Renault Megane RS ups the ante with new 265 Cup
The Renault Megane RS 250 Cup is a highly regarded vehicle amongst the motoring journalism community. It is the personal favourite of many and among the top ten of most. It is the most often quoted example of why you can make do with a torsion beam rear suspension. An impressively capable vehicle for all occasions, the RS 250 is just as adept blazing the race tracks as it does pottering around town.
Yet, Renault Sport engineers have found the resolve to further improve its winning formula by squeezing a bit more outputs from the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine to further push the Megane RS’ performance envelope. Raising boost levels by 0.2 bar to 2.5 bar, Renault Sport was able to coax an extra 15hp and 20Nm from the engine deliver 265hp and 360Nm in the now re-christened Megane RS 265 Cup.
More than just higher numbers, the engineers were also able to stretch the engine’s peak torque over a wider plateau, allowing the 360Nm to hold on from 3,000 to 5,000rpm before tapering off. In the previous RS 250, torque begins to gradually dip once it peaks at 3,000rpm before falling off at about 6,000rpm. Accompanying the added outputs are enhanced engine acoustics achieved by a more open exhaust design and a reinforced sound pipe.
The car actually starts up with the engine in a default 250hp / 340Nm setting as per its RS 250 predecessor. To liberate those extra horses, the driver will need to adjust the RS Dynamic Management system either to Sport Mode or turn it off altogether.
The engine’s added grunt shaves a tenth of a second of the RS’ century sprint time (6.0 flat), and three tenths off the 1,000m standing start time (25.4 seconds). Top speed has been raised by five clicks to 250kph. Fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are similarly reduced by 0.1 l/100km and 5 g/km respectively to register at 8.2 l/100km and 190 g/km.
In June 2011, Renault tested the RS 265 Trophy (a pre-cursor to the RS 265 Cup being launched here) to a lap record time of 8 minutes 8 seconds around the Nordschleife, making it the fastest FWD to lap the Nurburgring’s famous north ring. As a comparison, Audi’s RS 4 with quattro all-wheel drive needed one second more. Closer to home, Renault handed the RS 265 to former A1-GP Team Singapore driver Denis Lian, who went on to clock a time of 2 minutes 41 seconds around the Sepang International Circuit, slashing two seconds from the RS 250’s time.
Since its global launch in 2010, Renault has sold 15,000 units of the Megane RS worldwide – impressive number for such a highly-focused performance vehicle. It has attracted a strong following worldwide, including Malaysia, where an official club, dubbed the RS Collectif was officially launched in conjunction with the RS 265’s introduction yesterday.
One of the highlights of the Renault Sport ownership experience in Malaysia are the regular track days in Sepang, and there were six organized in 2012. A further six track days have been planned for 2013 on the following dates: 16 Feb, 30 Mar, 27 Apr, 8 Jun, 19 Oct, and 22 Dec.
Back to the RS 265, you can have one parked in your garage at a not unreasonable price of RM235,000 before insurance – a very acceptable five grand increase for the RS 250. In addition to the ‘standard’ RS 265 Cup, Renault has also brought in five units of the limited Red Bull Racing RB7 edition with exclusive touches such as leather Recaro seats, a special edition gear knob, and a limited edition numbered plaque.
A Malaysian exclusive for the RB7 is a signed plaque by triple world F1 Drivers Championship Winner, Sebastian Vettel. Word going around during the launch last night was that four of the five units have already been sold, and there was one very serious-looking customer eyeing the last remaining display unit on show.
