2016 Renault Megane Sport Tourer
The new Megane estate is claimed to have
the longest maximum load length in the sector at 2.77 m, and its boot space can
be split into different sections to store the paraphernalia of family life.
At 580 litres the boot is the same size
as the previous-generation Megane estate, but now features new lateral storage
bins on either side next to the wheelarches, and a brace of bag hooks. The boot
floor has two positions, the upper one to create a flat floor when the rear
seats are folded and the lower to help load tall items, and there are separate
sub-partitions to help prevent items sliding forwards and backwards. There’s
space for the roll-up luggage cover under the floor. A vertical luggage net is
an option.
The rear seats split 60:40 and flip down
via handles in the boot, but the Megane Tourer’s ace card is its fold-flat
front passenger seat, which enables that near-2.8m load length handy for
skirting boards, flat-pack wardrobes and the like. Up front, there’s a colour
head-up display, 7in digital instrument panel and 8.7in portrait-format
touchscreen.
The warmed-up GT model is a kind of
halfway-house Renaultsport performance estate, perked up with the addition of a
sportier front air dam, anodised roofrails and honeycomb-mesh grille, with
flash diamond-cut finish 18in alloys an option.
It’s a similar story inside: bucket
seats with integrated headrests, blue stitching and optional alcantara trim for
the full faux rally experience, aluminium pedals and a sportier gearlever (or
shift-paddle) design.
The GT spec model also gets ‘4Control’,
claimed to be the world’s first four-wheel steering system offered on a
C-segment estate. It adjusts the rear steering angle up to 100 times a second,
swivelling the wheels in parallel to the fronts for stability and faster
corners and the opposite way at parking speeds to decrease the turning circle.
Renault claims the Megane Tourer is the lowest vehicle in its class with the
widest track, so it’s already off to a head start on the stability front.
