Renault Megane RS 250 Monaco GP 2012 Review

The Renault Megane RS 250 is one of the world's most potent hot hatches. It steers well and has scads of grip, accelerates hard thanks to its turbocharged four-cylinder mill and has some of the best stoppers in the business.

But some buyers having to front up more than $40,000 may have been a little disappointed with the lack of luxuries, which is where the Monaco GP edition rolls in.

The Renault Megane RS 250 Monaco GP edition ups the ante in luxury stakes and gives potential customers an up-spec hottie. It adds things like leather covered, heated and electric adjusting Recaro seats, bi-xenon directional headlights and a fixed glass roof with sun shade. Only 50 individually numbered limited edition vehicles have been imported to Australia.

The Monaco is also the first Megane RS 250 available Down Under with integrated satnav. Though it's not the best system in its class (due largely to a fiddly input system) something is better than nothing.

From the outside there are a few updates too; piano black accents on the rear diffuser, front fog lamps surrounds and headlights make for a nice contrast with the pearlescent white paint. The side mirrors are black too and Monaco GP badges adorn the rear.

Riding on 19-inch alloy wheels shod with low-profile 235/35 R19 rubber, the Megane RS 250 Monaco GP edition is attention-grabbing. Its sleek silhouette, centre-mount exhaust pipe and narrow windows only add to eye-candy.

The bad news is the $48,990 price is a good $7000 more than the standard model.

Frankly, I was expecting a little more extravagance for the outlay. The Monaco GP lettering on the seats and floor mats are nice touches and the interior does feel a little fancier thanks to an (oddly appropriate) white centre console and door inserts, but I wanted more bling. I guess I was hoping for a flat bottom steering wheel, a quartz analogue clock and some shiny aluminium accents.

That said, I mostly forgot about such petty cravings when I fired up the engine and fond memories of white-knuckled driving routes came flooding back... For the uninitiated, know this -- the Renault Megane RS 250 is fast. Underestimate its performance at your own peril, for this French four outputs a very handy 184kW/340Nm. The latter figure, torque, comes on strong from as low as 2500rpm and gives the car a certain rawness that is addictive.

When the revs rise a little higher and peak torque mingles with peak power (250hp in the old money -- hence the RS 250), the hot hatch is propelled forward very rapidly. From rest to 100km/h is a claimed 6.1 seconds. A claim I wouldn't want to dispute as the RS 250 feels incredibly strong and effective at putting all that power to the ground.

The Renault is one of the new generation of performance hatches that seem to defy normal expectations of front-wheel drivers' abilities. The way it grips the road mid-corner is staggering -- the combination of fat tyres and excellent suspension tuning complement one another like strawberries and cream.

And then there are the brakes... Four-pot Brembos at the front are incredibly strong, gifting the Renault with the sort of deceleration you normally only find on exotica. I've yet to take one of these bad boys on the racetrack, but I would wager its brakes would be its biggest asset on the track.

It's interesting to note the engine is conservative in voice, with a mild exhaust note and none of the histrionics that accompany some forced induction performance hatches.

The Renault Megane RS 250 Monaco GP is a wonderful driver's car, but isn't without a few jagged edges. Rearward vision is appalling and the car is horrendous to park. In terms of styling it still appears peculiar when regarded from some angles too. But it attacks corners like a fat kid attacks donuts and that's what counts.

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