The Launch Of The New Renault Megane Renaultsport 225 Cup
Published: 22nd June 2005
This range idea is now carried over onto Megane Renaultsport, with the new Sport Hatch only 225 Cup at £18,600, and the standard versions of the 225 costing £19,500 for the three-door Sport Hatch and £20,000 for the five-door Hatch without the optional Cup Chassis pack for an extra £500.
The new Cup version offers the best Megane driving experience yet, by benefiting from the Cup hallmark of removing certain items of equipment to reduce weight and cost giving even greater performance, allied to the brake, chassis and steering improvements that come as part of the Cup Chassis pack.
The Megane Renaultsport 225 is arguably the most comprehensively equipped car in its class including air-conditioning, 18-inch alloy wheels and part leather seat upholstery, so even after removing several bits of kit, owners will not exactly be lacking in luxury. On this occasion, the Cup reduction programme sees the loss of the six CD multi-changer for a single disc, hands-free Renault Card for ignition and locking, tyre pressure monitor, no leather trim on the doors and central armrest (but still on the outer edges of the seats), metallic paint or carpet mats.
The upside is that the price comes down by £900 and the 225 Cup includes the Cup pack that costs £500 on the 225 making the 225 Cup £1,400 less. There are however no options available on the 225 Cup other than metallic paint if you don’t like the standard Capsicum red, so if you want to load up your 225 with luxuries like heated leather seats, climate control or a sunroof, then the Cup is not for you.
Combined with the unique, 1.5kg lighter anthracite colour alloy wheels, retained from the Trophy, you can see how the car has achieved a total weight saving of 10kg, giving the car a 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds, 0.2 seconds faster than the standard car and a top speed of 147mph.
The Cup Chassis pack has all of the various engineering changes made to the Megane Trophy including: 18" anthracite alloy wheels, Dunlop Sport Maxx 235/40 R18 (ilo 225/40 R18), drilled front and rear brake discs, Brembo brake discs and callipers, bigger brake master cylinder with Brake Assist removed, revised steering connection and electronic programming, retuned dampers with uprated front and rear springs (25% and 77% stiffer) and dis-connectable ESP.
The new Megane Renaultsport 225 Cup enhances the driving pleasure of the current car with its specially tuned chassis, steering and braking set-up and together with the new availability of the Cup pack option on the 225, is expected to establish the Megane Renaultsport 225 as the leader of the hot hatch pack along with its Clio stablemate.
Renault Megane
Our Renault Megane Guide lists the full specification of the current UK Megane range, including car prices, fuel consumption, dimensions and other vital data.
Price Range: £12,340 - £21,260
Body Styles:
Fuel: /
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Models in the range: 58
We have road tested the Renault Megane, to read our in-depth car reviews:
Renault Megane Review - May 2006
Renault Megane Review - May 2008
Our Car Buyer’s Guide covers all of the UK’s major new cars and includes CO2 ratings and car insurance groups. Data updated on the 21st Sep 2008
