When is an estate car not really an estate car? When it’s a Renault Grand Megane – an estate that does all an estate needs to do without looking or feeling like one.
Few people really want to drive an estate car. I know of one, but he likes other weird stuff to. You’d never think it to look at him but he’s a world expert on beetles. Estate cars are great for carrying his huge collection around, he says. “Around to where?” I’ve thought, but never asked.
For most people, driving an estate equates with growing up and being sensible. And the teary reaction of men watching Toy Story 3, a film that epitomises the pain of growing up and having to give up your toys, shows that growing up is never easy for us men.
Some women say that men never really grow up. They say it as if not growing up is a bad thing. Of course, they are wrong. They don’t understand that, unlike girls who want to get all serious and behave like an adult as soon as they can, we can see the intrinsic fun to be had whatever your age from playing sport with your mates, or playing with ‘toys’ such as video games, assorted gadgets and cars.
Estate cars are practical, they make a lot of sense. They are the polar opposite of sexy two-seater sports cars. They can carry a family and all the stuff that goes with being part of a family. They can cope with most of the flat-pack stuff you can pick up at Ikea. They are dull. They are cars for grown ups.
Which all goes some way to explain why the Renault Grand Megane is not called the Renault Megane Estate.
Renault Meganes seem to come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s just because I’ve been driving one, but I’ve been spotting them everywhere. And it seems that no two are quite the same. They all look similar – there’s no doubting that they’re all Renaults – but there are a number of subtle differences. There are the older ones (the Megane has been around for quite a while by now), then there’s the sporty one, the sleek one, the convertible one.
Lumpy
Given that I’m to spend a week driving a Renault Megane, and I have my Mr Cool image around JOE Towers to keep up, it stands to reason that I’d not really want to drive ‘the lumpy one’. So it’s a relief that the Grand Megane is actually rather elegant.
The French know a thing or two about style, and the attention to detail of the styling is all over this recent addition to their automotive family – from the chunky rhomboid Renault logo that acts as the latch on the boot to the Tetris-like angular rear lights. The cleverest stylistic trick is the tapering of the car’s windows towards the rear. This has the effect of stopping the car appearing boxy at the back – something which has blighted many an estate car over the years.
The particular version of the Grand Megane that I’ve had the pleasure of taking out on the road is the top-of-the-range 1.5 litre DCi 86bhp Tomtom edition. It’s one thing for an estate to not look like an estate, it’s another for it not to drive like an estate. Sure, it feels big and sturdy, but this diesel is also surprisingly agile, responsive and precise (thanks in no small part to the balanced chassis).
It’s an estate… but it’s not
As the ‘Grand’ part of its name suggests, the Grand Megane is bigger than your average Megane. 263 mm longer, to be precise. Not an epic difference, but enough to mean that you’ll not need that bit of string to hold your boot open from time to time.
Another element of the package that’s equally grand is the spec: all models come with air conditioning as standard, there’s an extensive on-board computer that’d keep a gadget fan busy for hours, electric windows and six airbags. I’ve also been able to make the most of cruise control, automatic windscreen wipers and the built-in Tomtom satnav device. Access is by means of the Renault remote control key card that automatically detects you to the point that you don’t even need to take it out of your pocket.
The maximum load of the car when the seats are folded down into the optimum position is a huge 1600 litres, and if the front passenger seat is folded forward it’s possible to fit items into the car up to 2.5m in length.
Will the Grand Megane turn heads? Probably not. If you keep it nicely polished and keep honking your horn and waving to passers by, then maybe yes, but only maybe. But will it cause you to garner looks of pity? Absolutely not, and that’s the crucial thing. Drive the Grand Megane and passers by won’t realise that they’ve just passed by an estate. Hell, if you don’t tell your passengers there’s a chance that they won’t notice either.
Currently there’s a €3300 trade in bonus and €1500 Renault scrappage allowance on any car over eight years old, add to that the government’s current €1500 allowance and you end up with a price of €17,750, which is the exact price of a standard 5-door Megane hatchback.
So if you tick all the right trade-in boxes, it’s possible to bag a bargain. And if it’s finally time to grow up, but you don’t want the world to know, then the Grande Megane might just be the car for you.
The lowdown
Car driven: Renault Grand Megane 1.5 litre DCi 86hp Tomtom edition
Base price: €23,600 plus €450 for metallic paint
0-100km/h: 12.9 seconds
Top speed (where permitted): 175km/h
Fuel economy: 4.5 litres of diesel per 100km
Transmission: 5 speed manual front wheel drive
Tax/VRT band: A (115g CO2 per km)
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
