17 Jan 06
It's quite a return for Renault's bargain £63m investment in the facelift. That 1.5-litre dCi complements it just as well as the 2.0-litre dCi too, with a sweet, refined nature offering more pleasing punch than that 2.0-litre petrol it's priced alongside. Plus, it achieves 60.1mpg combined. This is a no-brainer choice - and forget that 1.5-litres sound "small".
Indeed, the petrol engine range as a whole lags behind diesel by some degree - making it surprising that 60% of all Meganes sold are fuelled by unleaded. That's the Megane's slight bias towards private buyers coming into play: there's less inclination to pay the extra premium diesels command, despite their superiority.
There are rivals that drive, are built and use space better. But only Citroen's C4 and Honda's Civic are more visually distinctive and the Megane, with prices unchanged from before, is certainly one of the best-value cars in its class.
We'd still take a Focus or Golf, but we'd be paying more to do so. And UK buyers evidently like the Megane, warts and all.
That it's now a better car can only be for the good.
