There
are only two car design chiefs in the world dare to break the mould -
BMW’s
Chris Bangle and Renault’s Patrick Le Quement. While Chris Bangle
always
received criticism, Patrick Le Quement seems more successful. Le
Quement’s
styling revolution comes step by step - in the beginning, the Clio
introduced
just a new face, then the Laguna II introduced a coupe-like shape.
Avantime
was the first real revolution, which pioneered a new body shape,
although
it was just a small-scale experiment. Vel Satis brought the experiment
to larger scale, but unfortunately the execution was very
disappointing.
Nevertheless, Le Quement finally completed his styling revolution in
the
Megane II, which is easily the most revolutionarily-styled family
hatchback
for 2 or 3 decades.
The most special about Megane II is a dramatic tail. Evolving from Avantime, the tail features a near-vertical rear window and a curvy boot lid extended out to the extent that the car looks like a 2-and-a-half-box car. Combine with the strong shoulder line and clean graphical details, the Megane looks like a piece of sculpture. While conventional hatchbacks are 2D tin-boxes, the Megane is a 3D sculpture. Some may argue that such a tail design brings no benefit to cargo volume, or even deteriorates that, but here I am fully agree with Le Quement’s view: it’s time to have a change. For a special styling, a little bit (if not too much) sacrifice in practicality is worthwhile. No wonder some designers said the Megane will influence all future family hatch designs and take the industry into "post-Megane era". Nevertheless, in heart and bones the Megane II is actually very conventional. Although the platform is all-new, it still rides on MacPherson struts and torsion-beam axle suspensions. It is a large car in the segment, having a long wheelbase of 2620mm (marginally longer than Ford Focus). However, the rear cabin is actually very tight, a strange thing. Tall people will find legroom limited. Like the Vel Satis, Megane didn’t materialize its potential packaging advantages. Luckily, the cabin is still a nice place to be in, thanks to the clean dashboard, high-spec equipment and Volkswagen-matching high-quality materials. Using semi-independent suspensions means the Megane II fails to match Ford Focus for driver appeal as well as ride quality. At low speed, the suspension feels firm and any bumps generate too much shocks and noise. This improves greatly as speed increase. However, pushing it too hard in corners sees body roll build up and understeer set in. All these come earlier than Focus and Peugeot 307, though later than Golf. The steering is another disappointment. As you can guess from its cost-saving fully-electric assistance, steering feel is artificial. Although it is actually very precise, the aggressive self-centering force is annoying. In short, the Megane is just average in driving pleasure. In contrast, powertrain is good by class standard. Renault’s 1.6-litre (115hp) and 2.0-litre (136hp) petrol engines are now added with continuous variable valve timing thus both are torquey enough, with 90% of maximum torque from just 2000rpm. In the diesel side, 1.5dCi (80hp) is obviously underpowered for the Megane, but 1.9dCi (from Laguna) is fast and perfectly refined. 120hp and 199lbft mating with a slick 6-speed manual gearbox (supplied by Nissan) guarantees a sub-10 seconds 0-60mph acceleration as well as strong sales. Megane
shines in packaging rather than engineering. Its design and quality
makes
our benchmark Focus almost look dated, but in nearly all objective
aspects
it loses to the Ford - ride, handling and cabin space. Focus is still
the
class leader. |
The above report was last updated on 19 Nov 2002. All Rights Reserved. |
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