Any new Megane RS 280/300 owners?

[nunpuncher]

Tried using the awful search on here but it seems like very few/nobody on here owns or has ever mentioned the new Megane 280.

I test drove one yesterday after watching/reading several hours worth of lukewarm reviews online and I was pleasantly surprised by the car. I liked the 4 wheels steering, it didn't have the hideous wheel hop that my cupra had (was that purely down to the cup pack diff?), Steering had a nice weight, gearshift was nice and short and direct (not bolt action but still nice) and the engine felt easily as keen and sounded better than both the cupra and the Golf R.

So who's got one? What's your spec and how are you finding it? Would be good to get some views on what it's like to live with.

[nunpuncher]

GrumpyTwig said:

Did your cupra have a diff? Wheel hop seems to plague the fwd MQB cars though.

I've only heard of one person having a 280 and I think they worked for a dealers :/

Yes, it had the VAQ diff (electronically controlled mechanical diff so not the xds one that works on the brakes). The car suffered no torque steer whatsoever but the wheel hop was utterly horrendous. The diff was unnoticeable unless you really threw it into a corner.

In contrast the Mégane would wheelspin but none of that horrible hopping. It did suffer torque steer but TBH it was more fun than life threatening.

Framerateuk is the only person I've seen on here with one. Quite amazing there's not more.

[nunpuncher]

I'm a bit sceptical about potentially paying £1200 for the alcantara interior. I didn't like it much in the demonstrator as it works better on seats with a bit of contrast (ie leather bolsters, alcantara centres) and I read that the alcantara in the Clio wears really quickly.

I'd say if you're willing to pay 1200 for alcantara the extra 300 to get recaros is an absolute no brainer.

[nunpuncher]

I couldn't get my feet under the alcantara seats either but I did hear the recaros are even lower.

[nunpuncher]

Hothatch1977 said:

I am in a Cupra 300 atm, great car but prefer looks of Megane RS.
Cup chassis too hard for me as this will be my daily....test drove last year.

Got some quotes with the 0% deal via carwow on a mega cheap Cupra lease so expect to pay more.
2 years RS 280
Deposit £3,654
£239.52 per month
12k per year, excess miles 8p pm
Only options flame red, manual car
Ready July...works well for me as Cupra goes back August will hand back month early to avoid 2nd service.

Thoughts on deal? Close to ordering that red looks immense in the sun and so rare. Never seen one on the road.
Agree infotainment a little Plastic and dated imo....

I got quoted around £3900 and 36x £220 odd for manual 280 with cup chassis pack black paint, bigger infotainment screen and alcantara wheel. I am only on 6k a year so that's why it's less. It's probably the same dealer and today they reduced the discount by 1%.

That pissed me off.

[nunpuncher]

sorrento205 said:

Hi, i've followed you over from the lease thread. Having watched a couple vids on youtube I'm struggling to get the Megane RS out of my head as a reasonable replacement for my golf GTI albeit quite a bit more expensive per month. (that just seem to be the climate at the moment)
Both vids mentioned they were unhappy with the gear knob, & it does look a bit unusual, did you notice?!
The other thing i noticed is that the infotainment looks very inferior to the VW product i'm used to.
As i've said in the lease thread, no demonstrator in South Wales yet as far as I can determine. My current lease runs out in June so i'm starting to feel up against the clock but I don't know if i could 'buy' a car without test driving it though.

Welcome!

I saw the review you are referring to so I did have a good fondle of the knob and it seemed perfectly ok to me. It's the sort of thing you could easily change anyway.

There's lots of weird stuff being said in reviews that don't align to what I experienced on my test drive. The gearshift felt good. One review said it was like stirring a bucket of nails with a plastic spoon. The engine felt pretty lively yet many reviews said it was wheezy at the top end. Most reviewers say the 4 wheel steering feels odd and unnerving. I thought it made the car really sharp and responsive. I can only assume it's me that's got it all wrong since they're the professionals.

I didn't spend much time playing with the infotainment system (car had the upgraded one). The graphics did look decent and menus seemed easy to use but it was laggy and the whole thing does look a bit like a big cheap tablet stuck on the dash. Maybe the fact I didn't look at it once while driving says something about the driving experience. It's a bit naff but I really liked all the different interior lighting colours.

So are there no RS dealers in South Wales at all? The dealer I visited told me all RS dealers have to have demonstrators.

PS. Nice user name. I've got a white 205 GTi in the garage.

[nunpuncher]

gutbobs said:

That's interesting, thanks. I've read that the recaro's are 20mm lower than the standard seat.

I'd assume that the alcantara seats are the same as the standard one with the cloth replaced with alcantara, so it's a concern if passengers can't fit there feet under.

I better go an look okay one to check it out

Yes. The standard seats are identical to the alcantara ones only covered with the same material that geography teachers get their trousers made out of.

I would love to spec the alcantara or the recaros (my kids are still too young to reach the floor). But I'm trying to keep it sensible and it's either fancy seats or cup chassis. The diff is really the only bit of the cup chassis I want. I couldn't face having another car that wheel hopped like the cupra.

[nunpuncher]

Thanks for taking the time to give that very detailed write up.

Do you ever find the cup chassis too stiff for a road car? I'm still swaying regarding ticking that box. The roads around here are terrible so I tend to prefer something that soaks up the bumps but I suspect the car really does need the diff.

[nunpuncher]

I know. Until last week I just assumed all Renault dealers sold Renault Sport cars. I guess I lucked out that my local one was an RS dealer who had a demonstrator.

[nunpuncher]

How much is annual tax on the Megane? I thought it was about £140 but I saw a note on the dealers quote that the first year was covered at a cost of £800.

[nunpuncher]

Hothatch1977 said:

Good topic this....
Got my shortlist down to the following in order of cost, cheapest being No 1...
1. Cupra 290 dsg
2. Megane RS manual
3. Merc A45

Can’t ignore how cheap the Cupra deals are....I have a spreadsheet lol
I do circa 15k per year so need something that ticks all boxes...fun/comfort etc
Love the Merc but pricey and high excess mileage

I should settle for a comfy diesel German car as my work colleagues have but just can’t!!
Love a hot hatch always have....

Do you mean the A35?

I went and had a nose around one last week. The interior looks and feels very expensive and the one in the showroom had the aero pack so it looked good outside. It really needs that pack added to look anything better than the A180 diesels though and then things start to get rather expensive.

I previously had a Cupra 290 DSG. A 2 year lease that went back in December and like you say it was great value for money. I really can't criticise anything about the car other than it's tendency to wheel hop even when you feed the power in. The explanation on here regarding the torque coming in so early makes sense but I think theres something funny about the diff and traction set up as the car didn't torque steer at all and there was no progression to the loss of front end traction in a straight line. Like it never went from a bit of wheel spin to wheel hop. It always just went straight to violent wheel hop no matter the conditions.

It was a good car that did everything well but nothing brilliantly.

[nunpuncher]

Standard spec covers most of what I need. I'll tick the bigger screen, alcantara wheel, paint and still on the fence about the cup pack. I don't want to be cursing the stiffness everyday only to get the benefits of the diff every so often.

Cup pack or orange paint?.. hmm. Annoying that paint is so pricey.

[nunpuncher]

I never thought it was too hard on the test drive. My concern is more over the endless moaning I may have to endure from the boss and kids possibly feeling a bit sick in the back if things are a bit jiggly. However, it's not often we all use my car.