Renault facelifts Megane

AS midlife facelifts go, Renault has taken a less is more approach to updates for the stylish Megane hatch and sedan.

The hatch has been smoothed off, more kit has been added and a new Euro4-compliant turbo-diesel joins the engine lineup, bring to three the number of diesels available in Europe.

The latest turbo-diesel 2.0-litre dCi four-cylinder joins the 1.5 cDi and 1.9 cDi and takes a distinctly sporty approach to power and torque, delivering 112kW at 4000rpm with torque of 340Nm at 2000rpm.

Combined with a new six-speed manual gearbox, the diesel offers a wide spread of torque with exceptionally low acoustic levels.

The 2.0 cDi sprints to 100km/h in a slick 8.7 seconds and delivers a combined fuel consumption figure of 5.4L/100km.

The normally aspirated and turbocharged Euro4- compliant 2.0-litre fours carry over unchanged.

The new Megane line-up is expected to arrive in Australia in the third quarter of 2006 and Renault Australia has confirmed it is investigating the possibility of adding a new 2.0-litre turbo-diesel to the lineup.

The new diesel, which is a joint-venture engine between Renault and Nissan could also appear in the Scenic and Grand Scenic as well as some Nissan products.

Visually the Megane gains a new, sharper looking V-shaped grille with a larger air intake and improved elliptical headlights, while the foglights are now located further outwards, as on the RenaultSport.

The hatch’s individual J-Lo rump remains but the tail-lights now have translucent light clusters with parallel horizontal lines.

Equipment levels have been improved with parking proximity sensors, an improved climate-control system, "flat blade" windscreen wipers, active carbon cabin filter and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Paramount among the cabin improvements are bigger keypoints on the radio/CD controls.

Along with the car’s five-star EuroNCAP crash rating, all Meganes come with the latest-generation 8.0 Bosch ABS, complete with electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist.

Electronic stability program with understeer control is also available in Europe, complemented by ASR traction control and an engine torque over-run regulation function.