TC Euro Cars has officially launched the all-new Renault Megane RS 280 Cup in Malaysia, which is available with a manual or an Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) transmission, both with six speeds and front-wheel drive.

In terms of pricing, it is pretty much identical to our previous reports. The Megane RS with the manual gearbox retails at RM279,888 on-the-road without insurance, while the EDC-equipped version is RM20,000 more at RM299,888. These prices include a three-year or 100,000km warranty, whichever comes first.

Customers will get to choose from a selection of colours, including Diamond Black and Pearl White, with the latter costing an additional RM1,000. There’s also two more specialty colours – Liquid Yellow (a RS signature shade) and Orange Tonic – both at an RM8,000 premium.

The French hot hatch is based on the fourth-generation Megane hatchback, and is available only as a five-door model, unlike its predecessor. Motivation also comes from a smaller-displacement 1.8 litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 280 PS (276 hp) and 390 Nm of torque.

Despite the reduction in engine capacity, the 1.8 litre motor has an advantage in terms of output when compared to the 2.0 litre turbo-four in the previous Megane RS, even in RS 275 Trophy-R guise (275 PS or 271 hp/360 Nm). Performance-wise, the Megane RS will accelerate from a rest to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds, while the top speed is 255 km/h for the manual, and 250 km/h for the auto.

The Renault Sport car gets the more track-focused Cup chassis, which features rally-style four hydraulic compression bump stops for better handling, along with a Torsen limited-slip differential. The front suspension also has been completely redesigned with an independent steering axis for improved precision, while the standard-fit 4Control four-wheel steering system helps provide better agility.

Manual

Stopping power comes courtesy of red-painted Brembo brake calipers that act on bi-material (aluminium/cast iron) discs, which measure 355 mm at the front, or 15 mm more than than the previous-generation car.

Renault’s Multi-Sense system is present here, providing drivers with a choice of five driving modes – Comfort, Normal, Sport, Race and the customisable Perso. For the EDC-equipped model, Multi-Change Down and launch control functions are available in Sport and Race modes, the former allowing drivers to shift down by several gears by pressing and holding down the left-hand shift paddle.

The kit list includes 19-inch “Interlagos” alloys with Bridgestone Potenza S001 245/35 series tyres, RS Vision full-LED headlamps with C-shaped daytime running lights, a seven-inch TFT digital instrument cluster, 8.7-inch R-Link 2 touchscreen infotainment system, RS Monitor on-board telemetry system, RS sports seats, aluminium sports pedals and red accent highlights for the carbon grey interior.

-paultan