Renault Mégane RS Trophy sets FWD Nürburgring record

[kinetik 4]

The new Mégane RS Trophy has set a lap record around the Nürburgring at 8:07.9, ten seconds faster than the outgoing Mégane R26.R, two seconds off the E92 M3, and eight seconds faster than the new E82 1M. Pretty impressive for a 265HP FWD car on road tyres.

Video:

[pureboiracer 0]

lollies can you say UNDERSTEER???

[kingkarl 136]

lollies can you say UNDERSTEER???

Ugh, did it what!

Nevertheless, the time speaks for itself.

[swordfish 30]

The new Mégane RS Trophy has set a lap record around the Nürburgring at 8:07.9, ten seconds faster than the outgoing Mégane R26.R, two seconds off the E92 M3, and eight seconds faster than the new E82 1M. Pretty impressive for a 265HP FWD car on road tyres.

Video:

Man wtf!!!! It doesn't even look quick! Honestly, he goes in the straight like he is cruising around on the motor way. And it sounds like he is loosing traction every corner. But if it is true imagine faces of all those big companies like Ferrari, Lamborgini, Porsche, BMW, AUDI, Mercedes... Man this is something not even engineer can understand, how the front wheel car with 275 ph beat beasts with 600 or even 700 hp... In the straight any of the above mentioned cars would eat this reno alive, so how will it work that on the straight they would not rip those seconds off. I personally don't believe it even though it is on camera... I am sorry.

[kingkarl 136]

Man wtf!!!! It doesn't even look quick! Honestly, he goes in the straight like he is cruising around on the motor way. And it sounds like he is loosing traction every corner. But if it is true imagine faces of all those big companies like Ferrari, Lamborgini, Porsche, BMW, AUDI, Mercedes... Man this is something not even engineer can understand, how the front wheel car with 275 ph beat beasts with 600 or even 700 hp... In the straight any of the above mentioned cars would eat this reno alive, so how will it work that on the straight they would not rip those seconds off. I personally don't believe it even though it is on camera... I am sorry.

All comes down to weight I guess.

I just read that they run 36lbs of boost in this car. Holy sh*t!

[DRTDVL 0]

Man this is something not even engineer can understand, how the front wheel car with 275 ph beat beasts with 600 or even 700 hp...

Because power is the only thing that makes a car quick...

[Michael. 2313]

8:07

Fantastic.

[swordfish 30]

Because power is the only thing that makes a car quick...

Nice one man!!! Is that the only thing that you got from the whole message I wrote? Read it again maybe it will help your understanding... All I am saying is that this car is a miracle if it is true!!! Because how many times did you hear that front wheel drive handles so good after you put more than 250 hp through those fronties? I know only new Fiats and Ford RS that might be close to what this car is. So anyway hope you will get my point.

Edited June 21, 2011 by swordfish

[drifty325i 0]

Ive driven one of these and im getting one in Decemeber and I can assure you its bloody quick, handles extremely well and has outstanding brakes. Its right up there in terms of some of the cars ive driven in terms of fun also.

[DRTDVL 0]

Nice one man!!! Is that the only thing that you got from the whole message I wrote? Read it again maybe it will help your understanding... All I am saying is that this car is a miracle if it is true!!! Because how many times did you hear that front wheel drive handles so good after you put more than 250 hp through those fronties? I know only new Fiats and Ford RS that might be close to what this car is. So anyway hope you will get my point.

f2000 cars ran 300hp and seemed to handle ok... btcc cars 270+hp... jwrc ran 230hp

I know what you getting at, i was being cheeky. Renault also did a stellar job with the whole suspension/steering geometry in both the old menage and the new one. the old one wasn't slow either (apex's one), which had a time of 8 minutes 16.9 seconds

when you think the mk1 exige (8:42), Chevrolet Corvette C5 (8:40) is slower than the following fwd cars:

8:22.85 Chevrolet Cobalt SS/TC

8:26 Ford Focus RS Horst von Saurma Ford conducted test (08/2009)

8:35.00 Ford Focus ST Patrick Bernhard 2005

8:35 Opel Astra OPC 2.0T (240PS) Manuel Reuter Opel, 05

and that the meganes still 30 seconds slower than the modern supercars and hypercars it just goes to prove how good modern realistic everydays cars are getting.

Edited June 21, 2011 by DRTDVL

[Gotheschu 1]

We have a earlier model RS Megane at the moment with a bit less HP than that but its the best handling car I've ever driven, excluding the E30 =P. Very fast and lots of fun.

They just need a new exhaust they sound too discrete...

[Apex 693]

Have just picked up a new one of these and can assure you it’s as fast as what the figures sagest.

It’s a silly fast car on technical roads with variable surfaces and this is where it leaves the conventional fast cars for dead, it is unfazed with ruts, dips, hills, gravel patches, it just glides over anything.

lollies can you say UNDERSTEER???

What’s scary is that it is under steering at a speed most cars could never reach through a corner, anything doing that kind of speed will under-steer at a point, its called the limit, try and push a the fastest RWD you have ever driven to the same type of speeds and it will understeer straight off the road. The beauty of this car is you can simply lift off at any stage and it goes into oversteer, I can drift Hampton downs with more angle than most dare try in a RWD with soft cock power oversteer.

Edited August 29, 2011 by DILIGAF

[CamB 48]

What’s scary is that it is under steering at a speed most cars could never reach through a corner, anything doing that kind of speed will under-steer at a point, its called the limit, try and push a the fastest RWD you have ever driven to the same type of speeds and it will understeer straight off the road. The beauty of this car is you can simply lift off at any stage and it goes into oversteer, I can drift Hampton downs with more angle than most dare try in a RWD with soft cock power oversteer.

So desperately want to wind you up by wanking on. But I think that's what you want.

I wonder if the new one will age like the old one (better looking with age, sort of, in a relative sense, if you get what I mean).

Edited August 30, 2011 by CamB

[Apex 693]

Meh im in love with mine, it’s great, such a fun and funky car with so many cool features, I can’t think of any brand new car short of a BMW 1M I would rather have, and we have driven a lot of cars!

Regarding the looks, I don't know what your on about? You have seen one I assume?? It’s been noted in a few publications as the best looking car for under 100k and ours gets a lot of admirable looks, in fact it caused car accidents with driver looking at it instead of the road, I also have people taking pix of it all the time, love it!

Howe’s the Golf R treating you, out of all the hatches driven that would be my choice if we needed 5 doors, was a great car around town and with the sports mode selected was reasonable fun on open road, just needed a manual gearbox to finish it off IMHO but if it was a family town car I can see how the DSG is useful. Was a lot different than our RS250, much more grown up.

[CamB 48]

Nah I haven't seen one and I expect it does look pretty good IRL. I was kinda winding you up (I liked the old one for the start BTW), although I definitely don't like the wheels. If I hunt around Eurosport will I find pics? Post them here?

The Golf R is a very capable and fast car (especially in the wet). If you drive it right, it handles very well, but it prone to understeer if you just punt into the corner at max speed, and you can't always correct it by just lifting off. The Megane, which I am sure handles better, was never an option for me as my wife required me to get 5 doors....

The DSG is much better and worse than expected. Its actually pretty fun when you're driving fast - different to a manual not worse. The main niggle is that it shifts up very quickly around town so the car is perpetually off-boost. Saves gas... but no fun unless you drive it in manual mode (which I do).

[Apex 693]

I felt the Golf R could have used some better and wider tyres, would make it a lot faster, as a comparison it had less grip than the Megane even with its AWD.

The three door thing is a real problem with the new Megane, they have cut out a big chunk of the market with not making a 5-door version. It is selling well though, better than the R26 and F1 Team three does but not as well as the RS225 did.

Don't have any decent pictures really.. have been driving it more than looking at it.

Lunar Grey with Recaro's and full fat spec, has all the bells and whistles... the wheels are growing on me but are a bit bling IMHO. Sport Contact 3 Tyres are great though, dont think will se 10k out of the fronts though

[CamB 48]

Great colour (and Recaros)! My Golf's white, but I'd have prefered the Golf equivalent to your colour (I bought second hand - beggars can't be choosers).

On wider and better tyres, I dunno - I don't think I've ever wanted for grip per se (and I'm on the narrower 18"ers). The limit's already too high to be "fun" (the 106 Rallye I had was the best in that regard - controllable lift off oversteer at modest or high pace). I think the way it turns in could be improved, but can't really be arsed going through the cost and hassle of fiddling with the geometry (yet).

Edited August 31, 2011 by CamB

[Apex 693]

Well done, white is a nice colour on them, I like the Blue also, the one we drove was blue and had black wheels and looked great!

Regarding tuning down the track, that's something that's great about VW, there are just so many parts for them.

I know the top ausi tuners are using newly developed sway bar kits from white line in the Golf R and are getting good results, I think fitting a rear sway bar alone would sharpen things up a bit... at around $300 its a economical mod and would dial out the factory safety net under-steer a bit.

I understand the comment of limit too high to be fun, with a lot of these modern cars you really need to be going way to fast to have the same fun found at lower speeds in an older car, my 1985 Corolla feels extreme at 90kph on a back road where the Megane would have to be doing 150kph to get the same feeling.

[CamB 48]

Actually you're right - rear sway bar should be top of the list, then get the geometry moved to the sharper side.

[rogan 7]

It's going to seem like a stupid question, but I have to ask. What's the cost of replacement windscreen wiper blades?

Renault parts seem stupidly expensive over here.

[Apex 693]

You can buy blades that work at Repco so the same cost as any car.. the ones on my Rally Megane are 120,000km old and still work well.

Parts are silly expensive, I am sponsored by Renault NZ and even still I buy parts direct from the UK for cheaper, its just a case of small demand big cost, in the UK the Megane out sells the Toyota Corolla so parts are half the price.

We drove an Espace a couple of months back and it was a great van, the 2.0T in some of them has the same engine as the Megane RS only with a smaller turbo.

[Apex 693]

Nice video, FWD vs RWD, hot hatch vs traditional sports car.

http://fwd.channel5.com/fifth-gear/videos/...port-265-trophy

So glad I have one of these fantastic cars.

[Apex 693]

Also, NZ Autocar, NZ's top car magazine just awarded it performance car of the year, over cars costing three times as much! Stoked!

Can attest to its performance, I have lapped Hampton downs in mine in times that embarrass race cars, and this is an every day car that drives very well on the road!

Im off for a drive.

[Apex 693]

For the Renault Fans... well me and one or two other guys around here

Vs Cayman R. Half the price.

Vs BZR, same cost.

[Gotheschu 1]

For the Renault Fans... well me and one or two other guys around here

Vs Cayman R. Half the price.

Vs BZR, same cost.

Awesoommmmeee