Renault Megane GT-Line Premium 2014 review

Renault's renaissance continues, this time with a revamped Megane range. One of the surprise packets of the range is the sporty new GT-Line wagon which we tested this week. It offers an appealing combination of functionality magic and sporty dynamics.

VALUE

The GT-Line is priced from $30,990 while the GT-Line Premium with more goodies is $34,990. Our test vehicle the top of the line Premium model, comes with 17 inch alloys and the GT chassis, Renault Sport instruments, climate air, keyless entry and start, a combination of grey and white leather seats with matching grey seat belts, heated driver and passenger seats, rear central armrest with cup holders, LED daytime running lights, front and rear parking sensors, Visio System with automatic high beam and lane departure warning.

It also gets a panoramic sunroof, rear-view camera and 7-inch Tomtom satellite navigation complete with current speed limit and school zone and speed camera warnings. There's really nothing more to spend on this car.

DESIGN

Engineers at Renault Sport have fine-tuned the suspension to deliver a genuinely sporty ride, while remaining perfectly suited to everyday driving. There's plenty of eye candy too, with sports buckets finished in two tone leather upholstery.

The GT-Line versions of the Megane feature a more dynamic chassis, designed to deliver a more rewarding driving experience. The springs are stiffer and the front roll centre height has been lowered by 30mm. Front and rear dampers are also stiffer and overall the car's centre of gravity has been lowered by 112mm.

TECHNOLOGY

A 1.5-litre turbo diesel delivers 81kW of power and 240Nm of torque, the latter from a low 1750 revs. It's paired with a 6 speed twin-clutch style transmission that functions as an auto, but does not include change paddles.

The most important figure here is 4.5 because that's how many litres of diesel it uses per 100 kilometres. With a 60-litre tank that gives the wagon a range of more than 1300km between refills.

Imagine what kind of figures it might achieve with auto stop-start which isn't fitted, perhaps the only major feature missing from its impressive resume? We clocked up just over 500km at a rate of 6.1 litres/100km.

SAFETY

Five stars of course. Comes with six airbags, ABS anti-lock brakes and Electronic Stability Control with Emergency Brake Assist and understeer control.

DRIVING

The drive experience is much sportier than the figures suggest. In fact, until we checked the figures, we assumed it was a 2.0-litre engine. The twin clutch transmission lags at times, particularly when you suddenly ask for a bit more after it settles into its stride. But once it knows what you want the changes are timely and throttle response is good.

Automatic lights and wipers are fitted, along with a rear view mirror that dims automatically. The expansive dash top could do with some work. The finish is way too plain and looks like it would collect dust and become sticky overtime if left uncleaned.

It could also do with some more cupholders, with just the one small holder in the forward part of the centre console. The dash offers a digital speedo but it is too small and located on the far right hand side where it is difficult to see.

The satnav system and other multimedia features are controlled by a joystick and button setup in the centre console. It takes some practice to achieve dexterity with the system and unless you adopt a pinch grip it is easy to push the joystick sideways when pressing down.

Want to change the radio band? It can't be done from the screen but rather requires the radio button located at the bottom of the control stack to be pushed repeatedly.