Renault Mégane RS Trophy

The Mégane is still an enthusiast’s car, just more versatile too

‘This Mégane tries to stretch its abilities over a wider performance envelope’

IT’S NOT OFTEN I FIND MYSELF A LITTLE out of line with the evo consensus, but that’s where I seem to be with the Mégane Trophy. Once the default darling of this magazine’s hot hatch group tests, Renault Sport hasn’t been enjoying the same degree of dominance since the new-generation Mégane was introduced.

I think it’s fair to say it’s not just the Mégane that’s changed. Driving my father’s ST200 Fiesta recently reminded me how focused these little cars once were, and how mature the current ST is by comparison. It’s a great car, but there are few traces of the grit that always seems to make older models feel more immediate and undiluted.

The same is definitely true of the Mégane, the simplicity and purity of the previous-generation RSS replaced by a larger-scale car that delivers greater performance, but relies on four-wheel steer and multiple dynamic modes to try to stretch its abilities over a wider performance envelope.

When I first wrote about running this car I confessed that I had concerns I wouldn’t warm to it, but since taking custody of HY19 FMJ I have become increasingly dialled in to its way of doing things. This has required a degree of adaptation on my part, and acceptance that where its predecessors were much more single-minded in their objective – and hugely successful at achieving it – the current-generation car is one that divides its efforts between fulfilling the role of a hard-edged hot hatch and a fast, driver-focused saloon in the mould of a latter-day Subaru Impreza STI. Given I miss those old Imprezas, this is an analogy I like, just as I appreciate Renault remaining true to its hardcore roots.

I may have struggled to come to terms with the Mégane’s metamorphosis, but the more I drive it, and – crucially – the further I drive it, the more I’ve come to appreciate how well the new Mégane RS serves as a multi-role machine. It’s always entertaining on my local back roads, but in the last month alone I’ve also done two runs to IKEA and loaded it to the gunwales with flat-pack boxes, have made the long trip across the country to Anglesey for Mission Motorsport’s Race of Remembrance (see page 100) and have done umpteen airport runs, too. And not once have I wished I was in another car.

I know a Golf R, Focus ST or i30 N would be just as practical and considerably less combative, but none has the attitude or the same degree of built-by-enthusiasts-for-enthusiasts specialness the Mégane possesses. Fast Renaults might have changed over the years, but this is one constant that Renault Sport still nails.

(@Dickiemeaden)

Date acquired June 2019 Total mileage 11,844 Mileage this month 414 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 32.1