Paris - Renault has given its Megane hatchback some mid-life mascara and a technological reboot in order to face up to the eighth-generation Golf.
Not much has changed from a design perspective, although there is a new front bumper as well as fresh LED headlights and taillights, which are now standard across the board, while Renault has also thrown three new exterior colours into the mix. What’s more, Renault is replacing the GT Line trim grade with the sportier RS Line package that brings various design enhancements inside and out, including a honeycomb lower grille, unique 17” and 18” wheel options as well as more supportive sports seats and alloy pedals.
Inside you’ll find a new 26cm digital instrument cluster and a redesigned climate interface, while the previous 17.8cm central touchscreen makes way for a 23.6cm unit that houses the new Renault Easy Link Connected multi-media system.
The refreshed Megane is offering level 2 autonomous driving too, in the form of its Highway and Traffic Jam system, which combines adaptive cruise control, auto Stop & Go and Lane Centering Assist.
More potent RS, new plug-in-hybrid
On the engine front the most exciting news is an upgrade to the RS model’s 1.8-litre turbo engine, which now produces 220kW in standard guise, which is up 15kW on the previous model. The EDC version also gets an extra 30Nm, for 420Nm in total, versus the 400Nm offered by the manual model. In addition, the performance hatch gains a new RS Monitor, which displays a multitude of vehicle parameters in real time.
Moving to the more sensible powertrain news, Renault has announced a new plug-in hybrid variant of the Megane, which sees a new normally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine paired with two electric motors for a system output of 118W. The 9.8kWh battery allows a theoretical range of up to 50km in mixed conditions on the WLTP cycle.
Most of the petrol models will be powered by Renault’s new-generation 1.3-litre turbopetrol engine in various states of tune from 86kW to 118kW, while the new 1-litre turbopetrol with 120kW will be made available later in the year. Diesel is on the menu two, with Renault offering two versions of its 1.5 dCi unit in Europe.