Convertibles have never been my favourite cars. They’re often noisy, the cloth tops are sometimes a mission to get up and down, and they lack the security offered by a normal car. The recent trend towards hard-tops that fold themselves neatly away into the boot eliminated most of my objections, however, and the new Renault Megane Coupé-Cabriolet has just won my heart, thanks to its versatility, styling and performance, and its extremely competitive price.
Build quality of the Renault is excellent, and the car feels extremely solid on the road — something the French do really well when they try. The dashboard and front seats are identical to those in the other new Megane models, as are the front grille, headlamps and bonnet. Standard equipment includes electric mirrors and windows, very attractive padded roll hoops and a fold-up wind deflector that clips into place behind the front seats to reduce buffeting when the roof’s down. Other nifty and typically French features are headlights that switch themselves on in low light, a headlamp wash system, automatic rain sensors for the windscreen wipers, keyless entry, and an aircon or climate control, depending upon which model you select.
Safety standards are excellent, with the Renault having earned the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing thanks to, amongst other things, wall-to-wall airbags, ABS brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and emergency brake assist.
During the Western Cape launch I drove the two litre Privilege version of the Cabriolet — there’s also a Dynamique 1,6 available, and a Dynamique Plus 1.9 dCi due in March next year. The car I spent time with used a lovely Nissan-sourced six-speed manual gearbox — which it shares with the diesel — while the entry level 1.6 makes do with a five-speed manual shifter. The box was a pleasure to use, shifting crisply with very little travel of the lever.
On paper, the two litre Renault engine is very close to the Peugeot 307CC 100 that I recently criticised for being a disappointing performer. The Renault delivers 98,5 kW at 5 500 rpm versus the 100 kW the Peugeot puts out at 6 000, while the Renault’s torque peak of 191 Nm at 3 750 is not too dissimilar to the Peugeot’s 190 Nm at 4 100 rpm. The Renault’s peak power and torque both occur lower in the rev range than do the Peugeot’s, however — and I believe that this, plus the way the lovely six-speed manual enables you to keep the revs in the grunt zone, makes the Renault feel like twice the car that the auto version of the more expensive Peugeot is. The Renault is by no means a devastatingly quick car though. The factory claims that 100km/hr can be attained in 9,9 seconds, with a top speed of 205km/hr being on the cards. Whatever the numbers, the two litre felt like a satisfactory performer.
The French convertible boasts a folding glass roof, developed by German coach-builders Karmann. The tinted glass panel is 3,15mm thick, and there’s also a screen that can be pulled across below it to offer decent protection from the sun when the roof’s up. To fold the lid away, you need to place a fabric partition in position in the boot, thus separating luggage space from roof stowage, and then depress a switch in the cabin. The boot opens itself up, swallows the roof and then all but burps in satisfaction a mere 22 seconds later, when the job’s completed. With the roof up, luggage space is a healthy 490 litres, shrinking to 190 litres when the top’s stowed away.
The back seats in the Megane Coupé-Cabriolet aren’t the biggest around, but they should keep younger kids happy most of the time, and older occasional passengers will probably be willing to sacrifice some space for the novelty of al fresco motoring.
I really loved the Renault convertible. It’s extremely good looking, it’s very well built, it’s fun to drive, and it’s versatile. And the pricing is very, very good indeed for a car that stands out so well from the crowd. Highly recommended.
The Renault Coupé-Cabriolet Privilege manual as driven retails at R270 000, with the auto costing R12 000 more. The 1,6 litre Dynamique will reduce your bank balance by R240 000, while the Dynamique 1,9 dCi will cost R285 000 when it arrives early next year.