Is the new Renault Mégane R.S. the definitive compact sports car?

1.8 Turbo engine with 280 CV, four-wheel steering, manual or dual-clutch gearbox, chassis tuned by Renault Sport. Will the Renault Mégane R.S. be the new king of compact sports cars?

We have been following the new Renault Mégane RS for some time. Last year the brand already revealed during the development phase that the Mégane RS would have four-wheel steering and two chassis configurations. Shortly after, the first official images leaked, ahead of its public presentation at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Now we have all the data we need to analyse whether the new Renault Mégane R.S is the definitive compact sports car.

To begin with, let’s recall some of the cars that won’t make things easy for the new Mégane RS. Among them, some of the calibre of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Ford Focus RS, the Honda Civic Type-R or the Seat León Cupra R, which, with 310 CV, is the most powerful road model ever built by the Spanish brand.

What weapons does the new Mégane R.S. have to become a reference? Let’s see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt2m_r8jWHg&t=6s

Engine and performance of the Mégane R.S.

To start with, a powerful and “furious” engine. It is basically the same 1,798 cm3 four-cylinder with direct injection and turbocharger used in the new Alpine A110, but here tuned up to 205 kW (280 CV), delivered at 6,000 rpm. Peak torque reaches 390 Nm, available between 2,400 and 4,800 rpm.

Renault keeps the two transmission options, with the six-speed manual gearbox or the EDC dual-clutch gearbox, also six-speed. With the latter, the Mégane R.S. adds paddles on the steering wheel, and its operation can be modified through the programmes of the Multi-Sense dynamic driving system. It features a Launch Control function and a “Multi Change Down” system that allows several gears to be downshifted consecutively simply by holding the paddle.

With a weight of 1,905 kg for the manual version – 25 kg more with the EDC gearbox – the Renault Mégane R.S. claims the same acceleration figures for both manual and automatic, with 5.8 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h, and 25 seconds to cover 1,000 metres from a standing start. With the manual gearbox the top speed is 5 km/h higher, reaching 255 km/h.

In homologated consumption the automatic takes the advantage, dropping to 6.9 l/100 km on the combined cycle, versus 7.1 for the manual Mégane R.S. This represents an 8 percent reduction compared with the previous Mégane R.S.

Four-wheel steering as standard

But it’s not all about power. The hand of Renault Sport – yes, the Mégane R.S. proudly bears the same emblem as the brand’s competition cars – is key to achieving a chassis oriented towards maximum efficiency and fun in sporty driving.

To this end, Renault continues to offer two chassis configurations, a “conventional” one called Sport, and a more radical one called Cup. The latter has damping 10 percent stiffer and adds a Torsen limited-slip differential on the front axle with new settings: 25% lock under deceleration and 45% under acceleration, compared with 30% and 38% respectively for the previous Mégane R.S.

The brakes have also been upgraded, with 355 mm front discs (+15 mm). For Mégane R.S. models with the Cup chassis, the high-performance braking system can be selected as an option, with bi-material aluminium and steel discs, which according to Renault reduce the weight per wheel by 1.8 kg.

Both the Mégane R.S. with the Sport chassis and the Cup versions fit the 4Control four-wheel steering as standard, an element that is quite unusual in this category of compact sports cars. At low speeds the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the front ones by up to 2.5 degrees to favour agility. Above 60 km/h (or 100 km/h in RACE mode) all four wheels turn in the same direction, limiting the rear wheel movement to one degree, which improves stability.

Ready for sporty driving

Whether the exterior look of the Mégane R.S. is sufficiently “racing” I won’t dwell on too much. The images and the video are there for you to judge. But… have you seen that huge trapezoidal exhaust outlet integrated into the rear diffuser? Or the widened wheel arches compared with the Mégane GT and the design of the air intakes? It sends shivers down your spine. Besides, I’ll tell you that the yellow bodywork is not the only option.Don’t miss how it looks in the exclusive vibrant orange!

In what truly matters for making the most of the potential of a chassis and engine like this, the Mégane R.S. earns top marks. It has seats that genuinely hold you in place, well-sized pedals with a solid footrest for the left foot, a steering wheel with a magnificent feel… And it offers features such as the R.S. Monitor, which now allows recording laps and analysing telemetry with data and augmented-reality video that can be shared directly on social networks thanks to connectivity with iOS and Android.

In addition, through MultiSense you can choose between five customisation programmes: Comfort, Normal, Sport, Race, or an individual custom one. And there is no shortage of head-up display information projected onto the windscreen, or an eight-speaker Bose audio system with a subwoofer integrated into the boot, for when you prefer to listen to your favourite music at maximum quality rather than the sound of the exhaust.

And that’s not all. For those who are not content with the Mégane R.S., a still more powerful version will arrive later – at the end of 2018 – the Renault Mégane R.S Trophy, which reaches 300 CV of power and will offer 400 Nm of peak torque. This version will come as standard with the Cup chassis, 19-inch wheels and high-performance brakes.

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackRenault Megane3 versions · from 39,650 €