Trophy-R, the craziest Megane ever produced

What if we talked about French bombs in our article of the day?

After having presented the Alpine A110 or the R5 Turbo, two automotive myths, does French motorsport still know how to defend itself after all these years and technological prowess developed?

Fortunately yes! Whether it's Alpine with their latest generation A110, their weapon on the track, or Renault Sport with their compact sports cars which are continuously modified and improved over the years: Twingo, Clio and Megane.

It is true that we are clearly not in the presence of the same cars, more modern, more "electrified", more "discreet" in terms of noise, but still as efficient on the track! And then we no longer have the possibility of returning to Group 4...

It is in 2019 that the Megane IV RS Trophy-R started to be marketed:

A car that made the news as it set a new record for front wheel drive cars on the "North Loop" of the Nürburgring (20.6km): 7'40"10 with L.Hurgon at the wheel.

For the record, the Megane II RS R26 R (230hp and 310Nm of torque) had achieved a time of 8'17"54 with V.Bayle at the wheel and the Megane III RS Trophy-R (275hp and 360Nm of torque) 7'54"36 with L.Hurgon. A colossal progress for Renault Sport!

The Renault Sport (RS) team engineers and specialists like Akrapovic, Ohlins, Brembo, Bridgestone and Sabelt have done a great job.

A titanium exhaust system by Akrapovic; adjustable compression and rebound dampers by Ohlins; Brembo brakes with 355mm (or 390mm depending on the option) carbon-ceramic discs and 4-piston calipers; Potenza S007 tires specially developed for RS and composite bucket seats covered with Alcantara by Sabelt.

On the RS side, we are working on a compact car that weighs 1.3t on the scale, the 4-cylinder 1.8 turbo engine with direct injection develops 300hp at 6000rpm and delivers a maximum torque of 400Nm at 3200rpm. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.6s and reaches 262 km/h.

Of course, Renault Sport is synonymous with an excellent chassis, it is incredibly precise in the corners, in a straight line the car is glued to the ground! The car is radical on the track, a nervous but controlled behavior: without driving aids and in rainy weather, taming it would be very playful (less dangerous than with a rear wheel drive car you can imagine). Nevertheless, some tests have shown that this bombshell has a bit of a fickle butt!

The details have also been studied to make it even more aggressive: the carbon rear diffuser is inspired by the F1 and has slightly curved fins; fairings under the chassis help to smooth the air flows; the NACA air intake on the hood in carbon fiber + glass allows an optimum cooling of the engine block, the ventilation of the brakes has also been studied, etc.

Composite materials are no longer a secret in the race to save weight and are strongly present here. The engineers have also selected light Fuji wheels in 19" (red), bucket seats (-7kg per seat); have chosen a lithium battery instead of a lead one (4.5kg lighter!); have opted for a thinner window, have removed the windshield wiper system at the rear as well as the rear seat (-25.3kg): this allowed them to design a space ready to receive the carbon wheels (black see pictures and optional in 10 000 euros)!

The rear wheels are no longer steered, a specific train has been chosen for a gain of 38kg. In total, this means 130kg less on the scale compared to the simple Trophy without options.

The carbon-ceramic brakes are reserved to 14 copies in France (10,000 euros option). This bodybuilt Megane is produced in 500 copies, all numbered and equipped with a 6-speed gearbox.

A bomb made in France which shows more than interesting performances with equipments reserved to supercars.

When it came out, the Trophy-R was priced at 80.000 euros with options, in its "record" configuration. Considered uncomfortable off-road, it is an inveterate tracker that defends itself very well!

Hugo Cortes