UPDATE 14/12/2016, 1500h:
Having spoken to Renault, it has been confirmed that these are not official Megane Renault Sport pictures. Honest. We were told to expect the real car next year ahead of sales commencing in 2018.
ORIGINAL STORY, AS REPORTED 14/12/2016 0900H:
It must be tough at Renault Sport sometimes. You make models that appeal to hot hatch die hards, cars with a purist streak that are adored by track day fiends and B-road blasters, only to find nobody buys them. Attention is turned to a more accommodating style and sales increase, but at the expense of a disgruntled enthusiast customer base. What to do?
The next Renault Sport Megane is tasked with appeasing both camps, and here's the first look at it. Pictures were leaked of this Liquid Yellow car on the Facebook page for Renault News Germany last night - thanks to resident fanboy Ben for spotting them - and show what appears to be a production spec car. Brochure leak perhaps?
Anyway, there's plenty to discuss. It was always known this Megane would be a five-door and that too much emphasis shouldn't be placed on the looks but, well, it's a little plain. Imagine it in a colour other than Liquid Yellow. Perhaps this is a deliberate strategy to appeal to the Golf R side of the buying public, however it will do little for those worried about the switch from three-door coupe hatch to conventional five-door C-segment family car.
And it's dual-clutch! Well, this one is at least. Hopefully a manual is on the way too, but this car most certainly has the EDC lever and paddles. Still, improvements were made from Clio 200 to 220 Trophy so there is hope...
Other notable points? This car has very small Trophy badges underneath the bonnet badge and behind the front wheels, suggesting the new Megane will be launched with a two-tier model range. And if this is the more aggressive Trophy, what's a standard one going to be like? See as well the Recaro seats (always nice), the Renault Sport monitor on a huge screen and the 4Control badge, implying the R.S. will feature the same tech as seen on
the GT
. Let's hope (that word again) it's a more exciting application in this Megane.
Alright, so consider our excitement slightly muted at present for this next Megane. The previous car set the bar so high for hot hatch enjoyment that it would be a crying shame for that to be lost in the pursuit of sales. Balance that dynamic focus with a more accommodating everyday car however (no easy task, granted) and the result could be amazing. Let's see.
[Source: Renault News Germany, via Facebook]