Something a little unusual for our readers this month, something more than a little cheeky and playful and something a little fanciful perhaps, but certainly a powerful demonstration of intent.
Intent of what? A comeback, a French Renaissance if you like.
Renault is back and its better than it’s been before, with a product line-up that is as formidable as it is surprising.
From a fleet perspective, the brand has an eclectic selection covering the conventional and non with a comprehensive vehicle range, with the halo product – the Megane R.S 280 hatchback.
Which is a nice segue into the ‘cheeky, playful and fanciful’ vehicle mentioned earlier.
Hampton Downs raceway was the launch venue for the Megane R.S 280 – quite possibly the most sophisticated hot hatch available – in terms of suspension refinement anyway.
We’ll admit to a little indulgence here, after all, hot hatches are not usually NZ Company Vehicle fare, but the Megane R.S 280 has a sensible side, which could see it – potentially (and with a very long bow drawn) – take its place as a hatchback in a fleet near you.
The Megane R.S 280 is at home in pole position or taking a chequered flag in its natural hunting ground, but it could be just as easily seen parked atop Auckland’s coat-hanger car park, down at the local chippie or on the school run (it’ll impress there!)
So what’s so clever about the Megane R.S 280? It does have an unusual suspension set-up for starters.
This four-cylinder, 1.8 turbo-petrol hatch incorporates 4CONTROL technology, a four-wheel steering system which offers super-efficient low speed handling and impressive cornering agility when you, hmm, want to play.
At low speeds of up to 60km/h the front wheels and the rear turn opposite to each other – up to 2.7 degrees at the rear. At higher speeds, the front and rear wheels both turn in the same direction, limited to a one-degree angle on the rear.
Two chassis set-ups are available; Sport with hydraulic compression stops, which is available on both the six-speed manual and the six-speed dual clutch automatic, and Cup – available as an option on the manual version only – which adds a Torsen limited slip differential, upgraded brakes and custom springs and shock absorbers.
Impressed so far? Wait, there’s more. Both manual and automatic versions have Multi Sense driving modes which in English means drivers can choose between Comfort, Normal, Sport and Race modes, this last being designed for track work only.
And yes, Renault means it. Unlike other ‘drive modes’ which are often all show and no go, the Megane R.S system does as advertised.
There is more to tell about the Megane R.S but we’ll cover it off in a later edition – we can tell you the Megane R.S starts at $59,990 which – for a hot hatch – is seriously competitive.
After a quiet word with Henry Belt, managing director of Renault New Zealand, we learned that Renault has spent the best part of a year consolidating its passenger and commercial models.
The brand has two EV models available, one passenger and one commercial, two SUVs in the form of the Captur and Koleos, the Megane GT and RS hatchbacks and a light commercial offering including the Kangoo city van, Trafic small vans and the Master mega vans.
Belt made no bones about the direction Renault is heading this year, anticipating 45 percent of the brand’s business will be in passenger vehicle sales and 55 percent commercial vehicles.
If you were thinking this Renault renaissance was a revisit to previous relaunches of the brand, you might want to think again.
