I had an R26 for three years before trading it for the 200 - my experience was:
On the plus side:
- On the track the R26 is a great car, far more able than my meager skills
- Plenty of scope for tuning, the phase 1 engine map from Paul is huge fun & well worth it
- Did about 250 miles on a tank using VPower - about the same as my Subaru used too, about 50 miles less than the clio does
- Engines pretty solid if you don't fiddle with it (and theres no real point in doing so)
On the less-plus side:
- Hates potholes, ruts, camber change ; if your roads are as bad as the ones in Oxfordshire you feel everything & need to watch out otherwise you are off into the ditch
- Almost unusable on Summer tires in the snow; slightly better on different rubber, but the clio is so much better.
- Has the standard Megane faults: Water in the doors causing windows to stop working & getting into the door pockets, Failed coils & Injectors, & Rear window popping out seemed to be the most common, nothing too expensive.
So I think that it kinda depends on how you intend to use it - as a trackday & weekend toy its fine, great fun, but as a daily driver make sure that you can live with the ride - particularly if you are going to be using it on bad roads.