Congrats and enjoy it! I assume from your name you had a mk3 before this? How does it compare so far? When i got my 275 there was also a brand new 280 in the same colour sitting in the showroom. Had a good look and there's a distinct step up in quality with the new model.
I’ve not driven it in anger enough to formulate an opinion. Will update the thread when I have got a few more miles onto it.
Hi mate Glad to see you’re enjoying your new Trophy, I’ve today just put an order in for one myself (black, auto, Recaros, Bose, parking camera & front sensor), unfortunately it won’t arrive until Sep/Oct though. Anyway, the only thing I would’ve changed if I could are the wheels as I’m just not keen on the red bits. What’s your opinion on yours? Have you happened to see on your wheels please what width and offset they are? – I may have a look at a set of replacement wheels before mine arrives. Any other recommendations? Thanks.
The wheels aren’t as bad as I thought they would be. They stand out nicely in the arch, probably due to the width. The red bit goes nicely with the Brembo’s. I’ll still possibly change them or have them painted black, but will stick with them for a while (maybe change when I go through my first set of tyres). Width is 8.5, offset ET54 I believe.
Thanks mate, much appreciated. I don't think the red bits stand out as much on the coloured 300s, whereas on black cars they seem to contrast more. Perhaps I should wait (obviously!) until I actually collect it before deciding. Was thinking just having them done in plain silver (as I did on my previous black 250 and my current black Clio 220), or just get a new set of rims and keep the originals safe for when I sell the car.
Don't expect them to last long I drive like a granny most of the time (slow morning commute) and at 4k my fronts are not far over the markers. I hit a pothole a few weeks back which destroyed both my passenger side tyres. I couldn't get replacement Bridgestones so I ended up putting some PS4S on there. I tried the PS4S on the front and back and I think they provide a bit better grip than the S001. Will know for sure in a few months once I have to change the other two as well.
Going off topic a little, but has anyone got a sunroof? - if so what colour please is your headlining? On the configurator if I chose the sunroof it changed the headlining from black to a lighter grey (or possibly cream) colour, I didn't think it looked great along with the rest of the dark RS trim so I didn't choose the sunroof in the end. But if the headlining had stayed black I would've gone for the sunroof.....
Thanks I went ahead and ordered the 300 this afternoon with a sunroof regardless of the headlining colour. My current black Clio 220 has grey headlining and it looks fine, so if that’s the colour the 300 will come in then it won’t be a problem.
Initial Thoughts Good Looks - I love the way this car looks – it has the correct level of bulging, a great stance and despite the fact it has 5 doors is well proportioned. It isn’t trying too hard and maintains a degree of sophistication. Spot on (I’m even warming to the wheels). Controversial but a better-looking car than the Mk3 IMO. Quality – this is a huge step up from the mk3. The infotainment, whilst slightly cumbersome at times, is a great improvement and the dashboard, interior materials etc are all much better. Not as good as VAG, but still a worthy upgrade. Speed, handling – the way this thing goes round a corner is great. I’m not sure about the reviews that says the 4WS feels artificial, it is barely noticeable although you can feel a slight sensation of what reminds me of a RWD car with great traction powering round a corner – perhaps that’s what feels “artificial”. To me it feels fairly exhilarating and you can notice that you can hold greater speed round the same corners than my previous Cup-S and it’s generally very flat at cornering (although see not good below). Straight line speed is okay, it feels a touch laggy at times, but it’s noticeably faster than the mk3. Noise – the Trophy exhaust makes a good noise in all modes, has a nice burble to it. Put it into sport / race and you get the machine gun / popcorn effect. I didn’t think I would like this, but it’s quite addictive. Vast improvement on the Akrapovic in the Mk 3. Practicality – I have a 5 year old daughter so the 5 door thing is a welcome addition. Good boot too, and good level of kit. Not good I don’t like the keyless entry. Appears to have a mind of its own. Will turn off soon. Damping / handling – I like how the car corners, without a doubt, very rewarding. I don’t think I like when the bump stops do their job though – on an undulating road it feels too soft for me. Some people complain that in the mk4 the Trophy / Cup Chassis damping will be too hard to live with. For me it’s gone slightly too far the other way. Believe it or not I preferred the harshness of the Ohlins and crashing through. Rear sensors are dreadful. Full beep when a large distance away from whatever it’s sensing. No RS Monitor installed – will need to get that sorted myself! Indifferent Recaro’s – the Recaro’s look great, are of great quality (lift the cabin) and they go very low and I’ve now gelled with the seating position after initially feeling that the lowest setting was perhaps too low. However, either I’ve lost weight, the alcantara has just softened things up or the seats have changed from the Recaro’s from the mk3, as they don’t do a great job at holding you in place. Definitely not as good seats. Would probably still spec them, but I’d prefer the Recaro’s from my Steering – the neutral setting is fine, with reasonably good feedback and just the right amount of weight to it, however the sport setting is awful. I’ll probably set up Perso with most of the sport settings, but with whatever the neutral steering setting is. Gear change - not as bad as reviews make out, but not perfect. I think I’m getting used to it already though. Brakes – they are good, but they don’t feel amazing. The brakes in my mk3 felt better, but I’ve only done 600 miles so far, perhaps they need to bed in? Overall It is a Renaultsport for sure (I should know this is my 8th). Has good volumes of excitement and a chunk of character thrown in for good measure. Perhaps a bit more grown up, but that possibly makes it a better day to day prospect which this is for me (although I will sometimes miss some of the harshness of the Cup-S), but it corners very well, maintains speed and is a massive step up in quality.
Thanks re the belts. Great review, thanks. Funny you should mention the steering setting as I did the same in my Clio Trophy, it just felt too fidgety in Sport.
Good review. But how can it be soft while cornering flat as you wrote? I am a bit confused... Softer than Ohlins? OMG... What were your Ohlins settings?
That’s not what I wrote. On an undulating road (which tends not to be corners on the roads I’m driving) the car feels softer which I assume is due to the bump stops. Corners induce very little body roll. Factory Ohlins settings. Never got round to adjusting.
Factory Ohlins settings. Never got round to adjusting.[/QUOTE] Why bother paying extra/having them then?
Why bother paying extra/having them then?[/QUOTE] Do you use every single option in your car to the maximum of its potential? I doubt many do. Factory setting seems pretty good to me for what I was using it for, so why mess? Not that I have to justify it, but it wasn’t a factory order, was one of the last off the production line and was sitting fully loaded in a showroom when I bought it (until I saw it I wasn’t even considering buying one).
Fair enough, I wasn’t asking you to justify it, nothing to do with me at the end of the day. Was just asking out of interest because you had what a lot of people with Mk3’s would love to have I imagine. Good to see you are enjoying the new car, mostly.
Did yours come with the Premium (or what ever they’re called) mats with the RS badge and red stitching? Looks like they’re available as an accessory but can’t believe they wouldn’t come as standard (they didn’t on my Clio Trophy!) Thanks
Nope, just standard Megane mats. Got a really good boot mat though, and a model 280 in the same colour as my Trophy.
Thanks, will order a set for when it arrives. Have you thought about the Renault Accessory Shark Fin aerial? - I think they're only about £50, IMO makes the roof look a lot smarter.
Interesting about the matts, my dealer must have thrown the red ones in for me for free as I didn't specify them. Craig, with regards to the straight line speed, I think you'll be surprised how much it improves as the engine loosens up with a few miles. I'm on 4k and it's very different to how it felt fresh from the factory. Also, race mode feels so much faster than sport when you really boot it (or it certainly does now I've got some miles on it). I hadn't really noticed the dynamic steering between the modes. It was very noticeable on the Clio, but it also had its own option rather than being included in with the dynamic chassis options. I played around with the steering last night. I think I preferred the heaver sport setting. I didn't notice a massive amount of difference though.
Any updates please now that you’ve had yours for a while now? I’m finally collecting mine on the 1st – cant wait!
All going well. I didn’t really notice the impact of the 4WS until I had a B road blast in Race mode - it really does make the car come to life. Covers ground and corners much quicker than the mk3 used to. Working in unison with the diff and the way the car drives is exhilarating. The exhaust is much better sounding than the Akrapovic I had before. The infotainment is good once you work out how to navigate it - Apple Play makes things more useable too. I’m used to the steering now, sure could do with a little more feedback, but it’s not that bad, and in race mode the steering feels good with the throttle response, and cornering speed (whatever steering setting that is). I don’t really like the wheels, but I’ve spent my spare cash on a Smart Roadster, so new wheels are on the back-burner for now. The tyres are great in the dry, but in the wet are fairly poor. Not so bad that I’d change until I need to. The notchy gear change is a pain. I don’t seem to have much of an issue other than occasionally finding 3rd. All in all I’m happy - granted it’s not perfect, but it drives very well, particularly in race mode its enthralling, and the package is a superior one to the mk3.
Thanks mate, glad to hear and another great write-up. From what I understand, in race-mode the 4WS turns in the same direction as the fronts, whereas in normal and below 60-odd-mph it turns in the opposite direction, so maybe you just prefer the 4WS in the same-direction! The 4WS has got a bit of bad-press in the mags, but then again they said the same of my Clio 220 Trophy’s EDC gearbox and I can’t fault mine – hence going for one again in the Megane. In the Clio I have the steering set to normal all the time, regardless of whether in normal or sport mode, I then have the throttle set to the 2nd from ‘top’. The top setting makes it a bit too sensitive on the back-roads. Looking forward to setting the Megane up!! I’m not keen on the wheels either but will wait to see mine against the black bodywork first, my initial thoughts were to have them powder-coated plain silver, but then it’s a rare car therefore if I do it may be detrimental to the re-sale cost in a couple of years. Perhaps therefore I’ll look into a 2nd set of alternative wheels – rather than buying a Smart Roadster…….!! (With Brabus wheels I hope..)
Boom, boom. Really good, fun car with bags of character. Wanted one for a while. Think it will be a keeper.
Not planning any track days, nor have I ever done any, but never say never I guess. Given the purchase of the Smart, I’ll likely be using that for “fun” driving, so the Megane will largely be a commuter car for a while.
Haha. Loving the Smart. I had one about 13 years ago. It was a year old. Went from a 328 Sport to it. Then sold it to go to a Clio Trophy. Great fun. Ridiculous lag. Used to be dangerous on Roundabouts when the grass was too long. Pull out blind ... Range Rover away to crush you..... boost comes on and your off before death. Bit leaky had mine back to dealers 2-3 times an it was not even 2 years old. Car 10 years before its time. Think what they could do with Engine & gearbox now... Even a ford 1.0 ecoboost would be a cracker for that. I think I only lost a couple of hundred quid in a year and that was buying from a dealer & selling privately.
Oh yeah, the Roadster has numerous things that are far from perfect that, for me, render it unusable as a daily. However, as an occasional use only garage queen, it makes a lot of sense (in my mind) and is great fun. It reminds me of the Clio V6 in many ways - a flawed gem!
Had a paint correction and ceramic coating applied to the Roadster. Very happy with the result considering the cars age and mileage. Great little piece of kit.
That looks great, always had a soft-spot for them. I've been sent a video of my 300 which is now at the dealers until I collect it on the 1st. One thing I noticed in the video is that it has the 'shark-fin' aerial, which is listed as an accessory in the brochure and I was going to retro-fit. I see that yours came with the normal aerial - I wonder why they've started fitting the shark-fin's?? Also it definitely doesn't have the Renaultsport red-stitching mats - which I have therefore had to order. Other than that it looks fantastic and cant wait for the 1st....
Collected my 300 yesterday – holy moly its quick across country!! - wasn’t expecting it to be so, will take some ‘learning’!! I love everything about it, still not 100% sure on the red wheel spokes though but they’re not as bad as I thought they would look actually in the metal. I was incorrect about the shark-fin ariel, the dealer just hadn’t screwed the standard antenna in to the base – have just ordered one though from RPD. Fitted the Renaultsport red-stitching mats which look 100% better than the standard ones! One very small bugbear is the mat in the boot – it’s about 5% too big for the space so it creases around the edges and corners, it definitely says Megane on it and the dealer said they’re all like that, but I can’t believe it would be. I asked if perhaps it could’ve been for the Megane-estate but he said it would be too small. Is anyone else’s the same?
