Road test review: Renault Megane RS

Sunday, 8 September 2019

The Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R is the fastest FWD car around the legendary Nurburgring. For now, at least.

**RENAULT MEGANE RS

Price:** $62,990

Powertrain: 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo with 205kW/390Nm, six-speed dual clutch, FWD. Combined economy 7.0L/100km, 161gm/km CO2 (Source: RightCar), 0-100kmh 5.8 seconds.

The Renault Megane RS is still a properly hot hatch. Those DRLs do represent a stylised map of the Nurburgring after all.

Vital statistics: 4356mm long, 1428mm high, 2670mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 434 litres, 19-inch wheels.

We like: A little less mental, dual clutch transmission, exclusivity.

The family-friendlier RS now has five doors and loses a little of its madness.

We don't like: Over-wrought instrumentation, a touch too expensive.

A shift from three to five-doors and three pedals to two is a shock for Renault Megane RS fans, right? Actually, it's not such a big deal. Nor a new one - Toyota New Zealand broke ground with this formula 33 years back with the Corolla GT, a family-first liftback made feral by adopting the famous 4A-GE 1.6-litre twin cam.

The Megane's interior presents some traditional ergonomic weirdness. It is French, after all.

Those of us who took a plunge discovered those 'extra' doors didn't matter. I regret selling mine. Anyway, fast forward to here and now, it's hard to find a hot hatch that isn't a five-door. And easy to name the one in that feisty crowd that sets the pace.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI (and Golf R) have become strongly entrenched for more than a family-friendly body shape. That's the second point. Also key to their appeal is another ingredient the Megane has finally adopted.

You'll be using these more than the awkward stick to shift manually in the RS.

* Another day, another Nurburgring lap record

* The hot hatch with more**

What VW calls DSG is EDC in Renault-speak, but it's operationally the same thing; a dual clutch gearbox with one clutch for odd-numbered ratios and one for evens, shifting via steering wheel paddles – with engagement measured in mere milliseconds in its most aggressive setting – and a gearstick, which you'll avoid due to its awkward shape.

Convenience, flexibility and no more heavy, abrupt clutch, that's the EDC appeal. And it's so glaringly obvious it's incredible Renault took so long to see the light. It's effectively an automatic for mundane driving, but a different kind of manual, with ability to shift faster and often smoother than any human can.

All that makes it better than a pure manual for general driving. It's therefore interesting the RS still sticks to old ways, too. Why bother? Because the alternate pure manual is $3000 cheaper than the EDC.

EDC has five drive modes, but the base Comfort setting is redundant, with overly tardy responses, and the Race and Perso settings are for special occasions. Giving free reign on customisation, from track telemetry to ambient lighting, the latter is probably not worth accessing until you get an intimate feel for what the car has to offer.

So, basically, and at least during the honeymoon period, you might as well just restrict to Neutral (which means Normal) for urban dawdling then, for every other occasion, snick through to Sport and enjoy a much-sharpened urge and some awesome snap-crackle-pop which goes well with the chassis' playfulness. Engaging agility and tenacious cornering grip, sharp steering and high-performance braking. Yup, they're still here.

How much extra talent is released by the 4Control four-wheel-steering system? Good question; one I'm tempted to answer with a Gallic shrug. The next-step-up Trophy edition might provide a more coherent resolution.

Okay, so now to the ride quality. It's not soft, but it does deliver more comfort than previously. If you prefer the extreme firmness of the past, then await the Trophy. If you want a bit of a respite, and prefer your teeth weren't chattering over coarse chip, then take the RS as it configures here.

The one consistency is in the styling. You needn't order it in the Fanta-esque hero colour to win attention; with bulging wheel arches, a wide track, 19-inch alloys with 245/35 R19 tyres, it'll likely win attention in even a boring hue.

Bolstered front seats, a thick-rimmed steering wheel and a really good driving position are immediate pluses and though the cabin is a bit ergonomically-quirky (the now entirely digital dashboard renders in four different visuals, one of which doesn't even include that most requisite of instruments, a rev counter) there's one brilliance - when you restart the car after parking up, it remembers and retains your previous drive selection. Gotta love it for that.

Basically, then, it's closer to the German template. Will it therefore win the same level of favouritism going forward, given the whole point of having EDC is to broaden the buy-in?

Well, maybe, but probably not. Apart from the 'Frenchness' of it all, it cannot offer any easy price advantage over the Golf. So, even though the penetration might rise, expect continuation of an on-road rarity factor that to date has yet to beat even that of the Chris Amon-fettled Corolla, whose build run spanned just two years and stopped at 180 units.