18/05/10

• Price£23,160
• We like...Fantastic to drive
• We don't...Recaro seats cost extra

Renault has quietly built itself a rep for building no-frills motors that are quick... and good. The company has taken its pretty Megane coupe for the latest, slipping in a 250bhp motor and honing it for speed.

There’s a softer, more kitted out variant, too: the 'regular' 250. And then there’s the race-bred one, the Cup, which we have here. The list price shows it to be the cheaper of the two but that’s not why you’d buy. Go for it instead because it is quicker, edgier and has a fantastic race-tuned chassis.

Even if you forego the racer-white paint of ours, the Cup’s a full-on experience. Even though it’s actually pretty well kitted out the cabin is stark, black and functional. The Recaro seats are a cost-extra option but they’re worth having for the way that they hug you and the way they look.

The black in the cabin’s lifted, too, by lairy-yellow seat belts, contrast stitching on the seats and across the top of the wheel to mimic the tape that racers might place there to remind themselves where dead-ahead lies. This is part of an optional pack – a more muted interior comes as standard.

If that’s not enough, the rev counter dial is tricked out to resemble the face of an upmarket watch.
Outside, the already handsome coupe wears a body kit, big carbon-black alloys that show red-painted brake callipers and spats to cover the wheels and allow the brakes to cool. The car sits a little lower on its wheels than the ‘standard’ 250. Up front the grille and bumper top are painted black to offset the daffodil hue.

So it looks the biz but how does it go? With spirit. If you’ve just stepped into this car from our current favourite hot hatchback, the VW Golf GTi, you’ll not be disappointed. The motor’s a fizzer, revving easily to big engine speeds and sling-shotting the car towards the horizon. Yet it remains docile whenever you need to trickle along in a traffic queue. The steering is extremely positive and carries a nice weight, changing direction at a nudge but with little of the nervousness you’d find in some of the competition.

The ride, too, is as firm as you’d expect in such a car but retains enough squish to keep a long journey comfortable. Where it does succeed, though, is in keeping the car flat even if you pitch it hard into a turn. And even the brakes reward, giving plenty of feel and progression.

And, in keeping with Renault’s accent on safety, it packs eight airbags (six if you pick the Recaros), and anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution.

Should you buy one? We think so. It’s more focused - more of a tearaway - than a Golf GTi. And, although we doubt whether it’ll retain the Golf’s evergreen class as it ages (or lose its value as slowly) it is as good to drive and just as appealing, though different in character.

• Engines2.0 turbocharged petrol
• Power250bhp
• 0-60 mph6.1secs
• Economy33.6mpg
• CO2g/km195
• Insurance groups
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags8
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: