Holiday Wheels: Renault Megane RS 280 Cup

The appeal lies in the fact that under their practical, albeit cosmetically enhanced hatchback facade there’s a powerful motor, potent brakes, sporty suspension setup and of course, the culmination of all of these ingredients, high performance.

The holiday car

Over the recent holiday period, I was offered a Renault Sport Megane RS280 Cup, something that I wouldn’t pass up in a hurry. As an owner of the third-generation Megane, in RS250 Cup guise and having experienced the new model around the Jerez circuit in Spain a few years back, I felt well versed in the intricacies of the Renault Sport Megane and was excited to live with the latest iteration, equipped with that elusive third pedal.

The RS

Since its introduction to the local market a couple of years ago, the Megane IV RS range hasn’t exactly excelled in the sales chart, something even more true of the Cup variant which is only available with a manual gearbox, while those looking for the more usable dual-clutch automatic gearbox will have to opt for the more softly sprung Lux variant.

The looks

I’ll just get this out of the way, I think that this is the best-looking performance hatchback in its segment, with just about enough drama infused into its interior and exterior to make anyone look twice while allowing the car to maintain a degree of sophistication, something which its quite frankly sublime rival, the Honda Civic Type R most certainly cannot match with its boy-racer exterior.

Driving Megane

Traditionally, the best part of Renault Sport products is how they make you feel when you drive them. This has been true of most models released by the Dieppe-based hot hatch gurus, however, the fourth-generation Megane RS has been a polarising car for some, with the Civic Type R reviving Honda’s performance hatch mastery, producing a car capable of beating Renault at their own game. Having said this, the Megane isn’t exactly a slouch, with 205 kW and 390 N.m from a 1.8-litre turbo petrol engine, allowing for a 0-100km/h time of 5.8 seconds and a top speed of 255km/h.

But a performance hatch is about more than the sum of its figures, it’s about a how it feels, from the steering to the brakes, the mechanical grip, the way that it transfers weight, these all make a car entertaining to drive. The steering is incredibly sharp, which when combined with the four-wheel steering can make the car quite tail-happy on corner entry, as seen at the circuit in Spain, with many sideways moments. This means that you have to be more delicate with your steering inputs, which the car rewards you for turning in beautifully and then using its mechanical limited-slip differential to pull you out of the corner. The latest Megane feels fantastic to drive and even though the Honda will set a quicker lap time, one must consider the R110 000 price difference and the fact that a Trophy version of the Megane is on the way in the coming months.

A more complete car

Previously, the void between the Megane and its rivals in terms of sheer driver involvement and engagement back in 2011 was rather large, while the pitfalls of the Renault versus its rivals were equally noticeable, making the Megane a real purists’ car. Whereas before you’d have to make do with a three-door-only RS, there are now five doors while in the place of the poor quality interior, aged infotainment system and shoddy audio system is a well put together interior, a respectable infotainment system and audio that one can hear properly. This makes the RS a more complete car, one that you can now live with far easier than before, especially in Lux guise.

What annoyances did a month reveal?

Having a car for an extended period is far more eye-opening for a journalist, especially when it is used for a variety of tasks. When you’re not belting around a smooth track or attacking a mountain pass, the firm suspension in the Cup model can become jarring. I also found the artificial engine sound played through the speakers in Sport and Race modes is simply too fake in its delivery. Another foible includes the functionality of the infotainment system, which when compared to more modern systems in the like of Audi and Volkswagen products that rival the RS, make the portrait-mounted system in the RS seem clumsy.

Verdict

Overall, the latest Megane RS is a far more usable package than before and while it is around R20 000 more than a standard Volkswagen Golf GTI, it is better specified and indeed, a faster car. For those shopping for a car in this segment, the RS is a delightful left-field choice without many of the drawbacks of the previous generation. With the Trophy variant on the way we may have a new hot hatch benchmark, but until then, the ludicrously expensive Honda is still the best to drive, the GTI still makes the most sense and the Megane sits somewhere between the two.

Pricing

R589 900