Renault Megane 2016 Review

Better equipped, more spacious and a step up in terms of both execution and entertainment, the all-new Megane is a gallic hatch with mainstream appeal, without the forced French-ness of some of its predecessors. With simplified powertrain and model grade options and improved customer offerings in terms of fixed price servicing, assured value and ‘whole-of-life’ cost, it’s gunning for a bigger slice of local market. Many buyers will not be daring enough to think outside the conventional hatch brand stalwarts, but those that do will be rewarded. Drive one, you might like it…

If the new all-new Megane cannot change Aussie attitudes to cars from French marques, I don’t know what will. Polished, well-equipped, well priced and mainstream enough, this is family and personal hatch par excellence.

There, I said it. Right up front. Now the qualifier…

And, that’s the point -- there is none. You could, as a dyed-in-the-wool Corolla buyer, step into even the base or mid-grade variants of the all-new Megane and be at home and happy. How long since you saw us write that of a new Gallic offering?

That doesn’t mean the new Megane has been transformed into mere FMCG (fast moving consumer goods). The character that’s been retained is on the positive side of the ledger.

Once past the initial ‘It’s French’ hurdle, perhaps the biggest challenge Renault Australia will have is convincing spec sheet warriors of the abilities of the 1.2-litre turbo four-cylinder that powers three of the four new Megane models offered. One drive should sort that.

The fight will be a little tougher methinks but there is ammunition available. Renault says there’s compelling reasons in terms of whole of life value. Fixed priced servicing is now part of the customer assurance offer Renault Australia has in-market and the Megane’s five-year unlimited kilometre warranty is closer than most to the industry-leading Koreans. Retained value is improving and the reality is it’s now more of a talking point than a practical financial reason to reject the car.

New Megane is, above all, a great looking car in the metal. It’s longer, looks wider and is lower than the car it replaces. Plus it boasts more rear knee and shoulder-room and more space up front.

There’s even a big 430-litre boot that, thanks to 60:40 splitfold rear seats, can open up to over 1250 litres. Just how many toilet rolls that equates to I can’t attest – shiploads I’d suggest.

Styling is thoroughly Renault but at the same time the end result is more akin to a three-pointed German brand’s entry-level car than a mass-market hatch that starts with sub-$23K sticker price. Dare I murder the English language and use the word ‘masstige’?

That $20K-something starting price mentioned above is $22,490 plus on-road costs. Those dollars buy you the Megane Life with six-speed manual transmission. It’s the only manual new Megane you can buy – at least until the rumoured next-gen Megane RS arrives. An extra $2500 gets you the all-new and much more convincing seven-speed EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) wet dual-clutch auto that is applied across the new model range.

Like all except the GT flagship, the Life is powered Renault’s Energy TCE130e petrol turbo four. The 1.2 produces 97kW and 205Nm and claims fuel consumption of 5.6L/100km (auto) in combined-cycle testing.

It’s a willing engine with manners and performance that belies its capacity. It’s particularly well matched with the EDC. If you must buy a Life, our advice is forget the manual and bargain hard on the EDC option price.

Standard features for the base-grade Megane are a step above what most would expect in the segment. Keyless entry/start, reversing camera/rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring, R-Link2 7.0-inch landscape infotainment system (we’ll come back to this) with digital radio, two USB ports/auxiliary jack, two 12V power outlets, cloth upholstery, leather-bound steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, auto-on/off headlights, rain-sensing wipers, LED daytime running lights, 16-inch steel wheels and a full-size (temporary) spare wheel.

The car is a high-scoring five-star car according to EuroNCAP crash testing. Airbag count includes driver and front passenger, lateral pelvis and chest-level airbags for driver and front passenger and front and rear curtains. Cruuise control and speed limiters are standard. There is however no autonomous raking or adaptive cruise control option across the range. Renault Australia sources say its coming – soon. How soon is not exactly clear.

Next step up from Life is the auto-only Zen (silver car pictured) priced at $27,490. This variant adds the striking LED daylight running lights that are one of the defining styling features of the Megane, plus 16-inch alloys, satellite navigation, front parking sensors, electric parking brake and the option of an electric sunroof pack (with sunroof, illuminated sunvisor and electro-chromatic rear-view mirror) priced at $1990.

Also powered by the same 1.2-litre seven-speed EDC powertrain, the Megane GT-Line (white car pictured) priced at $32,490 is arguably the sweet spot of the range.

Above and beyond the Zen specification, the GT-Line adds: Blind Spot Warning, auto-parking, electric sunroof, side parking sensors, seven-inch colour TFT instrument panel with personalised settings, Renault’s MultiSense five-mode ‘drive-select’ system, customisable ambient lighting, heated mirrors, more heavily bolstered, heated (front) seats, Alcantara/leather upholstery, Nappa leather-bound steering wheel/gear shift, integrated headrests, rear privacy glass and 17-inch alloy wheels.

The one hiccup and a surprise to us is that new Megane’s trademark large-format Volvo-style ‘portrait’ infotainment screen is only available from GT-Line up and even then, on both GT-Line and GT, it is a $1990 option. That’s packaged with a ten-speaker BOSE audio and LED headlamps but it’s my belief this is the one mistake Renault Australia has made with the line-up.

That big screen is such a defining piece of hardware, it should be standard.

And when you're asked to pay $600 for metallic paint, ask your Renault dealer how many non-metallic paint colours are offered. Seriously, this is one area that has to change.

Options for the Megane GT-Line are 18-inch ‘Grand Tour’ alloy wheels and the above mentioned premium pack (LED headlights, 8.7-inch portrait-oriented infotainment screen, BOSE audio).

At the top of the range (for the time being) is the 151kW/280Nm 1.6-litre Megane GT – and as pictured in its 'hero' blue paintwork it’s a handsome and potent looking hatch. Renault is at pains to point out this is NOT an RS replacement – this is a warm, not a hot, hatch. That said, it’s a pretty convincing performance five-door all the same.

In terms of equipment, the $38,490 GT subtracts the sunroof (it’s an option) but adds RS Drive sport mode (with launch control), lower sport suspension and RenaultSport engineered steering plus features bigger brakes. The front discs are a substantial 320mm, with 290mm rears.

Dress-up items include chromed dual exhaust and revised bumper/rear diffuser. The GT also gets configurable exhaust note, shift paddles (the only Megane to get them), alloy pedals, kick plate on driver’s side door, Alcantara/leather upholstery with blue highlights, 18-inch alloy wheels and a space-saver spare wheel. There’s an RS honeycomb grille too.

Options available at this level are the electric sunroof and premium pack as for the GT-Line.

Aside from the more powerful, larger 1.6-litre four, the main mechanical difference between the GT and other Meganes is Renault’s new 4CONTROL electronically-controlled four-wheel steering. This active system counters steers the rear wheels at low speeds (80km/h or 60km/h in Sport mode) to sharpen response and ‘virtually’ decrease the wheelbase. At higher speeds, the rear wheels steer the same direction as the front wheels increasing stability.

4CONTROL’s effect is easy to pick when you swap from GT-Line to GT. At low speed it all but eliminates turn-in understeer and the GT is very nimble as a result. At higher speeds it better ‘plants’ the car and copes well with our less than ideal backroads, keeping the GT more stable than you’d credit during direction changes on bumpier roads surfaces.

This is a plus as the GT is the one variant of the range that doesn’t deliver the ride comfort we’d like. Indeed, in contrast, one area the Zen and GT-Line Megane variants impress is ride comfort. The mid grade Zen rides on 16-inch alloys and arguable is the most supple of the new cars. But, fortunately, comfort does not degrade markedly even as you step up to the GT-Line with its 17-inch alloys and lower profile tyres.

There’s good resolution in terms of the balance of comfort, directional stability and road holding across the range of surfaces most buyers will traverse. It’s one of the strengths of this new hatch.

Renault’s MultiSense five-mode ‘drive-select’ system offers a reasonable level of adjustment and tuning to drivers. It gives options for steering weight, throttle pedal mapping and engine response and gearbox shift characteristics. Ambient lighting is changed on all versions and on the GT and GT-Line the presentation of high-spec instrument panel. You may have read elsewhere it also adjusts suspension characteristics – this is not the case.

Five different predefined driving settings (Neutral, Sport, Comfort, Perso and Eco) can be access via a single touch button on the centre console or in the R-Link menus. In the case of the GT variant, an RS Drive button provides immediate access to Sport mode.

Steering is well-weighted in cooking model variants of the Megane and this carries over to Neutral setting in the in GT-Line and GT models. Comfort is a low effort setting and Sport firms up the steering and sharpens response.

Our local launch test loop through the Byron Bay and Gold Coast hinterlands exposed the cars to everything from badly pockmarked and poorly repaired bitumen through to more well maintained A and B-roads. And both Zen and GT-Line variants performed well.

To put the above GT-related comment in context, even the sport-suspended range-topper itself was fay from a dray. While firmer, it is a far cry in terms of harshness from the hottest hatches yet remained well controlled and nimble – even at reasonable levels of point to point effort.

The Meganes also all seem quiet in isolation but this sort of arbitrary impression should be sanity checked when we can experience this French hatch back-to-back with the likes of the Golf or even Hyundai i30. Suffice it to say the Renault will be quieter than Mazda3 – especially on coarser surfaces.

It’s not perfect, but it’s hard not to be impressed with the new Megane.

After international drives and a sneak peek at LHD pre-production cars at Anglesea earlier this year it's now three time the motoring.com.au team has given the new car a thumbs-up. We have no reason to believe both the wagon and sedan versions set to join the five-door in 2017 won't be any different.

What remains now is the moment of truth -- to throw the French small car into a series of head-to-heads with the established class benchmarks. Did someone mention Golf?

For once, when this comparison is mentioned the jeune jils et filles at Renault Australia have a quiet confidence about just how the new Megane will fare.

And for once I think that confidence is justified.