In this episode of Cars with Jay I take a look at the Renault Megane RS 265 with Cup Chassis. A highly capable hot 'track' hatch which you can buy for around £14k.
Must say I agree about not remapping the Megane RS. I’ve got a 265 cup and find its perfectly balanced as it is and would not want to ruin the excellent out of the box characteristics this car has
Efi does an wonderful map for them. But i do get what you say and pretty much every tuner changes the character of the car WAY too much (lots of mid range dies at the top). This said, try a better panel filter without the foam, that alone will increase the fun on throttle, chop the mid muffler and it will have a tiny bit more power 5-10, better response and most importantly, sounds from the mid box chop and filter will make it SO MUCH more fun.
Re mapping, depends who did it...I would only ever trust rs tuning or efi in the uk. And then only ever put in the best fuel ie vpower everytime. And cap the torque as gearboxes can be weak on modified ones.
Pretty sure the Michelin PS4S only comes in 19" and above? Looks like you have the same 18" tibors as me. I went from Clio 200 to a Meg 275, definitely a good progression. Absolutely love my 275, such a good chassis and involving drive. 👍👍
I bought mine new phase 3 Cup in 2015 and mapped it soon after; it’s has been great! A bad map will make these go bang, but a good one will make it even better. Mine has 70k km mostly track use and had zero issues with the car. 90% of time time running on Shell 93 & the rest on Aral 102.
I really miss this car, had three different versions of it in 2014, 2015, and 2016. First one was with Sport Chassis and while the engine is amazing the chassis really lacked usability. Second was the proper Cup Chassis 265 with the older Pilot Sport PS2 18 tires, and third the 275 with 19 inch Bridgestone Potenzas. Both of the Cup Chassis cars were just amazing, to this date the second best car i've ever driven or raced overall.
This was fantastic. Agreed with everything. I myself just upgraded after 8 years with a natmo Focus ST170 to the RS 275 Trophy (also sold as Cup Premium here in Australia) These are far cheaper here than any other competition comparable you quoted in your market yet it is absolutely the most focused vehicle out there. Looking forward to many years of it until I can afford a Porsche rwd flat six.
To be frank if you want an upgrade to megane rs the only option is 911 gt3rs . The only car I can think of with similar characteristics (handling,rawness and driver engagement )with affordable price are e46m3 and lotus elise S1
Megane MK3 Trophy owner here: I can only say - TOP REVIEW !!! you nailed all the good and bad points. But on the positive side, a stage 1,2 upgrades to a megane rs, is almost a must even , if you want to do 2-3 trackdays per year.. it's a weapon :)
Thanks for this review. I´m on FN2 Type R right now at almost 6 years and thinking change for one Megane 3 RS CUP 250 with very low milleage(km). And yes you right, first on slow cars and go up after... My cars, Citroen AX GT - Citroen Saxo Cup (1.6 vts 16v) - Seat leon 1.9 tdi 150hp - Civic Type R FN2 - and now thinking on Megane RS or Cupra 280/290 but i prefer a look of Megane instead Cupra
what did you end up choosing mate? im on an FN2 right now myself and feel like the RS 265 or a focus ST is the natural progression for someone who likes a B-road scranner
Driving a Civic FN2 now. I'm in the market for an Accord Euro R import\ GT86 or Megane RS 265. Any advice? Would also love a Porsche Cayman but the maintenance is more expensive..
Based on the options you've given me. The megane will certainly feel different to the EP2. More powerful but lighter (if that makes sense). Accord I can't really comment because its rare. It may drive like the FD2 but its not a million miles away from the FN2. GT86 is to slow in the grand scheme of things. Good for learning a RWD car however! Cayman obviously better and the maintenance is a risk more than anything. Its not ridiculous expensive but the engine could fail randomly. Its rare for this to occur. Honda S2000 I'd have over a GT86.
Hi Rich, I haven't had any seat time in the 225 unfortunately. I've only heard great things about them. But what is very popular is the Clio 197 chassis with meg swap. So aiming to get that on the channel at some point. Thanks for watching :)
Great review, I'm hopefully buying one very soon, but why would a stage one automatically ruin the drive? I've had remapped cars before and they were always better.
Thanks for watching and the kind words! It depends on the map itself. A lot of the time people tend to go for the highest power gains. But this can easily unbalance a car. Smoothing out the power and torque is one thing. But it does not need an extra 100bhp when most people can barely utilize its stock power.
@@CarswithJay yeah that's true, you'd want to go to a place who have experience with your car. Well although I had out a deposit down for a very nice silver metallic 265, I ended up buying another i30N, best hot hatch in my opinion.
By all means go for it if it's your thing! Power is not an issue if you already appreciate what the car can do stock. To many people chasing high power figures these days so don't get caught out. Thanks for watching!
Really great car to do everything, I had one and used to take it on track and as a daily. Unfortunately it was stolen and burned 2 weeks ago 😫😫😫 I have to purchase an other car but with 4 doors, Clio 4 trophy? 🤔
Robin Marples on the country lanes in the UK I feel its a bit too wide to have real fun. The passenger seat (left) has a huge gap with the door, like 6 inches at least, must be hard to get out of a bucket seat, my CUP-S has standard seats so its not so bad to get out of but still a bit stupid to have that gap.
I had 1 of these had a clio 197 before it. Preferred the clio so changed back and got a 200. Can't really tell that much difference in power to be honest. Clio sounds loads better aswell. Was dissapointed with megane found it boring compared to the clio sport
Hey! I been driving with a AT for a long time and just want to pick up a budget friendly second hand car as my first MT hot hatch. Would u still recommend the clio for today, or do you have any better recommendation? 🫶🙌
Cliosports are great value for money. But the 197 and 200 have bad gearboxes that are notorious for destroying 3rd and 4th gear. The Megane is slighty better. A rebuild is about £850. Clio 182’s don’t necessarily have this problem, but they do leak oil from the gearboxes. Not a serious issue but to fix its also a rebuild as the seal is internal
