Dan Trent writes:

Say what you like about some of the new Renaultsport Megane’s more questionable styling features (I’m looking at YOU, cheesy fake exhaust and chavtastic optional 19-inch wheels) when it comes to understanding its fanbase Renault really has got it dialled.

Which is why the Megane 250 comes packed with the kind of details only the truly passionate total geeks like me will really appreciate.

Things like the Renaultsport Monitor telemetry system. The independent steering axis front suspension struts. The limited-slip differential. The fact you can get it with a Cup chassis option with spring and damper settings more than a third (a third!) stiffer than the standard Sport set up.

Still reading? Welcome to my world.

After all, film makers get to do their own self indulgent ‘director’s cut’ versions of their films so I think it’s only right I get to geek out on some of the Megane’s more nerdy details. Like the fact adding more aluminium parts to the PerfoHub suspension system saves 2kg of unsprung weight. And that the hub level offset is reduced from 56mm on the standard Megane to 40mm. And furthermore achieves this with the huge four-pot Brembo brakes – if these were fitted to a conventional front strut set up the offset would be a whopping 75mm, increasing torque steer.

It gets even more geeky. No, really.

The Renaultsport Monitor – a £300 option – is really cool, at least for a generation of drivers raised on games console driving. For instance you can vary the throttle mapping between ‘Snow’ and ‘Extreme’ (via ‘Progressive’, ‘Linear’ and ‘Sport’) to vary the response from chauffeur smooth to neck-jarringly snappy. Handy if you’re letting your mate/other half/airport valet driver out in your Megane and don’t want them getting too excitable in your pride and joy.  

And much like the Nissan GT-R (and Skylines of old) you get all sorts of useless vital information, such as throttle position, intake temperature and cornering G. And no, before you ask, this system hasn’t been borrowed from the GT-R, despite the Renault-Nissan partnership.

This snippet according to Renaultsport development head Steve Marvin, who much to his credit, doesn’t suffer the press conference fools gladly. So having seen his refreshingly no-nonsense approach to some of my journalistic colleagues’ more inane questions I was a little concerned when he approached me at the track yesterday and asked “so, what do you think then?”

Gulp.

“Well, it feels like there’s a lot of Clio 200 in there in terms of the character and the way it handles,” I offered, taking a deep breath and eyeing the exit.

“You’ve hit the nail on the head there,” he replied, going on to explain how, like the Clio, this was more a bespoke Renaultsport product than simple hop-up of a ‘civilian’ family hatch.

Phew, glad I got that one right. Oh, and as you’ll have sussed from the pics, it drives brilliantly, not that I can take the credit for this particular piece of tyre-smokin’ action.

Dan

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Links:

Renault PerfoHub vs Ford RevoKnuckle

Ask me no questions

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