Renault Has Stolen Back Its FWD Nurburgring Record With An Insanely Fast Lap Time

Renault’s determination to steal back its front-wheel drive Nurburgring record has been clear for a while now, and with a spruced up version of the Renaultsport Megane 275 Trophy, the French manufacturer has done just that.

Earlier this year, Seat absolutely blew away the 8min 7.97sec record previously held by the Renault Megane 265 with a time of 7min 58.4sec courtesy of its Leon Cupra 280. Now however, the record is back in France thanks to the hotter 275 Trophy-R’s astonishing 7 minutes 54.36sec time. That puts it on a par with a ‘Ring time set by the 473bhp 997 Porsche 911 Turbo.

Based on the 275 Trophy, the R version has been on a crash diet, losing nearly 100kg through the removal of the rear seats and much of the sound insulation. The air conditioning is gone, as is the radio, while the front seats have been swapped for lightweight Recaro bucket items. It even has a smaller battery to shave off a few extra kilos.

The Öhlins Road and Track dampers which are optional on the 275 Trophy are fitted as standard on the R, as are composite springs on the front. If you’re a fan of suspension fiddling, you’ll be well catered for here: the front shocks have 20 different positions to choose from via a knob on the dashboard, while the rears have 30 positions of adjustment. Super sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres are also fitted as standard.

All this does come at quite a price, however. The standard 275 Trophy costs from £28,930, while the the Trophy-R weighs in at a considerable £36,430. Not that Renault will have any trouble shifting the Rs; just 250 will be made, only 30 of which will come to the UK. The all-important posh dampers and sticky Michelin tyres cost £2000 and £1000 respectively to fit to the normal 275 Trophy, so if it was our money, we’d spec those on the ‘regular’ car and keep the creature comforts missing from the R.

The 275 Trophy R is available to order now, coming to UK roads in November. On 27 June it’ll make its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where it’ll likely blitz up the famous hillclimb.