Renault lobs Grand Prix-inspired Megane RS250

LAST year it was the Clio Sport that got the treatment, now Renault Australia has released a special version of the bigger and badder Megane RS250 to celebrate its involvement in the Australian Grand Prix kicking off on March 12.

Just 50 of the super-exclusive Australian Grand Prix Limited Editions have been secured for Australia, each priced from $49,990 – $8000 more than the base RS250 and $3000 more than the higher-spec Trophee.

The AGP can be distinguished from its lesser siblings by its fixed-glass roof (sourced from the successful Monaco Edition released last year), as well as its gloss black paint with matching black 19-inch Steev wheels, lifted from the European RS250 Trophy Edition.

Behind the new rims sit matching red Brembo brakes, while high-performance Bridgestone RE050A hoops are fitted as standard fare.

These are the same tyres as those fitted to the Renault Sport 265 Trophy, which took out the front-wheel drive lap record at the Nurburgring circuit in June last year.

The racing-inspired interior gets new black leather Recaro seats with height adjustment, as well as luxury touches pinched from the Monaco Edition, including satellite-navigation, bi-Xenon headlights and front/rear parking sensors.

Power output from the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine is unchanged at 184kW/340Nm, which is matched to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Managing director of Renault Australia Justin Hocevar said: “We experienced a very strong customer demand when we introduced the Monaco Grand Prix inspired limited-edition in August 2011, and based on our customer feedback we jumped at the opportunity to create this extraordinary Megane RS AGP.

“The Megane RS AGP is the ultimate package. We have ticked every box in the building of this car and anticipate very strong customer demand.”Mr Hocevar also said the brand will offer a 3.9 per cent finance rate on the car when it hits showrooms in March.

While it no longer has its own factory team, Renault provides engines for four Formula One teams in 2012, accounting for one third of the total grid.

Earlier this week, Renault announced it would fit the muscular 198kW/360Nm turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine from the Europe-only special-edition RS265 Trophee as standard to all Megane RS models.

Renault Australia has confirmed it will import the new RS265 Megane – which delivers 14kW and 20Nm more than the current RS250 – although it has not yet confirmed timing.

Two weeks ago the French brand also announced it would introduce 40 examples of the limited-edition Clio RS ‘Angel and Demon’ edition, which added a number of cosmetic accoutrements and technical enhancements.