Renault Megane vs Fiat 500

What's the difference?

If the Renault Megane RS Trophy is your dream car let me say this: there’s no overarching reason that I’d say you shouldn’t go ahead and buy it. 

But with so much amazing competition in this part of the market, it’s hard to put it ahead of its rivals. And it’s going to be even harder for it to stay high on the contenders list as more new metal arrives in the coming years.

It feels like the Fiat 500 is coming of age in this new-generation EV form. Electric power perfectly suits this compact hatch’s unique personality. It’s comparatively well priced and the design shouts Italian cool. It’s a niche model, but the 500e’s undoubted charisma could broaden its appeal as electric vehicle adoption begins to pick up pace. 

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Megane RS Trophy’s dimensions don’t really communicate just how chunky it really is. At 4364mm long on a 2670mm wheelbase, 1875mm wide and 1435mm tall, it is pretty conventional in terms of size for the segment.

But it packs a lot of style into that size. I for one love those broad hipped wheel-arches, the signature LED headlights and chequered flag lighting signature at the bottom of the bumper, and the bright, eye-catching colours available really just ram the message home that this isn’t your average Megane.

I could happily leave behind the red flecks on the wheels, which look a bit too blingy and not quite ‘lightweight racing-spec’ to me. But they obviously appeal to a certain buyer - maybe someone who wants a bit more drive-by flair, as opposed to track-day talking points.

The Trophy model builds upon the Cup variant, using the same chassis and hardware under the skin, and therefore running the brand’s 4Control four-wheel steering and a mechanical Torsen limited slip diff. More on that in the driving section below.

Exterior design and styling are one thing - but you probably spend more time sitting inside your car than just admiring it from a distance. How does the interior of the RS Trophy stack up? Check out the interior images to make up your own mind.

In its latest electronic guise, the 500e stays loyal to its 1950s cinque­cento roots, with the addition of contemporary touches like this distinctive split headlight and DRL design, beautiful 17-inch alloys that look like they’ve come out of a jewellery box, and a simple, curved rear end treatment with classic 500-style LED tail-lights. 

There are six colours to choose from, with ‘Ice White’ being the only no-cost option.  Premium shades - ‘Onyx Black’, ‘Ocean Green’, ‘Mineral Grey’ and ‘Rose Gold’ cost $700 extra, while the ‘Tri-coat’ ‘Celestial Blue’ adds $1600 to the price.

The interior also evokes 500s of old with a familiar elongated central panel across the dash, a two-spoke steering wheel and a circular instrument binnacle. 

Woven material across the dash (made from recycled plastic) is a nice touch, and there are fun Easter eggs around the car like Turin’s skyline embossed in the wireless charging pad and an outline of the original 500 in the armrest recesses.

The single trim option is ‘Ice Beige’ synthetic leather on the seats and door panel, with a super-cool ‘FIAT’ monogram pattern, throwing back to the brand’s typography from the 1960s and ‘70s. 

Overall, the cabin design is neat and ultra-clean with a high-quality attention to detail.

The Megane RS Trophy’s cabin carries over some of the design cues from the exterior. It looks and feels like a hot hatch should.

There’s a lovely part-Nappa leather, part-Alcantara steering wheel with paddle shifters and a ‘centre line’ marker - but some may lament the lack of a flat-bottom to the wheel, which is a current trend in the “trust me I’m actually very sporty” breed of cars.

The manually adjustable seats are very supportive though they are a bit firm, so those wishing for ultimate comfort over long distance trips might be left wanting. But there is good adjustment to the seats, and they’re heated, too.

There are some nice elements to the cabin including soft plastics on the dashboard, but the lower plastics - below the eye-line - are quite hard and not very pleasant. However, the inclusion of ambient lighting does distract from that, and add a bit of flair to the cabin.

The portrait-style media screen is fine most of the time, though it does take some learning. The menus aren’t as intuitive as you might hope, with a mix of on-screen buttons and off-screen touchpad-style controls that can be difficult to hit when you’re driving. We also had a couple of instances of glitching while using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

Storage is okay. There are shallow cupholders between the seats, a covered centre console bin, as well as a storage section in front of the gear selector that’s big enough for a wallet and phone, and bottle holders in the doors. 

In the rear seat there’s enough space for someone my size (182cm) to sit behind their own driving position, albeit with limited knee room and toe room. Headroom is good, and there are dual ISOFIX child-seat anchor points and three top-tethers for baby seats.

You’ll find a pair of small door pockets, two map pockets, and rear-seat directional air vents, which is nice. There’s a flip-down arm-rest with cupholders, too, and unlike some other high-price hatches with ambient lighting up front, the Megane gets LED light strips on its rear doors, too. 

The boot space is good in the Megane RS Trophy, with luggage capacity claimed at a healthy 434 litres. On test, the car fit all three CarsGuide suitcases (124L, 95L and 36L) with room to spare. Speaking of spare (ahem), there isn’t one: it comes with a repair kit and tyre pressure monitoring, but no spare wheel of any kind. 

It might be 61mm longer than the combustion 500, but at just over 3.6m long, a little under 1.7m wide and a bit more than 1.5m tall, the 500e is still right-sized for the city.

A four-seater, it offers adequate space for the driver and front seat passenger, but with a wheelbase of just over 2.3 metres, something’s got to give, and that turns out to be room in the rear. 

Realistically, it’s a kids-only zone, and even then, those in front will need to give ground to free up some legroom. 

Storage runs to a tray between the front seats complete with roll-top lid, another storage box/armrest above that, a small glove box and bins in the doors with just enough room for a decent-size bottle. 

For connectivity, there are USB-A and USB-C ports for power and media, plus a 12V socket in the centre storage tray and another in the boot. No charging options in the back.

Speaking of the boot, it's only 185 litres (VDA) with four seats up. Enough room for a limited number of (preferably) soft bags, although the rear seat split-folds 50/50 to open up 550L.

Given the front engine, FWD configuration, it’s no surprise there’s no ‘frunk’, the 500e is a no-tow zone, and don’t bother looking for a spare of any description your only option is a repair/inflator kit.

Offered locally in a single ‘La Prima’ coupe spec the 500e is priced at $52,500, before on-road costs. Although it's available in other markets, there’s no cabriolet-style convertible for Australia this time around.

At that price point EV rivals include the entry-level ‘Classic’ version of the Mini Cooper Electric and just-released five-door Cupra Born.

And the standard features list includes a 10.25-inch multimedia display (running the latest ‘UConnect 5’ software with ‘Hey Fiat’ voice recognition), built-in navigation, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, climate control air, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a panoramic fixed glass sunroof, synthetic leather seat trim, a wireless charging pad, heated front seats and six-speaker audio with digital radio.

There’s also 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, tail-lights and daytime running lights, plus keyless entry and start.

Bear in mind you’ll be adjusting the front seats manually, and the climate control is single zone, the latter not such a big deal in a small car. And the only options relate to the paint, which is detailed in the Design section.

Engine specs matter if you’re talking about performance hatchbacks, and the Megane RS Trophy is no exception.

It has a 1.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that punches hard for its size, with 221kW of power (at 6000rpm) and 420Nm of torque (at 3200rpm). That’s for the six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, as was fitted to our test car. If you buy the six-speed manual, you miss out on a bit of grunt - it has 400Nm (at 3200rpm) and the same peak power.

In auto spec the RS Trophy “300” offers higher figure vs the Sport and Cup “280” models (205kW/390Nm), and more engine performance per litre of capacity than the Focus ST (2.3-litre: 206kW/420Nm), Golf GTI (2.0-litre: 180kW/370Nm; TCR 2.0-litre: 213kW/400Nm), and even the Golf R (2.0-litre: 213kW/380Nm). 

All Megane RS models are front-wheel drive (FWD/2WD) and no Megane RS is all-wheel drive (AWD). The Trophy and Cup models both get 4Control four-wheel steering, which is an interesting aspect of the drive experience. More on that below. 

There are multiple drive modes to choose from, including Comfort, Neutral, Sport, Race and the configurable Perso mode. These can alter engine, transmission, throttle, traction control, exhaust noise, fake engine sound and steering sharpness - but not suspension, because the dampers aren’t adaptive units. 

Power is provided by a traction electric motor sending 87kW/220Nm to the front wheels via a single-speed reduction gear automatic transmission.

It’s fed by a 42kWh lithium-ion battery, the set-up running on a 400-volt electric architecture.

The claimed official combined fuel consumption for the Megane RS Trophy is 8.0 litres per 100 kilometres. That’s for the EDC auto model as tested. The manual is said to use 8.3L/100km.

You might achieve that if you drive gently, though over my testing - which incorporated hundreds of kilometres of highway and country road driving, as well as a few spirited stints and some urban snarls - I saw a return of 10.8L/100km at the pump.

The Megane RS requires 98RON premium unleaded, and the fuel tank capacity is 50 litres. 

That 42kWh battery is connected to an 85kW DC charging system, with Fiat claiming it makes 50km of range available after five minutes, and 80 per cent of range in 35 minutes.

The charging port is a CCS Type 2 combo, and the AC maximum is 11kW, taking four hours for a full charge. An 11kW Mode 3 charging cable is included as standard.

Maximum range is 311km which is pretty handy, with the benefit that the relatively small battery delivers those quick recharge times.

Energy consumption on the WLTP cycle is 14.3kWh/100km, however our relatively brief steer around Turin didn’t allow for a meaningful test figure. That will have to wait for evaluation on local soil. 

The Megane RS Trophy has the ingredients to be an all-time legendary hot hatch, but they don’t work together well enough for it to be a truly great car to drive.

That is, they don’t work together on public roads. I didn’t get a chance to sample the RS Trophy at the track, and I’m sure that may well alter some of my opinions. But this was a review focused around everyday driving first and foremost, because - unless you’ve got quite a fleet of cars - you’ll be spending a lot of time in mundane motoring in your Megane RS, too.

Other hot hatches in the segment manage to combine big power and torque with immense traction and steering prowess. The Megane RS used to, as well.

But this new version seemingly has some issues harnessing the grunt, and the 4Control four-wheel steering system simply isn’t as rewarding as it should be.

I had several instances where the traction on slippery surfaces was lacking, while even in the dry I noticed distinct torque steer and the Bridgestone tyres struggled to cope under hard acceleration. That’s despite the fact the Trophy gets a mechanical LSD.  

Further, that four-wheel steering actually makes it pretty hard to judge the behaviour of the car at times, with an artificial feel to it that just doesn’t do it justice. There will be some who say that the four-wheel steering - which can angle in the rear tyres to help you pivot in corners more adeptly - is excellent. But I’m not one of them. I really found it hard to predict this car’s behaviour. I never really gelled with it.

At the very least there’s a non-interventional lane keeping assist system, which emits a pulsing sound through the speakers rather than actively vibrating or adjusting the steering. 

The ride is unapologetic in its firmness – although, if you’re across the history of RS Megane models, that is to be expected for a Trophy chassis. It can be tiring on longer road trips especially if the surface isn’t great.

While it is extremely fast in a straight line - 0-100km/h is claimed at just 5.7 seconds - it wasn’t as quick through corners as I was expecting it might be, and that comes down to its four-wheel steering mostly, along with a lack of usable traction at times. It simply isn’t as connected to the road as the previous RSs have been. 

It was also a bit laggy then lurchy at lower speeds when taking off from a standstill, such is the nature of the dual-clutch in stop-start situations. 

To put it bluntly, I didn’t enjoy this car anywhere near as much as I thought I might. It just isn’t as pure a driving machine as I’ve come to expect from the RS brand. Perhaps I should aim to try it on a track!

Fiat claims the 500e will dash from 0-100km/h is 9.0sec which is pretty handy, and in typical EV fashion it’s cheekily rapid around town.

Given the transmission is a single-ratio auto, the placement of buttons in the centre of the dash to control its operation makes a lot of sense. 

Acceleration is impossibly smooth, whether that’s from rest or in the cut-and-thrust of city traffic. 

There are three available drive modes. As the name implies, ‘Normal’ doesn’t place any performance limitations on the motor, while ‘Range’ shifts to more aggressive single-pedal regenerative braking and even slicker accelerator response.

Then, if you’re low on charge, ‘Sherpa’ limits maximum speed to 80 km/h and softens accelerator response while cutting the climate control and seat heaters to ensure you get to your destination in best Nepalese mountaineering fashion. 

We tried a stint in all three, and Range proved the most effective around town, the regen braking being strong but never abrupt (and able to bring you to a complete stop).  

The disc front/drum rear mechanical brakes are a bit sharp on initial bite but nice and progressive from there. 

A note for left-foot brakers, though. Apply pressure to the accelerator and brake pedals at the same time and the car bogs down in a case of minor paralysis. A quick dab on the brake is required to get things going again.  

Of course, noise levels are low, with the motor just a background hum. But Fiat has installed an unusual (mandatory) ‘Acoustic Vehicle Alert System’ warning for pedestrians at speeds up to 20 km/h.

Rather than the generic space-age tone favoured by many brands, the 500e plays the music of Amarcord by Italian composer Nino Rota. Wow. Turning the car on or off can also be set to produce a guitar sequence inside the cabin.

Suspension is strut front/torsion beam rear and over decidedly ordinary surfaces through inner Turin the 500e was impressively refined, retaining its composure over some nasty ruts and bumps. 

A roughly 300kg battery under the floor makes for a low centre of gravity, and thanks to wide tracks for its size, the 500e feels well planted and stable even in sharp cornering manoeuvres.

Steering feel is good, the 205/40 Continental EcoContact 6 rubber is agreeably quiet and grippy and a 9.7m turning circle makes reverse parking or a 180-degree change of course pretty straight forward. 

In terms of ergonomics, operating the car is stress-free with a sensible mix of on-screen and physical controls, although a minor black mark goes against small opening levers located low down in the door panels. Not exactly easy to get to.    

The Fiat 500e scored four from a maximum five stars when it was assessed by Euro NCAP in 2021, thanks in part to relatively low ratings in the ‘Vulnerable Road User’ and ‘Safety Assist’ categories.

That said, it performed well in adult and child occupant protection, and active crash-avoidance tech includes AEB (with pedestrian and cyclist detection), a reversing camera with 360-degree overhead view, ‘Intelligent Speed Assist’ (with traffic sign recognition), blind spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, ‘Electronic Rollover Mitigation’ (manages the brakes and motor power during “extreme manoeuvres”), attention assist, tyre pressure monitoring and auto high/low beam LED headlights.

If a crash is unavoidable there are six airbags - dual front, front side, and curtains, although the increasingly prevalent front centre bag is missing in action.

There’s a back-to-base emergency call function triggered by airbag deployment, as well as top tethers and ISOFIX anchors in the two rear seat positions.