What's all this about?
Hold on to your hats, people - Renault Sport has revealed the UK pricing of its latest Megane hot hatch. And it's not the £30,000 we were told when we tested the car for the first time a few months back.
How much more are we talking about - £32,000? £35,000?
Prepare to be pleasantly surprised. The Megane RS goes on sale today, ahead of first deliveries in July, with a starting ticket of £27,495.
You're kidding!
We're really not. And do you know what else? You want to get in quick and order one as fast as you can.
Why's that?
Because the standard manual car (you can have an EDC automatic for £29,195, but we really don't know why you'd want the Renault without a clutch pedal) comes with what is known as the Sport chassis. A desirable Cup chassis upgrade will be a £1,500 option, bringing with it a Torsen mechanical limited-slip differential, 10 per cent stiffer suspension/anti-roll bars and red brake callipers. But it won't cost you fifteen-hundred nicker in the month of May.
How much will it cost me in May?
Nothing. Nada. Not a bean. Get in now and, if you order before the 31st of the month, you can basically have an RS Megane Cup for the ridiculously bargain price of £27,495.
Anything else you need to add before I head to my dealer?
Yes, standard equipment includes rear parking sensors, Multi-Sense driving modes, a seven-inch touchscreen with European mapping, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, a hands-free key card with automatic locking and welcome function, heated and electric door mirrors, Hill Start Assist, ESC and ABS. Options include (but are not limited to) a sunroof (£700), the 8.7-inch portrait touchscreen with R-Link 2 (£300), Alcantara RS-embroidered and heated seats (£1,200), an eight-speaker Bose sound system (£800), a rear parking camera (£400), adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warning (both as part of safety tech packs, at £400 and £500 respectively), and metallic paint (£550), Renault i.d. metallic paint (£650) or Renault Sport i.d. metallic paint (£1,300).
Matt Robinson - 1 May 2018