Renault Megane 3 (1.9 DCI)

15th August 2009
The other day I took a trip. Actually two trips, but that's beside the point. One thing lead to another and I got to drive this lovely piece of automotive french mechanized gourmet ... car (look to your right now please):

We're looking at the new 5 door Renault Megane 3, the 1.9 Dci (diesel) version, 130 HP @ 3750 rpm, 300/1750 (Nm) tr/mn, 0-100 km/h in 9.5 seconds, 60 liter fuel tank, trunk space of about 372 liters, expandable to 1162 liters, weighing a decent 1310 kg. Mixed fuel consumption of 5.1.

I did a two stage trip...
First part involved driving it on top quality Romanian countryside roads, where the total number of potholes per square inch is no bigger than 54. Rare were the moments where the mean value of holes lost to the adrenalin inducing, fun loving railroad crossings that have the ability to claim parts of your car such as wheels, front bumpers, or even passengers at times.
During this particular test, I attempted to check for confort and drivability on crappy roads. The acceleration and overtaking are more than decent if you know how to use that 300/1750 (Nm) tr/mn, and obviously the 130 HP @ 3750 rpm, as well as the wind speed and direction.
From an engine standpoint I would place this 1.9 dci somewhere between the 1.9 TDI and the 2.0 boxer diesel from Subaru.
The 1.9 TDI excells in lazyness, while the Subaru boxer diesel is comparable to a turbocharged lower power gasoline engine. So I'd put the 1.9 DCI right in the middle of those two as performance feeling and fun factor.
The level of confort in such conditions for this particular vehicle is decent, and the car feels as compact as a disc (i.e. compact disc). It makes you feel like you can enter turns quite swiftly in perfect safety conditions. But if you attempt to take a turn at higher speed this car becomes about as stable in turns as a large cargo boat, loaded with circus animals and screaming children in unfriendly weather. The animals have escaped, the children can't swim, and there's not much food left.

Second part : I've reached the highway! Oh joy! Comfy ride. Now, you have to know that every car develops a special relationship with it's gearbox. In the case of the new Megane 1.9 DCI, it seems that the first gear was fun for a while, much like adolescent highschool graduates before the prom, second gear would be comparable to one night of sex with a frigid partner, third would be a reasonable marriage, and fourth would be a hot affair of a rich dude in midlife crisis and a much younger female pornstar with a twist. Fifth gear is like a 10 year old marriage (i.e. sex's gone, your main concern now is preparation for death).
Although I've had difficulties testing the top speed of the Megane, I can tell you it's somewhere around 198 km/h. If it goes higher than that I'd be surprised, even though Renault sais it goes 205.

Overall, nice compact @ low speeds family car, ideal for a one child non adventureous family. Nice interior, plenty of trunkspace, slick looking design, unstable as hell.

On my scale of 1 to 10 Renault Megane 3, 1.9 dci earns a : 4 - good small family car, to be driven prefferably on roads that lack...turns !!!