We Have A Renault Megane Trophy For 6 Months: What Do You Want To Know?

The Renault Megane RS300 Trophy is one of the most uncompromising hot hatchbacks you can buy right now. It has extremely firm suspension, particularly darty steering, and it likes to engage in a little torque steer.

On the right road, all of that makes for a very exciting performance car. But what would it be like to live with? Would you learn to live with the foibles, or would it just get a little irritating? We’re about to find out, as we’ve just taken delivery of this Liquid Yellow example.

If you’re set on getting a hot Megane, the Trophy is actually something of a no-brainer. The base price is £31,835, which sounds pretty punchy, but if you were to spec the £27,835 RS280 with a Cup chassis, bigger wheels, the nicer brakes and all the other bits the Trophy has fitted as standard, and you’ll actually end up with something more expensive. And then you wouldn’t have the Trophy’s extra power, more responsive ball bearing turbo and noisier exhaust. It’s also ever so slightly cheaper than the new Ford Focus ST.

‘Ours’ does have a few optional extras fitted, though. That lovely Liquid Yellow paint costs £1300, while the ‘Bose pack’ sounds system adds £800. It has front and rear parking sensors plus a rear camera for £400, the £250 ‘Visio’ system which includes lane departure warning, and finally a £1500 Recaro Sports Pack giving a pair of Alcantara-clad bucket seats. All of this bumps the final on-the-road price up to £36,085.

As a reminder, the Trophy is powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged inline-four kicking out 296bhp. 0-62mph happens in 5.7 seconds, and the top speed is 162mph. It’s fitted with an all-wheel steering system, which turns the rear wheels the opposite direction to the fronts under 37mph to make the car more agile. Over that speed, the rears are turned the same direction, increasing stability.

HS19 KUD ours to live with for the next six months, where we’ll be finding out if the hardcore Renault is any good as a daily driver. It’ll be put up against various competitors, with its first battle being against the new VW Golf GTI TCR. We might compare it to some in-house Renault rivals too, along with some Megane Trophies from the past.

Is there anything else you’d like to see us do with the car or anything you’d like to know? Give us a shout in the comments.