This Megane RS RX hillclimb monster belongs to Guerlain Chicherit. The Frenchman is well known to fans of the FIA World Rallycross series. Click here to learn about the cancellation of the SA Round of the 2020 FIA RX championship.

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Custom-built

The Megane RS RX hillclimb car was built by legendary British motorsport specialists Prodrive, they of Subaru WRC and Aston Martin endurance racing fame. The RS RX is based on the current generation Megane RS but the similarity between the two goes about as far as the badge on the nose.

Read our driving review of the Renault Megane RS Cup at this link.

Prodrive used Chicherit’s FIA RX car as the template for this custom-built machine. The four-cylinder engine has been turned 90 degrees and now sits in a longitudinal orientation. Prodrive built the heavily modified 2,0-litre turbocharged motor that now produces roughly 450 kW of power. All engine vitals are controlled by a Cosworth ECU that features Prodrive’s in-house anti-lag system.

Power is delivered to all four wheels through an Xtrac five-speed sequential manual transmission. Unlike its rallycross Supercar counterpart, which uses MacPherson struts, the Mégane has double wishbones at each corner. In-board brakes, with the brake caliper fixed to the gearbox on the front axle and to the differential on the rear axle are quite unique.

Hillclimbing

In the video below you can see the Dakar Rally regular and owner of the GC Kompetition Rallycross team competing at a French hillclimb in St. Goueno. Chicherit can be seen attacking the 3,2-km run with the energy that only rally drivers seem to possess. You can clearly hear the anti-lag system at work and hear the flat shifts allowed by the transmission and ECU.