Renault Megane Coupe Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Renault Megane Coupe range
Prices: £16,135-£22,995 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 5-17 C02
Emissions: 118-195g/km
Performance: [2.0 TCe] Max Speed 142mph/ 0-60mph 7.8s
Fuel Consumption: [1.5 dCi 86] (combined) 62.8mpg
Safety: Twin front and side airbags / front and rear curtain airbags / ABS with EBD / ESP / ASR / CSV.
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4295/2037/1423mm

SPORT STAR

Our Rating: 8.0 / 10

Renault’s gone all sporty with the styling of its three-door Megane Coupe. Dave King checks it out

The three-door Coupe version adds great looks and a sharper driving experience to a Renault Megane repertoire that already included first rate refinement, comfort and build quality. It’s still not the sportiest compact three-door on the road but as an overall package, it has few major faults.

You used to know where you were with family hatchbacks. There was a mainstream five-door version and more red-blooded buyers gravitated towards the sportier three-door. At some point, however, simply calling that racy bodystyle with the three doors the ‘three-door’ has fallen out of favour. These days, we’re increasingly seeing these cars branded as ‘Sports Coupes’, ‘Sports Hatches’ or as with the latest Renault Megane, ‘Coupes’. At least Renault has put the effort in to justify its more exotic naming strategy. The Megane Coupe looks the business but is that enough to earn it sportscar status?

In the current market, deleting a pair of doors and bolting on some plastic styling accessories is no longer enough to turn a family friendly five-door hatch into a thrusting three-door with bucket loads of desirability. The best executed three-door hatchbacks have their own look and personality but Renault is aiming to move the game on in this regard. The Megane Coupe is a dramatically different visual proposition from the Hatch but not too dramatic. Renault has gone for classical beauty with this car in a departure from the avant-garde styling of the second generation Megane that alienated as many buyers as it enthused.

The differences between the Megane Coupe and the five-door Hatch don’t end with the bodywork. The coupe rides 43mm lower with 12mm of that total accounted for by its lowered suspension. The ride is noticeably firmer than the five-door car but still far from uncomfortable on a well-surfaced road. Indeed, the Megane must be one of the smoothest-riding small coupes out there. Refinement is another strongpoint of the package with road and wind noise well-suppressed and the engines proving far from intrusive at cruising speeds. All this talk of comfort and refinement probably won’t have your pulse racing but the Megane Coupe can entertain too.

How much excitement you get will depend largely on your choice of engines. The 1.5-litre dCi diesels and the 1.6-litre petrol are adequate but offer little by way of brute force. Much better for buyers wanting a Coupe that lives up to its name are the 1.9-litre 130bhp diesel and the 178bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol. There’s even a fiery 250bhp R.S. Renaultsport model at the top of the range. Body roll is well contained helped by the car’s wide stance and there’s a nimbleness to the handling even in the cheaper versions.

If you can’t stretch to well over £20,000 for the potent Renaultsport version, the 178bhp 2.0-litre TCe engine is well worth considering. It’s an advanced powerplant with a twin scroll turbocharger helping it pull hard from just over 1,000rpm without a trace of turbo lag. Peak power arrives at 5,500rpm but so does rather a lot of engine noise. It’s far better to ride the low end torque which is measured at a hefty 300Nm at 2,250rpm and change up early with the slick long-throw gearbox. The dCi 130 engine produces the same amount of torque but at just 1,750rpm. Its delivery isn’t as silky but it can creep under the 9.5s barrier for the 0-60mph test. The 1.8 TCe unit does the sprint in 7.8s.

Only the headlamps, bonnet and front wings are carried over from the five-door hatch to the Megane Coupe’s exterior and you’ll believe that when you see the car. It’s certainly an appealing piece of design and one that’s well worthy of consideration alongside the market’s prettiest hatchbacks and compact coupes. The rear end is particularly admirable with the side window line rising dramatically to a point that meets with that of the curving rear screen above the pumped-up haunches. The downside of this elegant glasswork is poor rear visibility but with a set of parking sensors installed, that should be easy to live with.

The Coupe’s interior is more sober. The design follows that of the straight-laced Laguna but the Megane also inherits that car’s first-ra