Seventy-two grand for an all-time great? It’s an absolute bargain.The best bits have been saved for last. This is a car we’ll talk about in reverential tones in the not too distant future. I simply can’t imagine a plug-in car being able to recreate just how feral this thing feels an EV will be too quiet and smooth, a hybrid unable to even dream of weighing 1,300kg. And which appear to be leading all future hot hatches down an electrified path (just ask Peugeot). A RenaultSport insider recently told us that the Trophy R has arrived relatively early in this Megane’s life in order to dodge stringent emissions regulations that lurk peskily around the corner. And it’s a hot hatchback of a wildness and effervescence that we need to appreciate now. There’s an innate superstar quality that can accompany you on even the most fraught or mundane of journeys, the kind you’d never take your Pista on. You’ll forget they’re worth as much as a brand-new Clio. You’ll worry about those poor little carbon wheels at first, then remember it’s a weeny little Megane that still has a parking camera. It brings the drama of a racecar to something you can drive easily over speed bumps and leave in less salubrious car parks without fretting. The squeal of its brakes at low speed, its boomy, neighbour-rousing idle, the popping and spluttering of the exhaust in traffic, the tangibly thinner sound deadening. Hell yeah, and it won’t ever let you forget it. And pleasingly wild when you’re really giving it some. Well, the mega-bucks spec has completely sold out and it’s tolerable on the daily grind. Our initial review of the Trophy R saw it score 8/10, a higher mark held due to its faintly ridiculous price and while we awaited whether it was bearable on road or not. The ride was entirely bearable but with room for more comfort – or focus – depending on where your priorities lie. We drove it with its manually adjustable Öhlins dampers in roughly the middle of their settings (eight clicks out of 20 up front, nine at the rear), so a good disrtance from their softest. Unrelentingly so, but not at the expense of body control, and it’s not really any fiddlier over urban lumps and bumps than the stock RS Trophy. One you absolutely want to raise your game for the depth of its talent is so obvious, it’ll become your daily mission to do it more justice. It is – without compromise – a driver’s car. Sure, it demands all of your attention when you’re driving it hard, but it always sings to your tune and only fights back if you antagonise it. If you wish to calm down, the Trophy R calms down with you. None of these have been guaranteed in Mega Meganes of old. There’s CarPlay, a semi-decent stereo, climate control and glass windows all round. Turn the ESC off and you’ve got to pay attention if it’s not a bone-dry day, but leave it on, keep the powertrain in its quieter, comfier mode and this is a completely plausible daily driver. It speaks volumes that the car I was reminded of most by this Megane, as I attempted to tame it on a tight, leafy British B-road, was the Ferrari 488 Pista. The violent pull out of corners when you really get that diff hooked up. The extreme twitchiness as the back axle viciously lightens from the outrageous force those those jaw-dropping brakes apply up front. The frenzied scrabble for grip as you try to use all of second gear on tepid tarmac. It’s the extra power, focus and downright madness of this third-gen Mega Megane that makes it, though. It follows their recipe to the letter, and in truth either will be a better judged road car that you’ll push harder, more of the time. It serves up a breath-taking hit of endorphins that even its scintillating ancestors – the Megane R26.R and 275 Trophy R – can’t compete with. Single-digit temperatures ought not to be the friend of a frenetic trackday special on serious tyres. But now’s our first time driving it on the road, and on cold, damp, autumnal UK roads at that. It serves up an intense, exhilarating experience that’s got the measure of just about anything that wears number plates. Sure, and up until now that’s where we’ve driven it.
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