Megane 3 RS Clubsport Track Build
Who wouldn't want that ultimate car that you can comfortably use daily, then drive it to the Nürburgring, complete a lot of fast laps, and drive home again.
The aim of this project is to create a car with the perfect balance between competitive track performance, and practical road car use. As an ever evolving build we're always finding areas for improvement and constantly developing various areas of the car in order to further push the boundaries of what's considered “possible” for daily driving, practical road cars. This entire project has been top-shelf with absolutely no shortcuts allowed. Everything has been designed to be the best it can physically be and it shows in the drive-ability, lap times, and overall finish of the car.
This long-term customer project came to us a little while ago after the owner placed an order for one of our Titanium exhaust systems to reduce weight and improve the sound of the car. By decreasing weight we weren't only maximising acceleration but handling capabilities and the overall drive-ability of the car was increased too.
Despite this not being a race-car you can see the quality of the work has not been compromised in comparison to the systems we build for prototype and GT teams worldwide.
The next stage of the build was to upgrade a few more of the components on the Megane before we began setting up the chassis. We supplied and fitted a Super B SB12V20P-SC battery into the spare wheel well, which we secured with a stainless steel mounting system and a charging point under the bonnet, incorporating the ECU and cable terminal mount.
We also supplied and fitted fresh Superpro front ARB bushes, and carried out a service on the car using a genuine oil filter and Millers Nanodrive oil. Alongside this we mounted some gorgeous Recaro Pole Position bucket seats into the car with custom made subframe mounts in order to stop the seats flexing on the standard subframes during cornering.
Once we had most of the components fitted to turn this Megane into a serious track toy, it was time to focus on creating more power and delivering straight line speed. Before we could do this we had to ensure we could deliver that power safely and reliably, without compromising the day-to-day driveability of the car. Alongside TTV racing we designed and installed a Twin Plate Organic clutch capable of taking 550ft/lbs with a pedal as light as the OEM clutch. After installing this in the car and months of testing, including fitting a bite point adjuster, we achieved the perfect set-up and now the car drives incredibly, it is ready to accept extremely high levels of power. With the bite point adjuster fitted and the pedal being so light, it’s more than comfortable for daily driving. To keep shifting on track direct and accurate, we installed a CAE Shifter to further optimise lap times.
The final steps to getting the chassis sorted was to install a Superpro adjustable rear anti-roll bar so we could fine tune the way the car drives, and then to do a full 4-wheel geometry set-up. This included modifying the strut tops to allow easier camber adjustment on the AST top mounts, and shimming the rear beam to get the rear wheels exactly where we wanted them.
We began with corner weighting the car, including a passenger weight as the customer almost always has a passenger on track. We needed to get the car balanced perfectly on the Intrax dampers before setting up the geometry ready for a road friendly but still a mild track orientated set-up. We use the old-school method of string and a steel rule to set-up toe as we’ve found this gives far more repeatable and accurate results compared to 3D or laser systems. These systems are precise, but are difficult to get set-up perfectly time after time and this means there’s a much higher chance of error. With the method we use it means no mistakes can be made.
Once this was done it was time to get the car on-track to finally dial in the set-up. We took the car to Donnington to try different set-ups with varying levels of ARB stiffness and damper settings on different sets of tyres in order to fully complete the customers build ready for his Nurburgring trip. Once we were happy the car was easy to drive, easily controllable and most importantly fast around the circuit with both sets of tyres on, it was time to plan the next steps in the project. Shortly we will start work on an entirely new engine build, and gearbox modifications in order to maximise the potential from the now perfect chassis set-up.
Keep an eye on our website and social media pages to stay up to date with this project and many others.
To speak to a member of our team about a project you're working on, get in touch one of the following ways; www.cgrautomotive.co.uk 01709 530871 info@cgrautomotive.co.uk www.facebook.com/cgrautomotive
