Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

Track days are a luxury for the car enthusiast, especially since there are no smaller (and cheaper) circuits around the Klang Valley, and our only hope is a Formula 1 circuit. A lucky bunch of people recently got to enjoy a track day – these folks are the owners of Renault Sport cars. The event was arranged and sponsored by distributor TC Euro Cars, a subsidiary of Tan Chong Motors.

“People who buy a RM230,000 car with a manual transmission mated to a 250 hp engine are definitely driving enthusiasts; it is with our customers in mind that we felt that what better place to enjoy the full capability of Renault Sport cars than on a Formula 1 track,” said TCEC’s GM, Reza Mutalib.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

From what we heard, TCEC is also planning to have a number of exclusive track days in 2012 to further accommodate the growing RS family. We heard about this trackday from a contact who owns a Renault Sport, so we called up TCEC to see whether we could come along for the ride.

Over 60 people showed up at Sepang, the bulk of them owners of the Megane R26, Clio RS and Megane RS250. There were also some who had booked the hot Megane and waiting (im)patiently for their cars to arrive. These soon to be owners had a taste of what their future ride can do on track as they were given demo laps, and from their smiles and expression, not one regretted his decision!

I asked, and apparently the car has been sold out for months. New stocks that are expected to arrive by the end of the month are mostly booked, too. Not that I have the bank balance…

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

If you haven’t already gathered from our test drive report, we adore the Megane RS 250 for its superb performance (not just speed, but handling and flow) and comfort as a daily driver (unlike say, a Civic Type R). It also amazed me that Renault Sport managed to better the Megane R26 in about every aspect, and the old timer is a cracker, mind you.

Back to the track. Before I drove, I strapped myself in the passenger seat with Denis Lian, who is of course the pro who set the Sepang lap record for the Megane RS 250 at 2 mins 43 secs last year. Denis not only used every ounce of the car’s grip and brakes, but every inch of the track as well – and this is what separates racers from the regular enthusiast. After that we swapped seats for a chance for him to laugh at my skills.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

He didn’t (because he’s nice, not because I’m good), but instead gave me pointers as we took on full laps of Sepang. My first full throttle of the day was at the exit of Turn 2 on to the right sweeper and straight before standing (literally) on the brakes for T4. Unlike the R26 and Golf GTI, the Megane RS doesn’t feel as fast as it really is, probably due to the much improved refinement.

But make no mistake, this car is very quick even if it doesn’t kick. We also recently found out that it actually makes much more than the stated 250 hp – click here to read.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

Traction out of corners is superb in this LSD equipped car, as I discovered in T4, and one can confidently lean into the following S bends without the fear of Megane throwing you off the road. It will lose traction eventually, but the process is progressive, and you’re likely not to be caught unawares, unless one’s fully drowned in adrenalin, or just plain foolhardy.

Next up was a dab of the brakes before aiming for two apexes in a U. The Megane RS does allow for some degree of roll, which is not a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of “work”. The way the suspension “breathes” on the road (as opposed to hopping around) was evident here as I clipped the raised kerbs, without my head hitting the roof or bum shifting in the Recaro.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

The final corner before the back straight really brought out the reactive nature of the chassis. This is one FWD car that can dance and flow along, and not just rely solely on grip from the nose. The straights saw me reach about 190 km/h before starting to brake at the 100m mark.

Those four-pot Brembos with 340 mm slotted discs are incredible, to say the least, marrying strong bite and a nice easy to modulate natural feel. 100m isn’t much when one’s hitting 200 km/h, and I’m happy to report that I made the corner with room to spare.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

By the way, the Megane RS 250 comes standard with the R.S. Monitor, which displays 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.

Didn’t really have time to play with all that, but I left the g-force meter on, and as you can see, we pulled about 1.2g of lateral acceleration. We achieved the same on the road in our earlier test drive.

Megane RS 250 shines at exclusive Renault Sport trackday

Amazing performance on track for a car that’s so usable on the road. With the car and now the track days, these Renault Sport owners have double happiness. As for me, I left the track one part happy, two parts envy!

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • rapidshifter on Nov 17, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    wish i had the opportunity to test drive this car… looks like u really enjoyed the ride….

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  • rally_fan on Nov 17, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    going to be one of the all time great FWD performance cars for sure. i personally still prefer an actual manual with a clutch pedal, although technology has already made it somewhat obselete in terms of speed of gear changes, etc..

    but on a whole, i still much prefer RWD…. “Right” wheel drive ;)

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  • diablo on Nov 17, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    hmmm.. incredibly tempting. Sounds like really good value for its price.. with properly sorted chassis. 1.2g lateral is a lot but I guess the semi slick looking tyres has a lot to do with it. And the big plus is that its a proper manual where we can enjoy heel n toeing. How to compare this to the nearest VW product?? How does one try out this car?

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    • ive done 1.2 lateral g’s on the stock tires. it’s that grippy. i’d expect more g’s with semis. :)

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    • blackbox on Nov 17, 2011 at 7:30 pm

      I think the stock tyre are Mechilin PS3 only.

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  • love the r17 in the pictures! such a classic beauty :) lucky to see it at coty this year.

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  • sad i missed this trackday. i’ve been on the track with Denis Lian at the wheel and getting 5 laps with him is better than 5 trackdays driving on your own.

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  • policeman on Nov 17, 2011 at 7:29 pm

    Satria Yellow better than this.

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  • armandd on Nov 17, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    This car is much better than FD2 Taip R. Unlike the Taip R, you can drive this on not-so-smooth Malaysian roads without your bones and teeth rattling all over. I wonder which one will lap the Sepang circuit faster. I would rather put my money on this Megane though..

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  • BeemerFreak on Nov 17, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Hmm i wonder how many of the RS250 TC sells a month….. At rm 230k it is really a bargain compared to a much slower and less agile VW scirocco.

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  • mirror mirror on Nov 17, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    I think the most beautiful Renault sports coupe is the Feugo, too bad I can no longer see any of them, really miss that car.

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  • kimi_ on Nov 17, 2011 at 10:29 pm

    Hi Danny,

    I thought you just own Ford Fiesta not long ago, now you r booking megane rs???
    What a upgrade man, looks like you pretty like hot hatch is it?

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    • Danny Tan (Member) on Nov 18, 2011 at 12:13 am

      Nope, I don’t own a Fiesta, and I can’t afford this RS. Nice cars, though

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  • Prince on Nov 17, 2011 at 10:41 pm

    I’m dreaming to have this car….ohh

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  • kereta lembu on Nov 18, 2011 at 7:22 am

    I’ll trade my kereta lembu for this! The RS250 is a cheeky little monster! Me like!

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  • Simon Ng on Nov 18, 2011 at 9:31 am

    Who says money cannot buy happiness?

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    • PakAbu on Nov 18, 2011 at 11:55 am

      Leo Rosten. He said “Money can’t buy happiness, but neither can poverty.”

      :mrgreen:

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  • DArkerMarker on Nov 18, 2011 at 11:08 am

    can someone pinjam me a Magane, please??

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  • how come most of the photo taken doesn’t have name one?? can’t paul tag them on facebook??

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  • Manoq on Nov 18, 2011 at 10:19 pm

    I like the clio rs, 2.0L NA ……………. and how tiff needell thrashed it around the angelsea circuit with oversteer eetc ………… nice little car.

    Had a chance to test drove 1 at PJ showroom 2 years ago ………. love it.

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  • NeoBest! on Nov 18, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    Kereta ini hebat betul ! Tapi kereta Neo turbo saya boleh fight dengan kereta ini saya ingat kalau kalah pun very close fight…

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  • Hi Guys

    I am Porsche 911 C4S onwner and I wish to join you guys for the Sepang track day.
    You guys are friendly enough to welcome me?
    TQ

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