Displaying Its Credentials
by David Ross (18 Dec 06)

We've had the Megane Renaultsport, the 225 version with and without Cup suspension and, with Renault having sown up both the Drivers and Manufacturers Formula One World Championships with its R26 single seater, it was inevitable it would launch a Megane R26 sooner or later.

And now it has, in the colourful guise of the Renault Megane F1 Team R26. Aimed at people who need the space a Megane provides over the likes of the smaller Clio but who also want to work off the stresses and strains of the week's work with a thrash round a circuit at a local track day, the F1 Team R26 is as at home in the city as it is vying for position on the circuit.

Priced identically to its predecessor at £19,570, the R26 is a seriously fast car powered by a thrusting, rev-happy two-litre turbo petrol engine capable of developing 230bhp - that's 5bhp up on the 225 F1 Team model.

Developed by Renault Sport Technologies, this most driver-focussed Megane so far has all the usual "go-faster, hold-the-road-better" bits to boast about, such as great-looking 18" Anthracite alloy wheels, new chassis and suspension settings to give even crisper handling and traction, enormous Brembo four-pot calipers and vented 312mm diameter discs that drag the speed down dramatically.

The interior, while surprisingly understated, features Recaro race seats to hold you firmly in place, and an F1-style numbered plaque to reinforce this Megane's exclusivity.

However, the R26 has a clever trick concealed up its sleeve and that's a limited slip differential. A common feature on competition cars but very rare on front-wheel drive road cars, LSDs - as they tend to be known - can demand a degree of skill at the wheel as a powerful engine's torque is transmitted through the front wheels, making for that unpleasant phenomenon, torque steer.

That, however, has been deftly dealt with by the Renaultsport people who have combined this "no-slip" diff with an independent steering-axis front suspension to minimise torque steer and to let the driver benefit from the additional traction. A modified power steering system helps reduce steering wheel tug, but torque steer can still be induced by flooring the accelerator pedal when the wheel is turned.

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