Renault Megane RS250
Discussion
I’m a through-and-through petrolhead and fortunately have a few weekend cars but have to confess that I’ve never really got the whole FWD thing, so all mine are RWD. I’ve had the odd small FWD car back in the day - (20 years ago had a Saxo VTS) which was fun but didn’t compel me into hot hatches.
Well at the weekend, i borrowed a good friend of mines 2010 Mégane RS250. He was more excited than I was because he so wanted to hear what I thought. I borrowed it for a full 24 hours and so had plenty of opportunity to check out the car on some of my favorite roads. .
Wow, it blew me away. The Recaro seats were great, driving position spot on, steering wheel right size. In other words, all the touch points that mattered were good. As for the rest of the car, as I expected any 10 year old French car, pretty bland and boring. But who really cares.
Within the first mile I had a grin on my face. Very few cars have made such an early impression on me. Possible the first Impreza turbo (back in the early 90’s) and possibly the Elise (in the late 90’s).
The steering was so sharp and direct. The turbo charged engine felt more NA, with the throttle response being so instant pulling strong throughout the rev range, brakes were progressive and the ride soaked up all the cambers and bumps on the road. Switching the “sport” button on (so often a let down in other cars) switches it into this hooligan of a car. Skipping and slipping around corners it felt alive and on its toes. What a car! One of the best days driving on the roads. Cracking car and I really had to eat humble pie to my mate about it being a “souped up” Astra. Brilliant.
I enjoyed the car so much that I’ve just bought the smaller bother - Clio 182 with both Cup packages!
I did a video of the day which I’ll post a link too below.
https://youtu.be/YfYFixMdJP0
Well at the weekend, i borrowed a good friend of mines 2010 Mégane RS250. He was more excited than I was because he so wanted to hear what I thought. I borrowed it for a full 24 hours and so had plenty of opportunity to check out the car on some of my favorite roads. .
Wow, it blew me away. The Recaro seats were great, driving position spot on, steering wheel right size. In other words, all the touch points that mattered were good. As for the rest of the car, as I expected any 10 year old French car, pretty bland and boring. But who really cares.
Within the first mile I had a grin on my face. Very few cars have made such an early impression on me. Possible the first Impreza turbo (back in the early 90’s) and possibly the Elise (in the late 90’s).
The steering was so sharp and direct. The turbo charged engine felt more NA, with the throttle response being so instant pulling strong throughout the rev range, brakes were progressive and the ride soaked up all the cambers and bumps on the road. Switching the “sport” button on (so often a let down in other cars) switches it into this hooligan of a car. Skipping and slipping around corners it felt alive and on its toes. What a car! One of the best days driving on the roads. Cracking car and I really had to eat humble pie to my mate about it being a “souped up” Astra. Brilliant.
I enjoyed the car so much that I’ve just bought the smaller bother - Clio 182 with both Cup packages!
I did a video of the day which I’ll post a link too below.
https://youtu.be/YfYFixMdJP0
Well as fate would have it, my mate who leant me his Renault RS250 Cup contacted me the other day and has offered the car to me at a great price. My company cars going back in March (I’m taking the cash this time) and had been planning on getting a mid-00’s BMW 5-Series (E39 or E60) as my everyday/replacement car.
So this offer of the RS250 Cup has really put a spanner in the works. Ideally I wanted a 4 door (I have quite a few 2-seater weekend cars) because I’ve still got my youngest at home (16 year old) so really want to be able to take the occasional adult in the back seats. And I’ve also got my Clio 182 as the fun, lightweight hatch, but he’s letting me have it so cheap that I just couldn’t say no. Question is, are these okay as daily cars and can you sit adults in the back for short journeys without needing to chop heads/legs off? Anyone daily theirs? Any advice appreciated.
So this offer of the RS250 Cup has really put a spanner in the works. Ideally I wanted a 4 door (I have quite a few 2-seater weekend cars) because I’ve still got my youngest at home (16 year old) so really want to be able to take the occasional adult in the back seats. And I’ve also got my Clio 182 as the fun, lightweight hatch, but he’s letting me have it so cheap that I just couldn’t say no. Question is, are these okay as daily cars and can you sit adults in the back for short journeys without needing to chop heads/legs off? Anyone daily theirs? Any advice appreciated.
I've daily driven mine for two years now and the only problems I've encountered are:
- the handbrake cables freeze during winter so try and leave the handbrake off keep it in gear. Not a major issue but it's a bit annoying.
- the OEM ball joints are awful. There's a guy who makes uprated ones that are miles better and last much longer.
- the standard audio system is terrible. I know it wasn't Renault's main focus when designing the car but it should be better.
Apart from those it's a fantastic car. I'm currently running just over 300bhp and get around 32mpg on the motorway and about 22mpg around town. As a hot hatch it's the best all rounder in my opinion but I'm obviously biased!
- the handbrake cables freeze during winter so try and leave the handbrake off keep it in gear. Not a major issue but it's a bit annoying.
- the OEM ball joints are awful. There's a guy who makes uprated ones that are miles better and last much longer.
- the standard audio system is terrible. I know it wasn't Renault's main focus when designing the car but it should be better.
Apart from those it's a fantastic car. I'm currently running just over 300bhp and get around 32mpg on the motorway and about 22mpg around town. As a hot hatch it's the best all rounder in my opinion but I'm obviously biased!
F12 Josh said:
Can't help with your questions but I'm replying to watch what others input with, might be tempted with one of these as they look seriously impressive - Will give your video a watch later. 
Tbf I’d never really got the whole FWD hatch “thing” but have to say that the RS Megane 250 blew me away and what led to me buying my Clio182. Although I have to say they are very different cars. Looking forward to picking up the car in March .... just got to wait 2 months first! DanielSan said:
I'm on the hunt for a 250 Cup at the moment and there's just none for sale. It's bloody annoying.
Probably not helped by the whole COVID lockdown issue but they are there. You could go for the sport/lux with the Cup package as an alternative option to holding out for the specific Cup. I do love the Recaro seats too (optional extra) so I’d wait out for one with those fitted too.Richard-rjbph said:
Probably not helped by the whole COVID lockdown issue but they are there. You could go for the sport/lux with the Cup package as an alternative option to holding out for the specific Cup. I do love the Recaro seats too (optional extra) so I’d wait out for one with those fitted too.
Recaro's are the reason there are none about at the moment I want DanielSan said:
I'm on the hunt for a 250 Cup at the moment and there's just none for sale. It's bloody annoying.
Get on the various Megane Facebook groups. There’s always cars being sold. Imo you’re better off buying a lux with cup pack as you’ll usually get more toys like xenon headlights, dual zone climate control and auto headlights etc. Things like Recaro seats and RS monitor can all be retrofitted and coded in. Also worth looking up performance only cars as they specialise mainly in Renaultsport stuff.
I agree with the FB groups. I asked the guys lots of info at the weekend and got lots of intel. And if you buy from one of the group members you know you’re buying from a fellow petrol head so will likely have been well cared for.
This is the sales invoice of the RS250 Cup I’ll be picking up in March. Makes interesting reading as you can see the actual price of the Cup back in 2010 along with the additional options on this car (inc. Recaro’s, RS Monitor, Dual Climate, etc....) they were competitively priced (I paid the same for my 207bhp Impreza Turbo back in ‘98).
This is the sales invoice of the RS250 Cup I’ll be picking up in March. Makes interesting reading as you can see the actual price of the Cup back in 2010 along with the additional options on this car (inc. Recaro’s, RS Monitor, Dual Climate, etc....) they were competitively priced (I paid the same for my 207bhp Impreza Turbo back in ‘98).
Richard-rjbph said:
I agree with the FB groups. I asked the guys lots of info at the weekend and got lots of intel. And if you buy from one of the group members you know you’re buying from a fellow petrol head so will likely have been well cared for.
This is the sales invoice of the RS250 Cup I’ll be picking up in March. Makes interesting reading as you can see the actual price of the Cup back in 2010 along with the additional options on this car (inc. Recaro’s, RS Monitor, Dual Climate, etc....) they were competitively priced (I paid the same for my 207bhp Impreza Turbo back in ‘98).
Saw that post which prompted me to dig out the paperwork for 2010 250. Yours sounded like a good deal as my one doesn’t have the Recaros. This is the sales invoice of the RS250 Cup I’ll be picking up in March. Makes interesting reading as you can see the actual price of the Cup back in 2010 along with the additional options on this car (inc. Recaro’s, RS Monitor, Dual Climate, etc....) they were competitively priced (I paid the same for my 207bhp Impreza Turbo back in ‘98).
Not sure if anyone’s watched the video above, but I can recall when I reviewed the RS Meg250 the constant bleeping all the time under acceleration to tell me to change up a gear - does anyone know whether you can disable that or is it something you’ve just gotta accept when accelerating through the rev range? Think that would drive me mad after a while, especially if you do a track day and have it bleeping all day!
As I say, I only had the car for the day to review for my video and was changing around 6k rpm under hard acceleration and it seemed to be beeping most up shifts. I don’t think that was excessive - isn’t peak power around 5.5k rpm anyway?
Once I pick up the car in March I’ll have a play with the RS Monitor to remove if possible.
Once I pick up the car in March I’ll have a play with the RS Monitor to remove if possible.
DomesticM said:
If you have anymore questions just let me know.
Thanks - can I ask whether yours is on 18 or 19” alloys. Reading a few articles in Evo from 2010 then were saying that the 19’s looked better but the 18’s were the better choice for the ride/handling of the Meg. Any thoughts? Richard-rjbph said:
I dug through my old ‘Evo’ magazines and found this article from 2010 when Dickie Meadon ran a RS Meg 250 Cup for a year. Some interesting info in there including the switch back from 19” to 18” alloys! Anyone found the 19” alloys the same?
Most folk ditch the Steev wheels (the 19 inch ones).
It’s quite common to put a slightly bigger tyre on the 18s too (235/40). Some even run 17s which look quite good.
Richard-rjbph said:
Thanks - can I ask whether yours is on 18 or 19” alloys. Reading a few articles in Evo from 2010 then were saying that the 19’s looked better but the 18’s were the better choice for the ride/handling of the Meg. Any thoughts?
If you're on about the standard Renault wheels then the 18" is the better choice but looks awful compared to the 19" IMO. I'm currently running the 19s with 20mm spacers front and back which helps fill the arches. If you're talking aftermarket wheels then the general consensus is 18" for road/light track use or 17" for heavy track use. The Megane uses a bit of an awkward PCD of 114.3 so alloys are a bit more difficult to find. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff