It had to happen, and sooner rather than later, but the SEAT Leon Cupra's sub-eight minute Nürburgring front-wheel drive lap record has already been toppled. The car that has achieved this feat, in a scorching 7m 54.36s Nordschleife tear-up, is the most focused Renaultsport Mégane since the R26.R; meet the 275 Trophy-R.
Exterior
The Trophy-R uses the recently unveiled, limited edition 275 Trophy as its basis, a little like the R26.R was an evolution of the R26 Team F1 during the Mégane II era. There's a two-tone version with Arctic White paint and a black roof expected to be most popular, while Liquid Yellow is available. You'll also get a front splitter, striped decals and chequered flag graphics on the side, plus 19-inch Speedline Turini wheels in black as standard - red is an option. The rear wiper has been removed for a 1kg weight saving over the Trophy too.
Interior
Single-piece polycarbonate Recaro Pole Position bucket seats with leather and Alcantara trim shave another 22kg from the Trophy-R's kerb weight, and they look bloody lovely too. The steering wheel and handbrake gaiter are both trimmed in Alcantara, while the gear knob is leather. You can spec up Sabelt six-point harnesses inside too.
Renault says the Trophy-R is 'almost 100kg' lighter than a Mégane Renaultsport with a Cup chassis and 19-inch wheels, although it then specifies the weight of the two and the Trophy-R is a full 101kg lighter at 1,280kg all in. This weight saving has been achieved through the measures already outlined, plus the shedding of 18 kilos of insulating and sound-absorbing materials and also the junking of the rear seat (20kg). A further 10kg has departed courtesy of the lack of both air conditioning and a radio, although you can option up multimedia equipment if you're utterly daft. There's a cross strut bar in the back, while the boot is designed to carry four spare wheels - Renaultsport will even offer logoed tyre covers as an option to prevent the cabin getting covered in brake dust.
Mechanicals
The R version has the same 275hp and 360Nm as the 275 Trophy, but with that loss of ballast and some juicy technical additions, it's a more focused car designed for track enthusiasts. It has the Cup chassis with a limited-slip differential, an Akrapovic exhaust (4kg lighter than the standard item), Öhlins Road & Track adjustable dampers, Allevard composite springs and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres. Official fuel consumption and emissions figures are the same as the regular Trophy, at 37.7mpg (7.5 litres/100km) and 174g/km CO2. There's no performance data in terms of 0-100km/h or top speed, just that damned lap time. Which equates to it being a very, very quick car.
You can further trim the Trophy-R's weight by going for a lithium-ion battery instead of the lead-acid item fitted as standard (saving another 16kg), while 350mm front brake discs - 10mm bigger than the 340mm set you get anyway - are 3kg lighter thanks to aluminium bells. There'll be a Nürburgring Pack available from September, which combines the brakes, lithium battery, two Sabelt harnesses, the four spare wheel covers and a restraining strap. That's for the tyres in the boot, not the driver...
Anything else?
The record 7m 54.36s run - beating the Leon Cupra's 7m 58.4s - was achieved on May 15th, in less than ideal conditions. The lap took place at 7.15am in the morning with the track damp in places - Renault Sport Technologies test driver Laurent Hurgon apparently had a big 'moment' at over 190km/h early on when he hit a wet patch of tarmac. However, the time was beaten and Renault once again has the front-wheel drive Nordschleife crown. It's now up to either SEAT to steal it back with a Cupra R, or for Honda's forthcoming Civic Type-R to spoil the party.