12 Apr 07
The idea of a diesel hot hatch will go down with most purists like a kick boxing match at a WI meeting, but RenaultSport has a good heritage of producing some serious driving machines from the regular stable of Renault hatchbacks, and has aimed to do the same with the RenaultSport Megane dCi 175, which has a 2.0-litre turbodiesel with 172bhp and a big 266lb-ft slug of torque.
Visually, it's identical to other hot Meganes - except for the omission of the small tail spoiler - so unless you spot the driver reaching for the black pump at the petrol station, you'd never know it was a diesel.
It doesn't even have the usual telltale diesel clatter; the dCi 175 is one of the quietest and most refined diesels around. But hang on - hot hatches aren't about refinement and easy cruising, they're about hooning down country lanes, leaving the local wildlife cowering in the hedgerows.
