Renault Mégane

The Renault Mégane is an small family car made by Renault. It is offered in several bodystyles; a hatchback, sedan, coupé, convertible and station wagon. It also forms the basis of the Renault Mégane Scénic compact MPV.

1996

The first Mégane was unveiled in the fall of 1995, and was intended as a replacement for the Renault 19. The car was essentially a reskin of its predecessor, and carried over the 19's floorpan, engines, transmissions and chassis design, albeit with much modification. 1997 saw the introduction of the Mégane Scénic MPV. Taking its name from a Renault concept car which was shown in 1988, the Mégane further developed the new corporate styling theme introduced by Patrick Le Quement on the Laguna, most notably the "bird-beak" front grille - a styling cue borrowed from the legendary Renault 16 of the 1960s. As with the 19 and the 11 before it, the Mégane was produced in Renault's Douai plant in northern France.

Power came from the Renault E-type ("Energy") engine in 1.4L, 1.6L, 1.8L, and the F-type unit in both 1.9L diesel and 2.0L petrol form, although this time around there was a wider variety of 16-valve derivatives. A 1.9L diesel engine in both normally aspirated and turbocharged forms was also available.

A mild facelift in 1999 gave the Mégane a modified grille, more advanced safety features and upgraded equipment, and the 16-valve engines were used across the range.

2003

The latest version of the car, the Mégane II, has highly distinctive styling that makes it stand out from other cars. Heavily inspired by the larger Avantime model, the new Mégane was elected European Car Of The Year for 2003. In tune with other newly introduced Renault models, the car achieved a 5-Star safety rating in the EuroNCAP crash tests. The "Renault Card" keyless ignition system was also a standard feature.

Engine options include:

L CC HP TOP SPEED (M/H)/0-60 (M/H)/(0-100KMH) 1.4L 1390CC 80BHP 106/13.5 1.4L 1390CC 98BHP 16v 114/12.5 1.6L 1598CC 111BHP 16v 119/10.9 1.6L 1598CC 115BHP 16v 119/10.9 1.8L 1789CC 120BHP 16v 122/8.9 2.0L 1998CC 136BHP 16v 124/9.2 2.0L T 1998CC 165BHP 137/8.3 2.0L T 1998CC 225BHP 147/6.5 1.5L TD 1461CC 80BHP 106/14.3 1.5L TD 1461CC 86BHP 108/12.7 1.5L TD 1461CC 100BHP 111/12.8 1.5L TD 1461CC 106BHP 115/11.1 1.9L TD 1870CC 90BHP 108/12.9 1.9L TD 1870CC 120BHP 122/10.5 1.9L TD 1870CC 130BHP 124/9.0