Renault Sport Megane 280 Cup vs. Hyundai i30N, not the performance. Two really good hot hatches
on circuit, we’re going to find out which one’s faster, which one’s more fun to
drive and remember, hit that subscribe button and then you’ll never miss an Autocar track battle again,
go on hit that button now. Hello Dan. Mr Prior. I’ve got a Hyundai i30N without
the performance pack. Yeah, so this is a little bit skewed isn’t it? Let’s address that
first. I’ve got the Renault Sport Megane 280 Cup so I’ve got the tricked up version,
I’ve got the diff, a few other bits and pieces and I’ve got more power than you. Yeah because
this i30, on the face of it it is quite good value at £25,000, 250PS but no LSD as standard
and it has slightly smaller wheels and tyres than the performance version. So are we saying
your car is meant to be quicker than mine? Sadly, I think we have to acknowledge that
this is probably the faster motor vehicle and I say sadly because I’m driving it and
I’m in front so if I don’t get away from you here I’ve been shown up. I’ll see
how close we can get. Okay a little more tyre warming and then over the line and I’ll
drop out. Okay, you got it. I’m not going to count my chickens just yet, come around
this left hander and then we’re over the line and away we go. Right, Dan is on it now.
I like this car, I mean I really like this car, I think it’s seriously entertaining.
In an old school, if not totally old fashioned way, I doesn’t feels as heavy as some cars,
I don’t think it feels as heavy as the Megane actually, I think I prefer its ride on the
road. What I do know about this already is that it feels stiff over those big kerbs there,
it thuds quite heavily rather than floating over them daintily, it’s quite a stiff car
even on this circuit you do feel how firmly sprung it is but it gives you brilliant body
control. Steers really nicely with a nice build up of weight and feel, nice pop on the
over run. There is a performance pack version of this which has got more power, has a limited
slip differential. There is an argument that this is the nicer car, bit more rounded, a
bit more pliant on the road but it’s still really good on the circuit I think. We’re
on Bridgestone Potenza tyres which are a perfectly decent performance tyre but it’s the kind
of thing I’d expect to see on a hot hatch all rounder, something like a Golf GTI rather
than actually quite a focused and aggressive hot hatch like this Cup, that means we don’t
have bundles and bundles of grip, we’ve just got strong grip, not bundles and bundles
so it does want to understeer. Come on, come on, come on, come on, it is pulling away on
the straight there’s no denying it but it’s got a nice linear power band, quite a snappy
little gearbox but it’s the handling balance that really marks it out. If you trail the
brakes in it lets go at the back at the same time as it sort of turns in, it’s possible
to overwhelm it slightly and just make it all about the front end but if you just get
it right, it’s got a really nice keen balance to it, is it flat through here? Not quite
but pretty close. The diff is effective, strong engine and a really positive direct gearshift.
Good chassis balance just there through that long left it just wants to start to slide
a little bit which is great and it means your not just fighting understeer the whole time.
You can drive it on its door handles! Beyond its door handles, that’s going to give Dan
an advantage, and I think it’s a really cool lovely linear progressive piece of kit.
It’s Hyundai’s first proper hot hatchback, I know they’ve made sort of coupes and things
before but this is its first hot hatch so they appointed a guy called Albert Biermann
who used to be the head of BMW’s M division and said Albert, how about it? And he said,
I suppose I’ve been at BMW a long time, there aren’t many more exciting projects
I’d like to go and do but he thought Hyundai Kia was a good one. Right, now Dan is extending
the gap, it’s the high speed stuff Dan has an advantage certainly because I think he
can use the extra poke of that car. Okay, he’s smaller in my mirrors again, let’s
finish this lap and see if we can shrink him even further. It’s hard to chat away and try and
drop a very good driver in a quick car at the same time, just getting those excuses in there.
Steering, yeah it’s sharp, it’s direct, there’s some feel, not bundles, but there’s
a decent bit of feel so you can plant the car, plant the front end right on the limit
of grip. The car feels fantastic through this left, just starts to slide. Makes it feel
super agile, super balanced and alive. We’re a few laps in now and the brakes are holding
on quite well, I suspect he might be struggling. This car responds really well to an aggressive
chucked in driving style. Bung it in, sort it out later, it’s really good. This is
a mega piece of kit, I love this car. I think this is a better car than the Megane, I really
like the i30N more than most of my colleagues do. Shite, alright I am starting to run out
of brakes. Right, I can't keep up with him anymore. This is sweaty work. Okay, Dan, I am going to admit defeat, I cannot, I cannot
keep up with you, I just saw you going, getting smaller and smaller in the windscreen. I’m
quite out of puff. Dude, I’m really tired, that was hard work. Right I’ve got the numbers
that our independent controlled driver, who is not either of us, has recorded, that goes
round, the Megane goes round Blyton park in 1 minute 15sec dead, this goes round in 1
minute 16.5 seconds, so 1.5 seconds in favour of my car, that’s actually quite a lot around
what is a relatively short circuit, it’s quite an advantage isn’t it? So mate that’s
it, you have the faster car and therefore are the faster driver. I have to be modest
to you and I think all the extra performance that I had was in the car, there’s no doubt
about that, which is one thing, so we know the Megane is the quickest car overall. The
Megane is the one to have if you want speed. Who was having more fun overall? I was having
a great time in that car, because it’s the Cup version it’s got slightly stiffer suspension,
it’s got the differential in it, it’s quite an aggressive, quite a sharp hot hatch
and on a track like this it’s great fun, you keep going harder and harder and harder
and it keeps responding. I was having a good time as well, one of the best times I’ve
had in a car for a long time actually just, you know, really nicely balanced, nicely neutral,
very honest, straight forward hot hatchback in a way that maybe nobody makes anymore, including Renault.
I think this is a good car, the Renault, it’s good fun, I’ve enjoyed it today, I think
the old generation was maybe a bit more exciting. Yeah I would agree with that. So there you go, the winner
of this test is the old Renault Megane, if you like this and you want to see more videos
of new hot hatches or old Meganes, don’t forget to like and subscribe.