RS Megane 250 gets lap timer

The hot Renaultsport Megane 250 will get a high-tech lap timer when it goes on sale in November. The Focus RS rival has been on show at Frankfurt sporting a "Renaultsport Monitor" display in the middle of the dashboard.

This function shows the demands being put on the engine and "real-time" performance of the unit. It also shows lateral acceleration, 0-60mph times, lap times and allows the driver to tweak the throttle mapping. A gearchange warning light is also built in.

See the high-res Renaultsport Megane 250 picture gallery

The new model will come with either the standard sports chassis or the more extreme cup version, which also features a limited-slip differential. Power comes for a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, which produces 247bhp and 251lb ft of torque.

A hardcore version of the new Megane Renaultsport 250 has not been ruled out despite mediocre sales of the last-generation R26R model, Autocar has learned.

Launched as a stripped-out track day special of the previous Megane, the R26R was expected to reach 230 UK owners. But despite rave reviews, just 159 of them have been sold in Britain.

Renault is undeterred, blaming the economic climate on the lack of interest, and says the new car could get the R26R treatment, which included plastic windows and a roll cage.

“The current economic environment hasn’t done anything to help the R26R,” a Renault insider said, “but if you think the extreme version was done at the end of that car’s life I wouldn’t rule it out at the end of the new car’s life. That’s what we have done before.”

The Megane Renaultsport 250 is based on the three-door Megane hatchback and uses a version of the outgoing car's 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, now cranked up to produce 247bhp.

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