Trophy for this swansong

MEGANE RS 300: FINAL ITERATION OF EXCITING CAR

Sharp response and feedback but slowed down by turbo lag and EDC.

Saying goodbye is never easy, even more so when the person, or in this case car, has left a lasting legacy over generations dating back more than a decade.

The Renault Megane RS will never be built again, with its replacement – the all-electric Megane E-Tech – already showcased back in 2022.

Besides the end of the combustion engine Megane that replaced the Renault 19 in 1995, the end of the current fourth generation that debuted back in 2016 also brings the curtain down on the Renault Sport name that has featured on every iteration bar the original.

Restructured in 2021 under the revived Alpine brand, four years after the marque made its comeback on the A110, the RS division officially ceased to exist at the end of 2023, just as the final batch of Meganes were being delivered to market.

In the case of South Africa, where every generation of RS has been sold, a line-up pruning in 2020 before its only mid-life facelift saw all the conventional models being phased out, and the RS 300 Trophy, which replaced the RS 280 Lux and Cup in 2018, reinstated as the sole Megane derivative.

Renault South Africa opted for a more discreet goodbye by securing a final batch of 55 Trophys, all fitted with electronic diesel control (EDC), at an eye-watering R949 999, which officially makes the last Megane RS and Renault Sport model the third-most expensive local hot hatch after the Audi RS3 Sportback (R1.3 million) and Honda Civic Type R (R999 990).

Renault has equipped the 300 with red Brembo brake callipers, a grey checkered RS logo on the front wings, 300 Trophy decals at the base of the rear doors and on the rear bumper, plus a red checkered logo on the gloss black grille.

Rounded off by red accented 19-inch Jerez alloy wheels that reduces weight by a claimed two kilograms per corner, the aesthetic gains, on paper, add little emphasis to what has always been a dramatic-looking model in both standard and hotted-up guise.

A different story resides inside where no amount of tasteful extras can hide the Megane RS 300 Trophy’s age – the most prominent being the laggy interface of the seven-inch R-Link infotainment system that froze more than twice during its week-long tenure.

The materials, especially on the centre console, felt on the clunky side, and while space up front proved sufficient, the lingering issue that has accompanied the Megane since its launch, tight rear passenger space, remains with headroom being the biggest gripe.

For its final encore, Renault has trimmed the heated RS sport seats in Alcantara and partial leather, while adding red stitch work and RS embroidered headrests.

Together with a grippy RS steering wheel, also clad in Alcantra, an imitation alloy gear knob and a conspicuous button on the centre console marked RS modes, plus the massive gear shift paddles behind the wheel, the lack of specification becomes less of a

worry.

While still fitted with a stiffer Cup suspension, launch control and the 4Control rear-wheel steering system, Renault has complimented the Brembo stoppers with a retuned exhaust system, resplendent with a new internal valve design it says reduces flow resistance.

Producing an unchanged 221kW/420Nm from the 1.8-litre turbocharged engine that first debuted in the Alpine A110, the response is momentarily blighted not only by low-down turbo lag, but also the EDC being on the hesitant side.

Its ride unashamedly is a result of the Cup chassis and the steering set-up for track precession as evident in its sharp response and feedback.

The most important test though was its performance at Gerotek, which had been limited to the manual, which sprinted from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds.

Bettered later by the Golf 8 GTI, the promise of the auto box, and therefore no delay that comes with the manual, had all the makings of the RS bludgeoning the former one last time.

With road test editor Mark Jones behind the wheel, the Trophy did manage to reclaim its title, but by a margin smaller than expected.

Despite being privy to a Torsen mechanical limited-slip differential, the Trophy’s tendency to spin all its power away through the front wheels saw it record a best time, accompanied by the exhaust emitting cracks and bangs that would be called otherworldly, evil and rude, of 5.85 seconds. Amounting to a three-tenths gain over the GTI and five-tenths over the manual, the clocked time failed to match Renault’s 5.7-second claim, though as Jones later pointed it, it required a fair amount of skill to obtain it due to the tyres scrabbling for grip off the line with, as the nomenclature points out, 300 pferdestarke (PS) going to the front wheels. Stereotypes surrounding French cars are commonplace and while some are often proven wrong, what remains is their ability to inject a unique type of excitement into an everyday product. The farewell to the division and the former nameplate is again a clear testament of this mantra.