Renault Megane 275 now in South Africa
It was at one point or another the quickest front-wheel drive hatch around the Nurburgring but back in present tense the Renault Megane 275 Trophy is at long last on sale in South Africa. It arrives three years after the 265 Trophy was launched and predictably becomes the most sought-after Megane one can buy.
‘Formula One Technology’ is how work on the 2.0-litre turbo engine is explained. Actually that’s how Renault describes every engine of theirs, but the RS 275 Trophy is the most likely to live up to those claims. Power sees a small jump from 195kW to 205kW although torque of 360Nm hasn’t seen the same gains. You’d expect such laptop-trickery to affect fuel consumption and it does but in the opposite direction, coming down from 8.2l/100km to 7.5l/100km. Same as Formula One, where drivers are also told to save fuel… That centre exhaust has been upgraded by Akropovic – more of a sound enhancer than a performance one – but a first-stage mod taken care of nevertheless.
Almost peerless around a circuit the Megane RS 275 Trophy will once again benefit from the mechanical limited slip differential and beefy anti roll bars. Pity there are no semi slicks like in the Red Bull Edition. And to make sure you extract the best from the car, Renault offers advanced driver training to every 275 Trophy owner
How does one recognise the 2015 Megane 275 Trophy? By the badges, of course. If that fails then by the diffuser, 19-inch black Trophy wheels, gloss black door mirrors and red Brembo brakes. Inside it is aluminium meets Alcantara; drilled pedals and Recaro bucket seats complimented by a carbon fibre dash strip and suede-covered steering wheel. Carrying all the technology Renault can muster, the 275 Trophy includes satnav, cruise control and the brilliant RS Monitor which can record acceleration, G forces and laptimes.
Priced at R449 900, the 275 Trophy largely emphasis what good value the RS LUX 265 is at R50 000 less. That puts a little bit of pressure on the Trophy and at R449 000, costs R2000 more than the Golf GTi Performance Pack.
