Megane Engine resources

SteveH

Gold Member
Hi all,

Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong section. I wasn't entirely sure where it would sit best really, as it isn't a full on technical post.

I've had my 200 for a little while now, and having done A LOT of reading on the forums (I tend not to post much, but if this gets going I'll try a bit harder). As of yet all I have done to the car is new inner & outer steering rack arms, new drop links and anti rotation links, new shocks, new springs, new top mounts. Just to firm things up as it felt a bit sloppy, and not as Renault intended. As much as I'm sure some of you will be disgusted with this I've used all OE Renault parts. After all Renault didn't spend all that money in R&D to develop on of the best handling cars on the road just for me to come along with some coilovers etc and totally change the handling (I know it isn't that simple, but for now with a standard engine etc it seemed like the most sensible option, and a mate supplied me all the parts for just under £300). But also because this is a daily, and unlikely to really see a track it's nice to have some compliance over the quite frankly hideously surfaced bumpy back roads of Oxfordshire.

I've previously had a 205 with MI16 engine on TB's, stand alone management, stripped out, coilovers, NOS etc etc you get the picture. To the untrained eye though it looked like a slightly lowered standard car. I'm a real fan of the 'sleeper'. But it crossed the line between road car & track car and tbh it was horrible to drive on the roads around here.

I've been tussling with the idea of a supercharger for more ooomph, but having read about, it seems to get one of these fitted and running that isn't more fragile than an Alfa in the rain is a rarity, and as my car has just ticked over 107k I'm not entirely sure the extra stresses on the engine/gearbox won't see it melt like chocolate in a microwave.

So this brings me back to a Meglio conversion, as that seems to be the most documented and certainly seems to be a fairly reliable option (well as reliable as you can get in a French car). It also reminds me of my youth running the 205 which I quite like :tongueout:

I'm in South Oxfordshire, so not a million miles from Beaniesport, and I've dropped Chris a line. Just waiting for a reply. But I'm very much in the research stage at present and don't want to waste his time (well not yet anyway haha).

The reason for my post though is to see if anyone has any resources for Megane engines (aside from eBay which doesn't seem to throw much up). I appreciate buying a secondhand lump brings it's own possible issues, so would any of you guys with a more mechanical mind recommend anything in particular when sourcing an engine?

I'm not looking for massive power, as like I said this is a daily fast road 'sleeper' NOT a full on track beast. So is it worth forging it, or just having the cylinders compression tested, new belts, clutch full on serviceable items checked etc. I'm assuming the megane lump will bolt straight onto the Clio gearbox, or would that need replacing & messing about with as well?

It seems that 300bhp is the magic number for these units, and although there are lots of people running these, how was that achieved? I'm assuming it's not that straight forward, and a lot of work would be needed both internally & externally to the main engine to strengthen it up? Bigger turbo, custom exhaust and manifold?

I think I'd rather a 'reliable' slightly lower power to stop the car breaking every 2 minutes and me having to cycle to work! haha

Sorry so may questions, just not really sure where to start on this one as I've been out of this loop for a while (I'm getting on a bit!).

I'm also curious as to the costs of something like this. There seems to be lots of documented conversions, but nobody has really discussed the costs involved? Is this because you all don't want the other half to see exactly what your spending on your cars should she get hold of your laptop :wink: Or just where people have lost track of how deep the money pit is getting. I know there would be a vast difference in costings based on exact specs/engine costs etc. Surely some cost can be recouped by selling the OE Clio engine? Is there much call for them?

Thanks in advance for any help

Steve
 
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It’s definitely much better to forget the costs.

But 300bhp gets to the top end of a megane engine before going silly. You’ll likely want either the 250 engine to begin with and then you are only really a remap and supporting mods away.

Or the 230 engine is likely to need a bigger turbo and probably some forged bits to be able to kick it’s head in on track.

So I’d say expect to pay somewhere from £5000-10000 if you were paying someone to do it.

£5000 being a 230 engine with map and mods to 250-260 bhp

£10000 being a forged engine at the 300 mark.

That would be my rough estimate to things.


If you can do the work yourself though you can be done for £2500 or less perhaps depending on spec.
 
A decent running mk2 megane engine with a meg 250 turbo, exhaust, fmic and 630cc injectors will be enough for 300hp after mapping.
ideally you’d want to install the megane gearbox at the same time as they’re much stronger.
Money no object then I’d forge the engine straight away before install. Rods, pistons bolts gaskets cam belt water pump etc. especially if you’re in it long term.
Don’t start the project unless you have a minimum of £5k but things quickly spiral and you’ll be up nearer ten no doubt!
Mk2 engines are becoming harder to find and will command a premium even in a crap state.
Mk3 engine conversions are rare. For a reason
 
A decent running mk2 megane engine with a meg 250 turbo, exhaust, fmic and 630cc injectors will be enough for 300hp after mapping.
ideally you’d want to install the megane gearbox at the same time as they’re much stronger.
Money no object then I’d forge the engine straight away before install. Rods, pistons bolts gaskets cam belt water pump etc. especially if you’re in it long term.
Don’t start the project unless you have a minimum of £5k but things quickly spiral and you’ll be up nearer ten no doubt!
Mk2 engines are becoming harder to find and will command a premium even in a crap state.
Mk3 engine conversions are rare. For a reason

What's the reason behind the lack of MK3 conversions? I've seen that mentioned a few times.
I've seen a lot of engines blowing up on the megane facebook pages, do they just not last?
 
What's the reason behind the lack of MK3 conversions? I've seen that mentioned a few times.
I've seen a lot of engines blowing up on the megane facebook pages, do they just not last?

From memory it was the complexity of the VVT / getting it to work with Clio gubbins.

The 225 etc engines the rods are a weaker point, why most who run standard engines cap their power (well their torque). So some people push them too far and on top of that the cooling problems people have had with the conversion probably accelerates / exaggerates the problem even more.
 
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What's the reason behind the lack of MK3 conversions? I've seen that mentioned a few times.
I've seen a lot of engines blowing up on the megane facebook pages, do they just not last?
It’s expensive to source a 250 engine in the first place. Then you still need to use a mk2 gearbox for it to fit. Plus it’s a bugger apparently as Suj said to make it all compatible so becomes seriously cost prohibitive.
I don’t think it’s due to reliability as I’m sure just as many mk2 engines go bang!
 
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Firstly thanks for the replies!

Looking at what has been said, it almost seems like the window for this conversion is actually closing now and it's becoming more difficult in sourcing parts more than anything. That may explain why I was struggling to find engines in the first place (hence the OP).

I guess all these cars are generally in or around a decade old now, and technology has moved on considerably. My wife has a 2019 Polo GTi. Awesome bit of kit, but on paper, performance wise not too dissimilar to the Clio. However she returns double the MPG I do, has adaptive cruise, heated seats, glass roof, digital clocks, etc etc the list goes on and on with the spec of that thing. I enjoy driving it, but it does feel a bit clinical. I certainly don't get the emotion I feel driving the 200.

Coming back to the 200 though. Maybe I would be better rebuilding/mildly tuning what I already have? I know it's an n/a lump and wouldn't expect huge gains like can be had with a turbo. But would an extra 10-20 ponies give me the little bit more I feel the car could really do with?

Thanks

Steve
 
At the age that most Meganes are, to do a job properly you’re going to need to forge the engine, unless you want to run one at standard power or one that’s very mildly tuned.

Why not then instead forge your own engine and fit a supercharger? Cost wise I imagine it would be similar to that of an equal Megane conversion.

Or do a Honda K20 conversion? A far superior engine to the Clios in every way (apart from sound but that may be related to the fart cannons fitted on every single Honda).

N/A tuning wise your best bet is to find someone near who has tuned theirs, to give you a better idea of the difference. Last thing you want is to pump money into N/A tuning and then go forced induction because the car still wasn’t quick enough.
 
100% that!

I'd only really started looking into the costs of all this recently, and was pretty much basing what I thought it would be on what it cost me to convert my 205 ages ago. Small reality check, in that it looks highly likely which ever way you go this is going to cost more than twice what that cost.

I only really started to consider the Meg conversion from reading it should've been something 'relatively' simple with same/similar engine bays etc.

I did read quite a lot on the supercharger route, but read some real horror stories, and with my engine racking up the miles now, kind of deemed it probably not really suitable to have that extra stress put on it. Also finding someone who is capable of that conversion seems to be more of an issue than the Meg conversion.

Either way tuning n/a what I have or S/C the car the current engine would need a rebuild. So I guess it's just whether I could find someone who could complete the conversion, on top of the cost of a rebuild. I'd guess we are already up at £6-7k+ by the time the parts are taken into account for a rebuild AND conversion. Not to mention mapping, would probably want to replace a load of other parts whilst the engine is apart, clutch, diff, and some regular bits etc. Then I guess I'd need to strengthen the mounts for the extra torque.

Being a daily I'd also like to retain some creature comforts like aircon, which seems to be an issue on an SC conversion.

Looks like I need to do some more reading/research haha.

Thanks

Steve
 
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I have seen a few Meglios pop up on Facebook for sale over the past few weeks. Some are expensive in terms of a Clio, but are probably being sold at a loss compared to the money that has been spent converting the car. Others seem to be priced more sensibly. I would think it is probably cheaper these days to buy a Meglio rather than convert an existing car.
 
I have seen a few Meglios pop up on Facebook for sale over the past few weeks. Some are expensive in terms of a Clio, but are probably being sold at a loss compared to the money that has been spent converting the car. Others seem to be priced more sensibly. I would think it is probably cheaper these days to buy a Meglio rather than convert an existing car.
If I were to ever go down the meg route I’d 100% buy rather than do a swap, insurance depending!
 
I’ve got a N/A with 403 cams and all the supporting mods if you wanted to give it a drive and see what you can do on a cheap(ish) N/A build.

Should give you a good idea.

I also have a Meglio that I use on track too.

I think when you are 10/10ths the Meglio is obvs faster but it’s not night and day.

But when you are 7-8/10ths it’s so much quicker due to the torque that the N/A just doesn’t have and you need to be above 5k and working the box to get anywhere near the power of the Meglio at 3-4k rpm

The Meglio is about 260bhp and the N/A 215ish
 
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That's interesting @strell I guess being able to drive both back to back almost gives you a better/more accurate comparison.

I think tbh its the low down/off the mark nippiness that I am missing really. You seem to be needing to do stupid speeds before the car comes alive, and on todays roads that's just not really 'safe', or even possible a lot of the time. I suppose whilst I am in the lower rev range, the car does feel a bit flat, so it would be good to be able to bring things on song a bit earlier in the rev range.

Thanks

Steve
 
I'd supercharge it. Ktec kit retains the aircon iirc and with a supercharger you keep the more linear NA type power curve but just with bigger numbers. You'll not get as much torque as a turbo so parts will be less stressed. Ktec will do all the work for you too.
Lots of people have done turbo conversions on their beloved 182's and then sold them not long after. All that low torque completely changes how the car drives and revving a little clio to make progress is a huge part of its character and appeal.
 
I am lucky enough to have a Megane 280 so I understand the desire for instant power on a daily driver. The turbo characteristics do give you instant boost at low revs.

I have not taken the Megane out on track yet - I really should book an evening session somewhere just to do it. I can’t comment what it is like to drive when you are really pushing hard.

The Clio comes alive at about 5,000 revs - that is where the fun is. At 5,000 revs in a turbo you are probably starting to loose power although you would have sailed past a Clio in a Meglio at that point.
 
If you’re sure you’re going to Meg it at some point, I wouldn’t waste money on NA tuning!

I thought I wasn’t going to go down the Meg route, so I did induction, manifold, exhaust, sports cat and a remap and saw some small gains.

After I’d been out on track a few times I decided I needed more power, and kicked off a meg conversion, so all of the above became wasted money/effort!

In terms of the build - I had a forged 225 engine build, hybrid turbo, forge recirc Valve and attenuator, Airtek intercooler, PMS exhaust and sports cat, uprated fuel pump. I don’t like to think about the costs, but of that makes just over 300bhp.

To me, the car now has just enough power to get me into trouble on the road, but I do miss the noise and drama of the NA engine! I’ve booked Caste Combe on 18th June which will be my first track day post-Meg!
 
Turbo megane engine can still be pretty linear if you’ve got the desire. Pulls twice as hard as any n/a2412ACEF-E9BE-461E-AF94-EC1AB834EE7C.jpeg
 
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