Test drove Megane RS 250

[trophy380]

Hey guys, went to try a new Megane RS 250 this morning from Hylton Renault Worcester. I tried a FF 250 version not the cup version which I would personally opt for, but was quite impressed by it anyway. It felt very composed and the build quality is indeed leagues ahead of the 182, as most people will tell you. It also had a lovely burble from the exhaust and does pull very well when you give it some beans, although it didn't feel that much quicker than the Trophy, although I think it probably is! I am quite keen to change the Trophy for one although was incredibly disappointed with the offer for the T. I was offered £4,500! I was gob smacked and a little annoyed! Considering it's only done 31,000 and is in excellent condition throughout, and when I discussed this ridiculous offer with him against a new car I managed to get offered £5000, an equally insulting offer!

Any ideas what my T is worth? It's in excellent condition, only 31,000, had the suspension serviced 1000miles ago. Just has the usual minimal wear to the steering wheel, a few bonnet chips and a little curbing on the offside front alloy, will need cambelt doing soon, but other than that it's like new.

If this is indeed what it's worth then cars with 40,000 up must be worth around the £3000 mark! Surely £4500 is a cat D price for a Trophy!?

 

[BoroGTI]

Its just a shame the new Megs look gawd damn awful!!

 

[Trophy#110]

I would say you should be after at least £7k. If you sold privately that is.

 

[PB.283]

£4500 will be the glass' guide price.

£5000 from a dealer is about right and they don't care about damper rebuilds either.

Private should get you £6500-7000, I got £7200 for mine on 23k

 

[Stevie]

I have driven one of these too and was impressed. It was the FF one also so the cup I imagine will be even better with the LSD.

Some things I didn't like though was the steering which was too light but sharp and doesn't have the nibble-ness of the Trophy. However these aside I really liked it and think it's much improved on the previous megane.

 

[trophy380]

Cheers guys! I need to have a good think about what i want to do, whether to keep the Trophy for a while or make a change soon. It did feel very sure footed and was great to drive, but like you said stevie it doesn't feel half as nimble as the Trophy! They also had a 200 in grey! apparently a new colour! Looked really nice!

 

[Stevie]

I guess it depends what type of car you want. Both cars are brill but very different.

I preferred the megane to the 200 personally but prefer my Trophy to that 8)

 

[Johnnytheboy]

Surprised it didn't feel a lot faster than a T, as it's meant to be on a par with my new car (Focus RS) which definitely feels quicker.

Test drives can be very deceptive though, and maybe the fact this is a smaller engine than the RS means it has less of an immediate power delivery.

 

[trophy380]

Surprised it didn't feel a lot faster than a T, as it's meant to be on a par with my new car (Focus RS) which definitely feels quicker.

Test drives can be very deceptive though, and maybe the fact this is a smaller engine than the RS means it has less of an immediate power delivery.

The power delivery in the Megane was flawless and it did pull very very well. When I said "it didn't feel much quicker than the Trophy" I meant that in the way that as the trophy is smaller, lightweight etc etc so it seems to feel like it's very quick! but with the megane, it just feels so smooth and composed that it makes you think that you're going a lot lot slower than you are! if that makes sense!

According to evo magazine, they had 270bhp out of the megane when they stuck it on the rollers, which should mean that it would be very close to the FRS for performance and maybe quicker!

 

[Johnnytheboy]

Actually I can see what you mean, the Focus probably doesn't feel as quick as it is, the T felt quicker than it was. :lol:

 

[trophy380]

I think in actual fact Ford have been possibly a little arrogant with the new FRS whilst Renault have been very modest about the Megane. I'm not saying that the FRS isn't a great car though! Id love one!!

 

[Johnnytheboy]

The arrogance/modesty thing could be down to marketing budget...?

From what I've read, the two are much of a muchness performance wise, I'd certainly be very pleased with a 250. I don't agree with the negative comment above about its looks, I like them.

If you're still weighing this up, the only thing I would say that I really miss from the Trophy is its small size and nimbleness. The Focus feels enormous, and coupled with all the extra torque/power, I actually end up having to take it steady on most of the narrow roads that I drive along, whereas I could chuck the Clio down them as it was so small.

Saying that, I seem to get places very quickly when "taking it steady", so we're back to perception of speed again.

 

[trophy380]

It's definitely got speed perception!

It did have a nice burble from the exhaust, I probably noticed this as I only have a standard exhaust on the T! and that lacks a little bit of a soundtrack! I think if the Meg sounded like the FRS I would have bought it on the spot!

I've got plenty to think about and will probably make a decision whether to keep the Trophy or sell after christmas! But if I do go ahead and buy one then it will be a Megane RS 250 Cup (with Recaro's, RS monitor and in Capisium Red!!) Then at least it will look like a larger Trophy! ;o)

 

[Johnnytheboy]

I'd have one in Liquid Yellow if that's an option.

I wonder if it might be worth hanging on to see if Renault start bringing out special editions (as is their habit)?

 

[trophy380]

Yeah you may be onto something there Johnny! Maybe a Megane Trophy! ;o) I don't think they do liquid yellow in it. They seem to do extreme blue, oyster grey, mercury, sport yellow, capsicum red, glacier white and pearl black! but then maybe they'll introduce new colours later on. liquid yellow was a really nice colour though!