Renaultsport matures with Megane 250 Cup

EVER fancied a slice of motorsport on your driveway? Thanks to Renault’s canny product placement, you’d be getting just that if you bought a Renaultsport Megane 250 Cup.

The muscular hot hatch is regularly seen as the safety car in a series that spawned the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

All right, the bright yellow 250 Cup is not actually part of the race as such, but it still has the credentials to feel truly at home on a track.

While its pace car predecessor, the Laguna Coupe was a polished coupe-cum-GT, the Megane promises to deliver more visceral thrills with a limited-slip differential between its front wheels helping to transmit 250bhp on to the Tarmac.

But the hardest act it has to follow is that of the previous generation Megane, a car that set the benchmark for powerful front-wheel-drive cars long before the Ford's 300bhp RS.

New Megane is a lesson in hot hatch style

Though the trick to Renaultsport’s success has always been in its hardware and ability to hone a chassis, the Megane 250 Cup has plenty to offer in terms of sheer style.

A blade-like front air intake intersected by two rows of LED running day lights (a £150 option), dramatic arcing side skirts, flared wheel arches, a gaping central exhaust pipe and piano black detailing take elevate the Megane Coupe shape into the realms of automotive pornography.

Satin black 18-inch alloys add a killer finishing touch, with the Cups red four-pot Brembo brake callipers and 340mm disks (290mm rear) disks, conspicuous within.

Even in an age of Volkswagen Sciroccos and Seat Leons the 250 Cup stands out as the most visually arresting hatchback out there.

At £23,160, the Cup is the entry level Renaultsport Megane and, as such, goes without some of the non-Cup cars luxuries.

But it's no stripped-out racer. There are still creature comforts such as air-con, bluetooth phone connection, cruise control and rear parking sensors as standard.

Plus you get the hardcore Cup pack which is not standard on the more expensive car, bringing springs that are up to 38 per cent stiffer, that mechanical limited-slip diff and those super cool red Brembo calipers and ventilated disk brakes.

This is no uncompromising road racer

Amazingly, given the mildly daunting prospect of track-ready suspension, the Cup rides with remarkable pliancy and the Megane seems to find more traction as a result.

Despite near-zero roll through the twisties, the suspension somehow manages to iron out imperfections and maintain four contact patches with the road at all times.

Push too hard and the limits appear in the form of understeer but the four-square Megane's limits are high.

Differing greatly from its terrier-like little brother, the Clio 200 Cup, the 250 Cup’s responses are slightly less immediate and theres a less playful rear end but that limited-slip differential adds a new dimension.

Get your braking in early on the approach to a corner, and the diff will help the outside front wheel find grip as soon as you get back on the power.

The 250 Cup can literally drag itself through corners, carrying considerable momentum, on a wave of torque.

It sounds a bit point and shoot but it isn’t. The Cup rewards a smooth, slow-in, fast-out driving style.

It's rewarding in a more grown-up way than the Clio, which can be thrown at an apex with abandon.

Deceptively quick and surprisingly frugal

The 250 Cup’s two-litre engine is essentially the same unit as that found in the previous generation Renaultsport Megane but continuously variable valve timing and and an engine remap have liberated 250bhp and 251lb.ft. of torqueenough to propel the 250 Cup to 62mph in 6.1 seconds and on to a 156mph top speed.

In reality, it never feels breakneck fast. Thanks to the settled nature of its chassis, composure overcomes straight-line drama.

Despite its hardcore credentials, the 250 Cup is an accomplished hatchback.

A claimed 33.6mpg fuel economy and the 60-litre tank give an impressive range, for starters, and Renault’s interiors are the best they have ever been.

Soft-touch plastics and a uncluttered dashboard are well designed and a yellow stitched centre-line on the steering wheel, drilled aluminium pedals and garish yellow seatbelts all add a touch of the hooligan to an otherwise very civilised interior.

Supportive sports seats come as standard but optional Recaros are only just made resistable by an £860 price tag.

Only a fairly gloomy rear passenger space and the large sill which restricts access to the 344-litre boot prove drawbacks of the Megane’s attractive coupe-style dimensions.

Renaultsport grows up

With the new Megane, Renaultsport seems to have grown up. After the childish pleasures offered by the Clio 200 Cup, that comes almost as a shock.

But the brand's class-leading chassis dynamics still shine through and the 250 Cup is as rewarding as it is accomplished. A back-road assassin that can do civilised just as well.

On looks alone, it had me sold.