RE: Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R

RE: Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R

Author
Discussion

dlockhart

434 posts

172 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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EricE said:
It just occurred to me that this is only 2 seconds slower than the new M3. Wow...
Anyone who thinks this is a lot should try and buy anything faster .. it wasn't so long you needed a Ferrari or similar to get under the 8 minute 'ring lap time

Roma101

838 posts

147 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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Dan - are you going to do a proper piece on the car and what it is like to drive/how it differs to the standard Megane? Or is it suffice to say it is like a Megane but just faster/more responsive/more raw? In other words, can it be placed up alongside the original R26.R? Perhaps you will wait until you get a UK car over here...

Chapppers

4,483 posts

191 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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Also remember it's something equivalent to about 7:30 BTG if you want to try it on a tourist session. In a Megane. hehe

chris285

811 posts

132 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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CamMoreRon said:
I don't think you appreciate just how difficult it is to take 4 seconds out when you're up at this sort of level.
Maybe not but 99% of people won't get near the limits so won't be worth the what extra 10k over a normal 265, yes it's a PR exercise from Renault and you can't argue with them being the fastest. But given the Leon still had a full interior what difference would that make to it's lap time given similar treatment this Megane received, I'd like to take a bet if they did treat the Leon to a similar setup if would probably go a smidge quicker but they won't do that as thats not the market the Leon is going for unfortunately but i'd love to see Renault get beaten.

CraigyMc

16,409 posts

236 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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dlockhart said:
EricE said:
It just occurred to me that this is only 2 seconds slower than the new M3. Wow...
Anyone who thinks this is a lot should try and buy anything faster .. it wasn't so long you needed a Ferrari or similar to get under the 8 minute 'ring lap time
I disagree somewhat with the Ferrari comment if only because they are too compromised - they are everyday road cars.
Buying something faster isn't difficult - phone up Radical and pay them £100K and you can buy something that will obliterate all those cars and is (in the case of the SR8) sub-7 minute capable.

jonjay

65 posts

217 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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dukebox9reg said:
The difference is that Renault say they have removed option A and B and fitted C and D to do the record. SEAT removed the AC (which weighs a lot and causes drag on the engine) and fitted bits not actually available on the car.

Regardless of a 'performance Pack' coming out in the future they fudged the numbers. Whos to say the engine didnt have an 'optimised' map aswell. Hey the Renault might have done.

This is the issue with these comparisons and the manufacturers have to come across as infallible to be seen a credible. SEAT failed.

I agree though this time as per my last post is slightly hollow. I want to know what a standard Trophy with the options ticked can do. That's a genuine comparison.
The difference is SEAT had a full retail interior. In fact everything on the SEAT car has come from the main production line. Furthermore SEAT have said they will be releasing the performance pack so why the negativity? At the end of the day its brakes, wheels and tyres, not an out of the norm upgrade seeing at majority of the manufacturers out there do this.

What Renault have done is built a 'race' car that to beat a mass produced hot hatch.

Basing your arguement on an AC unit [please bear in mind the AC unit can be switched off completely so "no" load on the engine] which was removed is very weak justification. Also lets not base this discussion is IF they had remap or not. No one ever really knows.

AJB88

12,429 posts

171 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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SEAT Sport and Jordi Gene are both at the ring today ...

JackReacher

2,129 posts

215 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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AJB88 said:
SEAT Sport and Jordi Gene are both at the ring today ...
This is what I like about Ring times, although pretty meaningless for making any decisions regarding the purchase of a road car, the competition that it generates between manufacturers can only be a good thing. Hopefully Seat can take off an extra second, then Honda can take off a few more, then Renault/Seat have another go, etc etc

framerateuk

2,733 posts

184 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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jonjay said:
What Renault have done is built a 'race' car that to beat a mass produced hot hatch.
"Race" car? Really? The Trophy R is nowhere near being a race car. The original R26.R wasn't anything like a race car either. Impressive as they are, a race car is a completely different animal.

Gandahar

9,600 posts

128 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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How much do conditions at the ring affect the times and how much the driver? Was Renault's driver quicker than Seats, or was Seats actually better and so the Megane is even quicker than that? It's probably more important how it drives though, I can this 275 R getting lots of plaudits if it is that much lighter.

Seems both manufacturers have a special of a special in this case, cheeky !

Roma101

838 posts

147 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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Reading the press release, Renault say the conditions weren't ideal and mention a 'moment' due to dampness. So it is probably a little bit quicker than 7.54.

What is the weight of the Cupra? If it is similar to a stripped out Megane (i.e. about 1300kg), then it doesn't matter whether the Cupra is stripped out or not as it is better to compare cars at a similar weight).

Ali_T

3,379 posts

257 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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A hugely impressive achievement but, has it not stopped being a hot hatch now? Given that Honda aren't going down the light weight route, it will be interesting to see if they keep their promise. Having a word with someone inside Honda, the current mule is sporting 340PS now! If they can't match the Renault's weight, they're going to do it by brute force.

As for the price, given the spec, it's probably more justifiable than the A45 or Golf R. As for value, I suspect it'll hold it. It's a rarity and a piece of history. Good on them for making it, I say.

Oz83

688 posts

139 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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I'm genuinely curious of the relationship between power and laptimes at the 'ring.

Say you increased the power of a Megane RS Trophy to 350hp but kept everything else standard, how much quicker that the official 8:07 time could it go? I appreciate corner speeds would be the same but the extra power down the straights in higher gears must make a difference.

I guess after reading such an extensive list of modifications, I'm left a bit cold by this achievement. They have pretty much built a homologation special by the sounds of things.




jonjay

65 posts

217 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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framerateuk said:
"Race" car? Really? The Trophy R is nowhere near being a race car. The original R26.R wasn't anything like a race car either. Impressive as they are, a race car is a completely different animal.
Fair enough. The Renault is hardly a hot hatch tho is it? Maybe a 2 seater sports car?

don logan

3,520 posts

222 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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I`ve had my R26.R for 4yrs and I`m still impressed with how it chews it`s way through the Alps, I`m also intrigued by this new Trophy R but late £30s- early £40s?????

My R has done 20k miles, I`d need to find over £20k to change!


Dan Trent

1,866 posts

168 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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Roma101 said:
Dan - are you going to do a proper piece on the car and what it is like to drive/how it differs to the standard Megane? Or is it suffice to say it is like a Megane but just faster/more responsive/more raw? In other words, can it be placed up alongside the original R26.R? Perhaps you will wait until you get a UK car over here...
Yes! This is the news story, we've just been driving the 275 Trophy and had a passenger lap alongside Laurent in the -R so driving impressions to follow.

Cheers,

Dan

don logan

3,520 posts

222 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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jonjay said:
framerateuk said:
"Race" car? Really? The Trophy R is nowhere near being a race car. The original R26.R wasn't anything like a race car either. Impressive as they are, a race car is a completely different animal.
Fair enough. The Renault is hardly a hot hatch tho is it? Maybe a 2 seater sports car?
Waits for "Kambites" to disagree................

CraigyMc

16,409 posts

236 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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don logan said:
jonjay said:
framerateuk said:
"Race" car? Really? The Trophy R is nowhere near being a race car. The original R26.R wasn't anything like a race car either. Impressive as they are, a race car is a completely different animal.
Fair enough. The Renault is hardly a hot hatch tho is it? Maybe a 2 seater sports car?
Waits for "Kambites" to disagree................
No need to wait. It's not a sports car.

SonicHedgeHog

2,538 posts

182 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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What a load of old cobblers. At the end of the season pop round to your local BTCC team and offer to buy their car for a few hundred grand. Whizz over to the ring and less than 8 minutes later you can start waving your willy around. This is worse than what SEAT did. Take the standard car, which is already pretty focused, and offer £15,000 of options/upgrades to make it go faster so you can claim to have the fastest car. Stupid.

jonjay

65 posts

217 months

Monday 16th June 2014
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SonicHedgeHog said:
What a load of old cobblers. At the end of the season pop round to your local BTCC team and offer to buy their car for a few hundred grand. Whizz over to the ring and less than 8 minutes later you can start waving your willy around. This is worse than what SEAT did. Take the standard car, which is already pretty focused, and offer £15,000 of options/upgrades to make it go faster so you can claim to have the fastest car. Stupid.
Agreed.