Hello all, complete noob here. Quick question as I have come across a lot of buzz about the Megane e-tech and wanted to find some folks who might have had some experience with it and might be able to answer some questions. I am rather interested in the car and looked at one in the local dealer showroom, but have not yet test driven one. First question is - there are a number of videos on youtube that clearly show the car with quite good park assist features, but when using the renault.oc.uk build for it, these no longer show and the guy at the dealer also could not see anything about it. Has this all been removed? I am looking at the Iconic version which seem to have all the other bells an whistles? If it is not there, anyone know if this is a UK specific spec change, or global? Thanks
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
I took delivery of my Iconic Megane three weeks ago and am very pleased with it.
What they call "Park Assist" is the 360 degree camera and the proximity detectors - itis not self-parking. I find this perfectly adequate and, given the limited visibility of the car's corners from the driving seat, I regard as essential. This was the reason I opted for the Iconic version despite the blingy gold-coloured bumper which is compulsory with the top of the range. (I'm thinking of embracing the image and getting a medalion to wear round my neck,)
I have two minor gripes:
The adjustable regenerative braking is automatically reset to minimum when you turn off the car. I prefer to set it to maximum to get single pedal driving. When you first set off, you take your foot off the pedal to slow for the first corner and it comes as a shock when you don't slow down as quickly as you expect. It's a pity it doesn't stay in the state it was last used, particularly as you can only change it once you are actually moving forwards and the paddles move with the steering wheel and can be difficult to locate if you are manoevering.
The lane-centering and lane departure warning only work when you are using cruise control. On my Captur Hybrid, the features were independant of the cruise control. Since I prefer not to use cruise control, these useful driving aids are not available to me.
If you can live with these gripes, I would highly recommend the car. Some of the most endearing features for me are:
360 degree cameras as mentioned
Blind-spot detectors
Smart review mirror (for when rear-seat passengers block your view)
Navigation display (optionally) on the front panel
Cheap motoring (relative) - I average 4 miles per kilowatt hour. If you can charge at home and use one of the over-night tariffs, it can be as low as 3.5 pence per mile.
Smooth and responsive and it's a pleasure to drive
I will probably find more as I drive it more....
I hope these ramblings help.
Ken
whwn i got my launch edition in January, the iconic didnt exist. The blurb for the launch edition suggested a 12 inch screen and park assist, neither of which appeared in the UK version (well for me anyway :) ) I must say I don't miss either, I never used park assist on my two previous cars as it was way too slow when trying to park using it on a busy street. I do love my car though, its sensational to drive!