London 2008: Renaultsport Megane R26.R
While most of our recent hot hatch affection has been aimed at the Ford Focus RS, Renault brought its own racy three-door to the London Motor Show party, and now we're torn. Admittedly, the Focus RS is easily the more suitable day-to-day driver – it's got a full interior and air conditioning -- but the Renaultsport Megane R26.R has all the kit for a serious track-day assault. Hell, it even has two Rs in its name.
With the new Megane slated to appear at this year's Paris Motor Show, Renault wanted to give the current model a fitting send off. To that end, it took the existing Megane F1 Team R26, left the engine, gearbox and limited slip differential intact, modified the suspension and hacked off 271 pounds from its curb weight. The diet included the removal of the rear seats, passenger side airbag, climate control, fog lamps, headlight washers, rear windscreen wiper and the majority of the soundproofing material. In exchange, the R26.R received a carbon fiber hood, polycarbonate quarter and rear windows and a titanium exhaust.
Inside, the Renaultsport hatch makes the RS look positively pedestrian, with a set of carbon fiber Sabelt seats, six-point harnesses, leather and suede swathed steering wheel and gear knob, and an optional four-point roll cage. While output remains the same, at 230 hp and 229 lb.-ft. of torque, the stripped R26.R lapped the Nurburgring in 8:17 – a new lap record for a front wheel drive production car.
Only 450 examples will be made available when sales begin in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain this October. And unlike the Chevy Camaro, Renault released a video of the R.26R doing it's thing around the 'Ring... three seconds faster. Check it, along with the press release, below the fold.
Gallery: Renaultsport Megane R26.R
PRESS RELEASE
The Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26 was launched in November 2006 and has enjoyed a great success. Using this base, Renaultsport launch an extreme version, the Mégane Renaultsport R26.R.
- New limited edition Mégane Renaultsport R26.R makes its worldwide debut at the British International Motor Show today, 22 July, 2008
- Developed from the Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26, the R26.R retains the same engine, gearbox and limited slip differential but with a significant weight reduction of 123kg
- Achieves new lap record of the Nürburgring of 8m 17s, the fastest for a front-wheel-drive production car
- Features from the world of racing with a carbon bonnet, polycarbonate windows, Sabelt race seats and six-point harnesses
- Optional roll cage and titanium exhaust
- Priced at £22,990
- Limited to 450 examples worldwide, 230 of which will come to the UK. On sale from October
The launch of this ultimate version underlines Renault Sport Technologies' role as a leading manufacturer of high performance cars.
Mégane R26.R has been developed to:
- offer customers who enjoy trackdays a car with an unrivalled performance per pound ratio
- be an enthusiast's icon
Renault Sport Technologies have given the Mégane R26.R visual differences that mark out the car at first glance. The carbon fibre bonnet and new 18" alloy wheels in red are the main visual clues together with a new rear spoiler, plus R26.R decals and logos and tinted polycarbonate in place of glass in the tailgate and rear side windows. The car is available in seven colours, two of which are new to the Mégane, Racing Blue and Renault i.d. Lunar Grey and one is brand new, Renault i.d. Pearlescent White.
Inside the R26.R the atmosphere is as radical as the outside. Competition seats with a carbon fibre shell are supplied by Sabelt who also supply the six-point harnesses, the first time that this form of restraint has been homologated in a production car. Conventional lap and diagonal seat belts can be fitted as an accessory. No rear seat is fitted. The steering wheel and gearlever gaiter are in leather and suede. A plaque shows the production number for each country:
- 230 for the UK
- 126 for France
- 26 for Spain
- 26 for Spain
- 26 for Germany
To improve the power to weight ratio, the Mégane R26.R has been on a strict diet, losing 123kg compared to the standard R26. This has been achieved by the removal of:
- Rear seats and seat belts
- Passenger airbag and curtain airbags (the driver's airbag remains)
- Climate control (air conditioning remains as standard)
- Rear wash/wipe and heated rear window
- Front fog lamps
- Headlamp washers
- Radio/CD player
- Most of the soundproofing
- carbon fibre bonnet (saves 7.5kg)
- tailgate and rear side windows in polycarbonate (saves 5.7kg)
- Sabelt seats with carbon fibre shell and aluminium base (saves 25kg)
- Six-point harnesses
- Rear spoiler
- Optional roll cage
- Optional titanium exhaust
The suspension and brakes have been optimised to make the most of the new, lighter weight and to provide maximum performance. The front independent suspension is maintained but with the following new parts:
- new front springs (14mm/100kg compared to 13.4mm/100kg)
- new rear springs (16.2mm/100kg from 15.1mm/100kg)
- the shock absorber settings are also re-calibrated
- the brake discs are grooved, not drilled
- new alloy wheels are fitted with a different offset increasing the track by 4mm
- Toyo Proxes R888 225/40R18 tyres are available as an option in place of the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 2 235/40R18
- Stiffer lower arm bushes
A performance car needs brakes that are both powerful and fade-resistant. The Mégane R26.R has large 312mm ventilated discs at the front with Brembo four-piston callipers that provide stopping power at the highest level. To resist fade, the discs are grooved as opposed to drilled.
230hp
The R26.R takes its engine and gearbox from the Mégane Renaultsport 230 F1 Team R26. This develops a peak power of 230hp and torque of 310Nm. A characteristic of this engine is the wide power band, with 90% of the torque available from 2000 to 6000rpm.
However, to reduce the gear change time, a short-shift gear linkage is fitted.
The R26.R accelerates from zero to 62mph in 6 seconds and passes the 1000 metre mark in 25.9 seconds. The combined fuel consumption is 33.2 mpg and emissions are 199g/km.
Nürburgring lap record
On 23 June, the Mégane R26.R established a new lap record for a front wheel drive production car of the Nürburgring circuit with a time of just 8 minutes 17 seconds. To commemorate this exceptional level of performance, the circuit outline and lap time is etched into the rear side windows.
The Mégane R26.R is unveiled today, 22 July, in London at the British International Motor Show and goes on sale in October limited to just 450 examples in total.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Torrent 7:32PM (7/22/2008)
I may get Low Ranked, but:
OH MY GOD THIS THING IS FUGLY!
Reply
BlackCanary 8:16PM (7/22/2008)
Awesome time but I agree it is ugly! It took a FWD car stripped to the bone to best the Cobalt SS at the ring.
http://www.fastestlaps.com/car487ee6b330672.html
Chuck 7:42PM (7/22/2008)
I've never favored the belly button approach to the center grille of a car. I start looking for other anthropological references. Of course headlights are the eyes, and blades the eyelashes.
As you work your way down though, things get a little dicey.
Reply
Torrent 7:45PM (7/22/2008)
"And unlike the Chevy Camaro, Renault released a video of the R.26R doing it's thing around the 'Ring... three seconds faster."
Well. You know, allegedly.
Reply
Torrent 3:12AM (7/23/2008)
"Allegedly", since the Camaro's time wasn't proven yet. Sheesh, people. So quick to diss.
clutchmonkey 7:52PM (7/22/2008)
That is just all kinds of cool
Reply
BlackCanary 8:18PM (7/22/2008)
It would look ok if the ass wasn't so weird looking, but who cares with a hatch that fast
Reply
Mirko 4:45AM (7/23/2008)
The faster it is, the more important becomes how it looks from the back...
Proud Japanese 8:40PM (7/22/2008)
8:17 is a pretty impressive time for a FWD hatchback with 230hp. I guess the Japanese Nissan experts helped them out a bit.
Reply
F-22 9:27PM (7/22/2008)
Rubbish...
Renault Sport are experts in this kind of stuff...they dont need any help from Nissan!
Stop being that proud!
Velsatis 11:53PM (7/22/2008)
First of all I am the biggest fan of Renault even if there will be alot of "experts" to find it odd and make stupid and uneducated coments about it. And yes I do have a lot of knowledges about cars to have a logic opinion since I used to race in Formula 2000 and now I still work in the racing field. To "Proud Japanese"-I love Nissan a lot as well since it belongs to Renault and shares a lot of technical parts but if you do a bit of research u will find that in term of racing(no bogus formula drift or commercial versions of Fast ad furios racing) Renault has way more experience and results at the top of motor racing than Nissan, so the only sharing would be from an economic pov and not because Renault can't built great race cars. If you wand to elaborate more please contact...As per comparing the Megane R26R with the Cobalt SS(I am not talking aestetics wich are subjective)is just like talking Rolling Stones and Britney Spears in the same sentence...
jasaero 10:46PM (7/22/2008)
@Velsatis The Cobalt SS point is confusing. Think you are trying to knock the SS though. It isn't far behind this car and is actually a mass market vehicle here in the states instead of a low volume special build like this R26.R. To me the fact it isn't far behind makes the Cobalt SS more impressive as it is obviously not in nearly as high a state of tune as this R26.R. Hard to say what time a Cobalt in this level of stripped down, stiffened up, and carbon fiber bits used on this could get a Cobalt down too?
Dazza 10:49PM (7/22/2008)
Proud Japanese: if you knew anything about cars whatsoever, you'd know that RenaultSport as a division have a long history in motorsport and since they began building purpose-built road cars, they have produced some of the fastest FWD hatches money can buy.
nagmashot 1:01AM (7/23/2008)
lol a several time F1 and WRC worldchapion does not need help to build a proper car.. specially not from a copmany that would haven went bankrup in 1999 without billions of $ from Renault
Chase 8:51PM (7/22/2008)
Awesome car -- ugly sounding motor
Reply
Matthew_NZ 4:43AM (7/23/2008)
I have no idea where the mic was for this video, but trust me (previous Megane RS owner) it does not sound like that.
SPG 9:05PM (7/22/2008)
Very nice, always nice to see new French cars.
Reply
Mi key 9:09PM (7/22/2008)
If Nissan was smart they would just sell the Megane in the US. These are just Sweet looking cars.
Reply
bill jackman 10:33PM (7/22/2008)
"And unlike the Chevy Camaro, Renault released a video of the R.26R doing it's thing around the 'Ring... three seconds faster."
WHOA.
Seriously? The Cobalt SS -- fully optioned -- lags this French strippo by 5 seconds. If there was a Cobalt Spec-R or some other limited edition track/performance model, it'd probably bitch slap the Renault up and down the Champs Elysse.
Reply
Velsatis 12:00AM (7/23/2008)
Really? The difference between the R26R and the regular R26 is just the weight and some aestetic mods.The engine, the chassis and the differential is the same so it is not really a "spec-v".Even like this the kg/bhp is better in a Cobalt with 5.18kg/bhp, comparing with 5.34kg.bhp and is still slower with 5 sec(as much as is between a Ferrari 355gtb and the R26R.It is no doubt wich car is better as bias as some of us are...