Renault Megane 2010 Review

Renault Mégane and Fluence

About our ratings

OVERVIEW

Looking for at least a modest share of the Australian new car marketplace, the French small cars went on sale this month (November). In comparison to the bustle-bum model it replaces, the new Mégane (and its sedan twin) arrives as a significantly simpler model range and with driveaway pricing. Generally equipment levels are higher but diesel aficionados will lament the fact there's a single petrol powertrain only.

On its third relaunch of recent years, Renault Australia is banking heavily on the success of the new cars. Mégane, in its various guises, accounts for close to half the marque's sales Down Under. In the new line-up, in addition to the five-door Mégane hatch and Fluence sedan reviewed here, Renault has also launched the Mégane Renault Sport 250 three-door hot hatch and a two-door four-seat coupe-cabriolet variant. Also important to Renault's relaunch strategy, the 'halo' model offerings are also simplified and sold with limited options.

Said new Renault Australia Managing Director, Justin Hocevar: "All our new generation vehicles will be notable for their very high level of standard equipment and unique-to-class, user-friendly features... This is one of the key pillars of the new Renault in Australia, resetting expectations of what European cars can offer in the light and small car segments, by equipping them with the standard safety and convenience features previously only available optionally, or in larger, more expensive vehicles."

Auto transmission -- in the case of all Mégane and Fluence models, a constantly variable transmission rather than a 'proper' six-speed auto -- adds $2000. The CVT-only Privilege range-topping variants are priced from $29,990 in both hatch and sedan versions.

Built in Turkey, the Mégane hatch is offered in a five-door body style only. But even at entry-level Dynamique grade it is well equipped with standard features including 16-inch 'Proteus' alloys, Smart Card Key entry and start, auto lights and wipers, aircon, foglights, electric window and mirrors, cruise control with speed limiter, USB interface and streaming Bluetooth audio and hands-free.

Upholstery is cloth and there's height and lumbar adjustment provided to the driver's seat.

Step up to the top-grade Mégane and a TomTom integrated satnav system, upgraded audio, electric glass sunroof and rear park sensors are added. Other Privilege grade standards include dual-zone climate control, height and lumbar adjustment to the front seats, leather upholstery, folding exterior mirrors, chrome dress up parts and 17-inch Monitor alloys.

In a typically unconventional Gallic way, the Privilege's climate control features 'Soft' and 'Fast' modes as well as Auto. According to Renault, the former "favours a quieter ambience, notably for the driver and front passenger, while the Fast mode responds swiftly and efficiently to adjust the temperature of the entire cabin, a feature likely to be appreciated in Australia."

Optional equipment for the Dynamique model is limited to metallic paint and Integrated satellite navigation, while the Privilege offers bi-xenon headlamps and metallic paint.

The Fluence pairing follows the Mégane's lead with only minor equipment differences compared to the hatch's corresponding grades. One perplexing example is cruise control -- while it's offered on all variants of the hatch, the Korean-built Fluence only offers it on CVT-equipped versions.

Fluence Dynamique adds climate control over its hatch equivalent (with rear air vents) and heated electrically folding door mirrors incorporating indicator repeaters. The 16-inch alloy wheel design is named Spiral. The auto (CVT)-only Fluence Privilege adds the same luxo features as the hatch and rolls on 17-inch Monitor alloys.

All Australian-delivery Renaults include a full safety kit of safety gear. With EuroNCAP five-star ratings for both Mégane and Fluence, standard features include stability control and antilock brakes as well as a minimum of six airbags including side curtains.

MECHANICAL

Matched to the entry-level six-speed manual transmission, the petrol four is Euro 5 compliant and returns a combined fuel economy rating of 8.2L/100km. The CVT matched engine combo satisfies the lower Euro 4 emission standard and is more economical at 7.9L/100km.

The rest of the Mégane/Fluence story is universal small/light car -- conventional monocoque platform with MacPherson strut front end and torsion beam rear suspension. Theoretically this set-up is not as good as a multilink rear end (a la Golf and Focus). Nobody seems to have told Renault's engineers, however -- the new Megane RenaultSport 250 gets a version of the same set-up and seems more than happy to outperform all but the very best hot hatches.

Steering is electric and one of the better set-ups of its type (see ON THE ROAD below). Brakes too are better than class average. All-wheel discs, the fronts feature meaty 280mm vented rotors. The rears are solid 260mm diameter discs. Renault says the Mégane Hatch can come to a "dead stop" from 100km/h in 39 metres.

In what will be a disappointment for some buyers, the new Mégane/Fluence range eschews a Euro staple -- the offer of turbodiesel torque. Local brand boss, Hocevar, says the lack of a suitable automatic transmission and home market diesel demand has hamstrung the brand in this regard. He says a new dual-clutch transmission under development will be matched to a turbodiesel in both hatch and sedan ranges, though cautioned it is unlikely to arrive Down Under until late 2011 at best.

PACKAGING

Renault claims it's more spacious, but hands-on experience suggests it's still one of the tighter cabins in the class -- at least in the rear.

The Fluence sedan features a stretch on the Mégane's wheelbase of 61mm. Overall length is up 323mm (compared to Mégane) with front and rear overhangs substantially longer than the hatch's wedgy styling -- that from some angles is very reminiscent of Mazda models -- yields a large-car-like boot volume of 503 litres.

Front end styling is unique to the sedan and features a more traditional grille in comparison to the hatch's aero look. They're both handsome cars and are unlikely to offend. Is that a step forward -- well, you be the judge.

Both sedan and hatch provide belts and seating for five. The rear seat is a 60:40 splitfold -- in other words thoroughly conventional. But not boring. Indeed, the cabins have a degree of originality that will appeal.

While we liked most aspects of the cabin, some switchgear seems unnecessarily offbeat -- for example the 'hidden' control pods for audio. We wouldn't go so far as to say they're counter intuitive but just not immediately intuitive... No doubt new owners will adapt.

The high-spec Megane and Fluence's TomTom-supplied integrated navigation systems are easy to use but feature 'loose' remote controllers that are bound to go missing. One wonders why when a car company goes to the trouble of integrating a screen into its interior design (if in a slight clunky manner) it doesn't go all the way and incorporate the controller as well. The same TomTom controls hardwired into the centre console would be a better solution.

On the positive side, the Mégane hatch's instrument panel with analogue tacho and digital speedo is a benchmark in terms of usability and legibility. It even integrates cruise control 'status' lights which prompts the driver if he or she 'overspeeds'.

In contrast, the Fluence's conventional analogue gauges are almost impossible to read at a glance. The needles are a subtle and no doubt fashionable dusty red, but combined with the significant amount of internal reflections, the angle of the gauge 'glazing' and our stronger sunlight, it's an optical disaster. This fault alone would rule out the Fluence in my book.

While we're griping, the stitching on the leather seats on both cars we drove was puckered and less than satisfactory in places. As the cars have been on sale in Europe and other markets for some time you cannot dismiss this as early production woes. Renault says some of the launch cars had seen use during the Sydney motor show but it looked simply like poor quality control to yours truly. Let's hope they were isolated incidents.

Seat of the pants impressions are dangerous, but we'd take some convincing that the Mégane offers the same sort of rear seat space as its Golf, Focus or even Peugeot equivalents. It seems the second row has been pushed forward a tad to accommodate the handsome 'long' streamlined looks. The boot seems longer than the main competition, so perhaps that's where the room has gone.

Fluence is a touch better thanks to its wheelbase stretch. The rear seats in the sedan also seem to be a touch more upright that its five-door sibling.

With rake and reach adjustable steering we had no problem finding a comfortable driving position in either hatch or sedan. That said, one thing we weren't so keen on was the height of the front seats -- especially the non-adjustable passenger perch of the Mégane. In addition to the seats being more of sit 'on' rather than 'in' genre, it also seems like you sat considerably higher than the driver.

SAFETY

All local Renault passenger car models are top-rated by EuroNCAP terms and feature stability control, antilock brakes and six airbags -- as a minimum.

Renault promotes its sub-systems (auto lights, wipers, cruise control and speed limiter, etc) as reducing the workload of drivers. It also champions the "high levels of passive safety" provided by its vehicles' crash structures and 'Renault System for Restraint and Protection'. The latter includes seatbelt pretensioners, load limiters, seat design and airbags.

Pedestrian safety is also considered, with the latest Megane and Fluence both featuring more pedestrian-friendly front structures.

COMPETITORS

Even without the Golf cheapie, it's a very competitive marketplace. All key carmakers are here and in there fighting. Holden's emergent Cruze will have a hatch to partner its sedan before too long and default choices (for private buyers especially) like Mazda3 are increasing their dominance of the segment.

New boss Hocevar believes the reborn Mégane range will bring new customers to the marque. It needs to! Renault's total local new vehicle sales are over 30 per cent down on September 2009, year to date.

"We are confident our improved product substance will resonate most strongly with customers... With these new cars we will be redefining the standards for the segments in which we compete, and saying clearly to our customers they no longer need to make any compromises. We have designed the cars and the specification with our customers in mind," he opined.

"Fundamentally, with our accent on safety equipment, quality and accessibility, we will make Renault the destination of choice for a far larger group of Australian consumers," Hocevar stated.

Overall, there's plenty to like about the on-road performance of both body types.

The variable assistance electric steering is fingertip light at low speeds but weights up convincingly once your pace increases. There's good feel on-centre and predictable and consistent response as you apply lock. In this respect it's better than most electric systems.

The standard chassis set-up defaults to comfort -- after all there's an RS variant if you want to get serious. That means the ride and handling balance favours the former and on most surfaces it's commendably comfy. Occasionally small 'corrugated' bumps (the sort you get on secondary roads with plenty of heavy vehicle traffic) get things a little unsettled but in the main it's a ride similar to that we praised Peugeots for -- once upon a (306-era) time.

Body control is better than the ride bias would suggest and there's little pitch and not too much roll.

In some aspects the extra wheelbase of the Fluence puts it a tad above the Mégane in overall refinement. Neither car, hatch or sedan, have a lot of grip from their standard rubber (Megane: Bridgestone Turanza. Fluence: Continental Premium Contact2).

Perhaps the tyres were chosen for noise -- or lack of it. Both versions of the new Renault small car are commendable hush. There's some intrusion from the CVT/2.0-litre four but at steady state cruising -- even well over the speed limit -- there's negligible road roar, hardly a mechanical murmur and wind noise is very well controlled.

The engine and transmission combination itself is okay. Damning with faint praise? Maybe, but it's simply that it does its job without really creating any strong positives or negatives. There's enough urge and vigour away from a standing start and overtaking can be done with the confidence that the hatch and sedan will both lift their skirts when required.

That said, the CVT transmission is very old school in its execution. The very best modern CVTs seem to hide the 'clutch slip' feel that's typical of this type of gearbox and even offer predetermined ratios (Audi for instance has eight!) that deliver a much more conventional feel. Compared to the latest VW twin-clutch or Peugeot and Kia's newest six-speed autos this seems like a step backwards.

In performance terms compared to, say, the latest Kia Cerato's 2.0-litre the Renault engine isn't quite as muscular but shows none of the emissions-related flat spots. In comparison to Holden's top-selling Cruze, the Renault's four is a paragon of performance -- though that's more a comment on the Holden's sub-standard petrol engine than any Renault benchmarks.

In reorienting the Mégane and Fluence range Renault has significantly simplified its offering in this segment -- that's a plus. And with aggressive pricing it has given its small car twins a reasonable chance at success.

Our quick drive suggests they are still some way from the default choice in the class, but they do offer a viable and individual alternative... Vive la difference? Time and your new car dollars will tell.

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