Car Throttle

Once the Megane range gets a mid-life face lift in April, we will be saying bye-bye to the 250 and a big hello to the new 265. It's Renault's latest record breaking hot hatch to hit our roads with a lap time of 8 minutes and 8 seconds around the Nurburgring which makes it the fastest front-wheel drive car ever to go round the famous German track. Thanks to the new 'Renaultsport Dynamic Management' system, the new 265's 2.0L Turbo will produce 261bhp and 265lb ft of torque meaning a 0-60mph time of around six seconds and a top speed of 160mph. All that is available once you've pushed the 'Sport' button, with the car acting calm and civilised, "ish", in normal mode. Renault have

We've prayed, we've hoped and Honda have responded. You can buy your very own CR-Z Mugen, one very quick hybrid, from next year. Car Throttle had the opportunity to take the CR-Z Mugen prototype for a quick test drive at the SMMT test day back in October as well other test cars (which you can check out here) and it was the most fun Adnan had that day. This little Honda coupe is fast. It can go from 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds thanks to a rebuilt 1.5L IMA engine from Mugen which pumps out 200hp and 158lb-ft of torque. This is much better than the standard car and you can check out our review of that here. Mugen also changed the suspension to improve

Hatchbacks are for the most part a dirty word in the United States, but over in Europe they are a thriving section of the automotive market - and enthusiasts community. We've waxed and waned on Car Throttle about how any car with an added door on the back - wagon or hatch - is pretty much doomed to failure. This writer isn't a particular fan of all of them either, but there are exceptions. They can be cool - witness Renault and its Megane Renaultsport. For now though, that is a car we can only drive in games like Need For Speed and Gran Turismo. The top tog in the Megane stable is the Renaultsport 250. As its name implies, it makes 250 horsepower. Renault

Yes, the Geneva 2010 posts are coming - a month before the start of the show. That's the way things go in the industry, with Renault haven already taken the wraps off on the Wind and now the Megane Coupe-Cabriolet. The Geneva Motor Show is a very important show that usually sees many large introductions. Let's check out the new Megane Coupe-Cabriolet. The Megane has primarily gotten a lot of attention (well, from us anyway) for the Megane Renaultsport RS hot hatch. At CarThrottle we are fans of that car's good looks and impressive performance figures. But, there are a lot of other models in the lineup as well - the Coupe Cariolet adds to the existing hatchback, coupe and sports tourer variants. Like its main competitor

In Europe, hot hatches rule the roost! There has been some success for the genre here in the United States, but their existence is far more widespread in other parts of the world. Perhaps they would be more successful over here if we had products like the Renaultsport Megane RS. Earlier this month Renault released some better photography of the car. They're taking it a step further now with a video of the Megane RS doing track time. It is driven by Renault's F1 driver Romain Grosjean on the Nurburgring. Making 250 horsepower at 5,500rpm, and the same 250 pound-feet at 3,000 rpm, the Megane RS is certainly no slouch. No word on what kind of track times it did, but the video below is certainly worth

The Renaultsport Megane RS made it's debut at the Geneva Auto Show this year, but there hasn't been too many good pictures of it available. Perhaps the most glaring omission was the lack of any interior shots. The wait is over! The Renaultsport Megane RS is powered by a 2.0L, 16v inline-four equipped with a twin scroll turbocharger.  It makes  250 horsepower at 5,500rpm, and torque comes in low in the powerband, with the full 250 lb-ft (340NM) kicking in at 3,000 rpm. In addition, 80% of torque is available from an even lower 1,900 rpm. The two models of the Megane RS are “Sport” and “Cup.”  Cup is even more sporting than the standard "Sport," and is fitted with a standard limited-slip differential and additional chassis

The latest in a long line of Renault hot hatches, the new Renaultsport Megane RS is just exactly what you'd expect: a turbocharged, hard-edged, body-kitted performance variant of the regular Megane. This is the first Renaultsport variant of the new Megane, which has been receiving relatively positive reviews in the press as of late.  It's based on the sleek-looking Megane Coupe, and features a revised motor plus some neat carryovers from the old Megane R.26R. Under the hood is a 2.0L, 16v inline-four equipped with a quick-spooling twin scroll turbocharger.  This motor makes more power and torque than the previous Renaultsport motor, while boasting a wider powerband and improved drivability and response.  Power peaks at 250 horsepower at 5,500rpm, while the torque peak of 340nM( 250lb-ft)