RENAULT Megane RS 250 Cup Review

This is a hardcore machine that likes to show twisty roads who’s boss, but it’s name still includes “Renault”, so it’s much more comfortable than it looks. However, it does come with a few items are too “yoo-hoo!” for everyday driving.

The ride height and the suspension are surprisingly comfortable for a car that uses a “Cup” designation. Yes, you will feel the road imperfections, but the discomfort will be mental, not physical.

As for the soundproofing, we can’t say that this know what “cutting some slack” means, but how could it? This is a car designed to allow you to feel the speed, so don’t expect it to keep you too far away from the wind or engine noises.

The interior space is enough for four adults to travel on long distances. Cancel the reservations and the meeting with your girlfriend and two of her friends. You can’t quite use this car for long trips. Neither the front nor the rear passengers will be happy if you do that.

The impressive lateral support, the extreme design and the Recaro badges of the optional Recaro front seats our test car was fitted with offered us a bouquet of thrills, but after a while, the upper side of our back started knocking at the window, asking us to stop and ask for a massage. Just try to put on your seat belt and you’ll be in trouble.

The rear seats are OK and, like we said, there’s plenty of room. However, the rear windows, which seem to be nothing more than two helmet visors, together with the tall Recaro seats, offer the feeling of a cage. The vehicle offers certain features that bring points for this chapter, such as a cruise control system, a rear armrest and a two-zone automatic climate control.

The car we tested uses the R26.R as a starting point. Yes, it shares mechanical components with its predecessor, but not without upping the ante. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder unit is borrowed from the R26.R, but around a quarter of its components are new.

The powerplant used to keep screaming up to 230 hp and 310 Nm of torque, but now it delivers 250 hp and a peak torque of 340 Nm. As for the turbo lag, this is situated within reasonable limits. However, to get the most out of the engine, you’ll have to produce high notes.

The six-speed manual gearbox raises to the standard imposed by the engine. The shifts are precise and can be swiftly dealt with. It doesn’t offer the perfect weight we get from certain German competitors, but this is not necessarily an issue.

The ratios are rather short – getting from standstill to to 124 mph (200 km/h) is like using an assault rifle in burst fire mode. We didn’t choose the aforementioned value as a random one. You see, the Megane RS can hit a top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h), but once you pass 130 mph (210 km/h) the vehicle starts to lose a bit of its stamina and the forward surge starts fading away.

However, the straight line performance isn’t the Megane’s top asset. Oh no. That title is reserved for the vehicle’s handling. The Cup version has two aces up its sleeve: a 15 percent stiffer chassis (compared to the Sport incarnation of the Megane RS) and a limited slip differential.

As for the suspension, the front axle uses a Machperson setup (sprinkled with aluminum), while at the rear we find a torsion beam. All these work together to offer an incredibly sharp handling. You turn the wheel, the car instantly follows your orders, you know exactly what’s going to happen next and, instead of being punished for abusing the throttle, you’re invited to throw in a bit more power.

The brakes, which were kindly donated by Brembo, offer proper stopping power and have no issue in keeping the fading away. With all the rumors about the RS’ output floating around we couldn’t help but stop at the nearest dyno we could find. There, our hero fought hard, but in the end it didn’t offer the rumored “significantly more than standard” output. You can find out the juicy (for the engineer in you) details in the image gallery.

All in all, the Megane RS 250 brings a fair level of upgrades over its predecessor and manages to make use of them in a balanced, brilliant way.

The Megane RS didn’t rest on the laurels of its tech side to impress the audience in the interior, as the car also brought a few interesting toys to the show. The most relevant one has to be the RS monitor.

This is a sweet little gadget that should be present on any car capable of generating more than just one or two emotions. The little thing is a bit more complex than it might seem, offering multiple pathways of enjoyment and talking to the driver and passenger through the little display on the center console.

First, you can use it to switch between the various modes of the throttle pedal response. Then, you can rely on it to measure the G forces your body is tortured with while driving. Another function measures various parameters, such as power and torque. You can also see parameters such as intake air temperature.

We’ve saved the best for last: you can use the RS monitor too see how fast the car can gain speed, measuring your 0-62 mph sprint and quarter mile time.

We also see the ESP as being a toy and the one fitted to this car was pretty nice, as it allowed you to completely turn it off, thus giving you pure LSD-based driving.

The audio system was nothing special, but offered decent quality and volume. The air was thrown into the… air via four 30W speakers, with the system offering Bluetooth an auxiliary in connections.

Since we’re here, we’ll also mention the keyless entry and start system, which we really enjoyed, as its presence meant that we could speed up the transition from biped creatures to racing drivers.

The cold-blooded guys over at Euro NCAP didn’t get to play with the Renault Sport incarnation of the Megane and we’re glad this didn’t happen. Who knows, maybe the car would’ve been so much fun that they would’ve taken it for a spin instead of crash testing it. Instead, the official tests were performed using a standard Megane.

The French compact received a rating of five stars, earning 37 points (15.8 for the front impact, 16 for the side one, 3 for the seatbelt reminder and 2 for the pole impact). As for the child occupant protection, the Meganre got a rating of four stars, with 39 points. When it comes to pedestrian protection, we can tell you that the car has a rating of two stars, with a total of 11 points.

During the front impact test, the passenger cell held its shape well, with the A pillar being pushed back only 10 mm. The vehicle received the maximum points for its protection of the passenger, as all the areas scored well.

When referring to the side impact and pole test, things are pretty simple: the Megane received the maximum number of points. The Megane is also a good nanny, as it really knows how to keep children in its arms in case of an accident. Even though it has the aforementioned skills, it’s not perfect, as it comes with a few issues such as improper labeling.

However, things aren’t so bright when it comes to pedestrian protection. First of all, the front edge of the bonnet didn’t receive any points for protecting the pedestrians’ legs, while the hood offers poor protection for the head of an adult or child.

On the road, the Megane RS offers lots of grip and is clearly a car that can be entered into the “crash-hard” category. Even when you force the vehicle and run out of grip, things are predictable, so you shouldn’t end up kissing another car or an obstacle.

The Megane RS 250 Cup is THE definition of the Renault Sport division. To not put it shortly, this is a Renault that’s not a Renault anymore. Many stars have aligned for this motorized creation to come alive – it’s like the French carmaker has kept some of the best bits and added extreme ones. And at EUR25,000, the RS offers the best value performance for money in its segment.

The vehicle still offers a decent ride height and reasonable suspension setup (even though the Cup version brings stiffer springs and anti-roll bars), but the rest has been transformed in order to turn this car into a skilled G force fighter.

An X-ray scan of its front looks like that of Einstein’s forehead: we’ve got an engine that knows how to keep you surfing on wave after wave of power and torque without shaking you off the board with too much turbo lag, a good ol' limited slip differential that will take you high, right next to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and a six-speed manual gearbox that does its job well.

The steering seems to come from a medical equipment producer, while the brakes don’t bring such a mystery – they’re from Brembo and that says it all.

However, the Megane RS 250 Cup is so much more than the sum of its parts. This car manages to use all the aforementioned assets, each at the right time, to laugh in the café of corners, straight lines and many other cars, placing you in the middle of all this.

To use RPG language, even though we’re talking about a 250 hp hot hatch, this is rather a paladin then a barbarian. This car is stunningly fast on the road and even faster on the track – let’s not forget that its Trophy version holds the record for the fastest FWD Nurburgring laptime.

However, just like videogame characters, this car also comes with flaws. First of all, the design is clearly the “hate it or love it” type. Then, the interior isn’t the most comfortable place in the world, especially if you choose the optional Recaro seats.

The engine noise, the speedometer’s travel, everything about this car screams “drive me!” And if you listen to it, you’ll be thrilled over and over again. The price you have to play for all that fun is a certain amount of exhaustion, due to things like a capricious clutch. But doesn’t the hot hatch philosophy require a certain dose of masochism from the driver anyway?

Those who are into even more extreme sensations can check out or Megane RS 275 Trophy review.