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Bruce Newton24 Mar 2020
REVIEW

Renault Megane RS 2020 Comparison

Resident ripper Luke Youlden takes all four Renault Megane RS hot hatches to the track to find out which is fastest
Review Type
Comparison
Review Location
Sandown Park, Victoria

It’s a sight that would make any hot hatch fan drool. Four Renault Megane RS models sitting in the pitlane at Melbourne’s Sandown Raceway.

And not just random examples of the breed either. These are the four steps up the ladder of performance and pricing that Renault offers with this popular performance model – Sport, Cup, Trophy and Trophy-R.

Sure, they all start from the same base; five-door Megane body, 1.8-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive chassis, torque steer-quelling Perfohub double axis strut front suspension, torsion beam rear-end, electric-assist power steering and 19-inch Bridgestone Potenza rubber.

But across nearly $30,000 from the $45,990 Sport to the wild $74,990 Trophy-R there’s enough variation to make this track test a truly fascinating exercise.

Welcome to the Renault RS show starring Luke and Bruce

Now we just need the driver who can extract the ultimate pace from all four. Of course, we have our man: 2017 Bathurst 1000 champion Luke Youlden, who also happens to be a two-time Supercars race winner at Sandown.

It’s handy that he knows the place because it shapes as a true test of the RS. There are two high-speed straights, one sphincter-tightening fourth-gear sweeper and a series of slower corners that should test out front-wheel drive traction. Some of them are off-camber just to add an extra challenge and overlaying all this is a grotty, rough surface. Awesome.

Just for reference sake, a fast Supercars lap around the 13-turn 3.104km layout is in the 1:08s, while TCR touring cars – such as the factory-backed Renault Megane RS driven by James Moffat – lap in the 1:15s.

So it’s one flying lap in each car with all aids like stability control off and drive modes switched to the most aggressive ‘Race’ setting. That tunes up the drivetrain and steering, but not the suspensions as they are passive.

Oh yeah, all four cars are six-speed manuals. That’s because the Trophy-R can’t be had with the dual-clutch auto the others can be optioned with.

Let’s get into it!

The Trophy-R stands out because... it's not yellow

Renault Megane RS Sport

The entry-level model in the RS line-up comes with the least aggressive suspension setting and without the Torsen limited-slip differential that’s standard on the other three.

It also gets a cast-iron disc to go with its Brembo four-pot callipers, whereas all the other models have an aluminium/cast iron combo.

There’s also no Bose stereo and no leather seat trim, not that Luke really cares about that stuff.

Nope he’s out there having fun, logging a baseline lap for the rest of the range to try and beat. It’s fun just watching him trying to carry maximum speed on to Sandown’s front straight, driving right over the top of the ripple strip at turn 12 in the process.

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And he’s smiling when he comes in, enthusing how the standard four-wheel steering system is aiding turn-in to Sandown’s many 90-degree left- and right-hand corners.

“It has a little hint of oversteer that helps in these tight corners,” he says.

But exiting the corners Luke’s noticing the shortcomings of torque vectoring compared to a mechanical diff.

“You just have to be a little careful committing to the throttle. It doesn’t so much torque steer as wheelspin out of the corner. You just have to make sure you’re a little bit later and squarer before you commit to the throttle.

“But it’s fun, it’s pulling close to 200km/h down each straight. I am actually quite impressed.”

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Renault Megane RS Sport
Price:
$45,990 plus ORCs
Power: 205kW @ 6000rpm
Torque: 390Nm @ 2400Nm
Kerb weight: 1427kg
0-100km/h: 5.8sec
Lap time: 1:26.24 @ 129.57km/h

Renault Megane RS Cup

Yes, if you’ve scrolled down to the lap time, you’re probably wondering why the more expensive Megane RS Cup was significantly slower than the cheaper Sport.

The Cup adds the Torsen LSD and the different disc composition but the most important difference is the stiffer suspension setting. Springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and hydraulic bump stops are all revised. The shock absorbers are 25 per cent firmer and the springs are 30 per cent tighter

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The only problem is Luke’s not sure this set-up is helping or hindering on Sandown’s rough surface.

“It’s just not as balanced,” he complains. “I had a pretty wild moment on the out-lap, just with the rear, until I got any sort of temp in it.

“It feels just a little bit too stiff for this place compared to the Sport. It’s definitely looser and not as confidence-inspiring on turn-in.

“Maybe there was some tyre [issues] in there too. They’re the same [Potenza] S001s as the Sport, but they just felt like they couldn’t keep up with the chassis.”

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Renault Megane RS Cup
Price:
$48,990 plus ORCs
Power: 205kW @ 6000rpm
Torque: 390Nm @ 2400Nm
Kerb weight: 1427kg
0-100km/h: 5.8sec
Lap time: 1:26.79 @ 128.75216km/h

Renault Megane RS Trophy

The Trophy is a Cup with extra power and torque and a noisier exhaust.

Power climbs 16kW and torque by 10Nm and Renault says that’s enough to eke 0.1sec from the 0-100km/h acceleration time.

It’s also enough to lap nearly one second faster than the Sport and nearly 1.5sec faster than the Cup, adding weight to our suspicions that particular car might have an issue such as cooked tyres.

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“There is a significant improvement in straight-line speed and sound,” Luke smiles. “I have got to pull fifth now up each straight – it looks like it’s going between five and 10km/h faster each end.

“This car feels a little more confident-inspiring on turn-in so you can attack the corners a little bit more.

“But it has the same trait as the Cup in that it feels a bit stiff in the front. It is working the tyre more and I’m not sure it likes it.”

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Renault Megane RS Trophy
Price:
$52,990 plus ORCs
Power: 221kW @ 6000rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 3200Nm
Kerb weight: 1427kg
0-100km/h: 5.7sec
Lap time: 1:25.33 @ 130.955km/h

Renault Megane RS Trophy-R

Our Trophy-R is just one of 11 examples shipped to Australia. A bunch of them have been sold into Western Australia, the home of a certain factory Renault F1 driver called Daniel Ricciardo.

It’s sometimes incorrectly reported that the Trophy-R is the car that set the new front-wheel drive lap record at the Nürburgring. That’s actually the Trophy-R Record Edition, of which just one has ever made it to Australia. The Lynk & Co 03 has since smashed that time so it’s all academic anyway.

As you can see the Trophy-R is a comparatively huge leap in price over its compatriots, but then so is the change in specification compared to the other cars.

Ohlins dampers that can be manually adjusted for ride height and firmness on compression and rebound are a key part of the package, as are bespoke Bridgestone Potenza S007 tyres, bigger pistons for the Brembo callipers and aerodynamic aids including a carbon diffuser under the tail, a smoother front spoiler and flat panels under the floor.

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An Akrapovic exhaust adds real aural bite to the Trophy-R’s soundtrack. But just as important is what you don’t get for your money – more than 120kg in kerb weight.

So many actions contribute to this. The Sabelt front seats, a lighter battery, the 8kg-lighter carbon-fibre bonnet with NACA duct and alloy wheels that cut two kg per corner. Junking driver assist systems like radar cruise saves another 25kg.

There is no back seat and no rear wiper, the rear glass is thinner and there’s a shark fin antenna and 7.0-inch media screen versus the usual 8.7-inch version. The Bose sound system is ripped out. Even the 4Control four-wheel steer system is gone.

All that resets the kerb weight at 1306kg and the price at $74,990 plus on-road costs.

It also resets our fastest lap by more than two seconds!

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Luke’s confident he has extracted maximum performance from the car: “It’s a pretty handy time – only eight seconds off a TCR car. Far out!

“The biggest thing you notice initially is it just pulls the next gear harder, so there is less of an rpm drop. That’s probably the reduced weight.

“It definitely has a lot more confidence on turn-in, so the rear is a lot more stable without 4Control. It also rides the kerbs better than the other cars.

“It has a bit more mid-corner to exit front traction so you can commit to the throttle a bit harder than the other cars. That’s possibly tyre.

“It’s a lot noisier of course without all the sound deadening. But who cares about that – this is undoubtedly the best car to drive.”

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Renault Megane RS Trophy-R
Price:
$74,990 plus ORCs
Power: 221kW @ 6000rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 3200Nm
Kerb weight: 1306kg
0-100km/h: 5.4sec
Lap time: 1:23.27 @ 134.194788km/h

The Final Lap

So it’s no surprise the lightest Renault Megane RS with as much power as anything else here and the best suspension was significantly faster than its in-house opposition at Sandown.

It’s a salutary lesson in how much money makes the wheels spin faster in motoring and motorsport.

But as the day ends Luke is pondering the meaning of it all. Is the hard-core, exciting Trophy-R really worth $30,000 more than the Sport, which is only three seconds slower and still a really enjoyable drive?

“I would argue the Sport is not $30,000 less fun than the Trophy-R,” he ponders.

In fact, we’d also argue all four Renault Megane RS hot hatches are pretty much a hoot. You pay your money, you make your choice!

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Our Renault Sport Megane RS was originally published a few days ago with an ever so slight glitch… When editing the video for the feature, the wrong vehicle was featured in the wrong section – well all but one are the same colour!

The times, facts and figures were therefore triple-checked, the video was re-cut and you can now enjoy it in all its glory: Mike Sinclair, Editor in Chief.

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