2014 Renault Megane RS265 - The Best Hot Hatch I've Driven

[@tonycarapetis7485]

What do you mean for once in their life they've done it right? The french have been making awesome hot hatches forever.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Haha wasn’t necessarily referring to just car building…

[@tonycarapetis7485]

Hahaha always thought they made some decent wines and pretty handy with butter in their cooking. Had a Megane r26 for 10 years. One of the best and funnest cars I ever drove. 100,000 km, regular services, no problems.

[@jamespatagueule4599]

@@KiwiCarLife the french did invent automobile... and explosion engine.... and gearbox......

[@Peginafication]

Nice review mate, thank you! I'm a long time RS fan having owned a few Renault RS cars in the last couple of decades. Ironically l started watching your Accord Euro videos and comparisons when i wanted something a little bigger than an RS Clio and was very convinced I wanted one based on how you rated them (and rightly so). When it came to buying one the wife convinced me I needed to buy something more exciting otherwise I'd get bored. I disagreed but happy wife happy life so I bought an R26/RS230. Nice to see you rave about a Megane RS and convince me that I'm not missing too much by passing on the Accord Euro in the end 😂 Cheers!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Very nice and glad you enjoyed the video

[@jasonclover6099]

The clicking is just the carbon canister, perfectly normal. It did worry me when I first got mine though as it sounds like a bomb is about to go off 😂. That LSD is so good that you can actually power right through the corners, you don’t have to wait until you exit to put the power down! Handling is absolutely exceptional, very little will keep up with a Megane RS down a twisty road. Not many cars that make you laugh around every corner but this is one of them!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man this thing is awesome

[@Kiwiriderandcarnut]

Scenic drive is a great road for this! Great video mate

[@KiwiCarLife]

Mm yes good road

[@mr.nobody7958]

Will never sell mine. Great car and fun to drive.

[@KiwiCarLife]

@@mr.nobody7958 awesome man! Yeah they’re great drives aye

[@christopherjohnston6343]

I got to experience this as a passenger being driven proper quick on a background. Amazing car. The stock handling set up is incredible for our roads. Faster than most people could ever make use of. Saying that, the owner had had it off the road most of the year waiting on parts. . .

[@iamspyvspy3077]

What parts ? You can get almost everything ex-Uk or Europe.

[@dehechenka]

Unless he was waiting on a new engine, parts are readily available

[@KiwiCarLife]

Honestly I do believe him, even getting Nissan parts was hard enough for me with my skyline. That was off the road for 6 months

[@christopherjohnston6343]

@doni_habib I can't remember exactly what it was. Something weird. Didn't help that a part that was meant to be for him got sold to someone else and then had to wait to get it in from overseas.

[@benmcmurray4369]

Just saw this video about 2 weeks before Im going to be flying up to Auckland to collect my 2013 RS265 Trophy, slightly different as this was the trophy+ and pre facelift (2013vs14), have driven one before and my god, what an experience/car. Obviously they have got a fair few problems with them, lots of very small niggles but advice for anyone reading this, check the main problems and get them all replaced by the current owner before you buy one or at least know what you're in for. Looking foward to driving it from North to South and then the week after onto the track!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Very nice!

[@curtisleaning551]

Nice review, good to see these cars getting the recognition they deserve. Mine has been incredibly reliable and funnily enough the only part that has failed is a German built part!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man they’re great

[@ITSJACK-mn8bf]

I own a 2012 RS250, Love these cars, owned a Manual R32 RB25DET before it, wanted something reliable, manual and fast (Hate new golfs) haven't had any issues whatsoever in the 5 years of ownership. It gets driven incredibly hard at least once a year on track and foot flat bouncing off limiter every time its driven on road. Fully recommend one of these cars to anyone

[@KiwiCarLife]

How good! Surprised you bought a Renault wanting something reliable haha but glad you’re enjoying it.

[@Lycanthroperage95]

Hi mate.. really enjoying your content as a new viewer! On the topic of Euro Hot Hatches, would really love to see you reviewing an Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV or Veloce, whether it be with the Dual Clutch or the older model 6 speed manual.. anyhow, keep up the sick and modest content, so keen to see more soon

[@KiwiCarLife]

True yeah that would be a cool one to try!

[@caves2065]

So glad you finally got to drive one of these mate! I really want to buy one for myself, so I'm really happy that you enjoyed it because it just makes me want to buy it that much more :)

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah man would definitely recommend!

[@jonathan12242]

It’s for sale if you are interested :)

[@caves2065]

@@KiwiCarLife awesome, great to hear!

[@caves2065]

@@jonathan12242 Oh man I would love too! But unfortunately I live in Australia haha. Love the spec though, the liquid yellow looks especially nice 👌

[@ethanmounter1940]

@@caves2065I have a modified one in Brisbane I’d be willing to sell

[@fabianhcarsnvlogs]

A banger as always 👌👌

[@KiwiCarLife]

Thanks man!

[@thatguyben3128]

_Respect, absolute rocket in the bends and looks great, love it_ ❤👌🏼

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yess good car

[@liveillusion]

I had a stage 2 RS 265 for 4 years. Was blast to drive and own. Very reliable cars..

[@KiwiCarLife]

Oh I imagine that would have been a rocket!

[@KHGuitarFreak1988]

Funny. Comes full circle. Bought a Renault Megane RS275 Cup Premium, then bought a Honda Accord CL9, only to search up for the latter and stumbled across your KZbin channel XD

[@KiwiCarLife]

HAHAH oh good stuff

[@dehechenka]

finally doing some renaults. while your at it do a rs clio as well.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah had a few people asking for that haha

[@christopherjohnston6343]

Clios are pretty rare

[@tan9640]

Recently sold my 275 Cup-S, my god they are unbelievable. The handling on those is in another league altogether. Currently have a highly modified 130i, M3 arms, diff, Bilstein etc etc, but it doesn’t get close to the handling of the Megane. They are utterly ridiculous

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah I was most impressed by this car. The 130i has a better interior and with mods I’d say the n/a i6 and rwd combo is more fun

[@tan9640]

@@KiwiCarLifeYh more fun possibly if you like getting back end out, but it’s not as raw or as engaging imo

[@xenonsaccord4447]

Gorgous little car! How are we already at 20k subscribers? I remember the 10k celebration like it was the other day

[@KiwiCarLife]

Haha yeah man channel doing pretty well!

[@glumdogtrillionaire]

The brake actuation sound isn’t in the handbrake, it’s the lever mechanism to actuate the master on the left side of the car.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Either way it’s pretty low rent for a 2014 car hahah

[@KHGuitarFreak1988]

@@KiwiCarLife French just don't want to bother too much with right hand drive cars. Just like they have fuses and relays in the glovebox space because it usually sits on the driver's side for left hand drives

[@perpetualgrin5804]

I like how the sign matches the car, classy😅.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Haha yeah that’s why I filmed it there

[@mantarayal]

I don't think these would be any less reliable than any Euro manufacturer...which might not be saying much! Still, nothing like a good F4Rt. They go like the wind.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah and sound good too!

[@Peginafication]

Hahahahaha F4RT + Wind. I see what you did there

[@miltondefrietas6449]

These are a beast of a car. Can push them to the limits and they respond well! I have a rs250(now its a rs400hp) 😂 bigger garret turbo.. it is the funniest and engaging car ive ever had, its a ball tearer, ohh ive done almost 200.000km.. driven hard its whole life.. and its never missed a beat.. these things are built propper and simple. Raced several cars that do 11.8-12.0 quarter's.. on roll races we are neck and neck. We talking big hemi 6.4 litre v8 375kw vs my 2.0t.. lol

[@KiwiCarLife]

Awesome man yeah I was so impressed with this it’s a fantastic car

[@loganbishop4968]

Forgive me for being so juvenile but, Is the engine seriously called F4Rt ? Cant have been the only one😂

[@KiwiCarLife]

HAHAH yep it sure is

[@itsalexanderbotha1504]

I know those roads, very fun to drive/touge

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yesss good roads

[@victorwilks88]

Check engine light gang 😮

[@KiwiCarLife]

Lol

[@thatpersiandude7386]

I drove one recently and i was pretty surprised with the performance, pulls hard and handles like a its on rails however Its french so reliability is questionable and weird shit might pop out of nowhere.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Haha yeah that’s it, it’s excellent but still a worrisome car to own

[@welshmunn]

Did you get the clio 197/200 in new Zealand? If so you should drive one 😊

[@KiwiCarLife]

Yeah I think we do, will have to check it out

[@iamspyvspy3077]

A couple of Clio 197s were sold NZ new. No NZ new RS200, some imports from Japan, at least one UK spec in the same yellow as this Megane.

[@dcvin2]

Which road is this?

[@KiwiCarLife]

A very fun one

[@perpetualgrin5804]

​@@KiwiCarLifeGreat you don't give your location away.😅

[@fohman2796]

Now that you've driven this, you should test a 2nd gen Mazda 3 MPS next!

[@KiwiCarLife]

I should, can guarantee this is better though haha

[@chrisparr7476]

@@KiwiCarLife. The Renault is way way better. Your right

[@buddahae86]

I hate to be that guy; but your “generations” of Megane are incorrect. There’s an earlier 90’s predecessor which is the meg 1. Then the spicy R26 you referenced is a Meg 2. The 265 you’re piloting being the Meg 3. And until recently the Meg 4. They’ve now changed the Megane name legacy and the most recent version is a SUV the Megane E-tech as the name hints at an electric vehicle.

[@KiwiCarLife]

Ahh I see didn’t know about the earlier Megane, I was more referring to 1st gen RS and so on. But thanks for the clarification!

[@JagoTFC]

This used to be the benchmark for hot hatches until Honda and Seat pulled out 280+ hp and most FWD started fitting torsen + electric diffs. Now apparently it's Hyundai putting down the most winning track car (speaking of TCR) at least until Lynk & co import a car worth of that name. SUVs and stuff above 1500kg and 145cm isn't worth of staying on the road.

[@KiwiCarLife]

@@JagoTFC yeah amazing how times change aye!

[@dlgitalian9380]

Very true. I remember when it was Ren Vs Honda on the Nürburgring lap times, Honda used to have to fully track spec the car and Renault didn't. And when Renault decided to it with their last Megane RS model they beat it by 2 seconds. Just showed their superiority in the fwd market.

[@craigauty6756]

A focus rs would be a good match for it

[@KiwiCarLife]

Triple the price though?

[@craigauty6756]

@@KiwiCarLife oh yeah, just for driving experience

[@kaltynhall1158]

YOU HAVE TO TRY A SEAT CUPRA LEON BEST HOT HATCH!!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Hmm maybe one day

[@PureLeeful]

Great cars but not as engaging as a Megane.

[@arnab9288]

You should drive an Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV. Would love to see more Alfa's on the channel!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Mmm yes maybe one day

[@iamspyvspy3077]

Italian joke 😄

[@bharatmodi6712]

an original honda guy., now drive a R26 but want this rs 275 lol

[@KiwiCarLife]

Honestly man, this is a worthy upgrade to any Honda. Interior is a bit rubbish by comparison but it’s an epic drive

[@stephan6063]

275 you mean

[@KiwiCarLife]

Nah this is definitely a 265, been tuned though

[@92Godzilla]

Bring back the beard!

[@KiwiCarLife]

Haha nooo

[@92Godzilla]

@@KiwiCarLifeit suits you!

[@vongdong10]

I hate french cars but these interest me a lot. Only downfall is that its a euro...

[@KiwiCarLife]

Drive one man! You’ll love it

[@47thdarkdimension]

I call it a coupe

[@KiwiCarLife]

Coupe has a separate boot like a sedan officially, it’s a hatch in my book

[@KHGuitarFreak1988]

@@KiwiCarLife It's registered as a coupe hatch over here XD

[@seanhutton7155]

I am surprised so many people like these cars, it might go well but sorry it looks like a squashed bannana, you wouldnt catch me dead buying one of these things for myself, might be an alright car for a girl though

[@KiwiCarLife]

Hahah I think it looks cool

[@iamspyvspy3077]

Popular with rental companies at the Nurbrugring ;)