Price: £16,950
Top speed: 116mph
0-62mph: 11.3 seconds
MPG: 76.4
CO2: 96g/km
“You write about cars? What? For a job? That is hilarious!” I’m not sure how to respond to this. I’m at a dinner party with some old friends and their neighbour has arrived. The woman, married to an accountant (“Giles, he writes about cars, for heaven’s sake!”) can’t get her head around the fact that I’m not a CEO or something. Finally, she stops guffawing she asks me her most penetrating question: “Go on then, what’s the best car?” I’m not sure how to respond. Does she mean best for comfort? Or speed? Endurance? Towing pigs to market? After a long pause during which I fantasise about accidentally pouring my red wine over her white jeans, I say: “The new Renault Mégane.” Her eyes widen and she roars with disbelief.
Of course a Renault Mégane is not the best car. But Renault is having a bit of a moment. Last month, the annual Auto Express Driver Power results were published. The most comprehensive car satisfaction survey in the UK, it has been dominated for years by Lexus. But this year, for the first time, Renault topped the polls, with sister company Dacia second. Lexus were knocked into third.
One of the key models that has played a big part in Renault’s renaissance is the new Mégane. It’s not as outlandish as in previous years (remember the old model’s outrageous vertical rear window?), but this one still abounds with crisp lines and confident flourishes. It has daring C-shaped daytime running lights and stand-out signature rear lamps. The car is shorter and wider than before, too. Being shorter and wider is bad in almost every walk of life, but in a car it imbues a vehicle with a sense of muscular purpose.
There are four engines on offer, but it’s the 108bhp 1.5-litre diesel that is set to be the big seller, and with an economy figure that tops 75mpg it’s easy to see why. However, it’s with the interior that the French marque has worked hardest. Gone are the humdrum materials; it’s all leather and soft-touch rubbers now. The car is better equipped now, with DAB radio and alloy wheels fitted as standard. It also comes bolstered with safety technology, including adaptive cruise control, emergency braking and lane-departure systems. It can even park itself.
The stand-out interior feature is the vast touchscreen infotainment screen. The iPad-like screen is mounted portrait rather than landscape (Renault pinched the idea from Volvo and Tesla), which means you get much more space to scroll your maps and music, etc. It can be split into different views and responds to both voice and gesture commands.
Later at the party, I bump into the woman in white jeans again. It turns out she’s in the market for a new car. “So,” she asks sheepishly, “You’d recommend the Mégane?”
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
