back to article Mégane Renaultsport 275 Trophy: Hands-on gizmo-packed motoring

There used to be a fashion for wearing Nike trainers with smart business suits. It’s a vibe which fits the Renault Mégane Renaultsport 275 Trophy to a tee. This is a car which will happily do the supermarket run and which won’t shame itself on a track day around Croft. More importantly it won’t shame you, because despite the …

  1. TeeCee Gold badge
    Facepalm

    Oh dear

    Renault + Loads of complicated and expensive electrical gizmos = Disaster looking for a place to happen. Not the sort of thing you'd want to go near once the warranty has expired.

    Even today on the generic auto forums you'll find that about one post in four is along the lines of "electrical fault in ${French_car}".

    Since the EU forced the move from pump timing to electronic injection, even the diesels aren't the reliable workhorses they used to be. Kiss of death was making electrical cruft like airbags, motorised seats and electronic stability control an MOT failure.

    1. Omgwtfbbqtime
      Alert

      Re: Oh dear

      Even search the register forums (fora?) for Renault and electrical is telling enough....

      Yes I had one.

      The Peugeot wasn't much better either!

    2. Russell Hancock

      Re: Oh dear

      i have owned a megane with all the tricks and by the time the gear box blew up (100,000~ miles) half of them did not work any more, unless it was a even day, in an odd year, and the sun was in the correct alignment with the moon, and probably jupiter too...

      auto close windows, check (apart from rear drivers side that would open instead of close, then refuse to close, generally when raining in a car park)

      auto wipers, check (apart from when it rained, then they would either be off on on at full speed, it never needed intermittent)

      auto unlocking, check (apart from the drivers and rear doors, so boot and passenger doors were fine, just have to always put something in the boot)

      auto headlights, check (apart from when it was dark, or you went into a tunnel in the day they came on correctly then did not go back off until you "turned it off and on again")...

      the only electrical thing that did not fail was the auto dimming rear view mirror - i do miss that as my new car does not have that but i really don't miss anything else!

    3. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
      Trollface

      Re: Oh dear

      Complicated? There's just four magical plastic boxes in the engine compartment. Nothing all technical there to go wrong.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh dear

        I've owned French cars from the 70s until today (among many others). In fact I've had at least one in each decade and they've ll done over 100000 miles. I've never had an electrical problem with any of them. I've never even met another owner who has. Either I'm the luckiest man alive (and so are my friends and relatives) or the problems have been exaggerated.

        I'm not saying they were all great cars, they weren't, but they were all good electrically.

        I have had electrical problems with Nissans, three of them, prior to being merged with Renault.

        I've owned cars from most manufacturers and the only one I won't touch again is Chrysler. That's because I found they fall apart after a few years and that general quality is very poor.

        As a general point I'm not sure why El Reg bothers with car reviews. The major car magazine web sites do a much better job.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh dear @TeeCee

      You're a mind reader. My exact thought was, a Renault with loads of electronics, what could possibly go wrong?

      Fantastic engines, probably thanks to F1, but the rest???

      And yes I have owned one but I must say in my defence it was because a brother-in-law who worked for them got a discount, even so I wouldn't get another.

    5. Eponymous Cowherd

      Re: Oh dear

      I have had 3 Renaults in my time.

      A 1972 Renault 5 (9 years old at the time). Total brake failure (Master cylinder failed), just managed to stop in time with handbrake and furious pumping of the pedal. Steering rack jammed going around a corner, the wall I hit put it out of its misery.

      A 1986 Renault 11 TXE Electronic (3 years old). Lovely car until the voice synth developed Tourette's syndrome. The light failure warning then kept claiming non-existent failures, the fuel flow meter failed, the sun roof started leaking and the oil level meter kept claiming low oil when it was fine. Then the cam belt snapped (after only being on the car about 18 months). 4 new pistons, 8 new valves and a big bill later, it got sold.

      The last one was a 1989 Renault 25 TXE. Supposedly one of the worst vehicles Renault ever made, but mine was bomb-proof. Got it at 5 years old and kept it for 11 years. Never needed anything but servicing, tyres and brake pads in that time.

      My worst car, by far, was a Ford Granada (1995, 6 years old when I got it). After 18 months it simultaneously blew a head gasket and autobox at the same time while on holiday. and needed a shedload of remedial work at the two MOTs I put it through.

      My least favourite care was my 2003 Peugeot 406 estate. Nothing wrong with it, per-se, I just hated driving the thing.

      My favourite car is my current one. A Kia Cee'd CRDi Estate (currently 5 years old). Had it two years, faultless in that time and I find it really nice to drive.It, obviously, won't win any races, but I can get out of it after a 500 mile trip feeling as comfortable as when I got in. With any other car I've had, my back would be aching after 100 miles, and agony after 200, irrespective of how I adjust the seat. On paper its a pretty basic vehicle, but is certainly the most comfortable car I have had. The 60+ mpg is a bonus, too.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Olins suspension ???

    To quote the guy above, Oh Dear!...

    What happens when a car guy mentions a well know suspensions manufacturer in motorcycling? You get a pearl like Olins...its Öhlins ffs!

  3. Da Weezil

    "The track-day denizens at whom this is aimed will love the telemetry. You’ll note that all the in-car pictures here are taken from the passenger seat and, really, you do need a passenger to operate the computer as there are so many menus under the “RS Monitor” option."

    Except of course that track days normally don't allow passengers to be carried on a live circuit.... At least the ones I have Marshaled at don't - so that demonstrates that like most of the electronics on modern cars it is over complicated to the point of uselessness - or worse - to the point of distracting. It is time to reduce the distractions and allow the driver to focus on the core task... driving the thing.

    The breakers yards are full of relatively young french cars that have major electrical issues rendering them useless - however this is a trend in cars generally with thinner wiring often composed of ally and some finger crossing that it wont fracture during the warranty. I know of several Megane Scenics that went to the scrapper at well below 10 years of age due to major electrical faults

    I wouldn't buy anything with a french badge - Too many technical issues, and dodgy styling... has anyone seen the abortion they have for tail lights on some of the Renaults now? I followed a 14 plate Megane hatchback yesterday and noticed the tail lights on that were really hard to make out in bright sunlight from even slightly off square from behind the car. Lights are NOT styling statements!

    1. IHateWearingATie

      No passengers?

      I've done track days with all of the major UK operators and visited all of the major UK tracks and never encountered an operator or a circuit that bans front seat passengers.

      Timing, handheld cameras, back seat passengers, all regularly banned. But never front seat passengers. Sadly I had to sell my track car last year and haven't been on a track day for about 14 months, but I can't imagine things have changed so radically in the last year.

      1. Steven Raith

        Re: No passengers?

        IHateWearingATie is correct for all the trackdays I've been on as well; now, test days are a different matter, but these generally tend to be more selective about who can be on track - amateurs in their Clio 182s mixing it up with pro-am racers in pure club race cars is a dangerous mix.

        I've never gone to a trackday as a driver - only ever as a passenger, and I've never been told I can't jump in for a ride - most of the time, the organisers supply helmets, too.

        As for dodgy french electrics, I'll give OP that one - my dads ten year old C4 has an auxilliary electronic control module for things like the boot release and other non-primary electronics - and it's going wonky. Lots of things just don't work any more, or don't work properly.

        My 15 year old Ford shed? Every electric connection that doesn't go through the ECU/(or Powertrain Control Module as Ford would have it) seems to have it's own relay and fuse and bar the aircon, everything works. And the aircon not working is because of a corroded condenser thing (if you have a Ford of that age, it's likely similar - a metal 'bottle' with three tubes ahead of the front drivers side suspension turret) meaning the pressure is too low for the AC compressor clutch to kick in.

        To be honest though, everyone seems to be going for segregation of primary and secondary electrics these days, with control modules for everything. I'm not looking forward to buying a ten year old car in ten years time; I worry they'll all be as bad as something french is today. That said, we had the same concerns about fuel injection, catalytic converters (remember stories of them being £1000? I just replaced my collapsed one for £100+fitting....), and other such scary modern additions.

        Maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy :-(

        Steven R

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: No passengers?

          My Renault has had 4 electrical failures. The 2 major ones were German, Bosch MAP and Siemens MAF sensors.

          1. Steven Raith

            Re: No passengers?

            Bosch and Seimens may have made the sensors, but Renault integrated them into the cheap housings and shoddy wiring loom.

  4. joed

    at least it looks nice

    And comes in yellow. One only gets the choice of depressing colors on this side of Pond. And no escaping the "bigger is better".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: at least it looks nice

      And comes in yellow.

      A friend wanted to buy a Twingo in "Renault Yellow". The dealer told them not to, the colour was only available for marketing purposes and was known to fade within a year. Will this Minger be any better?

  5. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

    carbon fibre-tipped Akrapovič titanium exhaust

    Does it have oxygen-free spark plug leads, and a gold-plated fuel filter as well?

    1. Van

      re: chav exhaust

      It will need something to avert the MOT tester away from the fail

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Quaint

    A four-cylinder, 2 litre engine rated at 275 horsepower in a consumer car? How long is that engine expected to last?

    This is a bit like those 200 BHP¹ Peugeot 205s from two decades ago. The supreme lascardmobile².

    PS: And btw, would not one expect a reasonably powered car³ to have (also) the rear wheels driven?

    ¹ Or so, figure from memory.

    ² Those 205s have all been crashed by now.

    ³ Or French equivalent.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Quaint

      On the subject of Peugeot 205:

      * The advertiser's vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c29JkgqQVC8

      * Everyone else's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiiUcuxr3ow

    2. Steven Raith

      Re: Quaint

      To be fair, modern CADCAM means that designing suspension has got rather better lately - 250hp+ through the front wheels just isn't a problem any more, not like it was even ten years ago.

      I'm happy with half that in my shed, no chance of traction problems and no need for fancy knuckles, electronic diffs (pah) and shizzle to tame it, just good old fashioned Macpherson struts.

      And retarded ignition up to 30mph. Must do something about that....

      Steven R

    3. BlinkenLights

      Re: Quaint

      A four-cylinder, 2 litre engine rated at 260 horsepower in a consumer car, built in 1996. Uprated to around 275bhp in 2006 at 69000 miles. Now at 178,000 miles, I expect it will last a bit longer yet.

  7. IHateWearingATie

    275 hp 4 pot engine? Easy...

    .... as Scoobys and EVOs have been doing it for years and years. My track car was a 2003 Impreza that I fettled to 320hp. There are plenty being ragged around by boy racers (and slightly older racers like me) that are even older.

    Wouldn't want to put that kind of power through just the front wheels of a car of that vintage though...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 275 hp 4 pot engine? Easy...

      > My track car was a 2003 Impreza that I fettled to 320hp.

      I understand that, but that's a track car, which I presume is subject to regular and careful service and maintenance?

      That's where the "consumer" qualifier comes in: what would be the engine life / maintenance cost expectations for a relatively small engine putting out relatively high power?

  8. Dave 126 Silver badge

    > £31.930 as tested RRP

    A review of a French car, so adopting the French use of . as a thousands separator, and , to denote a decimal point? Either that, or this car is a helluva bargain!

  9. Cuddles

    "You’ll note that all the in-car pictures here are taken from the passenger seat"

    Pretty sure I'll note that there isn't a single in-car picture taken from any seat.

  10. Jim 59

    Sounds a bit adverty

    "...almost Lotus-like in the mastery of ... a tingle as you drop into the Recaros and grip the thin alcantara enveloped ... very special chassis magic... a point to point weapon ...Lancia integrale... so hot the 275 Trophy is amazingly liveable with ...you’d be a fool not to

    ...and so on. Not a single negative in the whole article, except 5 words about the small seats buried in the middle somewhere. Remarkable.

    1. Steven Raith

      Re: Sounds a bit adverty

      You may wish to check other reviews, which are similarly glowing - even from the high end motoring press. The Trophy R version even made Evo's Car Of The Year competition; you don't get in there by just asking them nicely, you get in there because the car is seriously capable in every respect, above that of the rest of it's class.

      Some cars are just plain good enough where little niggles like the interior plastics not quite being up there with a Merc S class aren't really relevant enough to warrant criticism.

      Steven R

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