A French lesson for the tailgater

but with our fuel and the Highveld air I would add half a second to that. Down at the coast, though, the turbo flies and 7.1 seconds feels realistic. Ask the tail-gating clown.

Sadly, there was a high-pitched whine from the passenger seat and I was forced to slow down… my wife doesn’t like high speed.

The drive down to Pietermaritzburg for a wedding was definitely a case of serendipity: When you come upon something really pleasant in an unexpected place.

I had expected the Renault to be quick; after all, its Renault Sport sibling in Club trim belts out 201kW and, if not quite the fastest hot hatch out there, is certainly a front runner for the best-handling one. But what I didn’t expect was that the Renault would be as easy to drive – almost Japanese-like.

Let me explain. When the Megane first started appearing some years ago, its design, and its interior ergonomics particularly, could charitably be described as quirky, although not nearly at the top of the Oddness League, where Citroën has held sway for years.

Driving the Megane, I found it would take about two days before I was comfortable. The switchgear, steering position and seats took a lot of getting used to. Eventually, you did feel at ease, but it did take time.

The new Megane – the fourth iteration of the breed – is literally a “plug and play car”. Get in, put the seat belt on, turn the key, put it in gear and away you go.

The well-made cabin is one of the best around in terms of creature comforts and usability and, yes, I include the Germans like the Golf when I say that. The French car, in GT form anyway, is even able to compete with Audi, which is the last word in classy interiors. And that is saying a lot. In the GT, there are high-backed racing bucket seats, which are form-hugging, although they also produced a whine or two from the passenger side, because their high bolsters making getting in and out a bit of a chore for the… shall we say, more mature.

The instruments are clear and you can set the colours to what you prefer – I opted for blue, which fitted in well with the lustrous blue paintwork of the exterior and I found it worked brilliantly. When you push the sport button, though, things change to red (as in red mist). I didn’t even have to use the red to dispatch the idiot in KZN, and my blue surroundings made me feel like a Zen teacher: Learn from me, oh ignorant one…

All the bells and whistles you could ever need are there in the cabin and there is a fair amount of legroom for the back seat passengers and a decent enough boot, too, so even with its performance focus it can still perform family duties.

Handling is top drawer, as you’d