New Megane RS Disappoints in Drag Race Against i30 N, Civic Type R, and Cupra R

The whole point of this race is to check out the new Renault Megane RS. It's supposed to be the benchmark of the segment, but downsizing may have affected it negatively, as we've seen in a recent comparison against an older 275 Cup model.

This is one of those rare drag races where the horsepower numbers don't tell the whole story. All the cars have manual gearboxes, but you will see that the hot hatchbacks that have been equipped with smaller engines perform the worst.

Mat is in the new Megane, and he usually wins every such drag race. But despite having the best launch, he is second-to-last. The 320 horsepower Civic Type R comes first, but the similarly powerful Leon Cupra R is only a whisker away.

Frankly, the i30 N (performance) deserves the moral victory because it's quite cheap yet still faster than the Megane. The 308 GTi comes last due to its 1.6-liter engine, while reasonably powerful at 270 HP, Boggs down.

The 308 does a lot better in the rolling race, but once again, the 300+ horsepower, 2-liter turbo engines in the Cupra R and Civic Type R. And finally, we have the test people care least about, stopping power. The Megane comes last again, followed by the Leon. Surprisingly, the Hyundai is tied with the super-light Peugeot and the Civic, despite having non-Brembo brakes.

The rest of the video is a model-by-model review. But we're not going to pick favorites, because this is one heck of a touchy subject.