Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy review, test drive

    The Renault Megane RS Trophy is one of the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars in the world. We spend some quality time behind the wheel.

    Published on Oct 17, 2015 08:00:00 AM

    67,317 Views

    Make : Renault
    Model : Megane
    My brain is fuzzy after a night spent hunched over the keyboard. Yes, the two short, sharp coffee shots I’ve tossed down the hatch have helped, but I’m still drowsy. It also doesn’t help that the Megane looks a bit too familiar on the inside. I scratch my head – is it the lack of sleep? Then it hits me – it’s like the Fluence. The Megane, after all, is a Fluence without a boot. What’s nice is that it has a manual gearbox – trust the French to uphold tradition. Time to step on the gas.
     
    The motor fires with a braapp, braaap – not bad for a 2.0 turbo four. Acceleration is also sufficiently full of character. There isn’t a dead zone or lag in the traditional sense, but things do suddenly get frantic after around 2,500rpm. You initially hear a loud sucking sound, and then you are flung back in the seat, as if from a trebuchet – WHOOSHH. A couple of seconds and you are further down the road than you expect, and this takes some amount of brain recalibration. With fast front-wheel-drive cars, there’s only so much you can expect, but this car has moved the goalposts.
     
    Still, it’s not the power, but the handling of this front-wheel-drive chassis that sets the Megane RS 275 Trophy apart from other hot hatches. The small track we are on has a nice combination of slow and fast corners, and getting the RS up to speed here is seriously grin-inducing. The steering does shuffle around a bit when the boost comes in out of slow corners, but the levels of grip and composure from the body are so high, I’m simply baffled.
     
     
    I go faster, and the grip feels just as good. It’s as perfectly poised as a downhill skier in his element, and the car even allows you to make corrections when all four wheels are sliding and howling in protest. I expect the driving experience to be all about putting power down cleanly, but it feels so neat and clean even when you attack hard.
     
    As I push more of that 270bhp down to the front wheels and start braking really hard for corners, the balance amazingly gets better. Now, normally, in a front-wheel-drive car, you’d expect the rear to get really light; but not here. The Megane, in contrast, stays flat, with very little pitch, which means the car isn’t entering corners ‘on its nose’. And the rear wheels just seem to have so much grip – not something I’ve experienced in a front-wheel-drive car before. It feels more a grown-up sportscar than a hot hatch. No wonder the Megane RS 275 Trophy-R, a mildly different version, managed a time of 7minutes 54.36seconds around the Nürburgring, making it the fastest front-wheel-drive car to have gone around at the time.
     
    The engine isn’t the most linear or the most refined, the rear seats are a bit compromised and it will be expensive, priced upwards of Rs 40 lakh. But if Renault does decide to bring it here, it could add a slightly fun and light-hearted dimension to the brand. And that’s something the French carmaker really needs.
     
    Renault  Megane RS 275 trophy
     
    Price                   Rs 45 lakh (est, ex-showroom, Delhi)
     
    Length               4320mm
     
    Width                 1848mm
     
    Height                1422mm
     
    Wheelbase      2646mm
     
    Engine               4 cyls, 1998cc, turbo-petrol
     
    Installation       Front, transverse
     
    Power                                269.5bhp at 5500rpm
     
    Torque              36.71kgm at 3000-5000rpm
     
    Gearbox           6-speed manual
     
    0-100kph          6.0sec*
     
    Kerb weight    1376kg
     
    Tyre size                           235/40 R18
     
    *Claimed

    Renault Cars

    Copyright (c) Autocar India. All rights reserved.

    Comments
    ×
    img

    No comments yet. Be the first to comment.

    Ask Autocar Anything about Car and Bike Buying and Maintenance Advices
    Need an expert opinion on your car and bike related queries?
    Ask Now
    Search By Car Price
    Poll of the month

    In some states, road tax exemption on hybrids is on par with EVs. Should this be introduced nationwide?

    Yes, hybrids need more government push

     

    62.62%

    No, this will hamper EV adoption

     

    8.63%

    Maybe, but more affordable hybrid cars are needed

     

    28.75%

    Total Votes : 313
    Sign up for our newsletter

    Get all the latest updates from the automobile universe