Only PopMaster disturbs the peace in Renault’s Megane Sport Tourer hybrid
Maggie Barry
The beauty of cars in electric mode is that they are peaceful and quiet – so why thenn was I turning on the radio?
Because it was 10.30am and, like millions of people a round the country, I was tuning in to PopMaster.
Sorry, Renault, but for 15 minutes I took my mind off your lovely new Megane Sport Tourer E-TECH H hybrid and tried to make e it past a lowly nine points. .
By contrast, this new w Megane is a definite winner er in all sorts of ways.
It has just been given a makeover and is looking styl ish and chic with elegant LED lights, a long sweeping body with chrome roofbars, a neat derriere and – on the RS version I was dr iv ing – 18in diamond-cut alloys.
The Sport Tourer is, of course, an estate car but this model looks so dishy even Rishi will want one.
The interior is high qual ity with Alcantara upholstery with red and silver stitching, tinted rear windwindows – meaning if you are a business user no oone can see in – and loadsload of room.
TheTh official capacity of thisth car is 447 litres. ButB what is even moremo special is the powertrain.pow
AtA a time when we are meantme to be trying to do our best to save the planetpla – yet continue to work – Renault has come up with its new E-TECH system.
This Megane is a plug-in hybrid and one of the first cars in Renault ’s stable to carry this innovative technology derived from its F1 race cars.
It is powered by a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine aided by two electric motors and supported by a 9.8kWh battery – all adding up to 160PS.
The statistics speak for themselves. Official figures suggest it will give you 217.3mpg and it has a range of about 400 miles in the default mode MySense.
The car comes with three driving modes.
Sport mode will lower the range but, with 400 miles to play with, you can afford that – and anyway there are ways of recouping energy and, therefore, miles.
Pure is the al l- electric driving mode which will give you up to 30 miles at 83mph. You can save the charge for driving in town and there is an EV button to rapidly access this mode.
MySense allows the car to use the hybrid engine to its optimum and it w i l l automatical ly make the changes.
It takes only three to four hours to charge and Renault wi l l even give you a free wal lbox with your new Megane.
But you can recharge as you drive by braking or decelerating and there is an addit ional B on the transmission which wi l l emphasise this recouping of power.
I star ted off in Sport and fairly sped along the winding country lanes of Buckinghamshire, where Renault had chosen to showcase this new car with its new tech.
In Sport, it had a lovely thrum as the car went up and down the gears with the petrol engine enhanced by the electric power.
Reaching villages, I slowed and switched to Pure as we silently rolled through and then it was back to MySense for the everyday driving experience. Al l this and 217.3mpg
There are two other models that have been endowed with this great system – the adorable Clio and the feisty Captur – but none carries it so elegantly as the Megane Sport Tourer.