Wheels Australia – August 2019

Garage

106 whichcar.com.au/wheels

T TOOK ALL of 10 seconds to

have me doubting. The yellow

twin-clutch Megane RS280 you

saw here last month had gone

back to Renault and in its place

had arrived this tangerine-hued

RS280 with a manual gearbox and the

firmer Cup chassis, neither of which

had created a positive first impression.

The gearchange travel is long and the

action noisy and clunky, while the ride

can best be described as terse. It felt

like I’d been downgraded.

Since then I’ve gradually warmed

to the Cup. I still don’t rate the shift

action, but there’s a certain agricultural

pleasure to clogging in a big boot of

heel and toe in order to get round the

awkward pedal positioning. The Torsen

limited-slip differential that’s part

of the Cup package also brings the

steering to life when you’re really on it,

tugging the car into a bend and adding

to the excitement. On an allied note,

I’ve also realised that there’s a certain

cadence where the suspension starts

to glide rather than jostle, but I’m not

about to mention what it is in print.

In order to house the gearshifter and

manual handbrake, the entire centre

console of the car has been redesigned.

The centre cubby with the sliding lid

featured in the EDC-equipped RS280

Sport is replaced by a pair of open

cupholders that look undersized but

do a fairly decent job with most things.

You can’t quite stand a smartphone up

in them though, which, admittedly, isn’t

their primary design criterion.

I’ve noticed a theme with the long-

termers I’ve run thus far. The better

the fuel economy versus manufacturer

figures, the less I’ve enjoyed the cars.

In other words, it means that I’ve been

driving them sedately on highways

rather than seeking out the twisty back

roads and giving it some jandal. It’s

seen 13.5L/100km on one tank against a

published figure of 7.5L/100km, so the

Renault has enjoyed some exercise.

This might also be one of the highest

kilometre readings for a ‘month one’

car, at 3280 klicks, so rest assured that

the Megane isn’t one of those cars that

ends up resigned to the office car park

over a weekend. I’m still not convinced

that this represents the sweet spot

in the RS280 range, but it’ll be fun

establishing that one way or another.

ANDY ENRIGHT

I

ALL CHANGE

RS280EDCOUT,RS280CUP

MANUALIN.OLD’SCOOL,RIGHT?

RENAULTMEGANERS280CUP

Priceastested:$50,180

Thismonth:[email protected]/100km

REPORT

ONE

NEW

ARRIVAL

Six-speed manual’s shift action is like War and Peace: neither

short nor sweet. A case of be careful of what you wish for?