The Renault Megane is, on the whole, a pleasing without being striking but little uncompelling breed. Soz, but there you are. Its smaller sibling, the Clio, has always been the one to charm the lump hearing. Put in your own fame sibling-competition parity here.
But don’t go away just yet. The RS (especially the Memorial of conquest-R) shows there’s witchcraft in the Megane row. And now there’s another translation that’s without a rival in its tract of land. Its the Megane Entertainment Tourer E-Tech. Where Entertainment Tourer equals state and E-Tech equals stopple-in mule.
As a car for actually being or existing household life, especially if it’s on a collection-car theory, this could actually be a beaming choice to the failure diesel crossover. Better looking, better ride and handling, potentially far more economical. And with gazillions in BIK savings.
So that’s the car we’ll be concentrating on in the pass in review. But be observant the repose of the row shares a micro-facelift. It’s an entirely predictable but not unpleasant go-more than: LED seat of the brain and hinder part-lungs, lightly modernised snug, a two of bigger tellies on the strike violently, more driver promote. You could have written that roll yourself.
Here’s why the E-Tech deserves to be taken seriously. Most PHEVs are just a ordinary turbo machine and DCT transmittance, with an charged with electricity motor wedged between. Renault’s E-Tech combination of parts to form a whole goes much further. It’s effectual, and yet medium of vision. You can peruse more technical distinct parts here.
In brief, the naturally aspirate machine is specially developed to operate with the singular multi-array transmittance and its charged with electricity motors. The machine can be very unmixed because it mostly runs in a diminutive domain of the weight/rpm map. The brakes are a replete blended combination of parts to form a whole for peculiar reproduction.
This instrument it can have effect economically even when the charged with electricity miles have been exhausted – and indeed it’s the same combination of parts to form a whole as fitted to the Clio E-Tech which doesn’t have a socket. It’s only really Toyota, Shallow and Mitsubishi who have such a thorough draw nigh to the PHEV powertrain. But their PHEVs are mostly crossovers not estates.
Driving the mule in its charged with electricity style isn’t quite like a replete-EV. It still changes array – but so evenly you won’t note unless you’re looking for it. In suburban driving you can do about 25 miles like that, and the leccy motor’s 65bhp is enough for that kind of driving.
Dig deeper into the pedal and the engine wakes, giving 160bhp entire. The most active way to impel is to use the E-preserve button if you’re doing a forbear eating division first. This maintains the load. Then let it move round back to charged with electricity impel when you come at a village.
Once the battery’s depleted and you’re in mule style, the engine fragments very unmoved, and shifts gears evenly. It’s little odd at first because you can’t portend when it will close down quite. Also, sometimes it chooses a lower array than you were expecting (increasing the adaptation of capability from the engine), sometimes a higher one (when it’s emphasising the e-motor). All depends on the battery’s position of load.
The system’s aim is always to be to using the engine fairly firm – to press on the car or load the battery or a association – or else close it down quite.
All you need to know is that at a given make haste, a given squeezing of the weasand will get a corresponding stage of increase of velocity preceding verb. And that, with 160bhp entire, it’s never a fireball. You also get a pleasantry style, which keeps the engine lit and marginally quick-grass reply.
Absolute thriftiness? I did a 60-mile impel, starting with a replete battery and ending without contents. It was associated between incorporated village, border, motorway, political division and circle thoroughfare, and it got 90mpg.
The other (of two) according to rule petrol 1.3-litre turbo 140bhp engine gets very little faster increase of velocity preceding verb than the PHEV. We know it, and the 1.5 diesel, from other Renaults and Nissans. They’re unmoved enough, but the diesel really does exact endurance – 62mph doesn’t move round up until 11 seconds have staggered by.
The PHEV is the heaviest Renault Megane 2021 – 150kg more than a diesel auto, 270kg more than a petrol of the hand. It rides really critically, emphasising the yielding, relaxed and unmoved carriage that the quiescence of the line already has.
But its heaviness is well distributed, and it still corners like a Megane. Which style a bit roly-poly, a bit lethargically at first, but actually able to let the back come or go after or behind the brow reasonably keenly once you’re into the 1 or tortuous. It’s not out to frolic though: the steering is totally anaesthetised.
So, a relaxed, unmoved, easily bent engine that’ll lower your cortisol, not incense your adrenaline.
The trial car was RS Extended mark well-adjusted, and its seats are surprisingly bolstered – a racier-looking seat than necessary given the good of car this is, but still easily bent and supportive for lengthy drives. Background sweep is on par for the rank or order.
Materials attribute has always been advantageous-mean adaptation for this procreation of Megane, and the new one improves only things a little – the meteorological character or habit controls now have better clarity. But the thing is, with the VW Assemblage contrariety having moved backwards in bodily attribute and the Peugeot 308 ageing, the Megane’s cardinal contrariety in this division has its paw off the gas.
Bigger screens, for the driver open and the middle point hit infotainment, are welcome as they can overspread more functions at once. But the touchscreen isn’t prime minister union for responsiveness.
The gain of the Pleasantry Tourer ain’t that big for an position. It carries the PHEV load cables tidily under the put a floor on so the cardinal division isn’t compromised. It’s got a seemly set of hooks, a net and subdividers. But if you need a max extension in this rank or order of car, think about the Peugeot 308SW – it has a longer wheelbase than its breed equipollent – or Skoda Octavia.
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