New Megane Renault Sport spy pics

Next hot Megane sports wide arches, big brakes ... and five doors

Black armbands to mourn the passing of the much-loved third-gen Megane Renaultsport are pretty much still in place in the PH office. But with these spy shots we have our first real taste of the car that will succeed it. Given we weren't exactly blown away by our drive in the 'engineered by Renault Sport' GT version of the new Megane is the news looking any better?

Well, those who think real hot hatches can't have five doors had best be ready for their first disappointment - the new one will be five-door only. This follows the pattern of both wider industry trends and the Clio, which went from three- to five-door in the switch to its current generation.

One influence from that change many will be hoping won't be carried across is the dual-clutch only transmission choice. In the case of the Clio Renault has remained steadfast and says it's what the market wants and has helped attract new buyers to the Renault Sport fold. The more traditional fans who've loved the uncompromising spirit of earlier hot Clios and Meganes have begged to differ. Will VW's 'manual only' policy for its hardcore 'ring record Golf GTI Clubsport S be enough to convince Renault there's still demand among enthusiasts for a stick shift? Or will the rise of the dual-clutch only mega hatches from AMG and Audi's RS division convince them the vast majority of buyers don't really care?

We will have to see. And hope.

In the meantime there ARE some reasons to be cheerful from what we can see on this test mule. The wheels look a bit like the Speedline Turinis offered as an option on the previous Trophy-R but are 10-spoke items rather than the 11 of the Speedlines. Either way they look ace, filling out the arches and offering a good view of some pretty serious looking brakes on the front axle. Let's hope both make the production car!

Talking of the arches the test mule has some stuck-on extensions, suggesting at the least some bigger tyres or possibly broader track. Renault Sport has form here, not to mention developing dedicated suspension parts like the torquesteer reducing PerfoHub offset front struts on the previous car. On the Clio III the body was widened to accommodate the extra track, making it too broad to fit down the regular production line. An expensive solution - for the production version of this new Megane it'd be easy enough to add wider front wings but you'd anticipate the rears to be more integrated versions of the mule's stick-on items. Howsoever achieved the broader shoulders, bigger wheels and lower ride height certainly work wonders on the new Megane's proportions and, together with the 275-style centre exhaust, should mean it stands out from the rest of the range.

It'll be interesting to see what tech Renault Sport employs to deliver that trademark agility too. The Civic Type R uses a helical limited-slip diff like that fitted to the previous Megane while the Golf-related VW group products have their VAQ torque shuffling system. Meanwhile Peugeot uses a 'softer' Torsen diff on its 308 GTI. But the Megane GT has four-wheel steering, a USP at this price point and, possibly, the chosen technology to dial out understeer and give the new Renault Sport version a more controllable form of the previous car's steer-from-the-rear balance. Enough to take on the all-wheel drive Focus RS though? We'll have to see.

Whatever's been settled technically it'd seem from the lack of disguise Renault Sport has made its decisions and is well on the road to perfecting the dynamic set-up ahead of a launch next year. We'll have to hope it goes as well as it looks.

[Photos: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]

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DJM7691

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