Renault confirm Megane R.S Trophy for New Zealand

Tuesday, 20 April 2021

Renault New Zealand launched the new Megane RS at the only sensible place to launch a powerful hot hatch - Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.

Renault has confirmed that the Megane R.S Trophy will be available in New Zealand this month, in both manual and dual-clutch automatic flavours.

The Trophy adds to the Megane R.S hot hatch base with a power bump to 221kW/400Nm (420Nm with the automatic transmission), a limited-slip differential on the front axle to help keep things pointed in the right direction and the ‘Cup’ sport chassis with custom springs/shocks and four hydraulic compression stops.

Also standard is 4Control four-wheel steering, a variable sports exhaust system and improved front brakes.

The Megane R.S Trophy will be here at the end of the month in both manual and dual-clutch automatic forms.

Renault has also included the R.S Drive System, which adds Sport and Race modes, launch control (on automatic models) and the R.S monitor, which displays various telemetry and vehicle parameters in real time on the 9.3-inch infotainment screen.

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Power has been bumped as high as 221kW/420Nm and a more refined chassis means this should be a properly awesome hot hatch.

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The Trophy isn’t a fully stripped out track car though, it still has things like air-conditioning, a Bose audio system, heated seats, adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking.

As before, opting for the dual-clutch over the manual gets buyers an electronic parking brake, but it looks like the manual comes with a similarly self-operated handbrake. That makes it more hot-hatchy, even if it’s less powerful, more cumbersome in traffic and more technically antiquated.

Prices start $65,990 for the manual and $68,990 for the dual-clutch. The options list is limited to a sunroof ($1990), Recaro seats ($2900) and special 19-inch 'Fuji Light’ wheels ($990).

Colours include Sirius Yellow, Tonic Orange, Flamme Red, Glacier White, Pearl White, Highland Grey, Titanium Grey and Starry Black. The first two are signature Renault Sport colours and command an extra cost of $1200.