Ever since the Renault Megane Mk2 went on sale in 2002, there has been an estate version on offer. But, as a company car, it has neither the performance nor the fuel economy to compete with its closest rivals or make sense – for head or heart – against other versions of the Megane.įor more of the latest industry news, click here.The compact estate is a spin-off from the compact hatchback class, and while crossovers are currently popular as a hatch alternative, if you go for a compact estate, you're likely to get more space for your money. The GT drives well, and looks and feels great. Going for one or the other might be the better bet. The GT isn’t a bad product, but it’s a grey area between sporty-looking diesel Meganes and the forthcoming R.S., for those with a choice list flexible enough to tick the box. Nor is that helped by the GT Line, which looks almost identical but is significantly cheaper and available with the 96g/km dCi 110 and 104g/km dCi 130 diesel engines.
Undoubtedly not helped by the rear-wheel steering. There’s a 165bhp twin-turbo diesel GT on the way, it’s significantly slower than the petrol version, not as powerful as its key rivals, and it’s expensive at almost £30,000. So it shapes up to be a bit of a halfway house neither fast enough to lure people out of a petrol hot hatch, nor efficient enough to attract those who might otherwise choose a Golf GTD or Focus ST TDCi, which are both also available as estates. The upshot, for those who don’t want to set lap records, is that it also doesn’t ride as harshly as a RenaultSport product often does, it’ll return around 40mpg on the motorway, and it’s very quiet with the simulated exhaust noise turned off. Rivals below the expanding hyper-hatch segment are typically putting out around 250bhp, and the Megane feels a bit soft by comparison, not helped by the gearbox. However, it’s not quite a hot hatch, either on paper or on the road. Drive button to select Sport mode, and it’ll growl its way to 62mph in 7.4 seconds with plenty of mid-rev-range urgency, while the rear wheels can steer a little to help turn into tight corners sharply. It uses the same 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine as the Clio R.S., and the two cars also share the dual-clutch automatic gearbox, with metal paddles behind the steering wheel. The portrait R-Link infotainment system is standard, and there’s a lengthy load area in the Sport Tourer once the rear bench is folded flat. A makeover which doesn’t compromise on the standard car’s best bits – a great driving position, plentiful interior space and a much better-finished cabin than we’ve had from Renaults of old.
Large wheels, an aggressive bodykit, incredibly comfortable alcantara-trimmed bucket seats and lashings of anodised blue inside all help mark it out.
This has certainly got the on-road presence of a fully-fledged RenaultSport product. – a nod to Renault Sport, and a hint of DNA links back through decades of Formula 1 technology and Nurburgring record-breaking hardcore hot hatches. Sector: Lower Medium Price: £27,450 Fuel: 47.1mpg CO2: 134g/kmJust below the Megane GT’s grille badge are the letters R.S.