It should hopefully be well known by now that we're rather big fans of the outgoing Renaultsport Megane. So with news of the very last third-generation car now being sold in the UK, a tribute fitting of such a legend seemed appropriate. Stay away from the homepage for the rest of today if you don't like the Megane, put it that way...
To the car in question. As the last Megane 275 Cup-S ever made at Renault's Palencia factory, every option has been thrown at it. That or it just coincidentally has Liquid Yellow paint, the Ohlins adjustable dampers, the Michelin Cup 2s and the Recaro seats. A full (and very appealing) house as far as Megane spec bingo goes.
The other options fitted to this car are the 19-inch wheels (needed for the Cup 2 tyres, adding another £1,000), some interior Alcantara (£300), a keycard (£250), plus the R-Link touchscreen with TomTom subscription and Renaultsport Monitor (three separate options, totalling £845). Combined the overall price is £31,930, with the car on sale right now at Arnold Clark Renault Dundee. Might we suggest a Scottish road trip on the way home?
So that's it for this Renaultsport Megane - the last one has been made and is up for sale. Well, hopefully not for too long. Anyway, such an occasion deserves a proper send-off, so here's the PH best bits in the Megane III story. Are you sitting comfortably?
Our tale begins way back in October 2009, when PistonHeads first drove the new Megane 250 and concluded that the Cup was "a terrific driver's car". Response to the standard 250 was less complimentary, but hasn't that always been the way when there's been a Cup option too?
... to 275 Cup-S, it's been some journey!
Fast forward to 2011 and the updated 265 Trophy is in the news for - you've guessed it - a Nurburgring lap time. Its 8:07.97 lap beat the R26.R's record by 10 seconds and it was arguably the point that enthusiasts really began to accept this generation of Megane as another Renaultsport legend. A year later that limited edition became the series production Megane 265; not only did we enjoy an epic first drive review
at Spa
, but a 265 Cup also enjoyed a stint
on the PH Fleet
. 'Divisive' probably best described that one.
Now while the Megane has never raced as prolifically as the Clio, Renault saw it fit to bestow some motorsport kudos on it in 2013 with the RB8 special edition. Limited to just 30 in the UK, it was essentially a 265 Cup with the Recaro seats, 19-inch wheels and rather fetching Twilight Blue paint. We rated it highly enough to pitch against the more expensive BMW M135i, a comparison it did very well in.
Still with us? Still interested? Good, because now it gets properly goof. 2014 was the year of the Megane Trophy-R, the car that took on the R26.R's mantle, smashed the Nurburgring front-wheel drive record and secured a place in our favourite cars of that year too. It was - and remains - one of the finest driver's cars you'll find anywhere. At the same time the range was refreshed to include the 275 Trophy also, a car that continued where the 265 left off with a twin test victory against the then-new Leon Cupra.
In fact the Megane has done rather well in tests on these pages, the Civic Type R recently suffering a double defeat against both a 275 Trophy on road and a 275 Cup-S on track. The margins were slender in both instances, but there's no doubting the old stager has proved its worth against a lot of more modern competition.
It's some final spec, that's for sure
Which brings us to the last few months, where the Renaultsport Megane has been available as either the aforementioned
Cup-S
or the 275 Nav, both with big price savings over previous models. Which also means cars like this Nav are available
at £20K
with delivery mileage. Very, very tempting...
So it's done fairly well on PH over the past seven years, this Renaultsport Megane. And yet still it remains a niche choice, the Megane's track focus clearly not appealing to as many buying customers as it does Internet commentators. Whatever, it has established a fantastic reputation amongst a small group of enthusiasts for its focus, its ability and its sense of fun too. If the fourth generation car can combine those attributes with the additional layer of maturity required to capture further sales, we could have another legend on our hands.