Mustang Shelby GT350

Make
Ford
Segment
Coupe

As dominant a player as Renault is in car markets overseas (that is to say, outside North America), it's an even bigger tour de force in Formula One. But while the French automaker may have sold its own team to Lotus (for all intents and purposes), it continues to supply engines to a number of teams - chief among them Red Bull Racing, which is already off to a strong start defending the world titles it claimed the last two years running. So to celebrate that winning collaboration, Renault has released a series of special editions of its highly capable hot hatches.

Joining recently released special editions of the Renaultsport Clio and Twingo hatchbacks is the new Megane RS Red Bull Racing RB7. Like its smaller brethren, the Megane RB7 (named after the car with which Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber won the championship last year) is decked out in a special black paint job with yellow accents - an interesting combination since Red Bull races in blue and red - with a tone-on-tone checkered roof. There are red painted brake calipers too, but as with so many things in life, it's what's inside that counts.

In the case of the Megane RB7, that comes down to the hard-core Cup chassis (otherwise available as an option), a limited-slip differential, on-board telemetry system and - most important of all - a 2.0-liter, 16-valve, four-cylinder engine packing 265 horsepower and a stop/start ignition system to help conserve fuel for that last stint to the finish line. The Red Bull edition Megane will be offered in 24 countries (mostly in Europe), with sales beginning in Austria later this month.