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28/10/2010, 21:16
By MURRAY HUBBARD
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Renault has launched four new models it hopes will revive the brand's status and sales in Australia. Renault sales slipped more than 30 per cent last year on a rising market and a new management team has been put in place to rejuvenate the French maker's market share. New vehicles include a Megane hatch, Fluence sedan, Megane coupe-cabriolet and the performance-based Megane Sport RS 250.
Renault is now headed by former BMW Group executive with Mini, Justin Hocevar, who said new product would drive the Renault brand and he has set an `ambitious, but achievable ' target of 3500 units in 2011. Two other former BMW executives have been recruited, PR consultant Alexander Corne and Chris Brown in marketing. It is the fourth time Renault - a massive brand in Europe - has been `relaunched' in the Australian market.
Leading the product charge is the Megane Sport 250, a competitor to the popular Volkswagen Golf GTi. While the Golf blends into a crowd, the Sport 250 is anything but ordinary in appearance. It has wider wheel arches to accommodate 18 inch alloy wheels, a large, central exhaust pipe and rear diffuser.
Under the business end lurks a 184 kW , 2.0 litre, 16-valve turbo petrol engine connected to a six speed manual shifter. There are two variants, Cup and Cup Trophee, the latter designed for those who regularly take their passion onto the race track. The Cup is priced from $41,990* while Cup Trophee versions start from $46,990*. Renault launched the RS 250 at the Broadford Motorcycle Sports complex north of Melbourne. (*Manufacturers List Price (MLP) does not include dealer or government charges)
Around 80 per cent of peak torque of 340 Nm is on tap from 1900 rpm and the car sprints to 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds. About 25 per cent of the engine's components are new compared to the previous 2.0 T, including new intake ports, new pistons and conrods, new air/air and water/air intercoolers, sodium cooled valves and piston ring carriers. Fuel economy is a combined 8.7 litres/100 km, depending on driving style and conditions.
"The RS 250 is a highly engineered performance vehicle, not just stick-on badges," said Mr Hocevar. For Renault in Australia it is a flagship vehicle, not that it will be the best-seller in the Renault range. It is here as a `hero' car to reflect the company's racing heritage and credentials. As the company states, even Australian F1 hero Mark Webber is powered by Renault. The RS 250 comes standard with a limited slip differential for improved traction, the power steering features a sportier calibration giving improved driver feedback from the road. The electronic stability program - which has three ESP modes - can be disabled for track work.
Those who specify the Cup Trophee get the choice of either cloth-coverered Recaro seats or optional leather, which are also adjustable for height. Compared to the European model sport chassis, anti-roll stiffness on the Australian Cup model has been increased 13 per cent, courtesy of a larger-diameter anti-roll bar. The RS 250 also stops hard thanks to four-pot Brembo calipers and 340mm diameter, grooved, vented discs at the front. The rear has 290mm grooved discs.
DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
Our time behind the wheel of the RS 250 was limited to track work where the car showed off it's many talents. Although it sticks well, there's still room for improvement with some sloppiness while cornering, parrticularly on uneven sections. The brakes are excellent with no sign of fade after jumping on the pedal at more than 170 km/h to negotiate tight corners. The Recaro seats hold you in place and the tacho and speedometer are easy to read. We tended to hit the rev limiter in first and second gears until we became accustomed to the free-revving engine that gets up and boogies fast compliments of the twin scroll turbo. The transmission ratios are well matched to the engine, but the ratios between second and third at time seemed a little wide for the Broadford curcuit.
MEGANE HATCH
Our day of test drives started with a road drive of the new Megane Hatch. Renault have elected to go into driveaway pricing for it's best-selling models and the first of these is the Megane Hatch that is $25,990 driveaway. It is powered by a 2.0 litre 102 kW 16-valve four cylinder engine linked to a CVT transmission. There's 195 Nm of torque available at 375 rpm and Renault claim combined economy of 7.9 litres/100 km. It's a good looking hatch with a distinctive rear end that many people will find appealing. The boot space is a little limited.
RENAULT FLUENCE
From the Megane Hatch we jumped into the new Renault small sedan, the Fluence, which shares it's underpinnings with the Megane Hatch. The vehicle has been stretched out to 4618mm and as a result has a larger boot size than the hatch and is more conservative in appearance. Renault expect the Megane Hatch, Fluence and Koleos to be it's most popular models in 2011. Despite the similar drive train and underpinnings, the sedan Fluence is a totally different drive to the Megane Hatch. It feels softer in the suspension and gives a more comfortable ride. Like the Megane Hatch, it will not break any speed records, but gets the job done smoothly thanks to the CVT transmission. On sale on November 1, 2010. Fluence Dynamique manual starts at $22,990, (auto $24,990) while the top of the line Fluence Privilege with CVT auto starts at $29,990, before on-road and dealer delivery charges.
MEGANE COUPE-CABRIOLET
With a glossy, black glass roof that comes down, or up, in 21 seconds the Megane CC is Parisian in appearance and makes a nice boulevarde cruiser. There are four seats but forget having four adults on board with little rear-seat legroom. Boot space is also at a premium when the glass roof is tucked away as you enjoy open-top motoring. But, as there's little room for adults in the rear pew, that solves any luggage shortcomings. On our short test-drive around north-east Victoria we noted some scuttle shake with the roof down. The CC is powered by the same 103 kW, 2.0 litre, 16-valve four cylinder petrol engine from Megane hatch and also the CVT transmission. Renault claim economy of 8.1 litres/100 km combined.
There's a single equipment level to choose from and the price is $45,990, before on roads.
NEW MODEL RENAULT PRICING
RS 250 CUP $41,990 MLP
RS 250 CUP TROPHEE $46,990 MLP
MEGANE HATCH DYNAMIQUE Manual $22,990 ($25,990 driveaway)
MEGANE HATCH DYNAMIQUE Auto CVT $24,990 MLP
MEGANE HATCH PRIVILEGE Auto CVT $29,990 MLP
FLUENCE DYNAMIQUE Manual $22,990 ($25,990 driveaway)
FLUENCE DYNAMIQUE Auto CVT $24,990 MLP
FLUENCE PRIVILEGE Auto CVT $29,990
MEGANE COUPE-CABRIOLET Auto CVT $45,990
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