2004 Renault Megane Renaultsport 225 Review

French cars have always been a little wacky, but Renault has gone all out on the new Megane. What used to be a reasonably normal looking car has morphed into a collection of curves and straight lines and a rear end an American booty dancer could only dream of. You'll either love it or hate it, but one thing's for sure - once you've had a go in the turbocharged RS225 you'll have a completely revised idea of the Megane.

Renaultsport is the performance arm of Renault, much in the same way that M handles hot BMWs and AMG produces extremely quick Mercs. For the Megane, Renaultsport has taken the 123kW turbo model and boosted performance by giving the car a 167kW kick.

But more importantly 90 percent of the 300Nm arrives by 2000rpm, giving the Megane the sort of punchy acceleration you get from a WRX, which isn't surprising because their respective power and torque outputs virtually match each other.

There is one important difference though, and that is the Megane puts power to the road through the front wheels only. Around 160kW is considered the maximum you can put through the front end of a hatchback before it tuns into an evil handling torque steering freak of nature.

The RS225 rides that fine line between civilisation and chaos pretty well, and thanks to revised suspension settings the most you get on a dry road is a wobble through the steering you can easily correct. In the wet it would be a different matter though, because regardless of diff, suspension and tyre design you can't fool physics for very long.

Driving the RS225 in the city is like being on the end of a very long bungy cord. The low rpm torque means the car leaps ahead on even slight throttle openings and every time you change gear you've got to be careful to ease the gearchange and clutch through, or your passengers look like they're doing a slow speed mosh pit head bang.

It's on the open road however, that the RS225 proves that Renaultsport knows its stuff. T

he slightly floppy suspension tune stiffens up at speed but retains more than enough wheel travel for typical New Zealand roads. The RS225 is pretty much unperturbed by anything the road can supply, from potholes to lumpy tarmac. Add the sheer performance from the engine and you've got something that will keep up with a WRX quite easily - as long as the road remains dry.

Renault has sweetened the pot for the car by having a limited edition model that includes NZ$7000 worth of extra kit, which includes full leather upholstery with orange stitching, sunroof and Xenon headlights.

The Megane Renaultsport RS225 - as well as being a mouthful - is not going to be on everyone's Christmas list. The aggressive looks of the body kit and dual chrome exhausts are almost outweighed by the sheer unconventional shape.

But rest assured, there's a good car under there, and in the optional orange paint at least, you're never going to be ignored.