The new Renault Megane RS Trophy-R was set loose at the Sachsenring in Saxony, Germany, attacking corners at full pace and lapping it in 1:37.57.
The unofficial lap time set last year by AutoBildSportscars and shared online a few days ago puts the French hot hatch a few tenths of a second ahead of the Seat Leon Cupra R, Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S.
Analyzing the result on FastestLaps shows that the Megane RS Trophy-R was actually quicker than some very big names. The original BMW M2 posted 1:37.65 and the first-gen Audi R8 V10 Spyder ran the German track in 1:37.74. Cars such as the M6 Coupe Competition, Lexus RC F Track Edition and Aston Martin V12 Vantage S were also slower.
Watch: The $88,480 Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R Is Ridiculously Expensive, But Is It Worth It?
Further up, the indisputable hot hatch king, the 421 PS (415 HP / 310 kW) all-wheel drive Mercedes-AMG A45 S, posted a time of 1:35.74 and the new M2 Competition 1:35.67. Around 1:33-1:32 is the sweet spot for supercars, while the very best of them completed the run in under 1:30. Keep in mind that these are all unofficial lap times unrecognized by any automaker and obtained with more or less skillful drivers at the helm.
Presented last year as the range-topping member of the new-gen Megane range, slotting above the Megane RS and Megane RS Trophy, the Trophy-R is the official lap record holder for front-wheel drive production cars on several tracks, including the Nurburgring Nordschleife, Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka and The Bend Motorsport Park.
Production of the hot hatch is limited to 500 units and all of them feature the 1.8-liter four-pot rated at 296 HP (300 PS / 221 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque. You can’t have it with an auto ‘box, as the sole choice is a six-speed manual, and officially, it does the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 5.4 seconds and runs out of breath at 163 mph (262 km/h).
