Hyundai Genesis vs Renault Megane

What's the difference?

Anybody who doubts that Hyundai is gunning for the number one in the world has rocks in their head. Big heavy ones. Korean companies do not settle for anything less than number one. The second-generation Genesis (our first taste here in the Antipodes as the gen-one had its steering wheel on the wrong side) is proof.

What's different about Hyundai's unstoppable rise is the way they're going about it. They've always done their own thing in Korea, reinventing themselves time and again when they strayed off the beaten path.

The Genesis is a gamble for a Korean company in foreign markets whose default setting for luxury is marked, Britain or Germany. If Hyundai gets the Genesis wrong there will be howls of derision, or at best patronising pats on the back - "Nice try, you'll get there one day". But if they get it right...

The Renault Megane RS is still here, in case you were wondering. 

You may have let it slip your mind in recent times, because there’s been a lot of action in the hot hatch scene with the release of the new-generation Ford Focus ST, a fond farewell to the VW Golf R, and consistent talk of the upcoming Toyota Corolla GR hot hatch.

The Megane RS is more than just ‘here’, though. The RenaultSport Megane hatch range has expanded in recent times, and we’ve just spent some time with the Trophy model which first arrived in Australia late in 2019.

It is certainly keeping its presence known in 2020 Renault Megane RS Trophy spec, which represents the most powerful and fastest version of the standard model range before you get to the rip-snorting (and eye-wateringly expensive) Trophy R. 

So what’s it like? Read on and you’ll find out all about it.