Renault Mégane Renaultsport R26.R

Ford seemingly grabbed all the hot hatch related headlines at the British Motor Show with its be-spoilered and rather green Focus RS. However, Renault saw it coming and upped the hot hatch ante with its new hardcore Mégane Renaultsport R26.R, and what's more, it'll be on sale before the RS.

Although to be sold in limited numbers, Renaultsport's latest creation is likely to be cheaper than the new Focus. That partly can be explained by the disparity in standard equipment, as Renault's engineers committed to an extreme programme of weight loss for the R26.R, in the end shedding more than 120kg from its bulk. Glimpse inside and you'll realise how, as this Mégane has no rear seats or stereo and even the airbags (save for the driver's) have been binned in favour of a low kerb weight. In place of the rear seats, buyers may specify a rather hefty looking half roll cage, which some may scoff at, but given that this car has just set the fastest lap for a front-drive car around the notorious Nurburgring, we'd have to say it's a justified extravagance. All that without touching the engine. We can't wait to try this extreme hot hatch out for ourselves.

Shane O' Donoghue

Tuesday July 29