Renaultsport Megane 250 Cup review
Renault Megane 2.0T Renaultsport 250 Cup Road Test
Test date 03 January 2010
Price as tested £24,145
For Top-end performance, strong dry grip, low-slung seating position
Against Steering and gearshift could be better, uninspiring exhaust note
Usually there is a reasonable correlation between the performance of a hot hatch and the cooking version on which it is based. For example, that the Ford Focus RS is so entertaining has a lot to do with the brilliance of the basic Focus chassis, likewise the Volkswagen Scirocco R. But with Renault no such parallels can be drawn. Good supermini that it is, the Clio and Clio Cup feel like products of entirely different companies.
Which in a way they are.
The team responsible for Renaultsport products may be a subsidiary of the Renault group, but it operates from its Dieppe HQ as a separate entity. It also makes the firm’s racing cars and organises the international race series in which they compete. All of which goes some way to explain how Renaultsport manages to transform very ordinary mainstream hatchbacks into quite exceptional driver’s cars.
Renaultsport will, however, have its work cut out this time. We have been less than impressed by the five-door Mégane hatch, even less so the Coupé version. So does the Mégane 250 pick up where the excellent R26 left off?
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