MOTOR

unexpected willingness to generate rear

slip angle in one tightening left-hander,

a trait that means the 50 per cent of

available torque usually sent to the back

axle as a passive afterthought suddenly

arrives as a wholly gratifying remedy to

lift-off oversteer. Almost certainly, the

car’s part-worn and non-standard rubber

is to blame (thank?) for this feature.

Issues elsewhere are more obviously

Mercedes’ fault. The A45 is impossibly

hard on its brakes, it is unforgivably slow

to downshift and it makes for an aloof

steer. Thus, pace carried into slower

apexes is too often flittered away in a

bungled cockpit fidget of vexed pedal

pushing and paddle pulling.

Indeed, the VBOX’s most telling result

from the whole day is recorded on the

entry to and exit from Blyton’s tightest

chicane. Despite carrying a couple of

kilometres per hour less speed in, the

Trophy-R emerges from the left-right

sidestep with a full 16km/h advantage.

I’m sure that there’s a gear ratio

length benefit in there, but the massive

difference in tempo still best describes

the Renault’s scampering fluidity under

duress. Where the A45’s bulk requires

extreme effort from its motor, the

Megane feels like it’s tearing unstoppably

forwards from its mid-range onwards.

Of course, with no back axle to

share the burden, there are torque and

understeer ramifications, but Renault’s

mechanical solutions to both – its

PerfoHub double-axis front suspension

and limited-slip differential – are so

supremely well set up that it feels like

the nose is juggling at least 75kW less

than advertised. It’s only afterwards that I

pick out their non-stop involvement in the

experience. In the process, you’re far too

absorbed in fine-tuning your own inputs

to consider the Trophy-R’s contribution.

Driving the A45, you consciously

micro-manage the elements that are

proving a problem (the gearbox,

the brakes and so on). In the R, you

marshal the big picture – working away

obsessively at the pedals and gear lever,

certainly, but all the time mind-melded to

the chassis. And what a chassis.

The R’s steering, an electrically-

powered rack and pinion utterly without

paunch or hesitation, makes a mockery

of the A45’s force-fed positivity. On

the dampers' 'Road' setting the Renault

leans over a hair’s breadth more than

the Mercedes, but the subsequent body

control and linear grip is extraordinary –

edging its rival in comparable g readings.

Although the persistence of the semi-slick

tyres makes the car’s limit seem distant,

a banzai approach is never required to

breach the adhesion because the R is so

keen for you to endlessly fine-tune its

attitude with your right foot.

The result? A 1:14sec dead. Almost

a second quicker than the Mercedes.

Not much, I hear you grumble. But in

reality, ability and interactiveness, the

cars are worlds apart. The A45’s best

effort is simply where it plateaus, the

road-use bias evident in its tendency to

become incrementally less convincing the

closer it gets to the limit. The Trophy-R

suffers no such decline, its already raw

edge becoming razor sharp at breaking

point and you leave the track feeling

convinced that the car could have gone

quicker had you been better. That, in a

nutshell, is what you want from a track-

day candidate, and Renault’s talent for

ONE ’RING TO RULE THEM ALL

DON’T expect Renault to sit on its Nürburgring laurels. The front-drive record

that the Trophy-R broke was only a few months old, and we’d be surprised if

the new time lasts long in 2015. Primarily because Honda has made being top

of the front-drive leaderboard a crucial part of its strategy for launching the

newly turbocharged and rather formidable-looking Civic Type R. Given the time

its development team has spent benchmarking on the Nordschleife – and the

confi dence of its engineers – the title would appear to be well within the new

car’s grasp. Beyond that, the hatchback as a concept will be made to go faster

still in the new year, although these machines – more powerful versions of the

Volkswagen Golf R, the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG and the new Audi RS3 – all

use a powered rear axle to do so.

Harnesses worth

their weight in gold

during hot laps, but try

popping down to the

store for some milk

Don’t let the dials fool

you. The air-con’s gone;

blame Colin Chapman

The Trophy-R is at home
on a circuit. It’s just
getting to the circuit
that’s the problem