Clio III/Megane II

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Wed 4 Apr 2007 14:01
Clio III/Megane II - y2k+4
Shockingly my local dealer doesn't have any Megane's to test drive! Has anyone driven both a Megane and a new Clio and would be able to compare for me? (I know it's not ideal, but if the Megane is thought to be decent, I'll make the hour journey to the second-closest Renault dealer...)
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Wed 4 Apr 2007 16:05
Clio III/Megane II - cheddar
I have driven a Megane II 1.6 petrol and I found it had a good ride / handling balance and a crisp free revving engine. Not driven a Clio III yet though planning to.
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Wed 4 Apr 2007 16:32
Clio III/Megane II - oldtoffee
I had booked a Clio for a hire car last week but as they kept me waiting so long at the desk at Malaga I asked for and got a Megane which was usefully bigger. It was the 1.5dci 86 bhp, sedan and I was very impressed. Two things impressed most - the ride comfort and the smoothness of the gutsy engine. It was incredibly smooth and whisper quiet on the (good quality) motorway from Malaga to Marbella and on the roads outside of town was superb over the pot holes and uneven surfaces. On the road (up a mountain) to Rhonda it had plenty of go and hustling it back down again was enjoyable, nice safe handling and plenty of grip. Steering was IMO a bit light and suspension quite soft which meant a fair bit of rock and roll but if that's the trade off for such a smooth ride I'll take it. Seats were comfy, could have done with a bit more support under my thigh (I'm 6'1"), interior was a bit drab the soft touch plastics looked rock hard and the stereo was pants. The keyless ignition wasn't entirely consistent with the way it started and stopped each time, there wasn't a manual to refer to but it worked. I was expecting the rain sensitive wipers and auto headlights to be a pain but they worked really well. According to the computer I averaged 5.5 litres per 100km over roughly one and a half tanks which I reckon is 52mpg, not bad considering the impolite way I drove it and it only had 1500km on it when I picked it up.

Going back again in June and I'll see what the Clio is like as we'll be replacing SWMBO's Picanto next year and she was asking questions about how much the Megane costs - she hates the boot of the hatch but liked the sedan.

My tip for hiring a car at Malaga and not wasting an hour and a half - get off the plane asap, one person waist at the carousel to pick up the luggage the other sprints for the hire car desk.
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Wed 4 Apr 2007 16:49
Clio III/Megane II - DP
I ran an 05 Megane 1.5 dCi 106 Dynamique Sport Tourer (just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) as a company car for 6 months and it was a very pleasant car. Smooth, effortlessly punchy and returned between 52 and 58 mpg with motorway and A-road use. I wasn't particularly gentle with it either.

Lovely seats, generous spec and low noise levels made it a pleasure to take on a long run. Nowhere near as dynamically capable as my previous Focus, but neither was it as noisy or uncomfortable. If they'd given the steering some feel, it would have felt a heck of a lot better, but I guess people aren't fussed about things like this any more.

Build quality seemed good on mine, but I only put 9k on it, so it was hard to tell. Had an intermittent problem with the traction control warning light coming on, together with SERVICE, but it didn't stop the car working so I ignored it. Renault Card / push button start, engine and the remaining electrics were absolutely faultless in the time I had it.

Cheers
DP
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Wed 4 Apr 2007 23:45
Clio III/Megane II - y2k+4
Thanks to all who posted. Was seriously considering the Megane, but I've got such a good deal on an 06 Focus TDCi 110 from motorpoint I couldn't pass it up on the possibility the Megane might be a good drive - and it was more expensive, and I'd never entirely trust it to work completely...thanks again to all.
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