Fortunately for us, our diligent spies were able to discover a different prototype wearing much less camouflage. This time, the 2012 Megange hatchback was only covered with black duct tape.
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Nevertheless, primitive as cloth/plastic wraps may be, they do get the job done hiding the changes made to their cars like the facelifted Renault Megane hatchback and its station wagon counterpart named the Sports Tourer, that were caught testing in Southern Europe.
The incident purportedly takes place in rather congested area of Algeria when the driver of a white colored, older generation Renault Megane refuses to conform to the traffic officer's instructions.
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So, what’s the worst car one could imagine? Well, if we played around with the above statements, we’d say one designed by Japanese, engineered by Americans, built by Italians and marketed by Germans.
But UK insurance firm Warranty Direct had something a little bit different in mind. Instead of playing the origin card, the company decided to check out its database of 50,000 live policies on cars aged five years on average to part the UK’s most unreliable vehicle that would break down every other month and cost an average of £2,050 (equal to US$3,270 - €2,330) to fix each year.
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The 265-horsepower strong special edition posted a lap time of 8 minutes and 7.97 seconds in the hands of Renault test driver Laurent Hurgon, smashing the previous record for a front-wheel drive model held by the older generation Mégane RS R26.R by nine seconds. Buckle up, sit tight and enjoy the record run in the video after the break.
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The 265-horsepower version of the Megane RS completed a full lap around the Nürburgring racetrack in 8 minutes and 7.97 seconds beating the time of the previous generation Mégane Renaultsport R26.R by 9 seconds. In comparison, the now obsolete 305HP Ford Focus RS posted a lap time of 8 minutes and 26 seconds in the summer of 2009.
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The Mégane RS Trophy is a special edition version of the standard model with a limited production run of 500 cars. Renault is quick to note that the Trophy is not a successor to the hardcore R26R, which leaves the door open to a more extreme variant in the near future.
However, that’s about all Renault is willing to reveal for now so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of upgrades the car will feature and if a power boost and / or a weight reduction and chassis enhancements are part of the package.
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The French carmaker claims the Megane CC's transparent glazed area of 0.47 sq. metres is the largest in the segment that includes cars like the Pininfarina-styled Ford Focus CC and the Peugeot 308 CC.
>The shady picture doesn't tell us much about the four-seater convertible's looks but expect to see similar styling cues to the rest of the new Megane's range.
here won't be any surprises under the hood as the engine lineup will be carried over from the hatchback and coupe models including the 1.6-liter 110HP, 2.0-liter 140hp and the turbocharged TCe 180HP petrol units.
The new CC, which will join the Megane hatchback, coupe and Sport Tourer models, will compete against other C-Segment hardtop convertibles like the Ford Focus CC and Volkswagen Eos.
If you thought Renault's naming system for its sporty hatches was already ridiculous with the RenaultSport (...and horsepower) moniker wait until the French firm launches a new line of models that will revive the Gordini nameplate. See, instead of replacing the RenaultSport name, the Gordini badge will be used on more premium and chic versions of the automaker's hot hatches that will benefit from specific cosmetic and equipment upgrades - but not from any kind of mechanical tweaks.And that despite the fact that the iconic nameplate was once used on the Renault 8 Gordini rally car of the mid 1960s which later on gave birth to a 1300cc version for the Gordini Cup one-make race series.
The first product of the Gordini brand that is set to be unveiled on 25 November at L'Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysées in Paris, is the Renault Twingo Gordini RenaultSport which will be based on the Renault Twingo RenaultSport 133 - yes, we could have just said Twingo RS 133 but where's the fun in that?
The Gordini-badged Twingo is scheduled to go on sale in Europe in Spring of 2010 and will be followed by similar versions of the Clio RS 200 and Megane RS 250 hot hatches.
Renault did not disclose any specific details on the Gordini models but it's safe to assume that the cars will feature the brand's traditional light-blue exterior finish with twin white racing stripes.
Helped by their popularity in national scrappage schemes, the latest generation VW Golf and Ford Fiesta models are leading the way in the European sales chart boasting a 21.3% and 40.2% increase in sales respectively in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2008, according to data released by Jato Dynamics.The Golf VI, which is the market leader, recorded sales of 59,552 units in September representing a 56% increase over the 2008. VW's Polo and Passat models didn't fare as well in the month and are down YtD (Year to Date - January to September) by 3.3% and 15.8% respectively.
Ford's new Fiesta that will soon be available in the States found 51,291 new owners in September, 63.9% more than a year ago and over 12,000 more new registrations than the third-placed Opel/ Vauxhall Corsa that was up 17.1% in September but down 6.8% YtD.
Fiat's best selling models, the Punto supermini and the Panda mini enjoyed another jaunty sales period, with both cars featured in the top ten list. The Punto recording a 66.2% rise in sales for the month (+10.1% YtD) while the Panda was up by 14.4% in September (+30.6% YtD).
Finally, Renault's new Megane rounded off the top ten list in September with a whopping 90.4% increase in sales over the same month last year (+29.0% YtD).
As for brand performance, Volkswagen continues to hold on to first place with 1,241,755 sales YtD (+3.7%). In September, the German automaker sold 155,770 new cars in Europe which represents a significant increase of 16.3%.
In second place we find Ford that saw a healthy 3.7% YtD sales rise (+18.0% in September). The only other car manufacturer in the top ten list to record an increase in YtD sales is Fiat (+2.5%).
Overall, the European car market was up 7.5 per cent in September (1,379,610 units sold) compared to last year (1,283,537 units), but 5.7 per cent down in YtD sales ( 10,857,605 vs 11,517,910 cars )
Data: Jato Dynamics
