Tuesday 11th December 2012

PH Fleet: Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup

Say hello to the latest addition to the PH fleet

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PH is safe territory to admit to lost hours crunching the numbers on specsheets. Sure, there's a proviso here that no money has changed hands for this loan. But we got to choose our spec and believe me when I say it no less time was spent evaluating the worth of options and final build.

Line up rivals, the PH benchmark is here

The fact I actually chose this months back and had to go back through my emails to remind myself of what we were getting added a second hit of excitement. Christ, what if I hadn't specced the Cup pack? I had. Had I remembered to choose the stealthy black 18s over the blingy, red-rimmed 19s? Thankfully yes. And what about Recaros? I'll be kicking myself if I didn't choose the Recaros... Phew, yes.

Let's rewind a little though. The basics are obvious enough - a Capsicum Red Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup. An iconic hot hatch and, arguably, one of the most PH-worthy front-wheel drive cars currently on sale. A benchmark by which anything in the sub-£30K price bracket should be judged, wherever its engine is, whichever wheels are driven and whatever badge it has. Everything from Caterhams to Toyobarus and BMW M135is - meet the everyday friendly performance car you have to beat. It's going to be an interesting year...

Black 18s will hopefully take edge off ride

But back to that spec. PHers are by nature fastidious number crunchers. So indulge me here.

As ever you start with the broad strokes, before getting down to detail. Fundamentals? Well, it was going to have to have a Cup chassis with the limited-slip diff and more hardcore suspension settings. But full-fat, with the Cup pack as an additional extra? Or more purist, cheaper Cup spec, which gets it as standard but strips out a lot of the additional garnish? Six months in a 197 Cup in a previous life taught me all I needed to know about the brilliance and lack of compromise in Renaultsports Cup chassis. So 18-inch wheels, not the blingy and rather ugly 19-inch Speedlines to take the edge off a bit were another basic.

Predicting that pricing is going to be a hot topic in all comparisons we make with this car and in keeping with a more PHey no-nonsense spirit I opted for Cup spec, £1,200 cheaper than the full fat with an additional £1,350 'credit' in the shape of the cost of adding the Cup pack to a full fat. Employing man maths that makes the Cup £2,550 'cheaper' than a comparable full fat.

Recaros were an absolute no brainer

What do you lose? Well, to my mind nothing you can't live without. No 'Electrochrome' rear view mirror, no leather, no power adjustment for the driver's seat, no rear seat armrest and a basic key card rather than the handsfree jobby on the full-fat. Oh, and air-con rather than climate. Fine by me. Losing the option to add all round parking sensors may be a worry, given experience shows visibility from the Megane coupe is worse even than the Evoque we had previously. At least you get basic rear bleepers as standard.

And what have I spent that credit note on? Well, Recaros were a £1,300 indulgence but, given my experience of the Clio 197, an essential tick. We'll see if £350 for the Renaultsport Monitor onboard telemetry is anything more than a gimmick but for dark, leafy lanes bi-xenons are a no-brainer with the Arkamys stereo to take the edge off commuting. No nav with the Monitor though. Dog-eared atlas it is then.

OK, it's not quite stealth but it's purist spec

So I've added the best part of three grand to the price and the grand total is £28,115. Not shy. But a comparably specced full fat with Cup pack, Recaros, Monitor, xenons and the rest would be over £30K. With a few extra toys, admittedly. But I like to think we've gone for a reasonably purist spec and the clean, uncluttered look to the interior would seem to back that up.

Now we've got the number crunching out of the way we should see about driving it. Ah yes, about that. Those up to speed with my situation will have spotted a flaw in this plan. So new boy Alex is going to be putting the bulk of the time in at the wheel. I say the bulk. I have plans in this regard...

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FACT SHEET
Car: Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup
Run by: Alex (and Dan when circumstances allow)
On fleet since: December 2012
Mileage: 595
List price new: £28,115 (Basic list of £24,840 plus £350 for Renaultsport Monitor, £1,300 for Recaro seat upgrade, £750 for bi-xenon lights, £250 for hands free card with push-button start, £75 for spare wheel, £250 for tyre pressure monitor, £300 for Arkamys Bluetooth/USB ICE system)
Last month at a glance: Just delivered!

[framerateuk]

Excellent choice of spec

I went for the Full Fat + Cup on mine a few years ago and I love it. Most important bits to spec are the Xenons and the R.S Monitor. Without the monitor you don't get to play with the throttle maps, which if you plan on getting the car onto a track, make it a lot more fun!

[framerateuk]

loose cannon said:

monitor is great for telling when the engine oil is up to temp
set the throttle map on progressive for road use on sport mode,

I find linear to be the better option. Not as jumpy as sport, but easier to heel and toe than progressive since you don't have to blip the throttle as far.

[framerateuk]

TameRacingDriver said:

They probably do drive very well...

But they look hideous. Inside and out.

Its a Renault so buy new, keep it until the warranty runs out, then run away as fast as you can.

Each to their own, I love the way it looks and the inside looks great as far as I'm concerned - especially if you spec the leather seats.

[framerateuk]

MarkRSi said:

I'd like the know this too, although given how lairy 150lbft and 200bhp can be in a FWD Civic in the wet, I can't imagine 250+ bhp + lbft coping much better without an LSD...

It's effortless.

I've done trackdays where it's been absolutely pouring down, and with PS2's the car has gripped with no problems at all.

On the road, you won't even break traction unless you're doing something stupid. It's a car that flatters you when you drive it,

[framerateuk]

MiseryStreak said:

How's the Renault Vel Satis engine in your Zed working out?

Common mistake, the Z's engine is a Nissan engine, regardless of what Clarkson has said on Top Gear

[framerateuk]

TameRacingDriver said:

At least it has a good engine and the correct wheels driven.

Oh the typical wrong wheel drive argument.

Surly no-one expects a hot hatch to be rear wheel drive? If you want rear wheel drive you need to be looking at another market segment. I wouldn't say the 135i is even in the same market sector as the Megane/VXR/ST.

[framerateuk]

Alanok said:

Is there much difference between the 250 and 265? Can you feel a difference?

And is it just me, but do the dials angle away from you too much? Like they are pointing at the ceiling, not the driver. It's a small detail but annoyed the hell out of me when I had a play in one at a dealer.

I think you'd probably notice it a little bit if you drove them back to front.

Remember the 250 has a normal and sport mode too. The sport mode totally changes the character of the car. The exhaust pops and the throttle responds much faster.

The "250" mode in the 265 isn't the same the 250 sport mode. Though I'd imagine both feel exactly the same in the normal mode.

[framerateuk]

Mentalpen said:

Anyone thinking of getting one and tracking it, why wouldn't you? they are built for it and Renaults own dedicated track days are fantastic.

I would say minimum spec wants to be, Cup Chassis, Recaro's and Bridgstone wheel option (they get very sticky when hot and there is a reason why Renault settled on them to set the ring record) and possibly the Monitor. The monitor isn't vital but it allows you more or less control over the car as to ESP etc and of course throttle mapping.

I would say the monitor is a must. Why would you want to pay all that for a car and loose out on the throttle adjustment features?

I personally wouldn't bother with the 19" Bridgestones. The PS2s are fantastic in the dry and wet. The 19s will cost more to replace and the ride will be harder. Each to their own though, they do fill the arches more, but I prefer the look of the 18" Cup wheel too.

[framerateuk]

Mentalpen said:

I use throttle mapping day to day and extreme on track. The fact that you can deactivate ESP and get the same ESP setting would give me little benefit except throttle mapping. Those wanting greater stability would benefit by being able to select a lower sport setting but then the will suffer greater braking through ESP so will have greater brake fade and wear.

Hence imo, is not essential as the other options.

Can't say I have used PS2s but the 172 & 182 ran PE2s but I prefer the conti 5s on my 200 if I'm honest to the PE2 which were superseeded by PS iirc

The bridgestones aren't that bad in price if you shop about, I got 6k out of mine & 3 track days this year and I got new ones fitted for just under £200 a corner via a main dealer.

But then again anyone who buys this type of car and bemoans any form of expense be it insurance, tax, petrol etc didn't buy the correct car from day 1.

Edited by Mentalpen on Tuesday 18th December 22:43

The PS2 are fantastic tyres, a step up from the PE's they replaced.

That said, I'm using Eagle F1's at the moment as I prefer their wet weather grip.

I don't understand anything of what you said regarding the monitor!

The standard non-sport setting is the same as the RSMonitor's "Progressive" setting. This is great for sitting in traffic, but it doesn't have the urgency of the other settings. I prefer to hit the sport button and have the "Linear" setting for fast road and track, Sport and Extreme are just too jumpy, and while they might be advantageous off the line, I find you get more control with linear as you get to use the whole pedal motion.

The monitor has no effect on ESP or braking. If you've got the sport button engaged, the ESP is set to allow some slip before kicking in. If you're on a track you'll generally have that off anyway. The throttle map you choose on the monitor gets used on Sport mode regardless of if ESP is on or off.

If you haven't got the monitor then you loose out on the Linear and Extreme maps. Lots of guys who track their Meganes swear by the linear mode, so without the monitor you'd definitely loose out.