Back on the pace
The latest Mégane propels Renault Sport straight back to near the top of the heap
LA RÉGIE HAS always been at or near the top of hot-hatch group tests, so there’s a lot riding on this new Renault Sport Mégane, not least because this could be the last-ever RS hatch with a conventional combustion engine. Renault Sport engineer Fabien Berthomieu shrugs when the point is made, saying: ‘Could be.’ But it’s also important because the last RS model, the Clio RS, was somewhat less than universally acclaimed.
So does this car put the RS back into the game? They’ve certainly thrown the kitchen sink at the chassis, with racing-style hydraulic bumpstops in the dampers, giving a relatively gentle ride with decent body control. There’s a separate steering knuckle to improve the front geometry and reduce torque-steer. And the car also has the rear-steer system from the Laguna, which pivots the rear wheels by 1º in the same direction as the fronts above 37mph (62mph in Race Mode) to ‘virtually’ increase the wheelbase and improve stability at speed, and up to 2.7º in the opposite direction at low speed to increase agility.
There are two choices of chassis: Sport and Cup, the latter with 10% uprated dampers, harder springs, beefier bushing and anti-roll bars and a 5mm reduction in ride height. The Cup also gets a mechanical Torsen limited-slip differential, which reduces wheel scrabble and improves turnin, and aluminium and cast-iron brake discs, which are lighter and lose heat quicker. By the middle of the year there will be a Trophy version for even more high-jinks.
Replacing the old RS’s 2.0-litre turbo four is a new Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi Alliance 276bhp 1.8 with 288lb ft of torque, familiar from the new Alpine A110. Chaindriven with a production-based block featuring plasma-sprayed, mirror-finish bores, it also has a specially designed cylinder head, with low-friction coatings on the cam buckets and a twin-scroll turbocharger, which blows harder at lower revs than a conventional unit. Standard transmission is a six-speed manual driving the front wheels and there’s an optional Getrag six-speed, twin-clutch semi-automatic, with wet clutches to cope with the extra torque, plus launch control and skip downshift systems.
The tuned exhaust has a bit of a boom and if you dial in Sport or Race mode, it pops and bangs on overrun. Despite the reduction in swept volume, it pulls well; very well once past 2500rpm, all the way to the 7000rpm red line. You need to work the gearbox, but the twin-clutch changes really quickly, though you need to have race mode on to stop it changing down automatically even when it’s in manual.
Like rivals with a separate steering knuckle, there’s a lack of feel at the steering wheel, but as soon as you turn into a corner you quickly realise that feedback isn’t really required. That rear-steer system hauls the front into turns with an agility that defies belief; no nose-on understeer, no scrabble on the exit, the RS just goes where it is pointed at just about every speed.
On the circuit, the Cup chassis (which will be the most popular in the UK) is more of a thoroughbred, with a harsher ride and more skittish behaviour, but ultimately trustworthy as it drifts predictably at the front and then with all four wheels. That Torsen diff corrupts the steering a little, but it’s useful on turn-in and coming out of hairpins.
Overall, this is a highly impressive return to form. Welcome back, Renault Sport.