Renault Megane R.S. – One Month Later and the First Proper Drive

Honestly, after the car arrived I had planned a major European road trip to the French Alps for a skiing holiday. That never happened. Instead, I stayed at home along with half the planet. COVID-19 appeared on the horizon and destroyed most of my serious plans for the year.

During the strictest part of the lockdown, I mainly took the Megane R.S. out for short drives around the city and occasional trips to the supermarket. I also managed one more substantial drive to Panichishte, which eventually turned into the standard RoadHunter review. Armed with a properly completed declaration, I reached the checkpoint after Zheleznitsa where a policeman, displaying the typical lack of professionalism we have sadly come to expect from Bulgarian authorities, asked me:

“So what, going out for a little drive, are we?”

I answered honestly:

“Yes, I’m going to drive and take photos. That’s literally my job. Sorry.”

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Interestingly, later that same day I did a few acceleration runs on the abandoned runway near Sapareva Banya and while launching the car, a “launch control” warning suddenly appeared on the dashboard. Except… the car has a manual gearbox and no such function. Strange.

At the end of April, once restrictions were loosened slightly, I joined one of the Club Speed BG Sunday drives towards Ledenika. That turned out to be a genuinely enjoyable experience with beautiful roads and plenty of fast corners. This was the moment the advantages of owning a Megane R.S. really started to reveal themselves 🙂

Otherwise, during this period nothing unusual happened. The car proved perfectly usable in everyday life and sometimes I actually see it more as a compact GT car than a hardcore, Spartan hot hatch.

Eng. Tsvetan Iliev

Renault Megane R.S.

Price: €29,240 (€30,600 with optional equipment)
Main specifications: turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine; 1798cc; 280 hp; 0-100 km/h in 5.8 seconds; top speed 255 km/h
Fuel consumption (month 2): official combined 7.9 l/100 km; test average 9.6 l/100 km
Distance covered during month 2: 647 km
Total mileage: 2136 km

Chronology
1. Renault Megane R.S. – Delivery Day and the First Journey
2. Renault Megane R.S. – One Month Later and the First Proper Drive
3. Renault Megane R.S. – The Car Is Going to the Workshop, I Cracked the Windscreen
4. Renault Megane R.S. – I Barely Made It to the Petrol Station
5. Renault Megane R.S. – Six Months and 10,000 km Later; What I DON’T Like About the Car and the Environment Around It
6. Megane R.S. – The French Character Shows Itself, or Time for Repairs
7. Megane R.S. – One Year Later
8. Megane R.S. – When the Engine Stops While Driving