Renault Megane RS 280 EDC

More talented than ever before.

- Louis Cordony

RENAULT SPORT models have always felt like they were built with more input from its F1 drivers than its sales department. That’s a good thing.

Take the Clio. For a while, in the early noughties, it built one with a mid-mounted V6. Then there was its Spider, a roadster with no windscreen, so you not only felt the wind in your hair but the local wildlife too.

So you can understand our curiosity for the brand’s 2018 all-new Megane RS 280. It hasn’t doubled down on a reputation for uncompromising thrills in the face of growing rivals. It’s instead grown two doors and an ‘automatic’.

Gone is the seductive and unique three-door hatch, replaced by a more grown-up five-door shell. The body is longer than before, houses significantly wider tracks, and stretches its wheelbase by 23mm to 2669mm.

Things have downsized in the engine department, the turbocharged 1.8-litre four shared with the Alpine A110. With 205kW and 390Nm, it’s more powerful than its donor, has shorter bore and stroke measurements than the Megane RS 250’s likeable F4RT and adopts a higher 9.2:1 compression ratio with direct-injection fuelling.