With more power than before, the RenaultSport Megane 230 F1 Team R26 - named after the championship winning F1 car - is the fastest Megane on the road.
The 2.0-litre turbocharged engine - which had been quite happy with 222bhp for a couple of years - now gets a caffeine kick to raise the power to 227bhp. This makes the R26 a tad faster than other quick Meganes, as it'll smash 62mph in just 6.2seconds with a top speed of 147mph in easy reach.
Acceleration and power figures only tell one side of the story though, what's most special about the R26 is not what's under the bonnet, but what's between the wheels - an LSD.
We're not talking tabs and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds here - although a car which induced hallucinogenic chemicals into the driver every time the accelerator is touched could make for an interesting drive - an LSD is a limited slip differential.
Put simply, this gives whichever front wheel with the most grip more power, as it has a better chance of using it. It does get more complex than that, but what you only really need to know is that it transforms the dumpy Megane into a serious driver's car.
Previously, hot Meganes have been fast, but haven't really delivered on the driving front - hence Renault's never-ending tweaking with the dynamics giving us the Megane Trophy, the Megane Cup and the Megane F1. The difference between the first 225s and what we have now with the R26 is huge.
That LSD gives the R26 grip by the bucketload - go into a corner fast and instead of ploughing on into understeer or the power being reined in by the stability control, it just digs deep into the tarmac and throws you through the curves like billy-o.
Surprisingly, with all that power and the LSD, there's no real torquesteer to speak of. The steering wriggles around a little from a full beats start, but apart from then, everything remains pretty civilised.
The ESP system has been tuned by RenaultSport to the point that you'll struggle to make it do its electronic jiggery-pokery, drive with it switched off and there's little difference to the fun to be had - just a bit more smoke from the tyres if you're onto the power a bit too quick out of a corner.
Braking is taken care of by a pair of stonking great Brembos at the front which bite into 304mm ventilated discs like a dog holding onto his favourite bone - and have no discernable fade even after a sustained pounding. The red calipers sit behind 18" anthracite alloys.
The six-speed manual doesn't like to be rushed, especially from second into third - you can easily find yourself in fifth, which can be bloody annoying if you're in full attack mode and want to rack through the gears as quickly as possible.
Bodywork-wise, the R26 is as all RenaultSport Meganes, with the exception of some F1-inspired graphics on the bumpers and roof. They're just sticky-back-plastic applied to the paintwork and can be removed by the dealer if you don't like the look of them. The Liquid Yellow paint that used to grace the madcap Clio V6 is a costly - but worthwhile - option.
Inside, some Recaros do a decent job of keeping you in place, though they're pretty comfort biased, not like the hardcore versions you can get in the Clio 197, so they'll still be comfortable on a long strop and don't require a lifetime of yoga to get in and out of.
Like previous Megane special editions, each R26 gets an individually numbered plaque riveted to the interior, though Renault admit it'll make as many R26s as people will buy, so it's not as exclusive as the 160-run Trophy edition.
However, it is brilliant value, costing the same as the more comfort-oriented regular 225 at 19,570. It's a better drive than the cheaper Cup version, and comes with more kit to boot. If you like to drive hard and fast, then the R26 is the Megane for you.
[4Car]
