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Renault Megane GT220 vs Peugeot 308 GT


There are handy hatches on the French menu. Craig Duff 's taste test sorts the would-be sportsters from the tourers

value

2015 Renault Megan GT220

$39,490

Pitched as a premium hatch with sporting pretentions, the Renault is fairly well loaded with the likes of a seven-inch touchscreen with satnav, front and rear parking sensors plus a camera, heated leather front seats, sunroof, lane departure warning and a track-based telemetry system showing steering angles, boost pressure, a GPS stopwatch and G-forces. As a performance car, there are smarter hot hatches. As a comprehensively equipped European grand tourer with decent grip and go, it sits between the regular Renaults and the more enthusiastic Renault Sport line-up.

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

$41,990

A $2500 premium over the Renault is balanced by the extra features found in the Peugeot, including automated parking for entering and exiting a car spot. Add $950 if you want any colour other than white, though. The scaled-down steering wheel is a love-it-or-hate-it proposition and, like the Megane, the 308 GT persists with having controls mounted behind the steering wheel where they have to be operated from memory. The Pug also has automated parking for both entering and exiting a car spot.

technology

2015 Renault Megan GT220

Engine

Forced induction keeps the 2.0-litre petrol on song from 2400rpm, sending power to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. Peaks of 162kW/340Nm endow the 1326kg car with a 100km/h sprint time of 7.6 seconds, affirming it's a warm hatch not a hot one. Fuel consumption is officially 7.3L/100km.

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

Engine

Outright power doesn't always win the day. The Peugeot's turbocharged 1.6-litre engine is good for 151kW/285Nm. That's well down on its rival, but so is weight at 1200kg giving the Pug a 0.1-second edge in the 100km/h time. The smaller engine is working hard to deliver that performance, nudging fuel use to 7.4L/100km. The Pug has a three years/100,000km warranty and capped price servicing will cost $2475 for five years, averaging out at $495 a year.

design

2015 Renault Megan GT220

The outside of the Megane is holding its age well and still looks smart and chiselled. The same can't be said inside with the steering wheel-mounted controls far from intuitive to use and only one undersized cupholder in the car. The touchscreen has more going for it, backed by a rotary controller in the centre tunnel that can shortcut the finger-pressing processes needed to navigate to some menus. The back seat isn't going to win any awards with the longer limbed. Rear legroom is average, though the 372-litre boot is better than par.

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

The Pug has the classier interior, largely as a result of being the newest vehicle. A 9.7-inch touchscreen is used to control all functions from the radio to the aircon. The result is a stylish look with quality chrome trim and a marked absence of buttons across the dash facia. The small steering wheel needs to be adjusted to see the "heads-up" instrument cluster, particularly the digital speedo. And having the tacho spin counterclockwise is an argument the designers shouldn't have won. There's reasonable space down back and you only need to lift the hatch to see the (435L) boot is larger than the Megane.

safety

2015 Renault Megan GT220

A five-star rating was bestowed on the Megane when it was tested in 2011. Six airbags are standard and the crash results show passenger protection is first rate. It lost marks for not having rear seatbelt reminders and pedestrian protection is marginal. ANCAP gave it an overall score of 35.83/37. Driver assistance electronics are notable for their absence beyond the lane departure warning and automatic high beam software.

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

The ANCAP rating of 35.82/37 only applies to the diesel variant, because that was the only model tested. Common sense says a lighter petrol engine should perform at least as well. It wasn't quite as robust in the frontal crash test but picks up a point on the Renault for having rear seatbelt reminders. A standard driver's assistance package adds adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and a collision mitigation braking system that will reduce the impact when the vehicle detects an imminent crash.

driving

2015 Renault Megan GT220

This isn't the Renault Megane 265, so don't expect a fire-breathing front-wheel drive hot hatch. What the GT220 delivers is a capable, comfortable and well-appointed car with a better handle on handling than regular Meganes. Accelerate too quickly and it will torque steer, hit the corner too hard and it will push straight ahead but at 80 per cent it does the job with aplomb. The extra surge gives it a minor edge over the Peugeot in some situations, but there's very little in it in terms of outright on-road ability.

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

Fast but not furious, the Peugeot 308GT tends to be slightly more composed on the limit than its French rival. Lighter weight helps here, keeping the GT's front end adhered to the road as the power is pressed on to liven things up. It is a more benign beast and lacks some of the Renault's adrenaline-inducing raw edge but for those looking for a grand tourer _ as distinct from a performance hatch _ it is a marginally better proposition purely because it is more predictable.

Verdict

2015 Renault Megan GT220

2015 Peugeot 308 GT

Peugeot has the balance between luxury and performance sorted just that little bit better than the Renault. Whether that incremental improvement is worth $2500 will be up to the beholder but the better laid-out interior gives it the edge in this contest.