All-new Renault Sport Mégane breaks cover
New 300bhp-plus hot hatch will take the fight to Honda’s Civic Type R from next spring
Renault is vying to bring the hot hatch crown back to its performance arm with the new Mégane Renault Sport, which made its public debut at the Monaco Grand Prix over the weekend.
The camouflaged model was driven by Renault Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg on the famous street circuit, offering a first glimpse of its design and performance ahead of the car’s official launch in September at the Frankfurt motor show.
Unlike its lairy-looking rival, the Honda Civic Type R, the hot Mégane’s exterior design is relatively subtle. Brand design boss Stéphane Janin told Autocar that this was because he believed the new Renault Sport model would be better off flaunting its performance with raw pace rather than with arresting bodywork.
“Our brand is not about aggressivity,” he said. “We try to have a product that is powerful but rather simple with sensual shapes. That’s what we tried to make with the next Mégane RS. [This approach] is harder than going aggressive. To find the right balance is hard, but we have done it.”
Renault has refrained from releasing information on what engine will power the new model, but sources expect the turbocharged 1.8-litre fourcylinder engine of the Alpine A110 to be used instead of an updated version of the previous Mégane RS’S 2.0-litre unit.
The 1.8 has a lower CO2 output. It produces 249bhp and 236lb ft in the Alpine, but power is predicted to be more than 300bhp in the Mégane
RS to give the car a fighting chance against rivals like the 316bhp Civic Type R. This would make the new car at least 29bhp more potent than the most powerful version of its predecessor, the 275 Cup S.
The engine will drive the front wheels through a sixspeed manual gearbox or, for the first time in a Mégane RS, an optional six-speed EDC dual-clutch automatic gearbox. While European markets are expected to prefer the manual, markets in Asia are predicted to have more demand for the EDC transmission.
Due to the lower and longer five-door-only platform of the new Mégane — which sits 25mm lower and is 28mm longer than the old car — and its wider tracks, the next Mégane RS is expected to have significantly more mechanical grip. The use of four-wheel steering will also help to make it more agile at speed while improving the car’s turning circle and enabling Renault Sport to make the steering more alert.
Straight-line performance will also reach new levels, with the new car trimming the old Mégane RS 275 Cup S’s 5.8sec 0-62mph time to potentially edge it ahead of the Civic Type R, which takes 5.7sec, and close to the four-wheel-drive Audi S3, which needs 5.2sec.
When the new Mégane RS goes on sale in spring 2018, it’s expected to be priced from around £27,500. This significantly undercuts the Civic Type R, which starts at £30,200, and ranks the Mégane RS well above the less hardcore Ford Focus ST, which starts at £25,235.