Renault Mégane RS Ultime: last really sporty Renault

It will soon be over and out for Renault’s RS label. Alpine is the brand of the sporty models within the Renault Group, so Renault puts a big red line through its RS line. So there will be no Clio RS and it will soon be over with the Renault Mégane RS, the absolute top version of the Mégane. But not before Renault waves goodbye to the Mégane RS with a very last edition: the Renault Mégane RS Ultime.

The Renault Mégane RS Ultime will not make its public debut in France or another European country, but in Japan. At the Tokyo Auto Salon, to be precise. The Mégane RS Ultime is based on the RS Trophy RS and will be the only available variant of the Mégane RS from spring 2023. The regular Mégane RS, RS Trophy and the extra plank-hard RS Trophy-R will then retire. Renault will only build 1,976 copies of the Mégane RS Ultime. Of course, that number was not chosen randomly. 1976 is the year in which Renault Sport was founded.

Goodbye Megane RS.

We have to disappoint those in the Netherlands who are eager for Renault’s very last RS model and therefore the last Mégane RS. The Mégane RS has been unavailable in the Netherlands for some time now. In fact, not the Megane Hatchback at all. Renault has only been offering the Mégane in the Netherlands since 2021 as a Mégane Estate. The Mégane family has of course been expanded with the electric Mégane E-Tech Electric, but that car does not share a single screw, bolt or nipple with the Mégane series, of which there is a horny RS version. The Mégane RS Ultime will soon be sold in Europe, but not in the Netherlands. The Dutch importer confirms this to AutoWeek.

What exactly are we missing? A Mégane RS with, among other things, special stickers, a series of black accents and with the signature of Laurent Hugon, the tear nose and development driver of Renault Sport who, among other things, has set several records with the Méganes RS. The most painful, of course, is the horny 1.8 that generates 300 hp and 420 Nm.