RenaultSport Megane Sets New FWD Nurburging Record

2NDGENTEG

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If we asked you what the fastest Nurburgring time for a front-wheel drive car was you'd probably guess the Ford Focus RS. Nope, not even close. In fact it belongs to French automaker Renault, and has for some time.

Back in 2008 the automaker ran an 8:16 with a rather stripped-down R26.R version of the Megane. Now those baguette-lovers have bested their own time, obliterating the old record with an 8:07.97 lap. The car is the new RenaultSport Megane 265 Trophy and the lap time was set by Renault test driver Laurent Hurgon on just his second trip round the 'Ring.

This puts the newest Megane ahead of some very impressive hardware including Evos and BMW M cars.

See AutoGuide.com for a list of car's the RS Megane beat
 
Whats more shocking then the list of cars it beat (although taking out an M5 is impressive) is this:

BMW M5 E60 – 8:13

Mercedes E63 AMG – 8:13

I have the pleasure to be in and drive a few modern AMG's and know they have massively stepped up their game in terms of handling but still thought an M5 would get a slight edge in terms of track performance.
 
those baguette-lovers have bested their own time, obliterating the old record with an 8:07.97 lap.

HAHA!

What happened to all the FWD haters who assume that it is a bad platform? (Will probably complain about the strip-down)
 
Pourquoi on en a pas ici lol.....

Quand je suis aller en Europe, nous avions louer une Renault Megane (pas le modèle ci-haut, on s'entend) et c'est vraiment une super voiture!
 
HAHA!

What happened to all the FWD haters who assume that it is a bad platform? (Will probably complain about the strip-down)

It's not that a FWD is good or bad that not the question. It's just plain f*cking BORING!
 
Pourquoi on en a pas ici lol.....

Quand je suis aller en Europe, nous avions louer une Renault Megane (pas le modèle ci-haut, on s'entend) et c'est vraiment une super voiture!

Renault, c'est malheureusement pas ce qu'il y a de plus fiable. Triste parce ce sont de belles voitures, bien finies, bien pensées et extrêmement bien équipées pour le prix. Leurs ingénieurs n'ont pas encore profité de leur association commerciale et technique avec Nissan... Espérons que cela vienne un jour.

Les japonais, les allemands et les sud-coréens restent loin devant.

It's not that a FWD is good or bad that not the question. It's just plain f*cking BORING!

Some are still fun to drive at the limit (like the Cooper S)...
 
Whats more shocking then the list of cars it beat (although taking out an M5 is impressive) is this:

BMW M5 E60 – 8:13

Mercedes E63 AMG – 8:13

I have the pleasure to be in and drive a few modern AMG's and know they have massively stepped up their game in terms of handling but still thought an M5 would get a slight edge in terms of track performance.

It is impressive but the Megane is a stripped down car. As a daily driver, I'm not quite sure it fits the bill. What tires were mounted on the Megane, are they Cup tires?
 
Nevermind, I got my answer...

thanks to an extra 11kW (at 195kW), careful set-up work and an optimised tyre choice by RenaultSport engineers.

"The carefully-tuned Cup chassis, fade-resistant brakes, Recaro seats, the spread of torque from 2500-5000rpm and the Bridgestone Potenza RE 050A, 235/35 R19 tyres allowed me to make the most of the car's potential and post such a quick time round this circuit -
 
How stripped out IS this car? The last one had plastic "windows" (that you could not lower), no soundproofing, no A/C, no nothing.. Shit, it was honestly a skeleton. To be honest, it's not the real numbers for a daily driver.. but on the track/performance side, it does kick some serious ass.
 
HAHA!

What happened to all the FWD haters who assume that it is a bad platform? (Will probably complain about the strip-down)

It's good on dry pavement, not so much on greasy, snowy, wet, etc..

But what's even better than this megane is that the next clio RS cup will make 230hp NA out of it's 2 liter engine.
 
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