Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy

Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy

Engine: 1,998cc, turbocharged four-cylinder

Power: 271bhp and 265lb.ft. of torque

Performance: 0-62mph in 6 seconds and 158mph

Economy: 37.7 mpg (combined)

CO2 emissions: 174g/km

Price: £28,930

If all goes to plan Wing Commander Andy Green will drive the 135,000 horsepower brute to a new world record at the Hakskeen Pan in South Africa’s Northern Cape next year.

But at over six tonnes and over 40 feet in length it is unlikely that it will be able to fulfil any practical purpose after its history-making exploits.

When Renaultsport took on task of breaking the Nurburgring lap record for a front-wheel-drive production car last year it did so with the understanding that most owners would be more likely to drive it to Asda each week than lap a race track.

Stripped of its rear seats, air conditioning, rear wiper and sound-deadening to save weight, the £36,420 Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy R came fitted with bespoke Ohlins dampers and Michelin tyres while trumpeting a rasping soundtrack out of a titanium Akrapovic exhaust system.

It succeeded in lapping the Green Hell in seven minutes and 54 seconds.

As an ownership proposition it is not for the feint-hearted. A limited number of 250 owners would find out.

For the rest of us there is this. The ever-so slightly more civilised Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy, which still packs the 271bhp and 265lb.ft. of torque needed to get to 62mph in six seconds and a 158mph top speed.

At £28,930 it retains much of the flagship Trophy-R’s kit too — Akrapovic exhaust, Recaro seats, Brembo brakes — and ushers in much of the tackle that was stripped away in a bid to save weight.

Adding to the civilised feel of the Trophy are rear seats, air conditioning, an integrated TomTom sat-nav system with Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control, rear parking sensors and, yes, a rear windscreen wiper. There’s even the potential for 37.7mpg fuel economy and 174g/km CO2 emissions.

In the metal the Renault Megane Coupe has never abused the eyes of onlookers, it’s a smooth, well-resolved shape, even if some miss the quirkiness of its predecessor’s prominent rump.

Adding to the aggressive presence of the Trophy is an F1-inspired “blade” within the front air dam, a gloss black rear diffuser, prominent spoiler and distinctive silver decals which cover each flank as well as the door sills.

Stepping over those sills reveals the interior’s remarkably comfortable Recaro bucket seats, yards of Alcantara trim and neat design in general.

Quality is good, with a soft-touch dash and even though the plasticky appearance of the prominent sat-nav screen atop the dash looks cheap, it’s a fairly premium place to be.

The engine starts in gruff fashion with a prod of a starter button.

From the off there’s the sense that you get with a Porsche that great attention has been paid to the location and weight of controls. From steering to clutch weight there’s a reassuring connectedness and consistency about the Trophy’s helm.

It’s a feature that fosters confidence in a car that feels hardcore from the off.

Delivering just 250bhp of its available power in its normal setting (an all-too-discreet button near to my right knee taps into Sport and Race modes), the car is easy to drive at low speeds, but the road noise and hectic ride over broken surfaces communicates its true focus.

Some of the Trophy-R’s rough edges may have been filled-in, but this is still a hatchback that requires a committed owner during day-to-day driving.

Everything is drawn into sharp focus when the speed rises.

Front end traction is immense. Renaultsport’s PerfoHub front suspension makes a decent fist of quelling torque steer and the standard mechanical limited-slip differential simply drags an open-mouthed driver through an apex, setting the course for the next straight.

The surprise is that the chassis feels alive. Through fast corners its grip is undoubted but it also feels on tip-toes, ripe for adjustment through a dab of the brakes or accelerator.

Seat’s Leon Cupra 280 and Volkswagen’s Golf R feel anodyne by comparison.

Dial up Race mode and the Trophy is a ball of roaring energy and as the sat-nav screen becomes a Renaultsport Monitor, a rather cheesy start-lights graphic heralding an array of displays including a lap timer and g-meter. Maybe useful to impress mates, but a bit naff and undermining the purity of the Trophy’s focus elsewhere to my eyes...

After a week at the helm of the hardcore Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy-R’s more socially acceptable sibling it is apparent that this is still a car for those who relish the odd opportunity to really drive.

It lacks the premium feeling Volkswagen Group interiors of the aforementioned Leon and Golf but it delivers where it a car like this should, feeling special at low speeds and truly coming alive as the pace rises.

They might not be quite the same speed-derived thrills that Andy Green is looking forward to...but Trophy owners can get theirs on their way to Asda.