Description
I'd been after one of these for a while and took some time to find the spec I wanted. So glad I finally did and have loved every drive with it over the last couple of years, but it's now time for someone else to enjoy it. It may not be the most powerful or flashiest hot hatch but my gosh it's a fantastic drive.
Not just a standard 275, this one comes with the Cup Chassis, Brembo calipers and leather Recaro bucket seats - it's a difficult to find spec and for me is the pick of the recent generations. Inside has colour coordinated red trim, stitching and seatbelts.
Excellent condition all around aside from a couple of scuffs to the wheels and an almost unnoticeable small dent on the passenger door edge. These doors are long and can catch you out in car parks.
Serviced annually while I've had it, I've only covered about 10k miles as it's a second vehicle. Quite a stiff ride as you'd expect but still comfy when enveloped by the Recaros, which do a good job or keeping you in place on more enthusiastic drives. I've never taken it to the track.
Surprisingly practical, with isofix in the back and the Megane's characteristic big butt meaning there's decent space in the boot.
Oh!! It has a Sport button :) Subtle and understated, it sits to the driver's right and pressing it gives the full 275bhp, turns the exhaust to naughty mode, switches the reaction control to sport and sharpens the throttle response. It's most fun when driving twisty roads but even in a straight line it'll make you giggle with its raspy popping exhaust. It sounds sporty rather than car park boy racery. Paintwork is generally in excellent condition. The alloys have the dings you'd expect from a car of this age running on such shallow tyres. The passenger door has a very small, almost unnoticeable dent on the edge which was there when I bought it, and I assume is the result of some overenthusiastic door opening in a car park.
The paint is a pearl white, looks gorgeous in the sunlight. No chips on the windscreen, and just a tiny paint chip on the driver's door handle.
Badges, mirrors and roof are all in excellent condition. Pretty much like new, with hardly any wear noticeable to the steering wheel and gearstick.
Slight wear to the carpets but still in great condition.
No tears to the headlining or gearstick and handbrake surrounds.
The doors are trimmed with carbon fibre effect faux leather, a cool touch, which all appears to be pristine.
Aircon was regassed last summer and runs very satisfyingly cold. It has dual zone climate control with actual physical buttons and all sorts of settings depending on whether you like your temperature change delivered softly or with gusto.
Built in satnavs rarely age well and this one is no exception, with the software looking old even for 2015. But, the display is bright and clear, radio is crisp, the speakers sound fab, Bluetooth works reliably for listening to whatever nonsense your phone can provide, and the controls by the steering wheel are well laid out.
Auto headlights (not auto dimming) and auto wipers are welcome features, it has cruise control, electric front windows (the rears barely exist let alone open), keyless entry and keyless ignition.
Auto stop start has always been reliable, the tyre pressure monitoring system is useful if not a little overzealous, and there's plenty of headroom in the front. I'm 6'4" and still have a couple of inches to spare. It has been regularly serviced throughout my ownership, but unfortunately the service book was missing when I bought it so can't comment on previous service history.
MOT was performed on 12th January 2023, which it passed with no advisories. In 2022 I fitted a new battery and it had new spark plugs fitted by Renault in Gloucester to fix some pesky misfiring. The only other issue I've had with it was the sensor on the battery that susses out if it's able to auto stop start - this was replaced by Renault in December.
