The outgoing Megane Coupe always came across as nothing more than a slicked-back rendition of the polarising hatchback on which it was based. The new coupe is a design all its own, and serves as the stylistic showcase for the new platform – a sort of ‘visual backbone’ to the entire revisited range. Confident strokes and bold colours collide with experimental shapes and the adoption of a more flamboyant corporate nose. It’s a pretty picture and we like it. Unfortunately this is precisely where it all falls apart, since for propulsion Renault has launched it with a flaccid 1.6-litre four-pot excuse of an engine.
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Agree on miguel
it's such a nice thing to see a review like this. however, you should check out for the right time. Just visited Alabama auto repair outlet in our place in coupe has been reviewed several months ago. i guess you come up with it that late. any way thanks for sharing your own opinion to the public.
Glad
Im glad you liked my article Helen. It´s just a general information All the best for you.
following the top best seller cars
Following the top best selling cars in Portugal related to December 2010:
11- Fiat Punto - 12 - Toyota Yaris - 13 - Mazda 3 - 14 - Fiat Panda and 15 - Ford Mondeo
Porugal is sinking in a huge
Porugal is sinking in a huge economical political and social crisis. In sipe of that new car sales rose 35% in December last year, 2010. Here the top to best selling cars in taht month:
1 - Renault Mégane 2 - Ford Fiesta 3- Opel Corsa 4 - Renault Clio
5 - Ford Focus 6 - Nissan quasqai 7 - Peugeot 207 8 - Opel Astra
9 - Citroen C4 10 - VW Golf VI
TopCar
...is an also-ran publication anyway.
@Topcar
You've brought so much depth and insight to this particular debate. Thank you
@Too biased
OF COURSE CAR MAGAZINE LOVED THIS CAR - They will say anything if the money is right. This car, ok it doesnt deserve to be driven into a lake, but... lotta fundamentals missing here.. geez, u think this article is harsh, read something out of a international magazine - where the folks dont give a toss about the over sensitiv3e manufacturers. Well done on some objectivity! And i'm sure in RS form it will be a very different story!
I agree with him, does that mean i get bashed too?
Ja the writer is obviously a bit biased, but then so are MANY of the Renault (first time, LAST TIME) owners i know... and seriously, it DOES look good, but if a car looks THIS good then does 0-100 in 11seconds id be EMBARRASSED!! Guess wot, Renault is NOT there yet.. and yea, i'd take a base scirocco over this ANY day, and sure.. even the Kia.
Koup a better buy
At R210 000 The Cerato Koup offers a 115kw 2000cc motor. My guess is that even with the weight of that extra R14000 in his back pocket the Kia driver would kick serious French butt here.
In this niche market the choice is quite obvious
radical Renault
Say what you like about Renault, they offer true French flair and something different, we all were skeptical about the Megane but it caught on, Vel Satis even more different but lets forget that one. Shame that most SA buyers will opt for German badges
kevin_overseas
poor article
This article should have been written with an objective point of view, i think the journalist (if he is one) wrote this by scanning previous Renault articles, they (Renault) have in fact made huge strides in improving their service delivery to South Africa lately.
I just wish that he would have done some proper research.
Think and ink
Firstly i agree that Renualt has improved its service over the past while, and their investment in the Rosslyn plant will only make things better. What i don't agree with is that the article should be written objectively, the author is trying to tell you his experience of the car, not what the manufacturer wants you to hear about the car. Too many publications pander to manufacturers to secure advertising, i say congrats to the author for giving his account on what he felt.
I do like this Renault Coupe, it's stunning to look at but as far as i can think the only other similar cars in this class would be the Scirocco and Mito and both have much more powerful engines, i think he's just saying stick away from the 1.6 slow, unless you want to save fuel like the writer below.
...er, Calvin?
How can you make such sweeping comments about bits falling off, failing or going wrong? You have no basis for saying it. If you want to know about "quality", take a look at my boyfriends Golf 5 GTI which replaced his previous G5 GTI because that one broke down. This GTI has rattles that annoy us both, plastics are falling off, his right rear door refuses to unlock, and now there is something wrong with the engine. But I bet you would still advocate VW because it is a "known brand".
Furthermore, this 1.6 is EXACTLY on par with every other 1.6 in this segment. The only difference is that this model looks the part as opposed to other brands that seem to be designed with all the imagination of a bar of soap.
Also, I have no intention of outperforming other motorists. I drive for fuel economy anyway.
Being scathing about Renault is small minded and so passe.....brand snobbery should only be reserved for the uneducated masses......not a professional journalist.
Well said!
Well said!
Trying to be too funny
I agree with, Trevor, Too Biased and Too late.
The author it seems, is trying to be too funny in pointing out the negatives in this car. To harp on about the fact that he couldn't get his tunes (Bohemian Rhapsody?) to his right tastes is both irritating and trivial. What he thinks is the wrong level of base, volume etc could be just right for someone else.
This is a fantastic looking car as has performance on par with the rest of competitors out there.
"That’s until service time, or something’s fallen off, or you need to replace a piece of that fantastic audible electronic veil in the cabin, or mercifully the TomTom nav unit points you into a lake."
Come one do us a favour, this is ridiculous. What other car in this segment even comes with a SatNav deivce standard. As for service, I've had outrageous service from VW when I owned a Polo, and downright shocking from BMW since owning a Mini. (Both my wife's cars)
A little more fact and a little less subjective crap.....please. And can someone from TopCar please tell me why it is not possible to have the entire article on one page. Having to scroll through 4-5 pages to read an article in full is just stupid. The point of the internet is up to date content, quickly, having to load page after page to read an article is disruptive to the reader, who can't go back to something written earlier fro reference without having to load a new page, after which you can't remember what it was you were to referring to.
Your magazine on the other hand is top notch!
Trevor
All the negative comments that the author mentions can be copied and pasted to almost all 1.6 liter cars in this class. When the Golf 6 came out, they pretended like the donkey 1.6 does not exist they never have a review on it cause its pure crap. This car is the better of all the 1.6 cars in its class. He goes on and complains about the car warning you that the door is still opened, seatbelt not yet fastened, and petrol light. What type of a journalist blames a car of being smart and safe. If this was on an Audi or VW, they would be mentioning how it makes the car to be good. What a crappy review.
I don’t drive a Renault but a BMW 1 Series, but this car is good.
Too biased
I find that the author of this article is too biased. The whole time reading it, he had negative comments, the only main positive is its looks? Especially the last paragraph. CAR magazine and other publications mostly praised this car and their biggest gripe was the rearward visibility (which the author didn't even mention) and space in the back (which he also didn't mention).
I think that he doesn't like Renault, and couldn't find much fault so he looked for problems. I test drove one for a week, and believe me this is one magic car.
Too late
This car was launched last year and you testing now?
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