Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
A French lesson for a bullying tailgater
BRENDAN SEERY
SOMETIMES, I cannot resist dishing out a little “idiot education” and on the rain-soaked KwaZuluNatal highway, the tailgating clown behind me who clearly thought he could intimidate me because I was driving a French hatchback had offered himself up for a lesson.
I quickly dropped two cogs in the Renault Megane GT’s seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, stepped on the gas and left him for dead as the car effortlessly accelerated away.
It may look slightly effete in a French sort of way, but like Les Bleus (the French national rugby team) you under-estimate the Gauls at your peril.
This car is in the Golf GTI league with its comparatively small 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine still managing to whack out 151kW and a meaty 280Nm of torque. Renault claims it will hit 100km/h from rest in 7.1 seconds, 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.
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. In GT form it is even able to compete with Audi, which is the last word in classy interiors.
In the GT, there are high-backed racing bucket seats, which are form-hugging. 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. 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 expect for something fettled by Renault Sport – but in this case steering sharpness is aided by a clever system which sees the back wheels steering, too, tightening up corner lines considerably. I was amazed at how sharp the steering was, with good feel, too, despite it