What starts at £15,485, is like a Renault Mégane at the front but an estate at the back, made its debut at
Geneva earlier this year, and can be bought from today (August 21)?
It's the Renault Mégane ST, of course. See, we know how to build up suspense. If you're thinking about buying one - and there's no reason why you shouldn't be, as you'll see from our
first drive - here's some information you might find useful.
There's a bevy of models to choose from, with four trim levels at your disposal: Expression, Dynamique, TomTom Edition and Privilege. Your £15,485 will get you a 1.6-litre, 111bhp petrol engine, wrapped nicely in the big-booted body of an Expression level car - which despite being a base model still gets electric rear windows, air conditioning and roof bars, along with more standard stuff like a kerbside wing mirror and grab handles.
Dynamique trim - the big seller - adds Bluetooth, 16-inch alloys, automatic wipers and an iPod socket, then the TomTom edition bags you a Garmin satnav. The French love their irony.
Top whack Privilege cars get dual-zone climate, electric folding mirrors and a rear armrest, because lower-middle class children don't deserve to rest one of their arms. That version is £22,785. Renault will introduce a further trim level called Extreme in Autumn, but for now 21 models is your lot.
The TomTom edition includes a TomTom by the way, just to avoid complaints.
Mark Nichol - 21 Aug 2009