There can be little argument that the most distinctive styling feature of the current Megane hatchback is the rear end. When that car was launched, you might have asked how Renault could possibly come up with anything so controversial on a saloon version, and the answer is that Renault didn't even try.By comparison with its stub-tailed sibling, the saloon is quite conventional. I've never been impressed with the way it looks in photographs, but this is one of those cars which seems to lose a lot in the visual translation to two dimensions. In the metal it seems much more attractive.The new hindquarters allow for more rear passenger space and a bigger luggage area, and that's good news considering that these were two aspects of the hatchback that have come in for a lot of criticism.There are several other positives, too. One that struck me very early in this test was how quiet the Megane is. The sound of the 134bhp two-litre engine is not allowed to penetrate the passenger area to any great extent, which helps to create an aura of refinement enhanced by the fact that everything inside seems to be very solid and well put together. The major controls are nicely (and reasonably equally) weighted, the seats are supportive and the interior design is pleasing to the eye.Included in the official designation of the test car is the word "Sport". I'd like to have a look at Renault's dictionary some time, because with one exception I could not find anything remotely sporty about this car. Perhaps someone in the office made a bet that they could include a five-letter word beginning with "s" in the title, and Sport was the first one they thought of.The only sporty aspect of this car is the close-ratio six-speed gearbox, which allows you to keep the revs high on the rare occasions when you want this to happen. I was rather confused to read (in another online motoring magazine with whose name I won't trouble you) that the high top gear allowed for excellent fuel economy.In fact I didn't think much of the economy - I needed to stop at a petrol station 350 miles after starting with a full tank - and that top gear is not especially high. The real feature of this gearbox is how closely-matched the gears are, not their spread of ratios.I could see the point of the gearing if the Megane handled sharply, but that is one thing it most definitely doesn't do. It's a smooth cruiser, quite relaxing to drive if you don't have many corners to worry about, but it ain't no sports car. It carries its own weight awkwardly and deals with sudden bumps or changes of direction in a notably clumsy manner, none of which would be a problem if only Renault hadn't decided to call it a Sport.After having several problems with Renault electronics over the past few years, I was a bit concerned about how this car was going to behave, but in fact everything seemed to work most of the time - except the radio, which on three occasions wouldn't switch on and on one occasion wouldn't switch off. A trivial enough problem, and I reckoned I'd got off lightly, but something is badly wrong when reliability comes as a pleasant surprise.Second opinion: Yes, the Sport tag is rather confusing. This isn't a sporting car at all, but a refined cruiser, smooth-running and with very low noise levels. It's flexible around town, although with six forward gears the top one could easily be higher than offering just 22.4mph per 1000rpm. Interior design is carefully thought-out, with generous rear legroom despite the presence of a spacious luggage boot, and the 60/40 split rear seats offer unusually good small-of-the-back support. The Privilège model is very well equipped, with features like pull-up mesh sunblinds for the rear screen and the rear door windows, and I liked the reminders, in details like the pattern of squares on the door bins and the sill plates, of the marquetry work in the Vel Satis. Plenty of interior stowage spaces, including lidded boxes as part of the front door armrests. Odd if effective sort of "aircraft throttle" handbrake between the front seats, but I didn't have any problems with the radio or the Renault Card, suspiciously though I did, as usual, regard the latter. Ross Finlay. Engine 1998cc, 4 cylinders Power 134bhp Transmission 6-speed manual Fuel/CO2 35.3mpg / 191g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.4 seconds Top speed 126mph Price £15,563 Release date 15/05/2010
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