Renault Megane RS 265 Trophy 8:08
Discussion
So I just purchased a new Megane RS 265 Trophy in Perth, Western Australia.
The purchase:
I never imaged i'd expose myself to the steepest part of the depreciation curve, but on 0% finance, a good deposit and some decent haggling I’m relatively happy with my financial burden. I previously had a test drive in a new Impreza STI Spec-R saloon and after a long sit down with their business manager was told to expect a reasonable 13% finance rate. No thanks!
The price is about equivalent to UK pricing, which considering the salary differential between the UK and Oz makes this a very affordable prospect. The dealer was pleasant and very familiar with the car. He owned a 500whp ethanol-fuelled 1989 RX7 so was a genuine 'car guy'. Was happy to pick me up from the Subaru garage in the Megane after my test drive and drive into the city to pick my girlfriend up to show her the car.
The car:
Generally speaking, all I’ve driven since I came to Australia is slushy 4-speed automatics, *spits* so I wanted to enjoy a good manual gearbox and set-up to hark back to my B-road bashing days in the UK. I opted for the Recaros and RS Monitor over the Sat-Nav and reversing camera, which was about as much choice as was available to me in the short-term. Good choices, which I’ll expand on further.
The looks don’t bother me so much, but I’d say the Megane is rather quiet about stating its intentions. It starts up cleanly with a press of the start-stop button, and the RS monitor tells me what the oil temperature is so I can press on once until it’s nicely on the boil. The recaros grip the torso like they should and even the ball and chain doesn’t mind them so much.
The drive:
Roads and traffic conditions here aren’t exactly conducive to raw driving thrills. Driving in Perth is like being the last surviving human in a zombie-infested apocalypse. You wonder around slowly, in packs, drooling and staring at the ground. A dual carriageway is generally a 50mph limit, which is not exceeded by anyone, and people will sit in whatever lane they wish, for as long as they wish. That said, I’m always ready to jump when the opportunity arises, and so is the Megane.
I’m quite amazed by the capabilities of this car (and amazed that RenaultSport managed to fall so short of the mark with the new clio after producing this!). In normal mode with the TC on and 250hp, acceleration is smooth and progressive, with the odd pop on the over-run. Sport mode turns the TC off, provides the full 265hp, and allows you to select 5 different maps; the most gentle being ‘snow’, and the most extreme is called ‘extreme’. In extreme mode the car barks at you with every poke of the throttle, and crackles and pops like a bowl of rice krispies on the over-run. Throttle response is sharpened greatly and the power appears much lower in the rev-range. I tend to leave the car in ‘sport’ mode, which is one down from extreme, as the over-sensitive throttle response and earlier power delivery of extreme mode makes low-speed cruising a bit wibbly.
Traction is mightily impressive, and I plant my foot through corners in the same manner I did with the unsurpassable Evo. It drags me through tight corners barely breaking traction. The brakes are firm and inspire confidence. It genuinely reminds me of Evo ownership.
The future: Fastchip, Supersprint exhaust and trackday tyres. Possibly a driving ban and incarceration.
The purchase:
I never imaged i'd expose myself to the steepest part of the depreciation curve, but on 0% finance, a good deposit and some decent haggling I’m relatively happy with my financial burden. I previously had a test drive in a new Impreza STI Spec-R saloon and after a long sit down with their business manager was told to expect a reasonable 13% finance rate. No thanks!
The price is about equivalent to UK pricing, which considering the salary differential between the UK and Oz makes this a very affordable prospect. The dealer was pleasant and very familiar with the car. He owned a 500whp ethanol-fuelled 1989 RX7 so was a genuine 'car guy'. Was happy to pick me up from the Subaru garage in the Megane after my test drive and drive into the city to pick my girlfriend up to show her the car.
The car:
Generally speaking, all I’ve driven since I came to Australia is slushy 4-speed automatics, *spits* so I wanted to enjoy a good manual gearbox and set-up to hark back to my B-road bashing days in the UK. I opted for the Recaros and RS Monitor over the Sat-Nav and reversing camera, which was about as much choice as was available to me in the short-term. Good choices, which I’ll expand on further.
The looks don’t bother me so much, but I’d say the Megane is rather quiet about stating its intentions. It starts up cleanly with a press of the start-stop button, and the RS monitor tells me what the oil temperature is so I can press on once until it’s nicely on the boil. The recaros grip the torso like they should and even the ball and chain doesn’t mind them so much.
The drive:
Roads and traffic conditions here aren’t exactly conducive to raw driving thrills. Driving in Perth is like being the last surviving human in a zombie-infested apocalypse. You wonder around slowly, in packs, drooling and staring at the ground. A dual carriageway is generally a 50mph limit, which is not exceeded by anyone, and people will sit in whatever lane they wish, for as long as they wish. That said, I’m always ready to jump when the opportunity arises, and so is the Megane.
I’m quite amazed by the capabilities of this car (and amazed that RenaultSport managed to fall so short of the mark with the new clio after producing this!). In normal mode with the TC on and 250hp, acceleration is smooth and progressive, with the odd pop on the over-run. Sport mode turns the TC off, provides the full 265hp, and allows you to select 5 different maps; the most gentle being ‘snow’, and the most extreme is called ‘extreme’. In extreme mode the car barks at you with every poke of the throttle, and crackles and pops like a bowl of rice krispies on the over-run. Throttle response is sharpened greatly and the power appears much lower in the rev-range. I tend to leave the car in ‘sport’ mode, which is one down from extreme, as the over-sensitive throttle response and earlier power delivery of extreme mode makes low-speed cruising a bit wibbly.
Traction is mightily impressive, and I plant my foot through corners in the same manner I did with the unsurpassable Evo. It drags me through tight corners barely breaking traction. The brakes are firm and inspire confidence. It genuinely reminds me of Evo ownership.
The future: Fastchip, Supersprint exhaust and trackday tyres. Possibly a driving ban and incarceration.
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