Ever since it came out, the MINI JCW GP has naturally been compared to a variety of other hardcore hatchbacks. It’s only natural, if you think about it, as the MINI JCW GP comes with a lot of different claims of performance; the ‘most powerful’ and the ‘fastest’ MINI ever made. Therefore, everyone wants a piece of it and it ends up taking on cars like the Renault Megane RS Trophy R, for example.
The Megane RS wrote history from its first generation. It’s a very capable car, a front-wheel drive hatch that claimed the Nurburgring lap time for FWD models a number of times, trading blows with the Civic Type-R and some models from the VAG group as well. However, this time round we’re looking at the track-special model, the Trophy R version, which is the most hardcore model the French made to this day.
Looking at the two, it’s quite obvious they aren’t necessarily direct rivals. The Megane is a bigger and really rare car, even rarer than the GP. As Tiff points out, only 30 of them will make it to the UK, for example, so this puts rare in a different league compared to the MINI. The Megane has a bit less power to rely on here, tapping out at 300 HP compared to the MINI, that has 6 extra ponies to rely on but then again, considering how much tech found its way on board the Renault, this battle is bound to get brutal.
What interesting in this video from Lovecars is that the guys invited Ben Collins to test both cars on the track and set lap times with them, to see which is faster. Ben, in case you didn’t know, was the original Stig on Top Gear, back in the day, and he obviously knows what he is doing behind the wheel. Since the cars will be driven by the same man, we should get a good idea as to which is faster. Let’s see what’s what. The action starts around the 17:45 mark.
