit yee haa but it aint going nowhere. Ill see if i can make a more elegant solution in the future, but all is well again after me and the mrs took it out again on the evening for some boost.

It does flames, lots of them when on it.



Nothing to see here just work van.



Geo on Friday and oil change. Lets hope nothing else breaks.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Also changed balljoint rubber boots for the 2nd time this year! Brand new trw balljoints 2021. 5k miles and boots split so fitted some universal rubbers. Knackered in less than 6 months.

Balljoints still tight as a nuns chuff so robbed a pair of boots off a pair of new delphi joints.

Not expecting these to last either, we will see! Its painful replacing stuff like this as crap quality.

 

[Filters]

Love it, proper mental little micro machine. Really hope it's at CSF
For such a small chassis, how do you find it handles with that much power?