RENAULT MEGANE
A new haute couture
RENAULT’S fourth-gen Megane is here, and it represents a golden opportunity for the French automaker’s local operation. After years of being an also-ran in the super-competitive small-car segment, Renault at last has a contender that’s not only able to compete with its peers in terms of pricing, size and equipment, but a range that boasts more than a few unique points of difference. This is the most compelling Renault small hatch since, well, forever.
Just look at it. The curvaceous current-gen Megane RS three-door may still flaunt some sexy curves, but the outgoing five-door hatch was a visual dud. Its replacement is a supermodel by comparison.
Distinctive C-shaped LED daytime running lamps inject a bold look to the Megane’s front end, while LED taillights that stretch almost across the car’s full width give the French hatch’s rump a high-end appearance. And on the range-topping GT model you see here, that’s enhanced by 18-inch wheels and a sports bodykit.
The cabin has a premium aura that was missing in the previous model. Its interior design is upmarket without being pretentious, let down only by misaligned plastics and hard shiny textures on the lower dash.
Is it as pleasant as the interior of a Mazda 3 or Volkswagen Golf? The material quality lags behind those two segment-leaders, so no. It is featurerich, though, with a TFT electronic instrument panel and keyless entry/ ignition just two of the spec highlights.
The Megane cabin looks best in Gt-line or GT guise. That 8.7-inch portrait-format screen is unique for the segment and easy to use, and the ambient lighting, heavily bolstered sports seats and blue contrast stitching all help lift the atmosphere markedly.
Rear headroom and footroom is a touch tight, and people of even average height will have to stoop slightly to get in. Once seated, though, the back seat
is comfortable and well furnished, with face-level air vents and a generously sized fold-down centre armrest.
It’s bigger on the inside, too, with 22mm and 27mm more shoulder room front and rear respectively, and the 434-litre boot is generous for the segment.
Some French foibles are still manifest in this car. The glovebox is tiny, and the undersized and shallow cupholders are proof that the French still don’t understand how to design a decent beverage receptacle. They say it’s no use crying over spilt milk, but if my venti-cappu-frappa-megachino spills onto my crotch on a hard left turn, you can be assured tears will be shed.
While the interior grows slightly, the Megane has shrunk under the bonnet. Engine downsizing sees the majority of the range make do with an adequate 97kw/205nm turbo 1.2-litre, while the GT receives the turbo 1.6-litre four-pot of the Clio RS 200 tuned to a healthy 151kw and 280Nm.
It’s an auto-only proposition (only the base model Megane Life gets the option of a manual), but the seven-speed dual-clutch complements the 1.6’s revvy nature and surprisingly fat midrange torque. It’s a shame it autoupshifts when in manual mode, though, and those shift paddles need to be larger to be practical.
The GT does not have the grunt of the previous-generation 2.0-litre Megane GT220, but it’s surprisingly hot for a warm hatch, as evidenced ed by a handy 0-100km/ h time of 7.1sec.
And boy is it agile.gile. The Megane GT is gifted with Renault’s new 4Control four-wheel-steering eel-steering system, which helps point the nose into corners at low speed and improves stability at high speed. It’s no gimmick; it profoundly changes the way the Megane handles and works a treat with its nicely weighted steering.
The suspension boasts great compliance and absorbs largeamplitude lumps in a composed and settled manner, but has a slightly fussy ride over smaller imperfections. It can feel jittery and unsettled over corrugations, and surprisingly that behaviour was present even on the 16-inch alloys and taller sidewalls of the mid-spec Zen grade.
Road noise is another issue. It’s particularly loud on coarsechip roads and smaller-wheeled variants ar aren’t immune. The Zen also lacked some body control, taking longerlong to recover from big bumps tha than the Gt-line and GT.
Broadly speaking,s though, the new MeganeMe is at last a viable optiono for those shoppingshopp for a modestly sized grocery-getter. And, like the recently launched Ren Renault Koleos, it’s the ran range-topper that’s the mos most compelling offering.
Renault at last has a serious contender in the small-car segmentent