UPDATE: Live gallery from today’s launch added
TC Euro Cars today launched the Megane Renault Sport 250 Cup at the Sepang International Circuit. The latest Megane RS is a much anticipated entry by enthusiasts and at the time of launch, 11 people have already put their names down for it. This made in Spain 250 hp three-door “coupe” is attractively priced at RM229,800 OTR without insurance (RM188 cheaper than the old R26), making the VW Scirocco look expensive in comparison.
For that money, one gets a high spec performance machine that’s comes with a limited slip differential (LSD) by GKN Driveline, lovely Recaro seats (with Renault Sport logo and yellow seat belts), 4-piston Brembo brakes with 340 mm slotted discs (largest in class, 35 mm bigger than cross drilled R26 discs) and the R.S. Monitor showing real-time data (stopwatch with memory function, acceleration timer, g-force meter, turbo pressure, oil temp, torque/power figures) plus the option of five throttle map settings.
The wheels are 18-inch items with 235/40 Michelins. TC Euro chose not to opt for the dramatic 19-inch “spider style” wheels due to our road conditions and tyre replacement costs.
But the most vital inclusion is the Cup chassis, which is 10 mm lowered with uprated springs, dampers and anti roll bars. Suspension flex has been reduced by 35% and 38% respectively for the front and rear while the front anti roll bars have been stiffened by 13% over the standard chassis. The Performance Hub allows for an independent steering front axis, eliminating torque steer. Aluminium pivots and lower arms reduce unsprung weight while ball joints are used in place of bearings for less friction. Speaking of weight, the Megane RS’ kerb weight is 1,387 kg. The ESP system is a multi mode affair which can be fully switched off.
The 2.0-litre engine from the R26 has been updated with around 30% of new parts, including a twin-scroll turbo, reinforced piston/conrods, new coolers, sodium coated valves and piston ring carriers. The result is 250 hp and 340 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm, 80% of which (272 Nm) is available at 1,900 rpm. This is 20 hp and 30 Nm more than in the R26, which is why performance is improved – the 250 Cup does 0-100 km/h in 6.1 seconds on to a top speed of 245 km/h compared to the R26’s 6.5 sec/235 km/h. To compare, the 207 hp Scirocco’s stats are 6.9 sec and 238 km/h.
Renault Sport is a “keep it true” brand dedicated to the enthusiast, which is why there’s no twin-clutch or auto option – you can only have it with a six-speed manual. This gearbox is a new one with revised ratios and a more precise feel over the R26. Combined cycle fuel consumption is 8.4 litres per 100 km or 11.9 km/l.
The 250 Cup is positioned as a track tool that’s perfectly comfortable on the road, so it gets plenty of luxuries. Keyless entry and start, Bluetooth handsfree, dual-zone air con, auto lights and wipers, iPod and USB ports, bi-xenons with daytime running lights plus six airbags. By the way, not only did the Megane RS score a five-star Euro NCAP rating, it did so with maximum 37/37 points.
We posted up a video last week showing racer Denis Lian doing a 2:43.02 time at Sepang. He was at the launch today and said that better conditions would have seen him do half a second better. The Singaporean praised the Megane for combining both driver feel and the ability to set fast lap times (they don’t always walk hand-in-hand!) , as well as its amazing punch out of corners, adding that the car’s German rivals feel “anodyne” while British rivals (Ford Focus RS?) have lots of feel but are “too wild”.
Lucky first eight buyers sampled their own cars on the track today
Available in three colours (yellow, white, grey), the Megane RS 250 Cup comes with a 3-year warranty. An optional GT Pack (moonroof and leather seats) is available for RM10,000. Gallery from the launch at SIC is after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1683]
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Thats a pack monster
pick yellow for me and i’ll sleep in car for few week lovely
car looks quite hot but where’s the chicks eh paul? :-)
vw golf gti seem better ~~
? r u crazy? in terms of performance…golf gti lose out to this car…in terms of looks…lose…maybe in terms of refinement oni win….
This Renault is better value for its power, handling and overall track performance. However, resale value is its biggest downfall.
Practicality, comfort, branding (resale value) goes to VW for sure.
For a weekend car, I would opt for this megane tho. Anything else demands a more practical solution that has a better balance of track / road performance which is where the golf gti comes in.
Actually, the old R26 was perfectly usable as a daily drive. This new one is even more refined – it’s quieter on the move than the Mk6 GTI, for instance.
We got a brief sample on track, and the Megane exhibited very little drama – much less than the R26 – although it’s faster and has more traction. No action on the road, but I suspect that the ride comfort will be good.
Request test drive report!! hehe
well said, Danny… I respect ppl who only do enuf review or test drive then only make comments..not like the brother upstair…
Just tested out the car today and as what Danny Tan said, the ride is surprisingly comfortable. It is stiffer, but it is still comfortable for day to day drive.
Also the car interior and exterior is very good looking, it is very quiet also. Before I test drive the car, I thought it is only another saturday, sunday track car, but it is not.
u really talk like u owned a VW golf…huh
i think a golf R is a more suitable rival. a gti even with abt mods can’t even keep up with this car, look as good, or drive as well.
Golf GTi with APR Stage 2 output is 280 bhp, however, this Megane is a strong rival, consider the track time plus LSD!
Have to test to be sure about the comfort, but the price is sure very attractive…
this car is louder and i think you’ll get a lot of attention on the road.
golf is more matured and understated. too understated in my opinion for the mkvi.
depends on what you want but i don’t think its a good comparison between a 2 door coupe and a 4 door hatch. scirocco is a better comparison.
personally i can’t imagine having a manual car as a daily drive though. great weekend car for those who can afford it. but really how many of us track our cars anyway and to get a RM230k car just for occasional track use?
Another hot car has just arrived! I can foresee this car becoming the COTY for some publications in Malaysia next year……
i remember it already won something here
that was the old R26.. COTY from a local magazine which i forgot. can’t beleive they actually choose the R26.. cool..
It is Autocar Asean Malaysian Edition. If I am not mistaken, they chose this car as their COTY when Danny Tan of this blog was still working there, and Faisal Shah was the chief editor there. And since Faisal Shah is still the chief editor there, after “missing in action” for few months time, I won’t be surprised if this baby will become their COTY once again, unless some dealers come up with an even better car with decent handling.
it’s 250hp bt how many cc is the engine?
tgk gambar saje tapi x baca , x baca ke? then how u drive?
Bet u didn’t read the whole article
what a month for malaysia…it make me drool
so paul can u make a special report on vehicle price range from 60k-90k
it seem very fierce competition for this year as lot of model coming in that price.
It’s nice to know that there are modern cars available for purchase with nothing but a good ol’ manual transmission. Always had a fascination with older cars solely because of the availability of manual gearboxes but this is great news. Manual gearboxes with all the comfort and warranty coverage of a new car.
Sadly in Malaysia these days, auto box dominates the majority of foreign brand cars, even for the more mainstream models, quite pathetic to say the least.
that’s why im still driving my gud ol satria gti even after 10 years of owning it.
the tachometer is yellow for the yellow car, how about for the other 2 colors?
as for the additional 10K for the moon roof and leather….. does that mean the normal car got no leather? it looked like leather seat in the pic though…
Yellow tacho for all colours.
The standard Recaros are in fabric, which is the norm for good sports seats.
http://paultan.org/photo/index.php?album=megane-renault-sport-250-cup-malaysian-launch&image=dsc_0751b.jpg
when comapred to the uk version, will ours be the cup or non-cup version?
Ours is the Cup version… as stated in the title of the story too.
Cup chassis is good :)))
250hp for the body…it flies..
very sexy car..chick magnet car..
Manual only??aw,shucks…they should offer auto too.And will they bring the normal non-RS Megane??i think it’ll sell better than the previous gen as ths is much more agressivebn unique looking~
TCEC has no plans for the five-door Megane (it won’t be cheap enough to compete) or the non-RS three door hatch
tell ferrari put auto,they will laugh at u…
hahahahaha
wait ferrari does have auto. its called an F1 superfast gearbox.
dude.. even the latest 458 italia only available in automated-manual.. no normal manual..
no, you shucks.
Go get the Renault Laguna Coupe, 6-speed auto. <RM260k
all performance cars should only be available in manual, like this one. bravo renault sport!
MEGANE was born again to beat Ford and Citroen in WRC…??? Yeah rock you baby!!
is it jus me or the front looks like new generation mazda 3 ??
bt overall looks awesome , looks,performance,even price , but that badge has a long way to go for msians to trust
Haha… i also have the same impression of looking mazda-ish.
At least owning this car makes u quite exclusive on msian roads.
how about the clio rs cup?
i want one!
are the backseat suitable for adults or is it plain useless?
well if u want space, get a toyota estima.
Adults can fit in at the back, no problem
Just wait for the 2nd hand….
Erm, how much would servicing costs? Any SC in around PJ area? I know there’s a showroom next to Jaya 33 but is there servicing as well? And the most important thing of all………any chip to increase hp-ar? Would love to see it hit 300hp :)
Section 13 service centre is just few streets away from the showroom
Just a ecu remap allows +300 hp and 440 Nm!
mazda 3mps HB coming soon 6 speed manual,2.3 disi turbo engine 264hp.
for RM 180k+- heard from mazda SA.
Get ready to burn more fuel then. After enjoy tekan on the road, etc, when you reach home, u park it outside the house. that’s it. better buy something grand and keep it IN THE HOUSE.
conti and japan, both hatch oso nice and power !
push start button is way too far
must be designed for LHD
awesome hot hatch i must say!
Bloody hell Renault Malaysia never update the website.
Lucky eh? Rich fellas of course can afford to be ‘lucky’. To me, the term lucky is when you win a lottery or a competition. These people are not lucky at all.
I think what Paul meant is they are lucky to be the 1st eight buyers. The other 3 in the book didn’t get the chance to test it on the track for the launch.
Sorry. Danny meant.
One of the first 8 units, the white Megane RS is a Langkawi registered car?
Lucky guy/gal, can buy a Megane RS for RM107k (someone mention in another thread (but is that correct?) or whatever tax-free price for the car…
now I wonder if can I do the same, do I need to reside in Langkawi to buy a car there? Even if I can only bring back to Mainland the Megane a couple of days in a year, it might just be worth the tax savings….
If I am not mistaken this car was name one of What Car? COTY
Performance car without needing to fork out 7 figures.
Expecting it to have a firm ride……great wk end car.
not as firn as fd2r
So envy to those lucky first eight buyers…
How is the air-conditioning? Is it cooling enough? Used to have this Renault 19, Air-cond sucked big time….. like sauna….
wow…250BHP six-speed manual, 18″ +sport suspension, Brambo brakes, Recaro sport seats, bi-xenon, Ipod jack… very hard core hot hatch fitted with great accessories. if I biuy this car, I will save the RM10K GT package for better sound system and maybe remap the chip for greater power….
if put the engine into savvy sure best hehe
nice hatch, now i wanna sell my golf GTI hahahah
will wait for 3 years, n then buy the 2nd hand Renault Sport 250 Cup ;)
definitely the price will jump as it is renault
I prefer German technology and quality!Golf GTI and Scirocco is quite good looking and good quality!i don’t really like Renault Sport 250 coz the front bumper is weird!
FYI, Scirocco is Italian designed
with an italian name too. hehe
Who cares?i love VW that’s all!
Based on whatcar.com, the Megane Cup 250 3-door is cheaper than Golf GTI 5-door in UK (at least 2k, but when compared with Malaysia spec’ed GTI, after adding DSG, metallic paint, leather seats and reverse sensor, Megane is cheaper by 5k pounds). So I am not sure why it’s so much more expensive here. Maybe Renault importer does not have franchise AP, hence the buyer has to pay for that.
This Megane is the whatcar.com hot hatch winner, but I personally think Golf GTI is a more practical and economical car. Renault’s JD customer satisfaction survey for reliability is not impressive. Plus in Malaysia, Renault’s cars depreciate worse than VW. Just my 2 cents.
Import duty for 2 door cars are more expensive in Malaysia.
when u buy a car like, screw depreciation lah. people don’t buy this car thinking about resale value OR PRACTICALITY. they buy it for the love of driving. shesh
agreed
Good price with quality & performance…
Lovely car but I stick to previous Renault Clio V6, super hatchy-boyracer centric.
proton better……Everything oso better…..
Got Lotus handling mar…….kekekeke..
This Renault 250 is a car to drool over and it’s understandable that it’s causing so much excitement with its launch in Malaysia. But when it comes to owning a car, I think the Golf GTI is the car to get anytime. I have been driving my GTI for six months now and I can’t imagine anything that blends practicality and performance so well and effortlessly.
And to think of driving between KL and Klang everyday without my dual-clutch is almost nightmarish.
I absolutely agree that the GTI is probably the perfect car to have, perfectly blending performance and practicality. I had immense joy driving a MkV previously , and I almost opted for the MkVI. In the end I chose the RS250 as I am willing to sacrifice a little practicality for more performance. I must say that even with the Cup chassis, the damping is spot on perfect so it really is quite comfortable. I’ll have to report back as to what it’s like to drive manual everyday and like MechPebbles I make regular runs from Klang to KL, though normally not during rush hour. At the end of the day, I think it’s great that we have an all round car like the GTI and something a little more hardcore in the RS250 for buyers to choose from now.
Bro! can i have your email. interested in getting the megane, just need some stories from you =) if you dont mind.
this MechPebbles guy is full of himself! been bragging about his golf gti in 4 or 5 post already! stfu dude!
Worth every penny!!! I wish i could afford one…
Center gay exzos like neo!
wow, i definitely need this to smoke those supercars wannabe.
Nothing much more to add except that this car is mainly to capture niche market.
Actually frame -less door will add much “sportiness” to this car
Just my 2 cents
Trully the best looking sport car of the year!
But if you guys want a cheap 6 seconds sport car, try Suzuki Swift Sport (M) with turbo. Only RM100+k plus a few modification for the turbo and you’ll get a 6 second car! Ask Youtube for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4CxYSO-wA4&feature=related
Well, not as exclusive as Megane that’s for sure.
I’d save money for this , that’s for sure ….damn super hot hatch ……! THis over Sciricco any time !
I m waiting for the launch of new Mazda 3 MPS, how’s mps compare with this megane?
Nice to see, Nice to Hold,
Once sign Hire&Purchase, consider sold
Then can bring the beast on sepang….
performance great! but the car design hmm.. it is a no for me..
deliciously wicked machine!
in the first picture, those 2 guys standing side by side… i mean, do they need to be holding each other ar? very french maybe… but you are distracting us from the car la..
nice car tho! well done tc
Nice car, looks great even static. Actual car looks much bigger than in the picture.
This look of this car reminds me of other cars. Front looks like Mazda, back like Scirocco, side profile look like elongated and better looking Satria Neo.
I remembered reading Cup chassis being a hardcode for-track setup. I wonder how will that work on a typical Malaysian road with holes, speed bumps and JKR patchworks.
Just Tested this car, here’s what I found…
For the price 230K+, with Brembo 4 port and 17″ rim as standard, plus LSD and other great stuff, this is a good price as compared to Golf GTi or Scirocco. Don’t forget that this car compete directly with Scirocco R, and if Scirocco R ever comes to Malaysia, the price will be more than 270K!
The suspension setting is hard, but not like Type R kind of hard, reasonable and actually very nice to drive in the city. However, rough road is still a big killer to this car, you really don’t want to there.
This is a weekend car, although you can drive it everyday, and even stuck in the traffic you won’t feel much a problem because they have 3 level of throttle settings, and the easiest one is actually nice to drive during slow traffic. However, this is still too hard for me as a daily car, I would prefer Golf or Scirocco.
The handling:
Simply the best in the range, as compared to Golf or Scirocco. This is a track setting street car, while the other 2 is street setting street car. During the corner, the tail actually slide a bit to help you get into corner, and the sport ESP is great!
Summary:
If you love driving fast and cornering, this is the best car with the best price tag. If you want a family sport car, this probably not for you, it is a second car or weekend car, a lot of fun, but not for most family…
reminds me of the Vauxhall Astra, the VXR version kan
These first batch , arrived from elsewhere in the world entering out country from … LANGKAWI.
bloody dealer’s got it through undertable at tax free price , but heck still charged up the as if it has been imposed the usual tax.
how you know?
coz k. my brother is the bloody dealer taking the undertable!! :p
with the current price…definitely my choice over the scirocco..
This car sounds fantastic! For the price, you get a lot of gear compared to the Golf. I hope Renault do well here with this model, since the buying public are now a lot more open-minded now compared to the past (look how well VW and Audi are doing now for resale). The Megane Sport is a good VFM car compared to the grossly overpriced Clio or old megane R26.
The biggest thing going for a golf driver is that the golf has a lot of tuning potential (stage 1 – 260+bhp) and as all golf drivers know the official quoted figures are highly conservative.
A twin test at sepang, what say you?