CAR sponsorship deals with pop stars are now big business — and Rihanna and Renault are perfectly matched.

The French car-maker is sponsoring the sexy singer’s British tour. And I’ve just driven the perfect Renault model for her.

The RenaultSport Megane RS Trophy even gets a vivid Liquid Yellow paint job and stylish black alloys that red-headed Rihanna would love.

And the Bajan star shares several other qualities with the car — both have stunning bodies with curves in all the right places and they deliver red-hot performances.

The Trophy is the ultimate wild child in the RenaultSport range.

And I reckon driving it will be a lot like a night out with Rihanna — a constant battle to keep under control, but enormous fun.

The Trophy is high-maintenance. It demands attention at all times, with light, twitchy steering that reacts to any changes in the road surface, while the 2litre turbo engine just loves to be thrashed to the max.

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It’s an engine that pumps out 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds. That’s fast sports car territory, although the only slight disappointment is the engine cuts the power when you reach a certain limit, forcing you to change up a gear.

That said, the gear change is smooth and very quick. The Recaro sports seats, complete with bright yellow seat belts, hug you like a second skin, a bit like the way the Trophy holds the road.

You always feel that you might lose control driving hard but you never do, which is part of the challenge of the Trophy.

Renault put a lot of their F1 expertise into developing their hot hatch models and it really shows in the Trophy’s handling and performance.

And in a strange way for a red-hot hatch, the Trophy is a pretty practical mode of daily transport which you can drive sensibly and is comfortable with a firm ride.

But driving the Trophy modestly would be like staying in and watching the telly on a date with Rihanna when you know you really should be out dancing the night away in a club.

The RS Trophy is not cheap at £27,820, but it is exclusive — just 50 are coming to the UK.

Or you could buy the almost-as-quick Megane Renaultsport 250 at just over £25,000.