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

[Baldchap]

rare6499 said:

It was a relatively long time ago but who can recall the 172 Cup, a raw and focused hatch which was a fantastic drivers car, launching in 2002 for £13k. A drivers car for the people.

A 75k Megane? They’ve lost the plot.

A decent hot hatch, but a world apart from this Megane. Absolute world apart.

[gigglebug]

rare6499 said:

It was a relatively long time ago but who can recall the 172 Cup, a raw and focused hatch which was a fantastic drivers car, launching in 2002 for £13k. A drivers car for the people.

A 75k Megane? They’ve lost the plot.

When you take into account inflation the current Clio RS is no more expensive than the Clio Cup was in 2002 to be fair even if it does have a very different overall feel to it nowadays. The regular 172 was more like £16K when it was released in 1999 which is the equivalent of £28K in 2018 according to the Bank of England inflation calculator.

[SidewaysSi]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Ah so we are comparing secondhand with brand new cars now? You can't compare an old banger like the 981. Actually sod the GT4, why buy a Mégane when you can get a 1978 911 SC with some trick bits instead? Or perhaps a 200k mile 996GT3 with some tweaks?

I think you will find a 718GT4 lists at £75k. If you go for the racy bits ie 918 seats, CS etc, the price quickly spirals.

[Butter Face]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Keep it simple and just add PCCB and you’re over £80k already! With nothing else!

[BlackandWhite]

Megane is a 50 Grand car and I would love one more than any other current new 50 grand car. Simples.

[nickfrog]

rare6499 said:

A 75k Megane? They’ve lost the plot.

Thankfully they haven't. It's £51k for 80% of the cars.
If not a Cupped 280 is £26k new after discount. Bargain, even compared to the Clio.

[bigmowley]

Itsallicanafford said:

Love the fact that the extreme meganes exist, but I think the sweet spot is the rung below. We run a Mk3 275 Cup-S with Recaros, ohlins and akropovic. It’s a silver car on 18inch alloys. You can park it anywhere, it does all sorts of normal car things without complaint, ferrying kids and work stuff around, nobody gives it a second look...this Wednesday it will pottle upto donnington and put in a serious shift on track before pottling home...I love the fact it just slips under the radar, it’s a trick the trophy R cars cannot play...

Ditto Even down to the colour!
Almost invisible compared to the rest of the fleet, bit underwhelming on the road but comes alive on track. Absolutely bulletproof so far, the only warranty issue in 3 years of hard use is rusty wheel bolts. Brilliant car.

[rare6499]

Baldchap said:

rare6499 said:

It was a relatively long time ago but who can recall the 172 Cup, a raw and focused hatch which was a fantastic drivers car, launching in 2002 for £13k. A drivers car for the people.

A 75k Megane? They’ve lost the plot.

A decent hot hatch, but a world apart from this Megane. Absolute world apart.

That was sort of my point...

[Onehp]

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).

[cheddar]

The elephant in the room for me isn't the price, it's that the Megane has 2 doors too many.

[cerb4.5lee]

cheddar said:

The elephant in the room for me isn't the price, it's that the Megane has 2 doors too many.

That is exactly why a good friend of mine went for a Alpine A110 instead of the current Megane. His previous car was a Megane RS Trophy(2 door) and he still has a Clio Trophy so he is a big fan of Renault(2 door) hatchbacks.

4 doors pretty much always look terrible(on pretty much any car for me) and this isn't an exception. Tragic in fairness...too many doors and too much money.

[nickfrog]

Yes I guess image/looks are important for some but others may focus on the driving experience.

Cerb, I am not quite sure you actually understand this car very well nor the value it represents as a very versatile and extremely track capable car

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 20th October 08:18

[cerb4.5lee]

nickfrog said:

Cerb, I am not quite sure you actually understand this car very well nor the value it represents as a very versatile and extremely track capable car

Yes and In fairness I have dismissed it as a car(without even giving it a chance) purely because of its price rightly or wrongly. It just seems a ludicrous amount of money for a French hatchback to me.

I think that I should be much more open minded about it though.

[nickfrog]

or have a quick drive in any RS Megane of the past 10 years : you might be surprised at what it can do, however French it is. In reality, there's not that much French about it. Made in Spain, Japanese engine, Italian brakes, Swedish suspension, British diff etc etc...

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 20th October 08:53

[cerb4.5lee]

nickfrog said:

;) or have a quick drive in any RS Megane of the past 10 years : you might be surprised at what it can do, however French it is. In reality, there's not that much French about it. Made in Spain, Nissan engine, Italian brakes, Swedish suspension, etc etc...

My mate absolutely loved his 2016 Megane RS Trophy and I only got to sit in it but sadly never had a drive in it. I'm not doubting how capable they are(I've never read a poor review of them either), this one is a step too far money wise Imo though.

Another thing for me personally is that I've never understood the obsession with the Nurburgring lap times. So this just isn't a car that is really aimed at me in fairness. For someone interested in stuff like that though...I can really see why this car would be the pinnacle for them.

[Mike1990]

I’am just happy cars like these exist.

The Golf looks nicer.

[gigglebug]

cerb4.5lee said:

Another thing for me personally is that I've never understood the obsession with the Nurburgring lap times. So this just isn't a car that is really aimed at me in fairness. For someone interested in stuff like that though...I can really see why this car would be the pinnacle for them.

I think that most people who are genuinely interested in cars will always take a Nurburgring lap time with a pinch of salt (a few notable exceptions not withstanding of course!). For others it is just another barometer to which they can measure the worthiness of their car against others (even if it may ultimately be inconsequential for the majority of folks in the real world). I guess that now with the advent of much stricter policing on speeding, and the fact that even quite mundane transport can have way more than enough power and straight line pace as standard (just take a look at average 0-60 times now), there has to be a new focus for which manufacturers can entice the punters their way. To be fair I personally prefer the fact that it is shifting towards the focus being more about the handling as oppose to 'look how much power we have put in it and look how fast it goes in a straight line!' as at least the products should start to appeal as much to the folks who enjoy driving as it does to the ones that just like bragging.

Edited by gigglebug on Sunday 20th October 12:22

[Nik Gnashers]

I'm with the nay-sayers I'm afraid.
Yes I get that these are brand new cars.
What I don't get, is : why anyone would pay seventy-two-fking-grand for a brand new car only to thrash it round a track. Especially when that car is not actually that fast.
You could build a much faster, more enjoyable, track-day car for half that, maybe a quarter or less, and have that special feel-good factor that you are in something unique and that you had a hand in building.
I just don't get it.
Maybe I just don't move in the right 'circles' to know anyone who could afford to 'waste' quite frankly, a sum of money like that on a weekend toy that they can't be arsed to put any effort into actually building.

[Butter Face]

Nik Gnashers said:

I'm with the nay-sayers I'm afraid.
Yes I get that these are brand new cars.
What I don't get, is : why anyone would pay seventy-two-fking-grand for a brand new car only to thrash it round a track. Especially when that car is not actually that fast.
You could build a much faster, more enjoyable, track-day car for half that, maybe a quarter or less, and have that special feel-good factor that you are in something unique and that you had a hand in building.
I just don't get it.
Maybe I just don't move in the right 'circles' to know anyone who could afford to 'waste' quite frankly, a sum of money like that on a weekend toy that they can't be arsed to put any effort into actually building.

By all accounts it is quite fast. Very capable around a track, like, er, the Nurburgring.

And yes, you could go and build a car etc etc, but you can say that about virtually any track focused car that you can spend a small fortune on. You are definitely missing the point!

[MDL111]

Nik Gnashers said:

I'm with the nay-sayers I'm afraid.
Yes I get that these are brand new cars.
What I don't get, is : why anyone would pay seventy-two-fking-grand for a brand new car only to thrash it round a track. Especially when that car is not actually that fast.
You could build a much faster, more enjoyable, track-day car for half that, maybe a quarter or less, and have that special feel-good factor that you are in something unique and that you had a hand in building.
I just don't get it.
Maybe I just don't move in the right 'circles' to know anyone who could afford to 'waste' quite frankly, a sum of money like that on a weekend toy that they can't be arsed to put any effort into actually building.

But by the same token you could say why drive a Porsche Cup car if a Radical on slicks is faster or why a Ferrari Enzo if a modified Lotus with a supercharger might be faster etc
Also my understanding (maybe wrong) is that only one guy in the UK I actually “allowed” to buy the car for 72k
Also, many people (I am included in that group) have no clue how to build/properly modify a car