Renault Megane vs Suzuki Swift

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.

The Suzuki Swift GL S Plus offers good value-for-money, strong safety, a competitive ownership package, miserly fuel economy, a surprisingly roomy interior and respectable overall refinement. That's offset somewhat by sluggish performance, a firm ride, sober interior, and a small boot (with the rear seats up). As always, the significance of these pluses and minuses depends on your specific priorities. But we reckon for a car well past mid-life it's still worthy of a spot on your small urban car short-list.

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.

Suzuki's traditionally followed its own path when it comes to design, and where other current small cars are increasingly a mix of sharp angles and geometric surfaces, the Swift's exterior is a blend of relatively soft forms and rounded intersections.

The headlights and tail-lights are large irregular shapes, and the distinctive side glass treatment tapers towards the rear, the smaller back windows ending in a vertical door handle and a narrow black graphic element which wraps around the C-pillar to the hatch window.

Note to Suzuki designers: The high-set handles may add visual interest, but they're a pain to use.

Interior styling offers a hint that despite upgrades and facelifts along the way this generation of the Swift is now five years old.

The approach is straight bat, with a multi-tiered dash design accommodating conventional analogue dials in a vaguely racy 'twin-peaked' instrument cluster, the multimedia display in the centre stack and ventilation controls underneath that.

Other age-related giveaways are the manual handbrake and uniformly grey colour palette. The only breaks being occasional flashes of faux metal trim and shiny back inserts.

It all works well from an ergonomic point-of-view but lacks inspiration and emotional impact.

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. 

Measuring a bit over 3.8m nose-to-tail, and roughly 1.7m across, the Swift is perfectly proportioned for the urban environment. And with an overall height of just under 1.5m and a 2.45m wheelbase it maximises the packaging potential for passengers within such a compact footprint.

Interior accommodation is good, with plenty of space up front, and in the back. At 183cm I was able to sit behind the driver's seat set to my position with a surprising amount of head and legroom.

Three full-size adults across the rear seat would be an uncomfortably cosy arrangement, even on short trips. But a trio of up to early teenage kids will be fine.

Seating negatives amount to something of an armrest rant. Specifically, the lack of a front centre armrest, front door armrests that are unreasonably hard, and omission of a fold-down rear centre armrest.

When it comes to storage, there's a reasonably generous glove box in the front, plus bins and a bottle holder in each door, as well as two cupholders and an oddments tray in the centre console.

Those consigned to the rear have to contend with a close to bare-bones layout, with a single cupholder (located at the rear of the front centre console), a bottle holder in each door, and a single map pocket on the back of the front passenger seat.

No adjustable ventilation, again, no fold-down centre armrest, and no USB or 12-volt power outlets. In fact, the only connections available are a 12V socket, USB-A media and charging outlet and a 3.5mm 'aux-in' jack, all in the front console. The kids won't be thrilled.

Boot space is passable rather than spectacular for the class (so that's where the rear seat room comes from...) with 242 litres on offer.

As our photos show, the (admittedly big) CarsGuide pram wouldn't fit, and we could only squeeze in the small (36L) and medium (95L) suitcases from our three-piece test set without removing the cargo cover. Fold the 60/40 split-folding rear seat down and available space opens up to 556 litres.

Worth noting there aren't any tie-down hooks to secure loose loads, and there's a space-saver spare under the floor.

The Swift GL S Plus wears a sticker price of $25,990, before on-road costs, sitting at the upper edge of the 'affordable' small car market, and aiming up at the likes of Kia's Rio GT-Line ($25,590), the Mazda2 G15 GT ($26,290), and the VW Polo Life (manual - $25,250).

Worth noting the car Suzuki Australia loaned us for evaluation is a pre-Feb 2022 update example conforming to the previous Swift GL Navigator (with Safety Pack) specification. So, key upgrades arriving with that change, like a 9.0-inch media screen (up from 7.0-inch), climate control air, four-speaker audio (up from two!), adaptive cruise, and LED headlights, aren't reflected.

But assuming the presence of those features, this city-sized hatch does pretty well with some other handy boxes ticked. Aside from the safety tech covered later, the GL S Plus boasts a leather-trimmed steering wheel, keyless entry and start, sat nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity (plus voice control for key functions), and 16-inch alloys. All up, decent value-for-money in this part of the new car market.

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. 

The Swift GL is powered by a 1.2-litre, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine, driving the front wheels through a continuously variable auto transmission.

Featuring dual variable valve timing to enhance performance, and two fuel injectors for each cylinder (in the name of better fuel atomisation and efficiency), the all-alloy unit produces 66kW at 6000rpm and 120Nm at 4400rpm.

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. 

Suzuki's official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 4.8L/100km, the 1.2-litre four emitting 110g/km of CO2 in the process.

Our time with the car included mainly city and suburban trips, with some freeway freeway running thrown in, and the result was a (dash-indicated) average of 5.8L/100km. Still pretty handy.

Minimum fuel recommendation is 91 RON standard unleaded (or E10), and you'll need just 37 litres of it to fill the tank. Using the official consumption figure, that translates to a range of around 640km.

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!

Sure, 900kg isn't a lot of kerb weight, but 66 isn't a lot of kilowatts, and 120 isn't a lot of newton metres. In short, this little car is far from a powerhouse.

It takes a strong and persistent flex of the right ankle to get the Swift GL moving adequately, the CVT auto shuffling itself around to keep the 1.2-litre engine somewhere near its (relatively high) 4400rpm maximum torque sweet spot. Not ideal in dense, slow-moving traffic on tight streets.

If you're after more urgent acceleration in a Swift, the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder GLX Turbo is the better option. It'll hit 100km/h from rest in around 8.0 seconds while this car will take around 11 seconds. Only snag is the $29,790 (before on-road costs) price tag.

On top of the performance challenges, the ride is firm, the Swift's strut front / torsion beam rear suspension transferring a fair bit of bump and thump from our spectacularly ordinary city and suburban roads. This despite the 16-inch rims being shod with 185 width rubber boasting a normally comfort-enhancing 55-series sidewall profile.

Overall refinement is more than acceptable, though. Even while working hard, the engine remains reasonably quiet and outside noise from the urban grind is modest.

The steering delivers good road feel and the brakes (ventilated disc front / drum rear) are also nice and progressive.

No surprise, given the Swift's compact dimensions, that it's a breeze to park in tight spaces, the reversing camera remaining clear day and night.

All Swift GL variants scored a maximum five-star ANCAP score when the current-gen car launched locally in mid-2017, with the assessment updated in July 2020.

Active, crash-avoidance tech includes, AEB (urban and highway speed) with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, 'Weaving Alert' (Suzuki's take on drowsy driver detection), blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, and a reversing camera.

If, despite all that, a crash is unavoidable the airbag count runs to six (front, front side, and side curtain), plus there are three top tethers for child seats/baby capsules across the rear row, with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

The Renault Megane RS range is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which adds some peace of mind for owners.

Further, the service intervals are generous, at 12 months/20,000km - though the brand states the Megane RS is actually “subject to adaptive servicing requirements” as the oil condition sensor may trigger a service check requirement prior to the standard intervals.

Unlike other Renault models with a five-year capped price servicing plan, the Megane RS is only covered for three years/60,000km. The service costs for the EDC dual-clutch auto models are higher than the manual versions, due to replacement transmission oil being needed (adding $400 to the first service). 

The costs for the first three services are: $799 (12 months/20,000km); $299 (24 months/40,000km); $399 (36 months/60,000km). Consumables beyond those service intervals include: every 24 months or 20,000km - air filter replacement ($49) and pollen filter replacement ($63); every 48 months or 60,000km - accessory belt replacement ($306). Spark plugs are included at no cost, due every 36 months/60,000km.

The car is backed for up to four years of roadside assistance when serviced within the Renault dealership/service network.

Suzuki covers the Swift with a five year/unlimited km warranty, which is cost-of-entry now in the mainstream market. Roadside assistance is renewed annually for up to five years if the car is serviced at an authorised Suzuki dealer.

Speaking of which, service is scheduled for 12 month/15,000km intervals, with costs capped for five years/100,000km. The average annual figure over that period is $293, which is competitive in the small car class.