New Megane estate proves to be a grande success

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Friday, May 14, 2010

It seems to me that Renault has been one of the most aggressive motor companies here on the Irish market since we were gripped by recession in early 2009 and the fact that the company has reported it took 11.4% of the market here in April appears to be solid evidence that its approach is paying dividends.

Renault, of course, took the franchise back from Bill ‘Penny Apples’ Cullen some time ago and it is safe to say that since then the marketing push of its own scrappage scheme and a more focused corporate determination to start shifting far more serious amounts of metal, has moved the company into a new sphere.

I’ve been in a few Renaults in recent weeks. T and the first of them was the new Grande Megane (in TomTom specification mode) and I have to say that the first thing that impressed me about the car was the savage amount of kit the company has equipped it with.

This is an estate version of the Megane and the interesting thing about it is that while it comes at a list cost of 23,600 (plus 400 for metallic paint), it can actually be purchased for some 17,750 —– the exact same cost as the five door hatchback version —– if you avail of all the scrappage offers Renault has on the go right now.

With air conditioning., automatic lights and wipers, cruise control, remote stereo controls, roof bars, ESP, ABS, six airbags, 16” alloys and a TomTom sat. nav. sSystem all standard on this model, there really is little left to desire on the specification front.

The 1.5 dCi turbodiesel is a decent enough driving proposition with some 86 bhp on tap and some 200 Nm of torque. It will accelerate to 100 kph from a standstill in 12.9 seconds and has a top speed of 175 kph. Neither figure is earth-shattering, but even so the engine provides a decent enough driving experience.

On the road the car is decent enough again, but will certainly not impress tough taskmasters. The ride is good and the handling too is OK, but —– again – neither will come anywhere near matching the best in class.

Whoever, what will impress people is the fact that it will return a consumption level of 4.5 l/100 km (that’s 62.8 mpg in old money) and also fits into Band A of both tax and VRT schedules.
It is a comfortable car, but I was surprised that —– for a French car —– the support levels in the seats, and especially the driver’s seat, were not as good as they should be. This was particularly notable when driving on minor roads.

Otherwise, the spaciousness of the interior is impressive and while the rear seats are a little tricky to fold flat, the longer wheelbase of the estate allows for considerably more comfort than most hatches.

Looking at this car there is much to credit —– particularly when you compare it spec-for spec with many of its rivals (and even many hatchbacks) —– it has an awful lot to offer.

Maybe that is why Renault is proving to be such a doughty competitor in these telling times; or maybe it is just that the company has moved a long way from penny apples.