Renault reveals wildest ever Megane

Renault has come clean with a scorching new 202kW version of its famous hot hatch, which promises to set a new lap record at the 21km Nurburgring road circuit after relinquishing its crown to the 206kW Seat Leon Cupra 280.

Just 100 examples of the limited-edition Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy will be offered in Australia from September, priced under $60,000. The car will be fitted with a new titanium exhaust system from Akrapovic and offered with Ohlins dampers and ultra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.

Due to expected high levels of demand, Renault Australia is considering following the same sales strategy as Subaru’s BRZ, with an online allocation regime.

“It’s a fair way down the pipeline, but we’re looking at it [online sales],” said Renault Australia Corporate Communications and Sponsorship Manager, Emily Fadeyev.

“It’s a global limited-edition – we’re getting 100 cars late in the third quarter of the year, and we’re looking at all options [including online sales] as it’s still a while away,” she explained.

The fresh-faced Megane RS 275 Trophy is powered by the same 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine as previous versions, but gets a power hike of 7kW, from 195 to 202kW, thanks to a newer (and lighter) titanium Akrapovic exhaust which delivers a “raucous bark”, according to the French car maker. Peak torque of 360Nm remains unchanged.

As part of Renault’s #UNDER8 project , the new Megane RS 275 Trophy has been designed to snatch the title of world’s fastest front-wheel drive car from the VW Group’s Seat Leon Cupra 280 sports hatch, which posted a time of 7:58.4 – bettering Renault’s previous record of 8:07.9 by almost 10 seconds.

Renault is confident of regaining the front-drive ‘Ring mantle, but won’t reveal its lap time until June 16.

Meanwhile, Honda is still maintaining its next Civic Type R will be top dog around the Nurburgring when it arrives in 2015.

Where Renault is likely to make significant gains on the racetrack is in the handling and grip department. Customers can specify adjustable Ohlins Road & Track dampers paired to new steel springs, the latter an “evolution of the technology employed in motorsport”, as used on Mégane N4 rally car.

Throw in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres specially developed for the RS 275 and it’s shaping up as one of the capable hot hatches thus far.

The Megane RS 275 will ride on optional 19-inch Speedline Turini alloy wheels, and the body is finished in new yellow paintwork with grey chequered flag graphics on the doors.

The interior is dominated by Alcantara Recaro bucket seats embossed with Renault Sport logos. The steering wheel and handbrake also get Alcantara finishes with overt red stitching and a special Zamac alloy gear knob is fitted to make rowing through the six-speed manual gearbox slightly more memorable.

The most expensive Megane RS 265 model available in Australia at present is the Trophy+ model, which is priced at $51,640 plus on-road costs. Fadayev said it was too early to talk about price, but confirmed the RS 275 Trophy would sell for under $60,000.