Hot Megane RS gets wings

RED BULL Racing’s Australian fans will have another reason to celebrate Renault’s constructor championship win with the impending launch of a special edition Megane RS.

Based on the already accomplished Renault Megane RS 265, the special edition Red Bull Racing RB8 features unique styling tweaks to set it apart from previous versions.

‘Crepuscule’ Blue paintwork is the same shade that adorns the Renault F1 car and Platinum Silver highlights the door handles, door mirrors, front and real spoilers, and pinstripes the 19-inch black alloy wheels.

Red Bull decals feature throughout the RB8 Megane with embossed Recaro seats, floor mats, Red Bull Racing colour side stripes and even individually numbered door-sill trims.

However, Italian supercar manufacturer Lamborghini holds the copyright to a bull image adorning the front of a road car, so to prevent the bull raging Renault had to refrain from a RBR badge on the bonnet.

Underneath the aesthetic changes, the mechanicals are identical to the existing Megane RS 265.

A turbocharged 2.0-litre engine producing 195kW propels the hot-hatch to 100km/h in six-seconds, and the Trophy version is capable of lapping the Nurburgring in just over eight minutes thanks to sticky tyres and a clever limited slip differential.

Renault Sport vehicles are a strong seller in Australia and 120 examples of the special edition Red Bull Racing RB8 will go on sale in the latter part of this year.

Exact dollar figures for the special edition will be finalised closer to the release date but prices are expected to align with the existing RS 265 range.

Currently the Megane RS 265 Cup starts at $42,540 while Trophy and Trophy + variants begin at $47,140 and $51,640 respectively.

Renault unleashed Red Bull versions of both the Clio and Megane models last year following previous success in the Formula 1 series but no plans have been announced to resurrect the Red Bull Clio for 2013.