Renault Megane 1.5dci Sports Tourer Dynamique Tom-tom : Second Update 1St September 2011

The first article in this series can be found at : http://athingforcars.com/autos/renault-megane-1-5dci-sports-tourer-dynamique-tom-tom/

The first update can be found at : http://athingforcars.com/autos/renault-megane-1-5-dci-sports-tourer-dynamique-tom-tom-first-update/

A brief re-cap, we had a 2004 Nissan Almera Tino 1.8 petrol car and having fitted a roof box for UK holidays I was shocked to discover that on a long motorway journey the car had only averaged 27.7mpg.  The car was having increasing problems and would have cost a great deal to get through its MOT and as such we decided to change to a more economical and newer diesel car.  After a lot of research, described in the first article, we chose the Renault…… and what a cracking decision that was.

My wife uses the Renault mostly for many motorway runs to work and to visit clients, so is starting to add on the mileage.  As such, the superb fuel economy that has been achieved so far is actually paying for the finance on the nearly new car!  The best economy so far on a single tank of fuel was 58.09mpg and that tank lasted for nearly 700 miles.

The car is easy to drive, well weighted power steering, a six speed manual gear box, cruise control, parking sensors, a built in (and frankly amazing) Sat Nav system, arm rests, full electric windows and a fantastic CD/MPS radio make driving the Megane easy, relaxing and luxurious.  The flaw – a terrible cup holder!  Only big enough for a can of coke and even that interferes with some of the controls.  We’ve fixed the problem by buying a clip on drinks holder that attaches to the window.

When we used the car for a trip to the lakes with our daughter and parents we fitted the Lidl roof bars to the car with ease.  Even with the roof box attached we still managed fuel economy of nearly 50mpg, which included a lot of air-conditioning use due to the warm weather.  This was also with me driving, and I have a heavier right foot than my wife! J

I also took the car for a business trip from Bolton, to Cambridge, then onto Colchester, before heading back to Bolton and I arrived at each stop feeling refreshed, not even requiring a break on some of the legs.  But even better, I only needed to fill up the car once for the whole trip meaning I avoided the high priced petrol stations down South.  On this journey, I managed to average 51.405mpg, which I was particularly pleased with as it involved some minor road driving, sitting in traffic and some short sharp trips.  I used the Tom Tom Sat Nav almost exclusively on the journey and it was accurate (with the ETA’s), clear to use and yet not distracting, a big bonus for the car.

We have been pruning (vigorously – with a chain saw!) some of the trees at our home and have borrowed a circular saw and wood chipper from my father-in-law.  These showed the true versatility of the Megane’s boot, its flat loading bay and size coming into their own, making the transporting of the items easy and relaxed.

I think that the 1.5dci engine is first class, it is smooth, reasonably powerful and as shown above frugal.  I previously drove a 2.0TDi Ford Mondeo (2004) and I honestly believe that the Megane drives better than the Mondeo – high praise as I loved the Mondeo when I had it.

In the first four months of ownership we have had no problems with the car, it appears well built and has managed every task we’ve thrown at it, its great to drive and cheap to run.  I asked my wife to rate it out of 10 and she has given it a 10!  And frankly, I cannot argue with that.  First rate car!