Can the next-gen Megane RS be as fizzy as the Series III Cup Premium swan song?
IN AUSTRALIA we buy more Renault RS models per capita than anywhere outside the French car-maker’s home country.
That’s because we are a nation of petol-heads with more of a demand for the highest-performance versions available from each of the respective car brands than almost anywhere in the world.
At the pointy end of the diamond-badged line-up we find the Megane small hatchback, which with more cosmopolitan engines under the bonnet, is a very accomplished runaround with bags of European charm, but when Renault Sport is done with it, it is one of the most potent hatchbacks you can buy.
In RS 265 Cup guise, the Megane pumps out a hearty 195kW, but for the pure Renault Sport fanatic, the French car-maker recently introduced a rare RS 275 Trophy edition that was limited to just 100 examples locally.
But with the next generation Megane looming after its Frankfurt show unveiling, Renault is letting the current generation go out with a bang, and has recast the exclusive Trophy as an unlimited RS 275 Cup Premium swansong version.
Under its bonnet, the RS 275 has a somewhat amusingly named F4Rt 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, but with 201kW and 360Nm on tap, performance is more than flatulent. In its various special editions, the Megane RS has always been a driving enthusiast favourite and has even officially recorded a sub-eight-minute lap of the esteemed Nurburgring.
One Megane RS fan happens to be Renault Australia’s managing director Justin Hocevar who told GoAuto the hot hatch is his car of choice from the current Renault line-up.
“From a personal perspective, there has been a Megane RS in my driveway ever since I joined the company, such is the magnetic appeal of this car to driving enthusiasts,” he said.
Like the 275 Trophy, the new version gets a titanium exhaust by metal-manufacturing wizards Akrapovic, deeply bucketed Recaro sports seats wrapped in leather and Alcantara with matching steering wheel and handbrake lever, a gunmetal-coloured front splitter and black 19-inch Speedline Turini wheels.
Carry over items from the 265 Cup Premium include red-painted Brembo front brake callipers, mechanical limited-slip differential, LED daytime running lights, a reversing camera, RS Monitor, R-Link enhanced navigation with 7.0-inch touchscreen and dual-zone climate control.
Visually, the new version differs only slightly from the sold-out Trophy with the subtraction of its showy side stripes and a wider range of colours now available. Where the limited version was only on offer in Pearl White and Liquid Yellow, the Cup Premium can be dressed up in additional Glacier White, Titanium Grey and Diamond Black.
Priced at $52,990 before on-road costs, the Cup Premium also costs the same as the Trophy and will be sold alongside the $47,990 RS 265 Cup, which has six fewer kilowatts under its bonnet and forfeits some equipment too.
The Cup Premium is likely to be the last of the numerous RS special editions in the Megane’s current generation with the next-gen version on its way Down Under in the second half of next year. An arrival date for the next RS is yet to be confirmed.
The Megane RS has built itself quite a reputation as a hot hatch to be reckoned with and can hold its own against rivals such as the Volkswagen Golf GTI and possibly even the all-paw Golf R, as well as more accessible models such as the Holden Astra VXR, but its origins lie in the mid 1980s.
Everyone remembers the mental mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo 1, which tore up Group B rally tracks around the world, but it was the Renault 5 GT Turbo that first offered a true affordable hot hatch with a Renault badge.
The Megane RS has won many hearts on Australian turf and, no doubt, the next generation version will maintain the recipe of potent front-drive French flair, but can it be as effervescent as the elegant series III?
Daniel Gardner GoAuto.com.au
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