RE: Megane R.S. Trophy-R vs. Golf GTI Clubsport S

[Porsche911R]

Butter Face said:

Actually (And I'll have to check this to be sure) I think that's the quoted weight for the normal Trophy-R, the CCB and Carbon Wheels make it slightly lighter I think.

I was shocked the weight is so high, when the Golf CSS is lighter.
Imo he golfs better in every single way, esp the engine.
I am sure with a simple remap and proper disks/pads the Golf CSS would take the ring record back quite easy.

I see no advantage this Renault brings unless you buy the £72k option.

[nickfrog]

Brakes are not critical at the Ring, if anything, too aggressive a pad can sometimes be detrimental after a long flat out section. They can get too cold rather than at optimal temp. The carbon brakes bring a tiny gain thanks to the lower unsprung mass but they bring nothing in terms of braking distance which is of course front grip limited.
Even an entry level PFC pad on normal discs will give the same result in effect. I have never cooked them at the Ring in a much heavier Cup S so they would be sufficient there anyway and cost a tiny fraction of the carbon set up.

Catchpole has noted that modulation on the carbon brakes is not great.

So that's the £72 car (only 1 in the UK) out of the running so it's deffo not a £72k car now.

The car`s value is definetely not in the carbon brakes.

Edited by nickfrog on Tuesday 22 October 15:36

[CraigV6]

Porsche911R said:

I was shocked the weight is so high, when the Golf CSS is lighter.
Imo he golfs better in every single way, esp the engine.
I am sure with a simple remap and proper disks/pads the Golf CSS would take the ring record back quite easy.

I see no advantage this Renault brings unless you buy the £72k option.

Agree with the last part.

[NoPDK]

CraigV6 said:

Agree with the last part.

Personally for me £51k for a road based track car that has 3 years warranty, space for spare track wheels/tyres, where I can drive to euro tracks in relative comfort and pass noise limits easily makes it great value. I can leave the GT3 RS’s at home and still have fun.
Find me another new car that does all that?
Golf CS is boring, I drove one.

[moonigan]

NoPDK said:

I’ve ordered one of these Trophy-R cars, really excited to get it. Apart from terryb, anyone else in the thread placed an order?

Standard car. Feb delivery, hopefully. It will be my daily but I don't do tons of miles. I was initially going to go for the GP3 but so glad I didn't.

[Butter Face]

Porsche911R said:

I was shocked the weight is so high, when the Golf CSS is lighter.
Imo he golfs better in every single way, esp the engine.
I am sure with a simple remap and proper disks/pads the Golf CSS would take the ring record back quite easy.

I see no advantage this Renault brings unless you buy the £72k option.

The CSS is 1375kg?

And a remap on the Megane would make it faster still etc etc etc.

[NoPDK]

moonigan said:

Standard car. Feb delivery, hopefully. It will be my daily but I don't do tons of miles. I was initially going to go for the GP3 but so glad I didn't.

Awesome.. I’ve gone for std car as well, expected March.
I went up the Goodwood hill at FoS in last Trophy-R and that ride has always stuck in my mind... like a fwd GT3 RS

[WCZ]

NoPDK said:

Personally for me £51k for a road based track car that has 3 years warranty, space for spare track wheels/tyres, where I can drive to euro tracks in relative comfort and pass noise limits easily makes it great value. I can leave the GT3 RS’s at home and still have fun.
Find me another new car that does all that?
Golf CS is boring, I drove one.

have you driven any of the previous RS megs? I drove the 2017 trophy-r when renault brought one to oulton park just after they came out and was suprised at how boring it felt despite the glowing reviews

[Jon_S_Rally]

Porsche911R said:

No it’s very valid, I have owned 74 cars and only bought about 5 new from that, if you have money to spend what ever the price, you look at every option available be it new or 2nd hand.

Not everyone does look at every option though. Some want a new car, not an old one.

WCZ said:

buying a 12c is admittidly more risky than the others as is the gallado,

the 2016 AMG GT has a warranty until next year with mercedes which then can be renewed
the lotus is delivery miles and has a warranty, some have service pack on them too
the audi r8 is audi approved and has a warranty

I don't think it's a pointless comparison, they are sports cars

some might prefer the megane than the others after driving them all but imo they'd be nuts!

But do they have three-year warranty? Are they brand new? Are they "one of 32 RHD" cars? Don't get me wrong, the cars you posted are all very nice and I can see why they would appeal but, just because they appeal, that doesn't mean the Megane doesn't either. For someone wanting the very ultimate new hot hatch, the cars you posted are irrelevant, because they're not new and not hot hatches.

The last line says it all - it's your opinion. If I had a massive garage and pots of money, there would be all sorts of stuff in there, new and old, that many people would think I was mad to buy, but who cares.

Porsche911R said:

I was shocked the weight is so high, when the Golf CSS is lighter.
Imo he golfs better in every single way, esp the engine.
I am sure with a simple remap and proper disks/pads the Golf CSS would take the ring record back quite easy.

I see no advantage this Renault brings unless you buy the £72k option.

The Golf has always been relatively light in its segment, so it does have that on its side. Out of interest, how do you know the Golf is better "in every single way"? Have you driven both?

And, if you remap the Golf and change the discs and pads, it's no longer a production car. What if you remap the Megane? It's a bit of a pointless comment in reality.

I'll say it again, it appears that all of the UK allocation of Trophy-Rs has sold, so it obviously appealed to enough people, even if it didn't appeal to you.

As the article says, rather than people moaning about it, we should be celebrating that people are still making cars like this. The fact the Megane was even signed-off is bonkers in reality.

[nickfrog]

WCZ said:

have you driven any of the previous RS megs? I drove the 2017 trophy-r when renault brought one to oulton park just after they came out and was suprised at how boring it felt despite the glowing reviews

They are quite inert up to 8/10ths but get very exciting nearer the limit. You'd be in a very very tiny minority of people finding them boring on track.

[BlackandWhite]

MyV10goesWhaaa said:

WCZ said:

£72k is a lot of money and it'd be hard to spend it on a megane in almost any circumstances beyond it having some kind of monster v12 in it

alternatively to the megane for the same money in the classifieds I'd probably go for one of these:

These all make a megane highly invisible to me... as they should...

That’s cos you’ve rocked up to a scalpel convention displaying five sawn off shot guns and a meat cleaver, of course the exhibitors are distracted. Attendees cannot decide if you’re showing off, inappropriate, or perhaps have a better way to get the job done! My wife standing beside Gigi Hadid activates the same kind of ‘highly invisible’ in me.

[MyV10goesWhaaa]

Porsche911R said:

Butter Face said:

And to those comparing the Megane with a 8 year old McLaren, really?! come on guys, I know it’s a PH cliche to do the old/new thing but this is a bit silly isn’t it?

No it’s very valid, I have owned 74 cars and only bought about 5 new from that, if you have money to spend what ever the price, you look at every option available be it new or 2nd hand.

Now we know why these people own Renaults.. because.... "Warranty"

Edited by MyV10goesWhaaa on Tuesday 22 October 16:25

[MyV10goesWhaaa]

BlackandWhite said:

MyV10goesWhaaa said:

WCZ said:

£72k is a lot of money and it'd be hard to spend it on a megane in almost any circumstances beyond it having some kind of monster v12 in it

alternatively to the megane for the same money in the classifieds I'd probably go for one of these:

These all make a megane highly invisible to me... as they should...

That’s cos you’ve rocked up to a scalpel convention displaying five sawn off shot guns and a meat cleaver, of course the exhibitors are distracted. Attendees cannot decide if you’re showing off, inappropriate, or perhaps have a better way to get the job done! My wife standing beside Gigi Hadid activates the same kind of ‘highly invisible’ in me.

[Butter Face]

WCZ said:

have you driven any of the previous RS megs? I drove the 2017 trophy-r when renault brought one to oulton park just after they came out and was suprised at how boring it felt despite the glowing reviews

You did? Which 2017 Trophy-R is that? the 275 Trophy-R stopped in 2016 and the 300 Started this year?

[nickfrog]

MyV10goesWhaaa said:

Now we know why these people own Renaults.. because.... "Warranty"

Yes indeed, RS products are only known for that.

On a serious note, I was ever so close to choose an early M2 as a trackable daily but went for a 280 Cup instead, and yes the warranty was a factor as it applies for (non competitive) track use.

[jl4069]

Onehp said:

Carbon wheels and ceramics are probably 'not worth' it. Better keep smaller brakes with a good fluid and e.g. Endless pads, and a set of superlight and tough 18" forged rims, and most probably you'll end up having a superior setup for british roads and 15k left to do better things with. (seen from the enthusiast perspective without endless means).

This is right on. If anyone would have read the far more through and detailed Evo test of this Trophy R (last month) one would have read a far more sober and detailed assessment of this car's everyday road handling and limitations. Say what you will about Evo mag, but they often give both sides of the story with regard to a cars handling, while most other writers keep things mostly "positive". I'm glad there is one source still left for these sorts of road tests. j

[nickfrog]

Only issue with the EVO piece is that by their own admission they didn't tweak the settings of the Ohlins for road use and were running a track set up.

I may be wrong though.

[jl4069]

nickfrog said:

Only issue with the EVO piece is that by their own admission they didn't tweak the settings of the Ohlins for road use and were running a track set up.

I may be wrong though.

Well I know many of those fellows are on here, would be nice to get a response on this. j

[Terminator X]

Is it coincidence that the Renault is number 26 a la R26.R?

TX.

[WCZ]

Butter Face said:

You did? Which 2017 Trophy-R is that? the 275 Trophy-R stopped in 2016 and the 300 Started this year?

Must have been 2016 then, time flies
Renault brought one to a Renaultsport day, I got quite a few laps driving it as it was near the end of the day and almost everyone had left

I personally preferred the r26r which felt more exciting

As I said, it’s just my opinion and I went in with high expectations.