Renault makes some might fine hot hatchery, and the Megane R26.R has to be up there as one of their best. But surely Renault’s latest balls out track special is no match for a raw, lithe and uncompromising Caterham?
Join Fifth Gear’s Tiff Needell to find out. Be prepared from some froggy cornering goodness.
The Renault Mégane III is due for release later in the year, so before saying au revoir to the current Mégane II le chaps from Renaultsport have seen fit to strip out the R26 (sorry, the Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26, to use its full title) and give it a good spanking around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. And my word, what a jolly good spanking they gave it. The 123kg weight saving, along with R spec rubber and the familiar engine, producing 168kW (230hp) and 310Nm torque, lapped the famed Nordschleife in a time of 8 minutes 17 seconds. That’s quick. Properly quick! The fastest lap by a production based front wheel drive car, in fact. You can see the lap in full on AUSringers.com as well as the company that lap allows the R26.R to keep. Très bien!
As you can see from the images below, you can have your R26.R in any colour, so long as it’s ugly. A bit harsh perhaps, but the Mégane’s styling has always been in the love or hate it category. Personally, and contradicting my last point, I’ve been on the fence in regards to the somewhat awkward lines of the French rocket. It could be argued that its angular and purposeful look suits the car’s drive me, and drive me bloody hard, attitude. That said, plastering garish stickers all over the car (including a Nürburgring 8:17 decal) and bright red wheels, along with a carbon fibre bonnet, could be described as akin to screaming out “No the Ssanyong Stavic is not the ugliest car in the world—I am!!!” Lucky then, that the R26.R is limited to just 450 examples, none of which will make it to Australia in any official capacity.
More images and Renault’s press release below…