Magpies Rides: Laguna 3 GT

[MagpieRacer]

Couple hundred miles covered in the Twingo and it's like falling in love with a loved one all over again. I have to say, of the 3 RS' I have owned, this one drives the best by far. The red one was fine, just high mileage, didn't have the cup pack and felt a bit worn, the blue one was definitely what I would classify as a project, had a constant engine tick, rough around the edges visually and had non stock springs (H&R springs which were 25mm lower than standard) which made it ride pretty harshly and polybushed engine mounts, which whilst a good upgrade over stock, do introduce vibrations.

This one though, drives so smooth, the idle is absolutely perfect, the gearbox is smooth, especially the 1st to 2nd change which can be crunchy in these and riding on the cup setup with the standard cup springs rather than H&R lowering springs, not only rides better but I think actually handles fractionally better as well. The KTec exhaust is fruity but not annoying, it doesn't drone when cruising but roars when you open up.

I think if I could combine that with a less restrictive air-box there are definitely a few extra horses that can be released. Even a 172 phase 1 air-box jammed in can find around 5hp, which doesn't sound like a lot but when you only have 131 to start with. The Sprogley Motorsports closed induction kit which includes a cold air feed and is designed specifically for the Twingo RS, allegedly offers a dyno proven 11.4bhp gain (about a 9% increase) vs the standard setup, and that doesn't factor in the exhaust, although the gains there would have been marginal (3-5bhp at most). The Sprogley kit costs a cool £300 however, so not an immediate purchase by any means. But being able to take power up to around the 143-145bhp range and torque from the 118lb-ft to around 132lb-ft.

But that's all long term, in the short term my priorities are the cup spoiler, which needs to be sprayed, fixings for the mats inside need to be replaced, headlights need a buff and there's a strange buzzing noise coming from somewhere around the wheels that increases with speed, could just be the spacers vibrating as they don't seem to be very good and 10mm spacers generally aren't hub centric which, unless they are put on to machine precision, means they can introduce enough vibration to buzz, or it's a gearbox mount or a wheel bearing, both of which are relatively cheap fixes (£25 parts) and should be easy enough to sort out.

Hopefully I will be able to take it to modified live at Snetterton in August.

Edit: it's wheel bearing. Renault tech father in law came over to have a look and after literally 15 seconds of driving it was diagnosed. He'll take it in next week to sort, parts are cheap it's just a bit of a faff to do apparently.
First minor dent into the Sprogley induction kit fund.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Cup spoiler sprayed and fitted. Much prefer this to the GT spoiler that most came with. Seems relatively few people actually optioned the cup spoiler on the standard 133s, with or without the cup pack.

 

[Korvregn]

I must admit I slept on this ride, until I saw one for the first time this easter.

Same color as yours and I must say that blue looks extremely good in person!

Really cool car, congratulations!

 

[MagpieRacer]

I must admit I slept on this ride, until I saw one for the first time this easter.View attachment 1545796View attachment 1545797
Same color as yours and I must say that blue looks extremely good in person!

Really cool car, congratulations!

The Gordinis are super cool, only 200 were made for the UK market, unsure about the rest of Europe but they were numbered in the UK as well, makes me wonder who has number 133!

Interestingly, although the colours look the same on first glance, the Gordini you have pictured is actually a different shade, called Malta Blue. Vs the non Gordini blue like mine which is the Extreme Blue. Incredibly subtle differences though.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Found some Halfords black Flexi/vinyl paint, or their version of Plasti Dip effectively, in my garage from the last time I had a Twingo RS. One small thing I think makes a big difference to how the front end looks is spraying the section the goes across the top of the grill, behind the number plate, black. Kind of gives it that Evo X type of look which I think is much better looking than when it is body coloured.

They actually ended up doing it from factory for the Silverstone GP edition.

I do like how the gloss black looks on the Silverstone GP versions and the glacier white standard models, it got me thinking about the logistics of going for gloss black on the trims, kind of like an OEM+ type look. I'm hoping I can locate part numbers for the Silverstone GP/glacier white parts and simply buy OEM gloss black fog surrounds and mirror caps. My cup spoiler was just a cheap anthracite I had lying around to switching that to black isn't the end of the world as long as I can achieve a good high gloss finish. Then it will just be the rear "diffuser" which is aftermarket, it is black but not gloss and I think it would look a bit odd if it stayed matte. I'm hoping I could slightly cheat, use extensive cleaning and detailing follow by a heat gun to bring the black back to life and then use a gloss top coat lacquer to bring a shine without having to respray it.

I did an AI mock up, went with gold wheels just to see how they would look, as an Impreza fanboy there's an itch that needs scratching but that's for another year. The gloss black gives it a really nice premium look. Also mocked a front splitter, a friend of mine has one to give me, just a universal one but I like how they look so he's going to fir that for me in the summer holidays.

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice buy on the Twingo, great little things. Think they're often overlooked in favour of the sporty Clios, but there's a lot to be said for something even smaller, and the Twingo's interior's a lot cooler than the Clio too I think.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Nice buy on the Twingo, great little things. Think they're often overlooked in favour of the sporty Clios, but there's a lot to be said for something even smaller, and the Twingo's interior's a lot cooler than the Clio too I think.

Absolutely, the Clio's got a lot of coverage in comparison, the Twingos really aren't that much slower all said and done either.

Not that I'd say no to a Clio 200 in the future, though I think the later 200T Clio 4 based RS would be a better daily than the NA 3rd generation.

 

[MagpieRacer]

So, the journey to an OEM+ type look begins. Inspired by my AI mock-up above, I have done some research around the various options on the Twingo 133, specifically things like the fog light surrounds and the various colour combinations that could be specified. Interestingly, they appeared to have been available in a surprising range of colours, the predominant ones you see are the Anthracite grey ones, like my car and the previous 2 RS' I have owned had. The exceptions being the Glacer White cars which have the gloss black, as well as the Silverstone GP edition, and the Gordini which had white ones. The part list shows them as being available additionally in red, silver and blue. I have never seen a Twingo with those colour surrounds from factory. It may sound like a very minnor thing but the fog light surrounds on the Twingo 133s are such a prominent feature on the front end of the car, they accentuate the extra width the RS133 has over the standard ones, they're unique to the RS133 and changing the colour of them can dramatically change how the car looks. I'm only more surprised that more people didn't opt for gloss black from factory.

Either way, as I was going to buy a pair to replace the one broken one (the only visual defect on the car) I decided to chance my arm and messaged my father-in-law who as you all know by now, works for Renault, with the part number and a hopeful query of there being any of the gloss black ones available to buy from Renault. Shockingly enough, not only are there still sets of fog light surrounds available to buy new from Renault, but they had them in gloss black as well, or at least, 1 set in the entire world (probably an exaggeration but it does show stock from across Europe, so at least the final set available new in Europe). He put the order in for me immediately to secure them and as it's my birthday next week, he's covered the cost, bonus. Only £50 inc VAT which is actually very reasonable when people pay well over that second hand for them, not knowing that, at least for the anthracite ones now, you can still buy them from Renault for half what people are charging.

So that's job number 2 for this weekend along with the wheel bearing, I have no doubt he will fit the new fog light surrounds for me when he does the bearing. I will then order some full-dip sprays, my go to for changing colour on body parts and wheels, and will do the mirror caps, Renault badges and re-do the spoiler in gloss black to tie the whole look together. They do a nice deep satin black which can then be paired with the super-gloss spray they have to really get it to an OEM shine. I haven't decided if I will try and tackle the faux diffuser in the same way, there's lots of different angles and folds to navigate and I am far from an expert. So it may be that I will simply get some good black trim detailing stuff and go to town on it to try and bring the black out more and give it a satin sheen, the rear wheels are right on the corners so it gets dusty and dirty immediately anyway so the effort to go full gloss may just not be worth it in the long run, but we will see.

A friend of mine has also offered me a universal splitter that he had orignally bought for his Hyundai IX35 but he didn't like how it looked, the IX35 has quite rounded edges and the skirt kit he bought followed that, so the angular splitter didn't quite look right. I did a mock-up above which included a basic splitter and I like how it looks, another fairly common modification for RS owners just to give the front end a more finished look as the recess under the grill makes it look as thought there should have been something there. But, before we fix it on, we will offer it up to the car and see how it looks first and some universal ones just don't quite match the lines of the car its going onto. It is adjustable though as it comes in parts, so if we can move it around a bit to get it to go with the flow of the front lip then it will go on.

If done well, they can look really smart, but if they aren't the right fit or style then the can look a bit daft. This French registered RS gives a good impression of what a well fitted splitter could look like.

Really going for it this week, modified live is coming up at Snetterton in August and it would be lovely to have this in a plce where it can be on show.

 

[PlageBLN]

Here's a shot of the OEM++ Gordini from my buddy I told you about.

He's on his fourth engine by now if I'm not mistaken. Also must have destroyed dozens of driveshafts and gone through even more sets of tires and brakes. But he's also taking no prisoners and drives it hard not only on track.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I have said good bye to the Twingo RS, for the final time. I really enjoyed driving this car, easily the best one I have owned, but I have had to utter the words I didn't want to utter, whilst I was commuting down the back roads of Norfolk, bouncing around on the cup suspension and feeling twinges of pain in my left knee and lower back, "I'm too old for this". Add in some struggles during the summer holidays when taking the kids out with anything that remotely resembles 'stuff' whilst my wife is working and the Twingo gave me doubts.

Granted I'm 'only' 37 but having not long recovered from some knee damage/pain in my left knee and getting my back and neck fitness to a good place, the Twingo felt like it was undoing that. So I swallowed a very bitter pill and sold it, fortunately I didn't even have to list it for sale as the demand for the RS133 is so strong I could pop on to the Renault Twingo Owners Club and within seconds found a handful of people looking for one. It was collected yesterday and I think the new owner is going to have an absolute blast with it.

I have been driving around in the Qashqai again for the past week or 2, it is comfortable although, I still don't like driving it that much, as it is a +2 (big old 7 seater) with a gutless engine, 198k on the clock and starting to need more work doing than I really want to be dealing with, the search for yet another car began.

The search then ended rather quickly, my father-in-law had a Dacia Duster come into where he works at Renault, 4WD, 1.5dci, nice blue colour, my wife has a white 2WD Duster which she adores and loves driving so it's a car we know well.

But you all know me by now, no chance, I politely declined the Duster and focussed on a lovely, rare find (love a rare find) for a price that was so good it almost raised some suspicions (and there are still one or two concerns with it) but having viewed it, check it out, listened to it, driven it and researched, I think it's a good one, and there really aren't many left.

I'll keep you in suspense for a few hours, but it is very closely related to another rare-ish care I have owned.

 

[MagpieRacer]

So here it is, welcome to my new to me, 2011 Renault Laguna GT.

I have always liked the Lagunas, you can see on the previous page my experience with my Laguna Coupe, which was generally trouble free until an unusual fuel pump issue put the car off the road and saw it get replaced by the Qashqai. Somewhat annoyingly, a few weeks after I bought the Qashqai, a part was sourced for the Laguna Coupe and it was mended and then sold on, it came up for sale a few months ago and was sorely tempted before plumping for the Twingo.

This car though, has been for sale for a little while (ish, 6 weeks) and it kept popping up on my feed. Always kept half an eye on it because it's a superb specification of a hugely underrated car. So this is of course the Laguna 3, and this particular version is the phase 2, which released towards the end of 2010 with an overhauled front end, refinements to the engines and interior. This is the top of the line GT model, or GT Line TT DCI 180 FAP to give it the full title.

That means it gets the sporty appointments, firmer suspension setup than a standard Lag, though nowhere near as firm as the Twingo, sport skirts, twin exhaust, 18" wheels and in the case of this car. the limited edition Malta Blue paintwork which was exclusive to GT models across the Renault line-up. Inside it gets alcantara clad sports seats, sporty flat bottom steering wheel, aluminium gearknob and pedals, sporty dials and a very nice driving position.

It is powered by the 2.0 DCI (M9R) engine, similar to what my coupe had but with a few key differences, such as water cooled turbo, electric water pump, balancing shafts, bigger injectors and different gear ratios. Most of that on account of this being the 180hp variant whereas my Coupe was the 150hp variant of the phase 1 variety. Phase 2s also benefitted from additional refinement to bring down the Co2 emissions, nudging the down a few tax bands over the phase 1s, and improved MPG. 0-60 is dispatched in around 8 seconds and it delivers torque in the region of 400nm alongside that 180hp. It definitely feels brisk, compared to the Twingo RS, the Laguna does the 0-60 run in around the same time but from much lower down, the Twingo RS only had 160nm of torque so the difference in how it feels to get there is vast.

Now on the party trick of the Laguna GT 180, and that is what Renault term, 4Control. In shot, it's a 4 wheel steering system, developed jointly between Renault Sport and Nissan and exclusively available on this model. Up to 38mph the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction of the front wheels, up to 3.5 degrees, to help it turn tighter, great for city driving, parking and manoeuvring, giving it the same turning circle as a regular Clio. Over 38mph the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the fronts, improving overall stability and cornering capability. It has it's own electronic control unit which calculates the amount of angle needed at any given time, adapting to different situations to aid stability. It was a lot more noticeable than I expected, the first roundabout I got to it felt so nimble and on the dual carriageway where the phase changes, overtakes felt very stable and assured on the slightly rougher sections of the A47. The steering is incredibly responsive and beautifully weighted which aids in this feeling surprisingly sporty for it's class.

It has all the gadgets I want from a car and more, I can't lie, I missed having some of the creature comforts in the Twingo, the Qashqai was so well equipped though that it could make any car feel underspecced in comparison. Not so with this Laguna, it has a TomTom nav system, bluetooth connectivity, Bose sound system with 10 speakers, cruise control, dual zone climate control, heated seats, electric seats with memory function, electric/heated/folding mirrors and the usual array of Renault luxuries like auto wipers, lights and keyless entry and go via the classic Renault key card.

For all this luxury and power, I paid just £1100. Naturally, for that money, it isn't perfect, though it isn't too far off. There are a few stone chips on the bonnet, the wheels definitely need a refurb, need new wiper blades all round, it didn't come with any history (was able to verify that it has been serviced by contacting a previous owner and checking it in the Renault system), confirming a DPF fault had been fixed at 124k, along with services at 120k and 88k done via main Renault dealers. The sat nav also doesn't currently work, all info points to it being a faulty GPS antennae which should be a fairly straight forward fix and the air con needs recharging.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Almost a week into ownership of the Laguna GT and I am thoroughly enjoying it thus far. It does seem to be the perfect car for me, ticking boxes across the board like no other car has done, it's comfortable yet still sporty enough, practical without being monstrously large, quick without being stupid, economical, well equipped for my needs (sat nav, bluetooth, Bose sound system, heated seats, climate control), and crucially, drives exceptionally well, for both cruising and B-road blasting.

Actually, the handling is the bit that has really caught me out in a good way. I had the non GT version of the Laguna Coupe, which is about 30hp down and doesn't have the stiffer, sportier suspension or seats/wheel and I commented when I had that car at how surprisingly dynamic it was. This GT takes that to another level, it's firmer without being uncomfortable, slightly less body roll because of that, slightly more responsive front end and with the 4 wheel steering, incredibly direct through the corners and has grip to spare, even on relatively budget tyres. Throw in 400nm of torque coming out of corners and it gets down the road very briskly indeed.

So far, touch wood, nothing is giving me cause for concern. The brakes are squealing a little bit, I'm currently putting that down to them being new disks and pads and it hadn't been driven for 6 weeks, so they probably need bedding in a bit. If I get [past 250 miles and they're still doing it then I will investigate further. Air con doesn't work, could be empty, could need a new condenser, that will need investigating but it's blowing some cool-ish air out so no rush there. Generally these engines are very solid and reliable, as long as they are looked after. I have managed to track down some history via the Laguna Owners Club UK, 2 members of that club have owned the car and documented some of it's history alongside the Renault system showing some as well. So I believe it has been looked after despite lack of physical history with the car.

Oh and a piece of interior trim fell off from above the glove box, just a vanity panel of sorts so I have super glued that back into place. Sort of thing that happens to a 15 year old car with 45 degree interior temperature I guess.

 

[PlageBLN]

That was a quick change. Especially as you were still planning upgrades not that long ago. I hope my post related to the reliability didn't put you off...haha. The Laguna looks nice and in good condition especially considering the low price. Here cars are basically double as what they're over there. I'm always amazed for how less good Clio RS go in the UK for example. The wheels on yours have a very similar design as my Interlagos. Saw people running them on RS Clios as they'll fit perfectly. Have fun with it!

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice buy on the Laguna. I'd forgotten these were available with four-wheel steer. Great colour too and that price is an absolute bargain, there's a lot to be said for getting something that nobody else really has much interest in (or is scared off by).

I totally understand the "too old for this" thing too. I still love sporty stuff, but the state of the roads here now, the traffic, the time it takes to get to any road where something fun can really wake up, really takes the joy out of owning something solely focused on fun. My NC MX-5 is probably overall the best car I've ever owned for being fun and usable at the same time, but driving it on the terrible road surfaces just feels like I'm abusing it, and it gets quite tiring too even though it's otherwise perfectly fine for covering miles in.

I've been thinking that my future car combination will probably pair something super comfortable and relaxing to drive, with an "experience" car that doesn't necessarily need a twisty road or a track to be at its best - either a classic of some sort, or something with a nice burbly V8 that I can enjoy just cruising around in.

 

[05XR8]

Nice buy on the Laguna. I'd forgotten these were available with four-wheel steer. Great colour too and that price is an absolute bargain, there's a lot to be said for getting something that nobody else really has much interest in (or is scared off by).

I totally understand the "too old for this" thing too. I still love sporty stuff, but the state of the roads here now, the traffic, the time it takes to get to any road where something fun can really wake up, really takes the joy out of owning something solely focused on fun. My NC MX-5 is probably overall the best car I've ever owned for being fun and usable at the same time, but driving it on the terrible road surfaces just feels like I'm abusing it, and it gets quite tiring too even though it's otherwise perfectly fine for covering miles in.

I've been thinking that my future car combination will probably pair something super comfortable and relaxing to drive, with an "experience" car that doesn't necessarily need a twisty road or a track to be at its best - either a classic of some sort, or something with a nice burbly V8 that I can enjoy just cruising around in.

That’s how I feel with my MX-5 on the worse stretch of 13km one-way-in-one-way-out road in my area. My Accord Euro is the relief. Makes me smile how comfortable and smooth and easy it is for a twenty year old “luxury” Honda.

 

[wfooshee]

I totally understand the "too old for this" thing too. I still love sporty stuff, but the state of the roads here now, the traffic, the time it takes to get to any road where something fun can really wake up, really takes the joy out of owning something solely focused on fun. My NC MX-5 is probably overall the best car I've ever owned for being fun and usable at the same time, but driving it on the terrible road surfaces just feels like I'm abusing it, and it gets quite tiring too even though it's otherwise perfectly fine for covering miles in.

I've been thinking that my future car combination will probably pair something super comfortable and relaxing to drive, with an "experience" car that doesn't necessarily need a twisty road or a track to be at its best - either a classic of some sort, or something with a nice burbly V8 that I can enjoy just cruising around in.

As a 69-year-old with a 2001 Miata and a 2007 Jag XJ-8, this is very relatable!!! The Miata is my daily, the Jag is for trips or lots of stuff or people being carried.