What the?! Hot new Renault Megane RS needs an auto to be sold in Oz
The next-generation Renault Megane RS is under development and is rumoured to be getting all-wheel drive… and an automatic. For Australia. What?
AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN outed by Renaultsport boss as a nation that doesn’t want to change gear itself, and the only way we’d get the hot new Megane RS, he claims, is if it’s also available with the EDC dual-clutch transmission from the Renault Clio RS. Wow.
“The EDC gearbox offers the car up to new markets, like Japan and Australia, but we would prefer to offer the choice of a manual,” RS boss Patrice Ratti told Auto Express.
The Auto Express article claims to have spoken with an insider about the new Megane RS suggesting it will have the Focus RS firmly in its sights with all-wheel drive, more than 300bhp (or more than 223kW) and a tweaked version of the rear-wheel steering in the current Megane GT. It’s unlikely to arrive before 2018.
So, while Europe, at least, seems determined to cling to manual gearboxes on performance cars, markets like Australia are overwhelmingly wanting their performance car to have a self-shifter. So, does that move reflect our driving conditions, or that we’re becoming lazy and losing the art of driving?
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1 Comment
Car like this should be offered with both manual and auto. He certainly hasn’t asked me what I think, but I’ll tell him anyway. Not sure about that EDC, not all Clio reviews have been good. So would probably want manual in an RS. . Keep the nice colours coming. Many people fed up with stingy colour choices here in Australia. More choices please. …transmissions, engines, colours….we like to make our own choices here in Australia, not have them made for us.