Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R pricing confirmed, but you're already too late

Pricing for Renault's hottest hot hatch has been confirmed, with the fire-breathing Megane R.S. Trophy-R to arrive wearing a $74,990 price tag.

But the cost is largely irrelevant, with Renault in Australia only able to secure 12 cars, and all have already been sold to the brand's lead-foot diehards, even before the pricing had been announced. 

Those customers get what the brand describes at the "most performance-oriented car Renault has ever put on the road", with the Trophy-R's 1.8-litre turbocharged engine producing 220kW and 420Nm - the same outputs as the regular R.S. Trophy.

But power is only part of the story here, with the Trophy-R stripping weight everywhere it can to create an even more track-focused hatch. The R makes use of a lightweight materials - like a carbon-fibre bonnet and rear diffuser, the deletion of the backseat and lighter seats, wheels and brakes - to up the overall performance.

"It’s the most performance-oriented car Renault has ever put on the road. RenaultSport used all of their experience and knowledge from their involvement in F1 to develop the fastest front-wheel drive ever without even needing to play with the power outputs," says the brand's local product planning manager, Charly Clercin.

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"This is a record-breaking car. It's a limited edition with slightly less than 500 in the world. We've secured 12 of them for Australia, and they’re all sold."

Easier to get a hold of, then, is the Renault Megane R.S. Trophy, which uses the same engine (and outputs) as the R to produce a sprint to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds.

Those outputs are up from 205kW and 390Nm in the standard Megane R.S., with Renault introducing a new exhaust design and meddling with the turbocharges to squeeze out the gains.

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It rides on Renault's cup chassis with a mechanical limited-slip differential, while the shocks, springs and the anti-roll bar have all been tightened and stiffened. The Trophy also gets the four-wheel steering system introduced on the regular R.S. - an active system that turns the rear tyres with or against the front tyres, depending on how fast you're going.

"It is the perfect hot hatch. The RenaultSport team has taken the R.S. range even further by bumping the power to 221kW, making it quite simply the most powerful production Megane ever," Clercin says.

"We now have a complete Megane R.S. range. It's the most exhaustive hot hatch range you can find in Australia."