SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get at home.
Unlike most car reports, what you read in these pages will not be a faithful reproduction, albeit slightly reworded, of what appeared in the manufacturer's press release. We look for background material, user experience and whatever else we can find that's beyond the obvious. Our guiding rule is that you will be able to tell that the car was actually driven.
*To read one of our archived road tests, just select from the alphabetical menu of manufacturers' names on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu that appears.
*Pre-owned: Our tests go back quite a few years, so if you are looking for something pre-owned, you might well find a report on it in here.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling at the time the reports were written.
Pics supplied
Posted: 10 August 2014
Edited version published in Witness Wheels on Thursday August 14, 2014
Apart from being fearless and possibly slightly insane, racers and factory test car drivers are more practised and talented than normal people when it comes to moving iron around race tracks quickly. We mortals have natural boundaries beyond which our bodies simply cannot drive, so the unchangeable law of diminishing returns comes into play.
“Each of us has a threshold,” said racer Deon Joubert, speaking at the launch of Renault’s revitalised Mégane range at Lanseria Airport recently: “a point at which enough is enough.” As an example he recalled an enthusiast who could take a particular corner, at a certain raceway, at 140 km/h in a quick little R400 000 hatch. In a German supercar costing four times as much, however, his maximum speed through that corner remained at 140. He simply could not go any faster.
This supports a theory we have held for some time: Spending buckets of money on bragging rights to performance or features we cannot fully exploit is wasteful and unproductive.
The new Méganes follow this philosophy. Six cars share one basic set of features and functions, covering all you really need, but there’s a choice of three engines. That’s because we have different wants and thresholds. To make it easier, hatchbacks and coupés are priced the same.
Entry-level Dynamique uses the 81 kW/151 Nm version of the familiar 1595 cc, 16-valve engine we know from Duster, Fluence, Scénic and previous Méganes. Safety kit includes ABS brakes with EBA and EBD, six airbags (anti-submarining on coupés), ESC, cruise control with speed limiter, ISOFix on outer rear seats and electric child-proof locks.
Neat stuff is variable electrically assisted steering, automatic locking both on the move and walking away, onboard computer, automatic windscreen wipers, electric side mirrors, one-touch driver and passenger electric windows with anti-pinch, a radio/CD/MP3 player with USB, auxiliary and Bluetooth, and parking distance control. The steering wheel adjusts both ways and the driver’s chair has height regulation and lumbar support. Seat covering at this level is cloth. All versions have six-speed manual gearboxes.
Showing off is automated dual zone, filtered air conditioning, TomTom Live satnav with Places, weather forecasts and traffic updates (at present in Gauteng only) and 16” alloy wheels.
Moving up a notch is GT-Line with a new 1198cc, turbocharged four-cylinder putting out 97 kW and 205 Nm; slightly more power than the old 1400. Its dark secret is an extra 20 Nm of torque, on overboost for 20-second bursts, in second and third. A computer chip tells it when it may. Our off-the-cuff comment after driving this one was that it was “almost boring – put it into top gear and drive all day.” That isn’t perfectly accurate of course, but it is a punchy little machine. This level gets Alcantara seats, folding and heating for the outside mirrors, an exterior design pack, a choice of optional sunroofs and bigger, 17” wheels.
Top of the line is the GT pair with a detuned version of the 2.0-litre, turbocharged RS motor putting out a more polite 162 kW/340 Nm. That’s in line with a very famous German pocket rocket, but who notices these things? The only added kit is bigger front brakes, RS doorsill protectors and 18-inch alloys, but options include leather seats with heating, height adjustment for the passenger’s chair and an armrest with cup holders for those at the back.
Driving it the day after experiencing the 1200 turbo, we felt that the steering was a touch more heavily weighted, the gearbox felt a little notchier (it’s a different unit), the suspension appeared firmer and it pulled a lot more vigorously. That GTI with its heftier price tag has competition. The boot is quite big if a little deep and the spare is a fully sized steel unit. Back seat leg room is still a bit short-changed however.
Fabien Payzan, Renault SA’s VP for marketing, asked us afterward which one we preferred: “Definitely the GT,” we replied. “Interesting,” he observed. “Most of you like the GT-Line for its nicer balance of properties.” Obviously, for everyone, enough is enough.
Information gathered at a manufacturer-sponsored press launch.
The numbers
Prices: Dynamique – R249 900, GT-Line – R279 900 and GT – R329 900
Zero to 100 km/h: Dynamique – 10,5 seconds, GT-Line – 9,7 seconds and GT – 7,6 seconds
Maximum speeds: 190/200/240 km/h
Claimed average fuel consumption: 6,0/5,4/7,3 litres per 100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Luggage space (hatch): 372 – 1162 litres Coupé: 344 – 991 litres
Warranty: 5 years/150 000 km
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km; at 15 000 km intervals.
Our review of the 2014 Renault Megane 1.2 GT-Line hatch is here
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8