Last August, TC Euro Cars introduced the hottest, most feral track machine, the Renault Megane RS275 Trophy-R. Just 250 units will ever be made for the global market, and only 10 units have been specially allocated for the Malaysian market.
All 10 of this roaring front-engined, front-wheel drive megahatch have been snapped up, but thanks to TC Euro and SR, we’ve managed to get our hands on one of this very special French machine. Joining us at the occasion was Tom Goh, founder of zerotohundred.com and fellow TimeToAttack! organizer.
QUICK FACTS
| Name | Renault Megane RS275 Trophy-R |
| Engine | 1,998cc; turbocharged inline-4 |
| Transmission | 6-speed manual |
| Max Power | 275 hp @ 5,500 rpm |
| Max Torque | 360 Nm @ 3,000 – 5,000 rpm |
| 0 – 100 km/h; Top Speed | 5.8 seconds; 255 km/h |
| Price | RM300,000 |
In this video, Tom, who frequents the Sepang F1 track every so often, puts the Trophy-R through its paces to see just how much more hardcore the Megane can get. In his own words, Tom said “The Trophy-R will likely provide more satisfaction per hour than say, a GTR, be it on the road or on the track. It’s tonnes more engaging, uncompromising and undiluted than most performance cars money can buy.”
Just to put things into perspective, the Megane RS275 Trophy-R, in complete stock form (including road-going tyres), is capable of lapping the Sepang International Circuit in under 2 minutes 35 seconds! That’s almost six seconds quicker than the RS265 (which gets 265 horses, as the name suggests), which outperformed the RS250’s lap time of 2 minutes 43 seconds. This is achieved not just by bumping up the power from the RS265, but through extensive mechanical upgrades.
Though it costs RM65k more than the warmer Megane RS265, you get a set of fully-adjustable Ohlins Road and Track dampers, Allevard composite springs and a Nurburgring pack which comes with larger 350mm rotors, lightweight lithium-ion battery pack and Sabelt-sourced bright red racing harness for the Recaro bucket seats.
By the way, the Recaros are made of polycarbonate shell that’s wrapped in a mix of Alcantara and leather, finished with red stitching. The back seats have been thrown out in favour of a horizontal bar and some nylon netting to transport two pairs of semi slicks.
Over 100kg have been shed to conceive the maddest Megane to date, and these are some of the items that have been removed or replaced from previous versions:
- Insulating materials – 18kg
- Front bucket seats – 22kg
- Rear bench – 20kg
- Entertainment system and air conditioning – 10kg
- Rear wiper – 1kg (hey, every gram counts)
- Speedline 19-inch Turini wheels – 5kg
- Allevard composite front springs – 4kg
At the time this video was shot, the Trophy-R was the quickest FF hatch in the world, lapping the Green Hell with a time of 7 minutes 54.36 seconds. The achievement was rather short-lived, for then came the wacky Civic Type R which destroyed the Nurburgring in 7 minutes 50.63 seconds. Although the record-setting Type R was a preproduction prototype, Honda insists that the engine tuning, suspension, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes and aerodynamic levels are identical to that of the production version.
Well, that’s enough talk for now. Watch (and perhaps learn) as Tom Goh blazes his way through the 5.5km-long track with and without GC Mah on board. Our heartfelt thanks go out to TC Euro Cars, Tom Goh and SR for making this happen. Enjoy!
