RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
What's this raucous-looking thing?
This is Renault's hardest-cored hot hatchback, the Renaultsport Megane 275 Trophy-R. The R signifies ‘Radicale' - French for extreme - and there are precisely no prizes for identifying this as the spiritual successor to 2008's wondrous Megane R26.R.
Like its forebear, the Trophy-R has snared itself the front-wheel-drive lap record around the Nürburgring. Though at 7m54s, the new Megane's time is a full 23 seconds faster than the R26.R's. It got there via a similarly strict diet, with 100kg stripped from the already honed 275 Trophy.
As a result, the 271bhp 2.0-litre turbo four has 1280kg to shift, meaning a 5.8sec 0-62mph time and a 158mph top speed. Your only transmission option is a six-speed manual.
So what's been stripped out?
Removing the rear seats saved 20kg, swapping the front chairs for body-hugging composite Recaro buckets another 22kg. An Akrapovic titanium exhaust system slices off a further 4kg, while a reduction in sound deadening culls 21kg. There's no air con or any kind of stereo (minus 7.4kg) and even the rear wiper has disappeared with the auto lights and wipers (a further 1kg).
A vast reduction in rear visibility for a gain cancelled out by a modest bag of shopping appears completely fruitless for road driving, but there's no denying such fastidiousness all contributes to the car's incredibly focused aura. GT3 RS owners will feel right at home here.
You'll be hard pushed to find another tin-top car as ruthlessly committed to performance and pace this side of £100,000.
So how much is it?
Just 30 are coming to the UK. Prices start at £36,430, while the optional Nürburgring Record Pack - lighter, stronger brakes, six-point harnesses for the bucket seats and a slimmer lithium-ion battery - punts this up to £38,425. And you can easily option the Trophy-R north of £40K. Pricey, then, and a hell of a lot more than a Golf R.
But it's simply not a Golf R rival. What Renaultsport has delivered is one of the most intense, focused driving experiences at any price. One that asks the utmost commitment of its driver and delivers suitably high rewards when it gets just that. Want anything less from it and its price and impracticality make it an irrelevance. But know exactly what you're getting into, and it could be called Good Value.
How the heck does it justify that price though?
The expensive stuff lies beyond such fripperies as being able to listen to the radio. Namely its superb suspension. Ohlins adjustable dampers - optional on the regular four-seat 275 Trophy - are standard here. We didn't have time to get the tools out and start fiddling (the settings available are wide-ranging, too), yet it hardly mattered.
Written By:- Stephen Dobie
More of this article on the Top gear website
