Although I've been critical of other hot Renaults in the past, I do like the Megane Renaultsport 250 Cup very much indeed. There are some details which I think are silly, not least that it's almost impossible to see out of when you need to reverse, but as a driver's car it is right up there with the best hot hatches you can buy today.One of the few cars better than the 250 Cup is the 265 Trophy. It's £3400 more expensive, and I would quite understand if you considered this to be a step too far and decided to make do with the 250 Cup instead. Still, you do get a lot of extra equipment for the money - some of it trivial styling stuff but some either not provided with or available only as options on lesser Meganes.I refer here to things like cruise control, air-conditioning, the Cup chassis (basically stiffer suspension), daytime running lights, much needed rear parking sensors, the Renaultsport Monitor (on-board performance tracking system) and so on.But even those things are of little importance compared with the three which truly distinguish the 265 Trophy. First, there's an upgrade which brings the maximum power output of the two-litre turbo petrol engine to 265bhp. Second, there's a limited slip differential. And third, there's a new wheel/tyre package, with Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres on 19" alloys replacing the 18" set-up available on the 250.This is where it all gets a bit serious. The effect of the extra power on the straightline performance seems very mild on paper (top speed up 2mph to 158mph, 0-62mph time down by 0.1 seconds to six seconds dead) but in real life there does seem to be quite a lot of extra urge, most of it available even at quite modest engine speeds.The differential is almost unnoticeable, though the Megane is very willing to take a lot of power in a tight corner on a wet road without having to call on the traction control system, so clearly it's doing its job. But it wouldn't be able to do its job if the tyres weren't right, and the tyres are entirely right. I wouldn't have thought, in advance, that 35-section rubber would be the best choice, but over some fantastic hill roads in central Scotland - with damp tarmac, puddles, mud and occasionally gravel to contend with - the Bridgestones were just superb.The only thing that might put some performance driving enthusiasts off, though personally I'm fine with it, is that the 265 Trophy has very little sense of drama (except visually - nobody could fail to notice it). It's very quiet in normal driving, the engine note is purposeful but not exciting when you're going hard, and if you find any handling quirks it's because you're behaving like an idiot. Driven properly, it can absolutely storm along without any fuss whatever.There is some bad news, though: if you haven't already bought a 265 Trophy, you may already be too late. Only 500 have been built, and just 50 of those are earmarked for the UK. (A plaque tells you which one you own. The test car was number three.) At the time of writing there are, according to a Renault spokesman, "five or ten" left.Still, if the 265 Trophy is any indication, we can look forward to a rich period in the long history of fast Renaults. Engine 1998 cc, 4 cylinders Power 265bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 34.4mpg / 190g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 6.0 seconds Top speed 158mph Price £27,820 Release date Details correct at publication date
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