Renault Megane RS 250: Hot hatch is the real deal

The Renault Megane Renault Sport 250 (a mouthful of a name, but correct) could be the greatest hot-hatch you've never heard of.

The French marque sold 2.6 million cars worldwide last year, and its RenaultSport division - a subsidiary but also a totally separate company - is renowned all over Europe not just for its motorsport programmes, but for creating highly acclaimed, high-performance Renault road cars.

In New Zealand, Renault remains virtually unknown and those wonderful RenaultSport models of recent years have come and gone, with only the most well-informed enthusiasts sliding into the driver's seat.

Renault relaunched in New Zealand last month, with a range of new models that are cheaper, better equipped and more likely to attract local sales than ever before.

There's a Megane hatch made in Turkey, the Koleos crossover from a joint venture with Samsung in South Korea and the obligatory coupe-convertible. Clearly, it's all change when it comes to model-choice and country of origin.

But there's still a RenaultSport hot-hatch at the top of the pile and it's still the real deal: the RS 250 is designed and built at RenaultSport headquarters in France and was launched in Europe in 2009 to rave reviews.

What's so special? The 2-litre turbo engine is a thorough redevelopment of the powerplant from the previous Megane RenaultSport R26, making 184kW and 340Nm.

That's a lot of power for a front-drive car, so the RS 250 has redesigned suspension, with extensive use of aluminium and a design called PerfoHub that limits torque steer (the tendency for a powerful front-drive car to pull to one side under hard acceleration). There's also a mechanical limited-slip differential, to maintain maximum traction in tight corners.

If you're familiar with the previous R26 - true, there are not many of you - you'll immediately recognise that the Megane RenaultSport has been into therapy and emerged a much more mellow companion.

The RS 250 is not as intimidating to sit in or drive as the previous R26. Save some sports seats up front (which don't match those in the back, but never mind), a yellow tachometer and some yellow stitching on the leather-bound steering wheel, the RS 250 would seem to be a normal family hatchback on the surface.

Same for the run to the supermarket. The engine is quiet, the manual gearshift direct without being rifle-bolt quick and the ride is reasonably compliant given the car's performance potential.

The suspension is still fussy enough to become an annoyance in everyday running, but that's because the Kiwi Megane RenaultSport has been specified in Cup trim; in Europe, there's also a Sport version which is a lot more comfort-oriented.

Pick up the pace and the RS 250 will not scare you. But it will go very, very fast - mostly because the chassis scarcely has to pause for corners.

The exhaust note is a bit lacking: at high revs it reminds me of the previous-generation Mazda3 MPS turbo, which sounded like it was dragging a piece of carpet down the road.

But even if it's not inspiring, the RS 250's soundtrack is never intrusive and allows you to enjoy the sheer verve of that powertrain for extended periods with no threat to your mental health.

Which you will definitely want to do, for the crisp turbo engine will happily waver between 4000-6000rpm all day; the ease with which it rushes to the redline is exhilarating.

As is the chassis. I piloted the front-drive RS 250 hard through a rainstorm of biblical proportions and it hardly ever wavered.

Despite deploying a ridiculous amount of power through the front wheels, the Megane RenaultSport stays remarkably true to the chosen line under acceleration and the suspension is unruffled by unexpected mid-corner bumps.

The RS 250 hits 100km/h in 6.1 seconds but also stops in very short order with the aid of powerful front Brembo brakes.

Still a very serious hot-hatch, then. The RS 250 has smoothed away about 20 per cent of the R26's hard-edged driver appeal, but is about 50 per cent easier to live with when you're not doing track days.

And it's 30 per cent better looking according to most people, although I rather liked the big booty of the old Megane. The RS 250 costs $51,990 in Cup specification featured here, or $58,990 for the top Trophee model with larger wheels, heated Recaro seats and an uprated audio system.

So the standard model is cheaper than Volkswagen's Golf GTI and Scirocco TSI models, yet in Europe the RenaultSport is more commonly compared with top-tier hot-hatches like the Golf/Scirocco R-versions ($73,500/$69,250) or the Ford Focus RS ($79,990).

That makes the RS 250 not just a shining example of the hot-hatch genre, but brilliant value too.