I saw the new Megane at Goodwood and thought it looked very handsome. Different yes but in a good way. I hope it does well.
Can't say the same for their Vel Satis though which seems wasteful of space for a car of its size.
My favourite car at Goodwood (other than the new SL) was the Red Yaris Turbo which is not out in this country yet. I'd definitely have one of those if I could afford it.
Regards
from Jason
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If they keep on with this whacky styling then my Citroen C15 van is set to become trendy sometime in the next three years. Perhaps I can pass it off as a stylish two seater! ;-) Ian Cook
LOL! And Ian, the C15 van is more than capable of keeping up with a 3.0V6 Avantime on Corsican country roads, even if the former is on two wheels most of the time....
I like the look of the 5dr Megane, but the three door appears a little awkward towards the end, something like the weird set up of the original Laguna estate.
But hats of to Renault for trying, I hope they pull it off. When you can't really tell a 307 from a Civic from a Jazz, it's good that someone is actually designing cars again and has the guts (or the necessity) to produce them.
Lee.
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I keep going back to the Megane website and looking at the car. I think the shape is growing on me, although I still don't like the rear roofline / screen pillar treatment on either the three or five door. But that wide track, with the wheels pushed out right to the corners of the body, certainly looks good, although I suspect it needs the big chunky alloys to make it work - weedy little 14 inch steel wheels would look silly. It will be very interesting to see how many Renault sell.
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com
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HJ,
Interesting that you refer to the "old" Laguna in your reply. Whilst on holiday in Spain this year circumstances led me to driving a "new" one. It was a 1.9 diesel and its place in the range meant it was kitted out with everything under the sun but in a 200km drive along excellent N and A roads felt very dull and uninspiring to me. It had a 6 speed box and consequently felt that this contributed to its feeling underpowered in anything other than 4th gear - its owner told me that it was very good on fuel (something like .67 cents a litre currently). As a passenger he admitted that it felt "vague" and "unstable". We did the same run a couple of days later in my 330d and he felt that he could never sit in the right seat of the Renault again - so it wasn't my driving.
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CM: Do you think the new mini and the fiat stilo look similar from the back?
They both have similar stepped sides I think. And whilst the mini does look different to most, it does have styling ques from a similarly named 40 yr old car!
One of the most inovative designs must be the fiat er thingy.... threee abreast whatsit. Are people buying it though? Ah Multipla gottit!
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The new Megane shape does grow onyou although I find the similarly shaped but larger Avantime a bit ugly. Why is that?
The Laguna 2 is also a great looking car although again, I don't like the estate \ touring version.
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I certainly wouldn't use the words "vague" and "unstable" to describe my 1.9 diesel LagunaII Tourer (though they are the exact words to describe the hire car Fiat Bravos I've had to use recently!). However, it's not so good on fuel as my TDi110 Passat - approx 5mpg down on same usage.
It's not without its faults but I'm not that suprised you felt a LoonyII underpowered and uninspiring after a 330d... !
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John,
The words used were my passanger's. His English is good and I took what he said at face value, I think he felt disappointed by its ride as a passanger- he is the long time owner of French cars. An identical trip was undertaken in th BM the following trip and I included his lack of complaint as an indication that it may have been my driving that was at fault. Sure the the Laguna felt "dull and uninspiring" to me, but I think that this was down to lack of poke in 5th and 6th gear and I really question the choice of ratios. Mmmmmmmm difficult to be objective on this one. I've read up on Renault since and realise
that they are undergoing a change....
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