ROAD TEST: Renault Megane RS so close to being ‘the one’

French flair is evident inside with racy styling, a roaring infotainment system and sports seats.

I am seeing croissants being hurled against walls all over the show as the Renault people read this headline and then read what I am about to say next.

As hard as it is, and trust me, I really wanted to ignore it, but the simple fact is that every hot hatch launched into SA is immediately compared to the VW Golf GTI.

I might have been able to use a technical excuse or two to avoid the trap that every other hot hatch manufacturer hates just as much if the Megane RS test car that was delivered to us was the Cup spec version.

You see, that car is manual only and has a Torsen mechanical limited slip diff fitted up front for extra grip.

.@Renault_SA Megane RS Lux ran a 6.27 sec 0-100 km/h, a 14.54 sec 1/4 mile at 162.42 km/h, a 22.62 sec 1/2 mile at 193.97 km/h, a 26.18 sec 1km at 203.65 km/h and a 248.35 km/h top speed at Gerotek. pic.twitter.com/M6ZXlcpJLE

— Mark Jones (@MarkJonesZA23) October 11, 2018

VW, as far as I know, don’t even bring the new GTI to SA with a manual gearbox, and their car only has an electronic limited slip diff fitted.

The R549 900 Lux version of the Megane RS I had on test, also only offers a double clutch automatic gearbox and doesn’t come with a limited slip diff at all.

So, no matter how you try and avoid it, this car falls directly in the firing line of the R558 000 GTI and more hardcore versions – like the already mentioned Cup and, I am sure, the soon-to-follow Nurburgring type-fast Trophy version – would compare more to a Clubsport type GTI or Civic Type R.

There are other hot hatch options out there, too.

Ford offers their excellent value-for-money 184kW/360Nm, manual transmission-only ST for a mere R457 300.

Sadly, Opel has slipped right off the performance radar and now only offers a lukewarm without an OPC in sight R458 000 Astra 1.6T Sport, that produces 147kW and 280Nm with a manual transmission.

But the benchmark remains the GTI.

In terms of sales, the VW GTI can do no wrong, but thankfully I must look at things from a few other angles when bringing you a road test impression.

First off, I really like the styling of the Megane RS, especially when fitted with the optional 19- inch wheels. It’s different enough to notice but not as over-the-top as the opinion-dividing Type R.

Jumping inside you are immediately made aware that this is a hot hatch, and not just because of all the racy RS styling cues, but also because the infotainment systems roars at you as you hunker down into the sports seats. You gotta love that French flair.

The most important stuff inside the Megane RS for a petrol – head will be the completely revised RS Monitor.

It offers a more user-friendly layout and extended functionalities.

Fitted as standard, the monitor gathers and summarises information from 40 or so sensors spread around the car.

It is therefore possible to display a wide range of vehicle settings in real time on the R-Link 2 touch-screen tablet – from acceleration, braking, steering wheel angle, system, temperatures, pressures to operation of the 4Control system.

This system is a world-first in the hot hatch segment and according to the Renault, their chassis and suspension system experts have extensively revised the settings of the 4Control system.

The bottom line is that this system allows the rear wheels to turn out to a max of 2.7 degrees at low speed and one degree inwards at high speed.

This was said to be done to create a feeling that the car is glued to the road.

But perhaps in typical French fashion, maybe glued to the road means something different to the average driver, because unless you are used to racing the likes of a light rear-wheel driven car or a twitchy Polo Cup type of car, the way the 4Control rotates the rear of the car when you initially turn in can be quite disconcerting at first, especially on a normal public road and it will certainly make the average driver’s heart skip a beat.

Once you begin to expect it to happen and get used to the feeling of the rear rotating around on you, then you can start to exploit the added benefit of this handling technology.

But then you also need to be smooth on the throttle on the exit of the corner because the 205kW/390Nm, 1.8-litre turbocharged engine that is boosting a claimed 1.7 bar, has no limited slip diff to keep the wheel spin under control and the car tracking true around a corner.

Chuck it in and floor it, and it will understeer aggressively.

But I guess once you master these nuances, or opt for the manual Cup version, you should be able to get around a race track relatively quickly and unscathed.

In a straight line, using launch control in both sport and race mode, the wheel spin off the line is crazy but the Megane RS still gets to 100km/h three-tenths quicker than the GTI, at 6.27 sec, and stays ahead at the quarter mile with a time of 14.54 sec versus 14.70 sec, but from there the harder revving GTI starts to come back one tenth of a second at a time and at 1km they are separated by a mere one-hundredth of a second and 2.5km/h in favour of the GTI.

The Megane RS stops just short of 250km/h and Golf GTI just over 250km/h.

So, it is a closely fought affair from the word go even before you VW fans start on about the GTI’s 169kW versus the RS’s 205kW.

I think we all know, stick a GTI on the dyno and it makes around the same power on the wheels as is claimed on the flywheel. My guess is that on the dyno, these two cars would make similar wheel horse power.

For me the Renault Megane RS comes with a better standard list of safety and luxury items, and it is almost as fast in a straight line and probably as quick, if not quicker, around a track if you know what you are doing.

So, for me it could be almost the one I would choose, for that something different, but the lack of a slip diff up front leaves me feeling you have to work too hard to extract the best out of the car.

The GTI just does everything else that little bit easier and when you add that to its unbeatable street cred, you will understand why, if it’s your own money you are using, the Golf goes in your garage – but just.

As with Renault’s entire product range, the Renault Megane RS Lux comes standard with a fiveyear/150 000km mechanical warranty and a five-year/ 90 000km service plan.