Automotive

Renaultsport was founded back in 1976, a merger between Alpine an Gordini which were owned by Renault.

In America, we have to buy a Ferrari to get a nice high performance wagon-style-glass hatchback!  Is this Renault RWD or FWD or AWD?  The Ferrari is RWD in V8 guise or AWD in V12 guise.  

We do have a GTI, a Golf R, an Audi RS6 Avant and even a Mercedes E63 wagon. No need to go to Ferrari and play their game...😉

But yes... That's a nice list of machines! I'd probably shy away from the GTI because it's FWD and even the AWD Golf R since it's a transverse engine which means it might revert to FWD when there's no need for AWD. Now, the RS6 and E63 are some serious machines though, although they're really larger than the hot hatch category I had in mind - although not too big for American standards. Thank you very much!

1.8 turbo 300 hp
4 wheel steering
Suspension with hydraulic bump stops
and some other cool stuff for a relatively 'cheap' car.

Definitely one very advanced car.  Probably not very reliable since it's got a lot of proprietary technology and it's made in very low volume.  But nevertheless, it shows Renault really put in everything they could into this car if they put in 4 wheel steering.  

4 wheel steering at the same time Honda did.
I think the strength of Renaultsport/Alpine is they get a certain 'freedom' to change a standard car into an instant classic.
If you look what they did with the Clio 3 RS .. or the V6 and .. actually any Renaultsport; turning a base car into a 'race' car ... not like other brands like VW do .. turning a not so base car into not a race car ... .
When I take my Clio to the track I can basically trash it it without having to think about sudden surprises like brakes or suspension failure .. or even things breaking of ... I really doubt a Golf GTI will do this.

We don't have Renault Clios in America, so I really can't say.  I've been told that Golf GTIs are very good, maybe not the most reliable, but otherwise a very nice car to drive.  I'm still a little skeptical.  Why would Porsche GT3 owners like a Golf GTI so much.  But they do!  

.. because they haven't tried a Clio or Megane .
I have never tried the Civic Type R yet ... something tells me not to because I could be tempted then
There's always a 'better' car.

I haven't driven a Golf GTI.  But I have driven the previous Mercedes CLA 250 FWD as a rental car, and the CLA wasn't bad.  You could feel through the steering it was FWD, but it didn't have too much torque steer.  And I imagine the Golf GTI drives similar to that.  I had a VW Jetta rental car once, and it had more torque steer than the Mercedes CLA 250.

.. the CLA has a similar front to an old Passat VR6 probably .

Good to know!  I've never driven a Golf GTI.  Maybe next time I'm in Europe I'll see if I can get a GTI as a rental.  The last time I got an Audi A4 as a rental.  Was not particularly pleased with that car - very boring to drive - and it was a FWD version.  But there were speed cameras everywhere so I was super nervous to drive and not paying attention to how the car felt, but just looking out for the next speed camera.  All the locals were mad at me for driving so slowly.  

.. and especially Belgium is very hard to understand for outsiders when it comes to the road. When I explained to a friend coming from Israel, the rules in Belgium ... he was afraid to drive. We have that thing called 'priority to the right'; this is basically the absolute most stupid system we have here. We are used to it because we have to deal with it every second you're driving your car or bike. I call it the 'boobytrap' system, one second not paying attention can cost you dearly, it is such a stupid system. The past 20 years we had the speeding cameras multiplying like rabbits and now since a couple of years the whole of Flanders is infested with average speed traps. I can assure you I have a map filled with traffic tickets, you wouldn't believe how big that map is.Knowing I drive about 95 to 99 % of my time obeying the speed limit these past few years (it used to be the other way around LOL) it is insane I still get a ticket from time to time. About the Tesla 3 ... I know the suspension is great, though I would have to invest extra money in brakes I guess. Also I am afraid I would get bored after a while, especially knowing I payed a lot of money (50.000+ € is a fortune for the Bim). Also, RWD is not my specialty LOL ... I crashed the one and only RWD I ever had, hihi. Last year I took a test drive with the Renault Megane e-tech full electric. This is one of the few FWD EV cars out there, it had 220 hp so it wasn't really fast but still managed a 0 to 62 in 7 seconds .... which was pretty boring. However it was a very dynamic car at speeds between 25 and 85 mph. Accelerating out of a tight corner doing 45 mph and flooring it really amazed me, not just the instant pick-up but how fast I was going 85/90 mph .. probably faster than my Megane RS ... it is a relatively small car and 'only' weighs 1600 kilos. My plan (LOL) is to (maybe) buy the upcoming Renault R5 (or Alpine A290 based on this R5) which should be again lighter and have either 150 hp or 220 hp. This will be my economy car with still a bit of fun at a reasonable price ... I hope ... maybe ... perhaps ... . Time will tell .. and in the mean time ... I will burn fossil fuel. Bim

Lif is full of challenges they say

And you have to look for speed cameras and to remind me what the speed limits are on the roads I'm on. I want to be certain I am in compliance!

You will need me in order to survive the Belgian jungle 😝

But, at the end of the day, they are both street cars. That said, I know several people who drive a GTI or Golf R with success on the track with minor modifications.

You can do some mods and have a nice track tool, I followed a build in Holland a few years ago of a 'normal' Megane 3 RS. They spend around 20K Euros and it was 4 seconds quicker than the Megane Trophy-R on a 2 minute track ... which was probably 4 seconds quicker than the 'standard' Megane RS.

I tried the 300 hp a few years after I bought mine, the difference wasn't really noticeable .

I have a Mégane 2 RS Team F1 R26 and wanted to buy your version Mega 4 RS EDC 280.
However I did not because I found the
- electr. Gear changes mods strange. „Comfortable“ was grand-mother style and „sport“ and even „normal“ some kind of nervous with lots of unnecessary gear changing…
- the Dash display response if clicking very slow and unresponsive…
- the car feels big if you are comming from an RS 2…
🤷🏼‍♂️
The driving would be great though…

The 300 hp version shifts better/smoother. My 280 is as you say: Gearchanges can be nervous, I got used to it and it actually got better by the years. I also have a gearbox oil change every 50.000 km which helps as well. Yes the touchscreen response is a joke ... again I got used to it. And a big YES to the car feeling very big, the first couple of years this was a problem, I damaged all 4 wheels but had them refurbished now because I finally understand the anatomies of the car now . The driving is: 1. Sucks a bit on our congested Flemish roads, but then it sucks for any car here. Let's say I am happy I don't have to drive an average 'sh*tbox' like you see here on our roads. 2. FABULOUS when you have the Ardennes roads ;-). I am having so much fun with the Megane when the roads are open and twisty, I hardly doubt I would have a lot more fun in any other supercar ... except for a T.50 or McLaren F1 héhé. If you have to sell the Megane 2 to buy the Megane 4 I would advise you not to. That is if you don't do a whole lot of mileage yearly, a new car is always 'better' than an older one for daily / hard use.