FIRST DRIVES
This particular Renault Mégane costs £72,140. As in seventy-two thousand, one hundred and forty pounds sterling. If you wanted an indicator as to just how mad the world is becoming, this bit of information is surely it.
You’ll know that this Renault is the Mégane RS Trophy-R, and that in standard guise it’s a £51,140 car – which, admittedly, is still bonkers. But even at this level, the modifications that have been made over and above the standard Trophy are so extensive that mentioning them all here would be impossible. As a taster, new adjustable Ohlins dampers have been added in, significant aero tweaks have been made, and some 130kg of weight has been stripped out thanks, in part, to changes such as the removal of the standard car’s four-wheel steering, the removal of its rear seats and the fitment of a new Akrapovic titanium exhaust.
This car costs as much as it does because it has the same optional carbonfibre brakes and carbonfibre wheels as the Trophy-R that broke the front-wheel-drive production car lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Respectively, those parts cost £9000 and £12,000. That’s Fiesta ST money.