| A Week at the Wheel | Bucks, England | Renault Mégane Sport Tourer |

Inside & Out:

The Renault Mégane hatchback in both three- and five-door form is best known for 'that ass', yet the brave styling has been well received. This makes it harder to understand why the Sport Tourer (estate to you and me) is so conservatively styled. The Sport Tourer is smart enough. but lacks the look-at-me factor of the hatchback range. So the estate is no only the Mégane for the driver who needs more carrying capacity, but also the Mégane for the shy, retiring type perhaps.

The conservative theme is carried over on the inside of the Mégane as well, the whole interior a sombre charcoal colour with very little relief bar the beige headlining. Only the handbrake - a wacky, asymmetric grab-handle emanating from the centre console - gave away the Mégane's designers penchant to be different. Most important though, given that this is an estate car, is the space available. Renault claims that the 520-litre boot capacity is the largest in its class.

Engine & Transmission:

The Mégane range is available with a multitude of petrol and diesel engines, the 16-valve 2.0-litre dCi 150 sitting at the top of the diesel range developing 148bhp at 4,000rpm and 251lb.ft of torque at just 2,000rpm. A six-speed manual gearbox is the only option available with this engine, although an automatic option can be fitted to the less powerful diesel engines in the range. The feeling was that the test car's engine was inferior to many other modern diesels, the power band too narrow and the car sluggish much below 2,000rpm, then suddenly all the torque arrives.

This gives impressive looking on-paper performance though, with 0-62mph in just 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 130mph suggesting a pretty quick car. Yet on the road the driver has to keep the revs up in order to make the kind of progress the paper figures suggest, and the narrow power band means that it really does need all six gears - and a lot of gear changing if you are in any hurry. It's worth noting that the dCi 130 engine previously tested was curiously quieter.

Ride & Handling:

The French seem to have a knack of producing cars with a soft, supple ride that still handles like a much more stiffly sprung car, and this Mégane is no exception. Despite featuring decently proportioned alloys, the tyres are not particularly of low profile, which surely must help the ride. Roads you know are bumpy seemed to have been repaired, while smooth roads like motorways are almost magic carpet-like. Throw the Mégane at corners and it clings to the road, corners quickly and doesn't throw the passengers around.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

At nearly nineteen grand, this Mégane is priced right near the top of the range, but there's a decent amount of car for the money. Dynamique trim level brings all the basics: manual air conditioning, a CD-tuner, alloy wheels, electric heated mirrors, and the keyless Renault card (which is a mixed blessing). And of course, with Renault's emphasis on safety, there are airbags everywhere. This Mégane records a combined cycle figure of 51.4mpg too and, unlike many, this was readily achievable in normal driving.

Overall:

The Mégane Sport Tourer places a premium on its safety reputation. It's a decent enough size too and rides very well. It's a shame the engine is noisy and sluggish off-boost and the equipment levels a bit tight for the money, but the quality is comparable to that of rivals.