Renault Sets New Nürburgring Lap Record for a Front-Wheel Drive Car with Megane RS Trophy

Renault has slashed its own longstanding lap record for a front-wheel drive production car at the Nordschleife, which the company held since June 23, 2008, with its new Megane RenaultSport (RS) Trophy special.

The 265-horsepower version of the Megane RS completed a full lap around the Nürburgring racetrack in 8 minutes and 7.97 seconds beating the time of the previous generation Mégane Renaultsport R26.R by 9 seconds. In comparison, the now obsolete 305HP Ford Focus RS posted a lap time of 8 minutes and 26 seconds in the summer of 2009.

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SCOOP: New Opel Astra GTC OPC Flogged Around the ‘Ring

What you see here is a prototype version of the all-new Opel Astra GTC OPC, or as Vauxhall buyers in Britain will come to know it, the upcoming Astra GTC VXR, and it was spotted doing test rounds at the Nurburgring race track.

Having already revealed the mainstream models of the new and rather sporty looking in a VW Scirocco kind of way GTC, the Astra’s engineers turned their focus on the fastest and most powerful version of the series, which will look a lot like the original concept seen at last year’s Paris Motor Show.

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VIDEO: Top Gear Russia Takes Hyundai Coupe 3.8 V6 to the Nurburgring

The team behind the Russian edition of BBC’s Top Gear magazine recently headed over to the Nurburgring racetrack to try out Hyundai’s rear-wheel drive Genesis Coupe. The model of choice was fitted with a 3.8-liter V6 engine delivering 306-horsepower, coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission.

If you don’t want to hear or see the antics of the presenters in the beginning of the clip, fast-forward the video a minute or two to go straight to the part where the magazine’s test driver Dmitry Sokolov laps the Nurburgring. And yes, that's a Porsche 911 -possibly from the GT series- that Sokolov is about to attack. Watch the video directly on Youtube by clicking this link as Sokolov's page does not allow embedding on external sites.

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