Friday 31st March 2017

Renault Sport Megane teaser vid

It's a teaser in the very loosest sense of the term, but here's your first look at the next fast Megane

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We all know by now the illustrious history of Renault Sport, its back catalogue crammed full of iconic hot hatches of all shapes and sizes. And the Spider. To mark a million Facebook fans, Renault has produced a video reminding us of all the legends since the 80s. And, well, here it is.

Please be good, please be good, please...

Beyond that though, this vid gives us a preview of the next Renault Sport Megane. Yes, really. It is the briefest of previews too, the car covered and seen for just a few seconds. Visible through the sheet are lights in a similar design to the revised Clio 200, some headlights and, er, the wing mirrors. Oh yes, and it revs too, just to prove this Megane will indeed have a petrol engine.

Which one will it be though? The fast Megane has long been powered by the F4RT 2.0-litre turbo engine, which is certainly capable of producing the required power, but could now be seen as too inefficient for a brand new hot hatch. There is the 252hp 1.8 as found in the new Alpine as well, though that is of course only currently paired to a dual-clutch transmission. Five doors only is one thing, please don't say the manual will be done away with too!

New school Renault Sport has showed promise...

There of course remains plenty to be confirmed about the next Megane Renault Sport before its debut - expected at the Frankfurt show - so what better time to begin the full speculation? Given the 4Control four-wheel steer is standard on the Megane GT, it's probably going to be fitted to the RS as well. And a torsion beam looks likely to remain given its presence elsewhere in the range, though Renault Sport didn't exactly struggle with that in the previous generation...

It's a crucial car for Renault Sport, this latest Megane. The last car cemented its reputation as builders of perhaps the most engaging hot hatch around, but then the latest (and more accommodating) Clio has opened Renault Sport up to even more customers. What will this Megane be? We can't wait to find out!

Watch the video here.

[macky17]

F4RT

[MOBB]

<snigger>

[great_kahn]

" but then the latest (and more accommodating) Clio has opened Renault Sport up to even more customers"

Wow... what a very fake news way of saying they fcked up and sold less than a thousand in the uk. The current Clio Renaultsport is a total sales failure, completely misjudged the market. Hope they learned lessons for the Megane.

[Alex_225]

I have no objection to it being four doors as it's a bigger car than a Clio so it makes some sense I guess. They did a reasonable job of disguising the rear doors on the latest Clio anyway.

I suspect the car will be very very capable as many RenaultSport models have been. Let's hope they offer a manual which is what many petrol heads really want.

[djdest]

macky17 said:

F4RT

They're a day early!

[Itsallicanafford]

Personally, i hope they do a double clutch Auto version...could tempt me to get one for my next company car.

This could be a brilliant all rounder :-

5 doors - Great, kids can get in the back...

Double clutch auto box - Great, the M25 in rush hour is not a lot of fun in a manual

Big boot - Great, space for the luggage + spare set of wheels for trackdays

Turbo engine - Great, low Co2 & BIC

so a car practical enough for a family, convenient enough to commute in and hopefully talented enough to take on track...for £30K odd, sounds good to me.

[GloriaGTI]

djdest said:

macky17 said:

F4RT

They're a day early!

That's what I was thinking!

[Quickmoose]

Seems an awful lot of delicate souls these days that bemoan pressing a pedal and moving a gear stick in traffic...such hardship.
Those floating fat people from the film "Wall-e" really aren't that far away are they.....

The "joy of driving" is fast becoming the "joy of swiping left and right on a screen whilst my machine gets me where I want to be".

[culpz]

Itsallicanafford said:

Personally, i hope they do a double clutch Auto version...could tempt me to get one for my next company car.

This could be a brilliant all rounder :-

5 doors - Great, kids can get in the back...

Double clutch auto box - Great, the M25 in rush hour is not a lot of fun in a manual

Big boot - Great, space for the luggage + spare set of wheels for trackdays

Turbo engine - Great, low Co2 & BIC

so a car practical enough for a family, convenient enough to commute in and hopefully talented enough to take on track...for £30K odd, sounds good to me.

I agree. All Renault need to do is offer their customers the power of choice this time, with the transmission being the main focus.

Tbh, i'd be more interested in the auto. I tested the Clio 200 EDC a few years ago and i liked it tbh. But a manual option is always good going.

Most can put up with the 5-doors and the turbo engine has been proven to be excellence in the previous iterations of the Megane.
The Clio, on the other hand, has always been a different proposition and held different expectations.

[Sir_Dave]

I fear something along the lines of the following:

Electric steering, flappy paddles, 285 bhp, no diff, no recaros, no brembos and looks like a 308 Gti.
In effect, they will go further after the VAG Gti/S/VRS market with a fatter, heavier Clio 200T, but without the higher residuals/decent PCP deals of the "premium" manufacturers.

In 4 years time, they will release a Trophy version, that will be much better.
Then 6 months before the end of the production cycle, they will get Akropovic/Recaro/Brembo/Ohlins involved and create an utter monster.
This car will be utterly awesome, but they will either A) not make it B) make it, but no one will buy it.

[WCZ]

it's going to be interesting to see what the next batch of hot hatches are like, hopefully not like the new fiesta st which adds nothing other than decreased fuel consumption

[Vee12V]

great_kahn said:

" but then the latest (and more accommodating) Clio has opened Renault Sport up to even more customers"

Wow... what a very fake news way of saying they fcked up and sold less than a thousand in the uk. The current Clio Renaultsport is a total sales failure, completely misjudged the market. Hope they learned lessons for the Megane.

Exactly.

[framerateuk]

great_kahn said:

" but then the latest (and more accommodating) Clio has opened Renault Sport up to even more customers"

Wow... what a very fake news way of saying they fcked up and sold less than a thousand in the uk. The current Clio Renaultsport is a total sales failure, completely misjudged the market. Hope they learned lessons for the Megane.

As far as I'm aware, it's just the UK that hasn't warmed to the new Clio, it's sold well in other markets, especially Australia where they didn't have the previous gen.

I'm looking forward to this a lot. Having had the Clio 220 for a year, I think I'd stick with an auto, but I do hope they stick to a real mechanical LSD and not an electronic one.

[HighwayStar]

great_kahn said:

" but then the latest (and more accommodating) Clio has opened Renault Sport up to even more customers"

Wow... what a very fake news way of saying they fcked up and sold less than a thousand in the uk. The current Clio Renaultsport is a total sales failure, completely misjudged the market. Hope they learned lessons for the Megane.

Nope.... It hasn't done well here, a flop would be accurate but... overall, taking other markets into account, they have sold far better than previous hot Clio. It's shame they didn't offer a manual and harder edged version ultimately it's a sales, thus profits, that count.
The bottom line is our market isn't the biggest for the RS Clio and a few lost sales is neither here nor there to Renault.

[Sir_Dave]

framerateuk said:

it's sold well in other markets, especially Australia where they didn't have the previous gen.

So by actually selling the car in some countries other than the UK, they have increased sales worldwide?
Renault could have sold 1 in Australia and it would have surpassed all previously Clio RS sales exploits
Brilliant.

[great_kahn]

WCZ said:

it's going to be interesting to see what the next batch of hot hatches are like, hopefully not like the new fiesta st which adds nothing other than decreased fuel consumption

Vastly increased interior quality and technology is a big bonus.

[slipstream 1985]

The 90s called, they want their diavolo front bumper back.

[Henno196]

Sir_Dave said:

I fear something along the lines of the following:

Electric steering, flappy paddles, 285 bhp, no diff, no recaros, no brembos and looks like a 308 Gti.
In effect, they will go further after the VAG Gti/S/VRS market with a fatter, heavier Clio 200T, but without the higher residuals/decent PCP deals of the "premium" manufacturers.

In 4 years time, they will release a Trophy version, that will be much better.
Then 6 months before the end of the production cycle, they will get Akropovic/Recaro/Brembo/Ohlins involved and create an utter monster.
This car will be utterly awesome, but they will either A) not make it B) make it, but no one will buy it.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[framerateuk]

Sir_Dave said:

So by actually selling the car in some countries other than the UK, they have increased sales worldwide?
Renault could have sold 1 in Australia and it would have surpassed all previously Clio RS sales exploits
Brilliant.

You get it's a French car right? It's not made here, it's made in France and sold all over Europe and a few other countries.

(Edit: Clearly you do, your profile photo is one! Your comment suggests they only sell them here though!).

It's sold much better in Europe than the previous model. The UK is a small market in comparison.

Edited by framerateuk on Friday 31st March 13:19

[Tuvra]

I would be in an RS16 instead of a Focus RS if they had made it, I am therefore looking forward to seeing this