groar's 1997 Megane Modding Thread

[Piwoslaw]

Groar, I love how the rear skirts extend into the "mini open tail".
And a for the window card. I need one of those...

[groar]

The last mod isn't an aero one, but an electric one :


All the details in its own thread : http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post191234.

Have fun,

Denis.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by groar

It says "consumption 67mpg - 1056mi/tank - and you ?".

I don't think I'd ever go this far on my own car though.

Have you blocked the upper grill, on either side of the Renault logo ?
It also looks like it has a gap between the bumper and the headlights?

What sort of black tape are you using ?
The kind I'm using is deteriorating quickly.

[groar]

euromodder, I read once on this forum about aero "go extreme and enjoy" (I don't remember the exact wording and can't find the sentence). I'm not extreme yet but I already enjoy the new ride my car is offering me. 1 week ago I also pumped up my tires to 4.0bar (58psi) while I had them at max side wall = 3.5bar (51psi) since one year. The change in the ride is as much incredible as when I went from 3.0 to 3.5bar (44-51psi). Also I hope my FAS kill switch will permit me to push my results farther.

I blocked the upper grill in winter. This was so effective that I could hear wind noise in the wipers as soon as 70km/h (43mph). Last time I changed my wipers I bought some "low profile". I drove 550km on highway (110-130km/h 68-81mph) at temps as high as 15°C (59°F) without heat problem, but at my daily commute speeds (closer to 70km/h than to 90km/h 43-56mph) I had heat problem very quickly over 10°C (50°F).

There is also a gap between the bumper and the headlights. I already taped it when I was trying an invisible tape, but this one was becoming hard and cracking, but overall removing it was letting lot of residues. The best way I found to remove these residues was to let them under the sun to dry, then to rub with a dry cloth but some yellow color may stay. I decided to not close these gaps again while I have better things to do on the car to improve it.

I'm using "power tape". It's multi-layered with a strong middle layer containing intersecting threads. The packaging indicates resisting to temps from -5°C to 70°C (23-158°F) and to water.

Have fun,

Denis.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by groar

There is also a gap between the bumper and the headlights.[...] I decided to not close these gaps again while I have better things to do on the car to improve it.

Those gaps are ideal to install LED daytime running lights. I've seen quite a few Renaults here with DRLs located between the headlights and bumper. But we have to drive with lights on 24h all year, so LEDs are a good option (11W instead of 150-200W). If you can drive without lights for most of the year, then this may not be high on your list. (There is, of course, the safety factor...)

[groar]

Piwoslaw, In France (Europe ?) DRL are mandatory only on brand new cars sold since 2010/01/01. Since 2009 summer, Audi are sold with these LED DRL, but I have to confess that I hate them, they are making you focus on them and so distract you from what you should be looking at, noticeably when you are on a multi-lane road protected from the cars in the opposite lanes.

Nevertheless, this is a great idea to place them there as they effectively improve a dirty aerodynamic place. Sadly all the LED strings I can find nowadays are very expensive and I'm not sure that I will not distract people coming in front of me.

In a safety point of view, this will improve only in very specific cases and while not all cars have them. As soon as all the cars have them then it will not work anymore. At the same time motorcycle that have them since years will then "disappear" and will have their safety lowered. This has been the case a few years ago when several places in France did the experiment to have lights on all day long, the number of accident by cars against motorcycles increased significantly.

Denis.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by groar

This has been the case a few years ago when several places in France did the experiment to have lights on all day long, the number of accident by cars against motorcycles increased significantly.

The powers that be in Europe have decided to sacrifice bikers, scooter and cyclists alike, in the hopes of achieving an overall gain in traffic safety by using DRL.
The best protected road users are gaining more protection ...

[groar]

I'm dreaming about an Insight I, but will never have one in France...

I had to talk to a cop about my car and one of the annoying thing he noted about my car is the rear vision :



He told me that I shouldn't block the rear vision as my car was certified with a rear vision.

What is annoying me about that back is that it's in two parts, the airflow jumps from the front to the rear and have to reattach...

I got the idea to use a transparent plastic film :





Sadly the transparent plastic film I'm using isn't transparent at all through the rear mirror... so I unfolded the passenger mirror and moved the camera over the rear plate.

I drove my last tank with this mod. On some points I had the feeling the aero was improved (final speed on down hills), but not on others (lengths of glides). Despite a very bad week (10 mi daily commute driven in 45 minutes instead of a 25 mi one driven in 35 minutes) and every morning with (near)freezing temps and lights in the morning I achieved a winter kilotank so it mustn't degrade the aero...

Have fun,

Denis.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by groar

He told me that I shouldn't block the rear vision as my car was certified with a rear vision.

He wouldn't harass someone who has stuffed a Megane Grandtour's trunk right up to the roof, would he ?

[Piwoslaw]

Groar, maybe you could replace your passenger side mirror with one that is smaller, and sticks out less than the OEM mirror. I think it you can find something that would have the same frontal area as your old mirror when folded, and would sit in the A-pillar's tubulence. Here's one I found for an E36 BMW:

Originally Posted by euromodder

He wouldn't harass someone who has stuffed a Megane Grandtour's trunk right up to the roof, would he ?

+1