Renault Megane RS Trophy on sale from £31,810
Dieppe's fastest model undercuts estimated prices, although it's still more expensive than a Civic Type R
We first saw it in the summer, we drove it in November and now, the Renault Megane RS Trophy has gone on sale, priced from £31,810. That, those of you with encyclopedic knowledge of the new car market will have noted, leaves it £4,315 pricier than the regular Dieppe-tuned RS and, more significantly, £285 above the Honda Civic Type R. But when you consider the extra kit included in this most potent version of the RS Meg, it looks like pretty good value for money.
Tick the option boxes for 19-inch wheels, the Cup chassis and bi-material brakes on a non-Trophy and you'd have already added £3,350 to the list price, but the Trophy brings bespoke extras such as a faster spooling turbo and an accompanying extra 20hp from the 1.8-litre four-cylinder, plus there's a new exhaust with valves and Recaro seats inside. Oh, and you get Trophy badges. Yet it's the way the changes combine to enhance how the car drives that helps explain the premium.
Of course, that starting price is for the manual car, with the EDC automatic gearbox costing from £33,510, which extends the gap a little further - to £5,530 more than a normal EDC RS - presumably thanks to it being further developed to offer quicker shift times. With EDC, the Trophy ranks as Renault Sport's most potent series model yet; it has 310lb ft of torque, 15lb ft more than the manual version, which can't take the extra grunt.
Interestingly, the claimed 0-62mph times of the manual and auto are an identical 5.7 seconds, a tenth better than the standard RS Megane in either guise. As we found out on our drive, however, the engine and gearbox improvements provided to the Trophy are more appreciated once rolling, where the powertrain feels properly responsive and the gearbox a far, far cry from the sluggish unit we first met in early versions of the Clio 200 Turbo.
I suspect like many RenaultSports it'll drive great and despite being that bit more expensive than the Civic Type-R, at the age of 36 I wouldn't feel daft driving this like I would in the Civic!
I never understand this, is it just marketing or are they trying to push people away from the manual? Manufacturers operate with such massive tolerances that there is no way that the gearbox would explode because you put an extra 15lb ft through it.
The BMW 340i with MPPSK is the same, they give you something like circa 20lb ft less for the manual, although im not sure they say why explicitly. I know of a number of DMS cars running over 440lbs ft through the manual gearbox (MPPSK being circa 360lbs ft) with no issues at all. I was running 480lbs ft in my old 325D BMW manual, again with no issues.
Just doesn't make any sense to me but seems to be prevalent across multiple manufacturers.
On retrospect, it was probably a largely pointless post... welcome to the internet as they say!
I never understand this, is it just marketing or are they trying to push people away from the manual? Manufacturers operate with such massive tolerances that there is no way that the gearbox would explode because you put an extra 15lb ft through it.
The BMW 340i with MPPSK is the same, they give you something like circa 20lb ft less for the manual, although im not sure they say why explicitly. I know of a number of DMS cars running over 440lbs ft through the manual gearbox (MPPSK being circa 360lbs ft) with no issues at all. I was running 480lbs ft in my old 325D BMW manual, again with no issues.
Just doesn't make any sense to me but seems to be prevalent across multiple manufacturers.
I have two remapped cars and they are managing, I think a bit of mechanical sympathy helps as the margin to cope with ham fistedness has been eaten into by the extra power.
I know people generally don't buy cars these days, so list prices are largely academic but interesting that it costs the same as a basic manual Golf R 5 door. The Megane will be faster on track, but in a straight-line I reckon the Golf will dust it no problem. In the wet too (very relevant given the weather this past few weeks) the Golf will also be far more useful.
Good to have so much choice though. The Megane is a good looking car too.
Also, why does the Peugeot 308 GTI never get any mention on PH? its lighter than any other 5 door full sized hot hatch, pretty handy on track, fairly understated and has the biggest boot I believe.
On retrospect, it was probably a largely pointless post... welcome to the internet as they say!
Manual gearbox in Liquid Yellow please, then drive it down to Dorset and get K-Tec to remap it. An extra 50bhp for £534, be rude not to really.
On the new megane, I like the old one better visually but 4 doors and bigger hatch is far more practical!
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