Game, set and Mégane Hatch

Inspired by the Renault Mégane coupé concept car shown at a recent Geneva Motor Show, the hatch version released last year in Europe is the first of five, good looking, Mégane derivatives that will be a common sight on South African roads from now on, reckons DAVE FALL.

ALAS the bustle-back Mégane is no more — that sort of distinct and bold characteristic that French car manufacturer Renault are very good at implementing — but, sadly, there’s obviously no place for it in 2010. Instead, we have a complete makeover for the model range, and one that should equip itself well is the 1,9 dCi hatchback variant.

In the looks department strong coupé genes are cleverly passed down in this hatchback version. If you thought headroom would be troublesome, think again. There’s even a large cargo area — especially if the rear seats are folded forward in a 60:40 split or in their entirety.

Under the bonnet is an uprated and improved 96kW 1,9-litre turbodiesel motor. A couple of years ago we owned one of the previous generation Megane’s to tow an off-road race car — the Mégane never missed a beat (the race car proved a real thorn in the side!). With 300 Nm of torque available through a six-speed manual gearbox the pulling power of this new hatch is simply superb.  

A two-hour round trip to Hermanus was eagerly awaited, the on-board computer litres-per-100 km reset to zero and we were off! Clarence Drive — that gorgeous, twisty and fast road to Kleinmond didn’t disappoint. How does 5,8 litres per 100 km sound . . . that's 53 miles per gallon in “old money.”

There’s absolutely no bodyroll in this hatch, such is the R&D that’s gone into the vehicle to produce a vehicle that’s so driver friendly. Such is the outright acceleration that the large, four-wheel disc brakes had to work quite hard on occasions. Matched to a substantial array of changes applied to chassis, suspension and steering systems this new Mégane is more involving to drive than ever. 

One is completely spoiled in the creature comfort stakes: everything is power- or taken care of by computer — I mean that in the sincerest way because I’m normally not a fan of “gimmicks” but the sophisticated Carminat TomTom integrated satellite navigation system (standard fitment), supported by a joystick controller located in the middle of the centre console for simple fingertip control, was easy to use.

Safety is something the French are very good at building into their cars, and this new Mégane is no exception. With half-a-dozen airbags and lots more, things are as safe as safe can be.

Turbodiesel models are always going to cost a little more — the dCi version mentioned above carries a ticket price of  R257,000 — but the petrol-powered range does start at R215,000.