Any new Megane RS 280/300 owners?
Discussion
Althalus said:
If I'm honest I think my choice will come down to Mégane, civic type r or Giulia Veloce..
I can't comment on the practicality/comfort of the latest Megane RS, but I went from a non-Cup Megane RS 250 (for 5 years) to the Alfa Giulia Veloce (almost 3 years ago). The Cup version of the old Megane was too stiff for me, and I didn't want to track it or anything - it was a car for daily commuting. I'd want to test drive both a Cup and non-Cup version of the latest Megane if I was considering one.As you're considering the Giulia I thought I'd share my views; from my near-3 years, it's very civilised compared to my old Megane, really quick, looks stunning (in Misano blue) and been faultless. Doesn't sound as interesting as the old Megane though! I loved that RS but the Alfa is just sublime and more grown up (I suspect the newer RS is a more grown up proposition than the previous one). I want to try a new RS at some point but it will have a lot to live up to for me if I'm going to go back to Renaultsport.
Noisy Neighbour said:
I can't comment on the practicality/comfort of the latest Megane RS, but I went from a non-Cup Megane RS 250 (for 5 years) to the Alfa Giulia Veloce (almost 3 years ago). The Cup version of the old Megane was too stiff for me, and I didn't want to track it or anything - it was a car for daily commuting. I'd want to test drive both a Cup and non-Cup version of the latest Megane if I was considering one.
As you're considering the Giulia I thought I'd share my views; from my near-3 years, it's very civilised compared to my old Megane, really quick, looks stunning (in Misano blue) and been faultless. Doesn't sound as interesting as the old Megane though! I loved that RS but the Alfa is just sublime and more grown up (I suspect the newer RS is a more grown up proposition than the previous one). I want to try a new RS at some point but it will have a lot to live up to for me if I'm going to go back to Renaultsport.
That's really interesting, I appreciate the feedback. Did you get the performance pack with adaptive suspension and LSD I'm struggling to find cars in that spec. Nice colour choice by the way. As you're considering the Giulia I thought I'd share my views; from my near-3 years, it's very civilised compared to my old Megane, really quick, looks stunning (in Misano blue) and been faultless. Doesn't sound as interesting as the old Megane though! I loved that RS but the Alfa is just sublime and more grown up (I suspect the newer RS is a more grown up proposition than the previous one). I want to try a new RS at some point but it will have a lot to live up to for me if I'm going to go back to Renaultsport.
I was was concerned the guilia would feel less hooked up on a back road as I didn't get a lot of chance to open it up due to rain. I do need something civilised for the day to day/night commutes, but still want some fun. I wanted to like the Kia stinger with all its toys, but it was just too big and heavy
Althalus said:
Hi I'm currently looking at replacements for my gt86, I wanted to pick people's brains a bit.
After a bit of hassle trying to find a dealer who will let me test drive an RS I finally have a drive booked in for next week.
Just how hard is the cup suspension day to day? For the next year I'll be doing about 60miles a day of mixed town and moterway driving, I need something with better NVH than the gt86!
Is the infotainment system really as bad as all the reviews make out?
Did anyone here compare rs to i30n to civic, any thoughts?
Given the choice would you wait for a facelift car? There are apparently a lot of RS cars sat in import and the dealer feels good offers to be had...
How did you get on. or have you yet to drive it?After a bit of hassle trying to find a dealer who will let me test drive an RS I finally have a drive booked in for next week.
Just how hard is the cup suspension day to day? For the next year I'll be doing about 60miles a day of mixed town and moterway driving, I need something with better NVH than the gt86!
Is the infotainment system really as bad as all the reviews make out?
Did anyone here compare rs to i30n to civic, any thoughts?
Given the choice would you wait for a facelift car? There are apparently a lot of RS cars sat in import and the dealer feels good offers to be had...
Edited by Althalus on Thursday 2nd July 10:34
HTP99 said:
How did you get on. or have you yet to drive it?
Hi HTP, yes I have, finally got a nice day! I have to say the infotainment is really not an issue I had the larger screen, there's the rs button and otherwise I used android auto, the screen was absolutely fine, for me it's the way it is built in that lets the cabin down. However I thought the rest of the fit and finish was really good, certainly a notch above the i30n to be honest on a par with my Leon.The power train is lovely.
The manual gearbox isn't great, I'd have the EDC.
The car felt utterly tied to the road, a year ago I'd have been leaving with the Trophy. The me of today thinks it's just too stiffly sprung for potentially 2 hours a day, it's no softer or easier to live with than the gt86..
Overall I came away having loved the drive and wishing my commute was different.
I might be going back to try the a110...
Edited by Althalus on Saturday 11th July 09:58
Althalus said:
Did you get the performance pack with adaptive suspension and LSD I'm struggling to find cars in that spec.
Hi. No, I was keeping the cost down so only added metallic paint and 19" wheels (list price was just under £40k but I paid £32k so quite a discount). It's a huge amount of fun without the LSD, and the ride quality is superb without the adaptive suspension (especially now that I've replaced the original run-flat tyres with quieter, softer non run-flats).
Looks like they all arrived at the same time. My delivery is due Friday 31 July. Well... they did promise a July delivery so can't complain too much. Just annoyed that 2 weeks of the wait is sitting around whilst the cooling off period expires. 2 weeks of missed summer driving whilst the car is getting dusty in some PDI compound.
Picked up my Megane 300 a couple of weeks ago, and have bedded it in with 750 miles.
Comparing this against my Clio 200, it feels like a more mature car. Given my Clio was running solid mounts, and every inch of the interior vibrated, the cabin in the Megane was a much more relaxing place to be.
I’m enjoying having the extra features I’d never had previously such as the touchscreen, and AppleCar play. Not necessarily something that I was too bothered about, as for me it was all about how the car drives, but certainly an improvement on anything I’d had previously.
The power delivery in the Megane is strong, and ‘less of an event‘ than the Clio... you knew when the NA engine was screaming at 7500rpm in the Clio you was getting on! You soon realise when you put your foot down how quickly you’re getting up to speed in the Megane. I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good. I ended up replacing the gearbox in my Clio after 80,000 miles as my third gear synchro went, but the gearbox feels less notch (which it should being a new car!). It feels rather mechanical during gear shift, which I like but I can see where some may describe it as "finding a gear in a bag of nails". There is some torque steer but nothing that’s not manageable! On average I’ve been getting around 28MPG which is a mixture of dual carriageway runs, with some spirited A/B road driving.
Steering seems great, I haven’t felt too much of the 4Control doing its thing yet, but I haven’t tweaked the option to make it more prominent... one downside I’d say are the Potenza S001 tyres, they just don’t give me the confidence the PS4 tyres did on the Clio. Feels like when pushing hard it wants to understeer slightly, but I’m sure a set of PS4’s would sort this.
Annoyingly already looking at some warranty work after 15 days of ownership (and 750 miles). The exhaust valve is squeaking when applying the throttle in sport / race mode, which some Trophy owners have reported similar. There is a new part number of which the back box has been redesigned to fix this issue, so hopefully I’ll resolve this headache in the not too distant future. The exhaust however sounds mega, some of the pops and bangs are crazy loud!
Thanks for listening to these ramblings, hope it’s of some use.
Comparing this against my Clio 200, it feels like a more mature car. Given my Clio was running solid mounts, and every inch of the interior vibrated, the cabin in the Megane was a much more relaxing place to be.
I’m enjoying having the extra features I’d never had previously such as the touchscreen, and AppleCar play. Not necessarily something that I was too bothered about, as for me it was all about how the car drives, but certainly an improvement on anything I’d had previously.
The power delivery in the Megane is strong, and ‘less of an event‘ than the Clio... you knew when the NA engine was screaming at 7500rpm in the Clio you was getting on! You soon realise when you put your foot down how quickly you’re getting up to speed in the Megane. I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good. I ended up replacing the gearbox in my Clio after 80,000 miles as my third gear synchro went, but the gearbox feels less notch (which it should being a new car!). It feels rather mechanical during gear shift, which I like but I can see where some may describe it as "finding a gear in a bag of nails". There is some torque steer but nothing that’s not manageable! On average I’ve been getting around 28MPG which is a mixture of dual carriageway runs, with some spirited A/B road driving.
Steering seems great, I haven’t felt too much of the 4Control doing its thing yet, but I haven’t tweaked the option to make it more prominent... one downside I’d say are the Potenza S001 tyres, they just don’t give me the confidence the PS4 tyres did on the Clio. Feels like when pushing hard it wants to understeer slightly, but I’m sure a set of PS4’s would sort this.
Annoyingly already looking at some warranty work after 15 days of ownership (and 750 miles). The exhaust valve is squeaking when applying the throttle in sport / race mode, which some Trophy owners have reported similar. There is a new part number of which the back box has been redesigned to fix this issue, so hopefully I’ll resolve this headache in the not too distant future. The exhaust however sounds mega, some of the pops and bangs are crazy loud!
Thanks for listening to these ramblings, hope it’s of some use.
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 16:59
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:03
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:05
RWoods93 said:
Picked up my Megane 300 a couple of weeks ago, and have bedded it in with 750 miles.
Comparing this against my Clio 200, it feels like a more mature car. Given my Clio was running solid mounts, and every inch of the interior vibrated, the cabin in the Megane was a much more relaxing place to be.
I’m enjoying having the extra features I’d never had previously such as the touchscreen, and AppleCar play. Not necessarily something that I was too bothered about, as for me it was all about how the car drives, but certainly an improvement on anything I’d had previously.
The power delivery in the Megane is strong, and ‘less of an event‘ than the Clio... you knew when the NA engine was screaming at 7500rpm in the Clio you was getting on! You soon realise when you put your foot down how quickly you’re getting up to speed in the Megane. I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good. I ended up replacing the gearbox in my Clio after 80,000 miles as my third gear synchro went, but the gearbox feels less notch (which it should being a new car!). It feels rather mechanical during gear shift, which I like but I can see where some may describe it as "finding a gear in a bag of nails". There is some torque steer but nothing that’s not manageable! On average I’ve been getting around 28MPG which is a mixture of dual carriageway runs, with some spirited A/B road driving.
Steering seems great, I haven’t felt too much of the 4Control doing its thing yet, but I haven’t tweaked the option to make it more prominent... one downside I’d say are the Potenza S001 tyres, they just don’t give me the confidence the PS4 tyres did on the Clio. Feels like when pushing hard it wants to understeer slightly, but I’m sure a set of PS4’s would sort this.
Annoyingly already looking at some warranty work after 15 days of ownership (and 750 miles). The exhaust valve is squeaking when applying the throttle in sport / race mode, which some Trophy owners have reported similar. There is a new part number of which the back box has been redesigned to fix this issue, so hopefully I’ll resolve this headache in the not too distant future. The exhaust however sounds mega, some of the pops and bangs are crazy loud!
Thanks for listening to these ramblings, hope it’s of some use.
That yellow looks so much better in your pics than ive aeen elsewhere. I always worried it was a bit garish so would have steered more towards the orange, but seeing it like that maaaanComparing this against my Clio 200, it feels like a more mature car. Given my Clio was running solid mounts, and every inch of the interior vibrated, the cabin in the Megane was a much more relaxing place to be.
I’m enjoying having the extra features I’d never had previously such as the touchscreen, and AppleCar play. Not necessarily something that I was too bothered about, as for me it was all about how the car drives, but certainly an improvement on anything I’d had previously.
The power delivery in the Megane is strong, and ‘less of an event‘ than the Clio... you knew when the NA engine was screaming at 7500rpm in the Clio you was getting on! You soon realise when you put your foot down how quickly you’re getting up to speed in the Megane. I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good. I ended up replacing the gearbox in my Clio after 80,000 miles as my third gear synchro went, but the gearbox feels less notch (which it should being a new car!). It feels rather mechanical during gear shift, which I like but I can see where some may describe it as "finding a gear in a bag of nails". There is some torque steer but nothing that’s not manageable! On average I’ve been getting around 28MPG which is a mixture of dual carriageway runs, with some spirited A/B road driving.
Steering seems great, I haven’t felt too much of the 4Control doing its thing yet, but I haven’t tweaked the option to make it more prominent... one downside I’d say are the Potenza S001 tyres, they just don’t give me the confidence the PS4 tyres did on the Clio. Feels like when pushing hard it wants to understeer slightly, but I’m sure a set of PS4’s would sort this.
Annoyingly already looking at some warranty work after 15 days of ownership (and 750 miles). The exhaust valve is squeaking when applying the throttle in sport / race mode, which some Trophy owners have reported similar. There is a new part number of which the back box has been redesigned to fix this issue, so hopefully I’ll resolve this headache in the not too distant future. The exhaust however sounds mega, some of the pops and bangs are crazy loud!
Thanks for listening to these ramblings, hope it’s of some use.
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 16:59
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:03
Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:05
RWoods93 said:
I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good.
My wife is expecting delivery of a manual car in 10 days. She’s got used to an auto handbrake in her outgoing Golf GTi and wasn’t pleased to see that the manual Megane has an old fashioned handbrake. I do see that the Megane has some kind of hill hold assist. How does this work in practice? Does it mean you only use the handbrake proper when parking, or do you need to use it at lights etc?Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:05
Gareth1974 said:
RWoods93 said:
I went for a manual box, and the gearbox feels good.
My wife is expecting delivery of a manual car in 10 days. She’s got used to an auto handbrake in her outgoing Golf GTi and wasn’t pleased to see that the manual Megane has an old fashioned handbrake. I do see that the Megane has some kind of hill hold assist. How does this work in practice? Does it mean you only use the handbrake proper when parking, or do you need to use it at lights etc?Edited by RWoods93 on Monday 27th July 17:05
ToastMan76 said:
That yellow looks so much better in your pics than ive aeen elsewhere. I always worried it was a bit garish so would have steered more towards the orange, but seeing it like that maaaan
It’s definitely a colour that you need to see in person to appreciate, although you live in constant fear when parking etc. Found a nasty stonechip already on the bonnet, it’s always the first blemish that hurts the most! Gareth1974 said:
My wife is expecting delivery of a manual car in 10 days. She’s got used to an auto handbrake in her outgoing Golf GTi and wasn’t pleased to see that the manual Megane has an old fashioned handbrake. I do see that the Megane has some kind of hill hold assist. How does this work in practice? Does it mean you only use the handbrake proper when parking, or do you need to use it at lights etc?
There is a hill assist, but its all automatic and really discreet. I forget its there and don't rely on it but it does work well. It must detect when your on a slight incline, you can sometimes feel it release when your jumping between pedals. I too came from Golf GTI, it didn't take long to get used to a conventional handbrake again, but I will admit the VAG system is brilliant!RWoods93 said:
Steering seems great, I haven’t felt too much of the 4Control doing its thing yet, but I haven’t tweaked the option to make it more prominent... one downside I’d say are the Potenza S001 tyres, they just don’t give me the confidence the PS4 tyres did on the Clio. Feels like when pushing hard it wants to understeer slightly, but I’m sure a set of PS4’s would sort this.
I recently changed to Michelin Super Sports, much better 
Trif said:
Has anyone worked out what to do with the key? Normally have a bunch of keys on a key ring but this has no ring attachment. Do you just put it in your pocket and let it get lost with your wallet/phone?
Plenty of aftermarket silicone type covers on eBay, there is a genuine renault one which is one of the nicer ones. I’ll get a part number tomorrow. Gassing Station | French Bred | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff