Renault Megane vs Zeekr X (awd)

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 Zeekr X all-wheel drive surprised me in a great way. Not only is this the first Zeekr I've driven, it's also one of the best small electric SUVs I've ever driven. There's so much to like - from the good price and quality design to the high level of safety and how easy it is to drive.

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.

More than interesting, the design of the Zeekr X is intriguing with styling that ranges from 'ooohhhh' when you see it from the front to 'huh?' when you catch it in side profile. 

The nose design, to me anyway, looks exquisite - Porsche-SUV-like in its sporty and luxurious shape and the way the LED running lights are embedded into the bonnet is different and so special it probably makes some prestige brands a bit envious.

That side profile also looks pretty pleasing to me, until I reach that rear quarter where suddenly I feel I’m looking at panel shapes so oddly combined it’s like a puzzle with just five pieces and all of them in the wrong place.

The rear of the X looks good, but more importantly unique compared to the same templated styling many SUVs tend to safely stick to.

Zeekr and Volvo are owned by the massive Chinese car manufacturer Geely and the X is closely related to Volvo’s EX30. Once you know this you’ll see the similarities in the looks, although the less conservatively styled X is more appealing to me.

The X is also 100mm longer and all of that extra length is in the wheelbase which is 2750mm. As for the rest of the key dimensions, the overall length is 4432mm, the height is 1572mm and the width is 1836mm. So, a fairly small car.

The X’s interior is as intriguing as its exterior with the AWD version on test fitted with the no-cost option 'Mulberry & Rose' two-tone upholstery - a colour combination of maroon and off-white which you don’t see often unless it's a bespoke choice in a high-end car.

No, it’s not leather, but I don’t think this upholstery doesn't feel cheap or ‘plasticky’ as some synthetic leather interiors do.   

There are high quality touches throughout, from the dotted city scape of Hangzhou where Zeekr is headquartered that glows through the door trim fabric at night to the embossed Zeekr pull tabs on the seats.

The X’s interior feels luxurious and the styling is outstanding.

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. 

Small cars don’t generally have the practicality of larger ones because of the obvious space limitations but the Zeekr X has a long wheelbase for the class (longer than the Mitsubishi Outlander’s) making it roomy compared to rivals.

Second row head- and legroom is good and even at 189cm tall I can sit behind my driving position. Back there are two cupholders in the fold down centre armrest, directional air vents in the pillars and bottle holders in the doors. 

Back seat downsides? No USB ports and the way the rear door sill kicks up means my two children (both under 10 years old) can’t see out of their windows well.

Up front space is good with plenty of elbow and foot room. Storage is good, too, with big door pockets, a couple of cupholders, a deep centre console bin and even a hook for a handbag or to hang a takeaway bag. There are USB ports up front and a wireless phone charger, too.

Front seat downsides? No glove box, and while we're at it the panoramic glass roof doesn’t have a sun shade and even though it is tinted I found that over summer in Australia the car heated up quickly and I’ve even had to wear a hat while driving to keep the sun off my head and face. 

The Zeekr X has a decent-for-the-class 362L rear boot capacity and a tiny 21L front boot which is where the charging cable lives.

The Zeekr X tested is the top-of-the-range all-wheel drive which lists for $64,900. The only other variant in the X model line-up is the rear-wheel drive which lists for $56,900.

Sure, $65K might seem a lot for what is a small SUV, but the X AWD is reasonably priced compared to rivals like the tinier Smart #1 for $58,900, its Volvo EX30 Performance Ultra twin for $69,990 and the Xpeng Long Range for $59,800.

We’ll get to the technical specs soon, but the all-wheel drive variant offers more than just AWD, there’s also more standard features than the RWD.

The RWD X comes with two-tone body colour with a black roof, a panoramic glass roof, a six-way power driver’s seat, an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster and a 14.6-inch media screen.

There’s also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a seven-speaker audio system, dual-zone climate control and wireless phone charging.

The AWD has all of the RWD’s features and adds 20-inch alloy wheels, a 24.3-inch head-up display, an intelligent B-pillar which provides information on charging, a power adjustable front passenger seat, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 13-speaker Yamaha stereo and LED ambient lighting.   

The RWD has just one motor while the AWD has two and more power, which we’ll cover soon.

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. 

On test is the all-wheel drive version of the Zeekr X which has two motors while the rear-wheel drive has just one.

Two motors brings the AWD variant more power and torque than the RWD. A lot more. Zeekr’s specs state the combined output for the AWD is 315kW and 543Nm, while the RWD has 200kW and 343Nm.

Good traction and plenty of grunt means the AWD can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, while the RWD gets there in a respectable time of 5.6 seconds.

Electric cars are known for their rapid acceleration but just to put those numbers in context, a new base model Porsche 911 ($280K) has 290kW and 450Nm and does 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds.

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. 

The Zeekr X all-wheel drive has a range of up to 470km (WLTP), but if anything under 500km already has you twitching with anxiety, the rear-wheel drive's 540km range might alleviate some of that.

We found the range of the AWD to be fine for the city, but also learnt that we chewed through a lot of energy at an average of 18.4kWh/100km according to the trip computer.

Zeekr says after a combination of open and urban roads you’ll likely use 15.5kWh/100km, but you’d need to be a smooth driver that’s not tempted to test the acceleration at every traffic light and drain the battery.

Speaking of which, the Zeekr X has a 66kWh battery with a DC charging capacity of 150kW and at that rate can be charged from 10-80 percent in about 30 minutes. 

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!

In short, the Zeekr X is outstanding to drive for the class - it’s composed, comfortable as well as easy and fun to pilot. 

Everything feels good - from the steering and the pedals to the seats and visibility.

The tech works well - the head-up display is large and shows directions and speed clearly, and the shifter being on the steering column makes three-point turns and just getting out of car parking spaces easy.

The acceleration is ridiculously good, but that novelty wears off after you’ve shown everybody in your family, which is why it’s lucky it's not the only thing this small SUV does really well.

While it’s not as spacious as the other large SUV I was testing at the time - the Zeekr X’s short length means it was the car I picked if I needed to go somewhere close where I knew parking spaces would be a bit squeezy.

The Zeekr X scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating under the stringent 2024 criteria with a high 91 per cent for adult occupant protection and an impressive 87 per cent for child occupant protection.

The advanced safety tech is also impressive with AEB that not only detect pedestrians, cyclists and other cars on a straight road but also while turning at junctions and T intersections.

There’s lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning, front and rear cross-traffic alert and airbags covering the front and rear occupants including a front centre airbag.

I used the Zeekr X to drive my own kids around and for child seats there are three top tether anchor points and two ISOFIX mounts in the second row. 

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.

The X is covered by Zeekr’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty while the drive battery has an eight-year, 160,000km warranty. Roadside assistance and connected services are also offered for five years.

Servicing is recommended every two years or 40,000km. 

Service pricing is $690 at two years/40,000km and $1420 at the four-year/80,000km mark, which covers the warranty period. For reference, the same $690/$1420 sequence is repeated at the six-year/120,000km and eight-year 160,000km intervals.