The "most high performance production car Renault has ever put on the market" has landed on New Zealand's shores.
Launched in mid-2019, the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R wins zero prizes in the catchy name Olympics, but it did promptly reset a few lap records. This included but was not limited to the front-wheel drive hot hatch lap record at the Nurburgring Nordschleife — a crown that Honda's Civic Type R had held for some time.
Read more: Which fun, fast hot hatch is best? What our car journos would actually buy
The French hot hatch comes with a raft of updates over its standard Megane RS bretheren. Weight's been trimmed by 130kg thanks to lavish use of carbon fibre replacement parts (including the bonnet and front seats), and thanks to the removal of a few creature comforts.
These removed comforts include the rear seats and boot-liner. In their place is a scooped out belt-less bench, and an additional bar spanning the car's width at approximately shoulder height to aid rigidity.
Power comes from a turbocharged 1.8-litre making 221kW of power and 400Nm of torque; a jump from the standard model's 204kW/390Nm. All-new suspension, a set of Bridgestone Potenzas, and Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes are among the other tweaks you'll find in an RS Trophy-R.
Now, our understanding is that at least two of these rapid little nuggets have landed in New Zealand. And, one's been listed for sale on DRIVEN.
Originating from Renault New Zealand themselves, the listed vehicle comes with just 20 kilometres on the clock, and is new in every sense of the world. To see more check out the gallery below, or click here to check out the full listing.
