FUTUREICONS
IFYOUWERETONOTEDOWNALL THE THINGS
that would likely deter people from buying a car when it
was new, yet ensure that same car would swiftly acquire
iconic status in just a handful of years, that catalogue
would pretty much describe the Renault Sport Mégane
275 Trophy-R.
Built by Renault Sport to set a new front-wheel-drive
production car lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife,
it was more highly evolved than most homologation
specials. Stripped of extraneous equipment and even
the rear seats, but bristling with expensive,
lightweight motorsport-spec parts, the
Trophy-R made few concessions to comfort.
It was rare. Very rare, in fact, with just 30
out of 250 cars allocated to the UK. Adding
the optional Nürburgring Pack (350mm front
brakes and a lithium-ion battery) made it
fearsomely expensive at just under £40,000.
It also wore a lairy set of decals and brightly
coloured wheels, and if that didn’t draw
enough attention the raucous soundtrack
from the Akrapovic titanium exhaust certainly did.
Manually adjustable Öhlinsdampers gave you the option
to soften thingsoff for road compliance (it was surprisingly
comfortable) or ramp things up for track work, but to
do so you had to grub around with your hands up in the
wheelarches like James Herriot assisting in the birth of a
particularlystubborncalf.Andwith30clicksofadjustment
there was plenty of room for getting in a right old pickle.
RENAULT MÉGANE 275 TROPHY-R
But.Thiscarwasastatement.OnethatpositionedRenault
Sport at the top of the extreme hot hatch road-and-track
performance tree. A 7min54seclap timearound the world’s
most demanding racetrack testified to its effectiveness and
rewarded Renault Sport’s steely ambition.
Like many of these ‘special’ cars, the driving experience
is both fabulous and fl awed. Chasing a sub-8min lap time
at the Ring meant a planted set-up that prioritised grip and
poiseoverhighspiritsandclosed-throttlewaywardness–at
least once the tyres were hot. That meant the Trophy-R was
always a bit more prescriptive than playful, but
the way it could up its game on road or track
was pretty breathtaking. Now, as then, you’d
need a certain degree of masochism to commit
to a car that places its emphasisso fully on a 12-
mile loop of tarmac tucked amongst the pine
trees of the Eifel. But therein lies its beauty.
At least to those of us who get seduced by this
stuff. One of the last truly analogue cars of its
kind, the Trophy-R became a part of hot hatch
folklore when it took the record.
How much store you put by these records will ultimately
decide whether you ‘get’ the Trophy-R or think it’s a
pointless exercise. I’m very much in the former camp,
but whatever your view, this is a car that will continue to
provoke discussion amongst those who know its backstory,
and arouse curiosity in those who don’t. The most special
of a very special breed, its icon-in-waiting status is both
earned and assured.
‘ITBECAME
APARTOF
HOTHATCH
FOLKLORE’
Its singular focus makes the Trophy-R a no-brainer forRichard Meaden