NEW MÉGANE COUPÉ-CABRIOLET
THE ELEGANCE OF A COUPÉ, AND THE ENJOYMENT OF OPEN-TOP MOTORING
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet rounds off the renewal of the New Mégane family in style with the introduction of the line-up’s sixth body type. The newcomer’s striking looks combine the elegance of a coupé with the promise of the thrills that go hand-in-hand with driving a cabriolet.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet builds on the strengths that helped forge the success of its predecessor – including a large, folding glass roof and a raft of user-friendly equipment – yet it goes further still by offering customers:
- unruffled open-top motoring thanks to the forward position of its windscreen and a fixed glass wind deflector sited behind the rear headrests,
- outstanding handling performance thanks to a stiffer chassis than its predecessor and new electric power steering,
- a broad choice of efficient powertrains, including the all-new EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) automatic dual clutch transmission,
- two specifically sporty variants: GT Line and GT,
- careful attention has been paid to perceived quality, which is heightened by a number of gloss black and satin-finish chrome exterior features.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet is manufactured alongside Scénic and Grand Scénic at Renault’s Douai plant in France. It consequently benefits from the experience gained since the start of the Mégane programme, including the assembly of the former-generation Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet is an open invitation to enjoy an alternative way to go motoring, and is an elegant illustration of Renault’s new brand signature, ‘Drive the Change’.
Sales of New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet will begin in the UK in the summer.
ARRESTING LOOKS FROM EVERY ANGLE
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet completes the renewal of the New Mégane family in style with a car whose style is sure to turn heads.
Its looks exude a distinguished elegance accentuated by the large glass roof that immediately tells you that this is a cabriolet, even in its coupé configuration. This high-gloss finish black glass roof contrasts with the satin-effect chrome windscreen frame and door-top trim which extends around the rear of the car to add an unmistakably high-end feel that more than does justice to the newcomer’s cabriolet persona. The dark red taillights feature a linear lighting pattern and LED brake lights to provide a distinctive rear lighting signature.
The interior layout carries over the same prevailing elegance and refinement, thanks not only to the quality of the materials employed and to the high standard of finish, but also to the three choices of trim, which range from dark charcoal and light beige to a charcoal/red two-tone finish with leather seats.
Although the floating dashboard is identical to that of New Mégane Hatchback, the seats offer additional lateral support, while the ‘butterfly wing’ door trim motif is specific to New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet and adds to the new car’s inherent elegance.
CHIC AND PRACTICAL
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet’s occupants benefit from unruffled open-top motoring in all conditions.
The standard folding glass hard-top boasts a transparent glazed area of 0.47 sq. metres (best-in-class) to ensure a brightly lit cabin and a sensation of space and freedom. It also guarantees outstanding acoustic and thermal comfort, as well as the reassurance of greater security. The fully-automatic, electro-hydraulic opening mechanism of the two-part roof enables the driver to lower the top in just 21 seconds at the press of a button.
With the top down, the driver and passengers alike enjoy a real sense of freedom. Cabin entry is made easier by the position of the windscreen header-rail which has been moved forward by 6cm compared with Mégane II Coupé-Cabriolet.
To ensure that all occupants can benefit from travelling al fresco without the drawbacks, New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet is equipped with a fixed glass wind deflector (unique in the segment) positioned behind the rear seat headrests. This enables four people to enjoy draft-free driving at speeds of up to 56 mph and, when used in conjunction with the removable mesh deflector screen located behind the front seats, allows the driver and front passenger to travel free from buffeting whatever the speed.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet’s driver and three passengers benefit from a standard of comfort worthy of a touring car, with a 4,485 mm length.
The driver is treated to a carefully thought-through environment and conveniently positioned controls which carry over solutions previously employed for New Mégane Hatchback and New Mégane Coupé:
- controls clustered either around the steering wheel or on the centre console,
- height- and fore/aft-adjustable driver’s seat (through 70mm and 240mm respectively),
- memory position for front seats, after being tipped forward,
- reach and height-adjustable steering wheel (through 45mm and five degrees respectively).
In addition to New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet’s carefully-honed lines, special attention has gone into ensuring that it is a practical package, too, and that includes the boot:
- automatic closing for simple, secure locking,
- big capacity boot (417 litres with the roof up, and 211 litres with the roof down),
- easy to access, with a segment-best sill height (590mm from the ground) and aperture (258mm) with the roof down, enabling three cabin cases to be carried side by side.
A RAFT OF PRACTICAL, USER-FRIENDLY HIGH-TECH FEATURES
Like all the models that make up the New Mégane family, New Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet is available with a long list of high-tech features, most of which are more readily associated with the next segment up:
- keycard hands-free ignition and door locking as the card-holder walks away from the car,
- automatic parking brake,
- automatic dual-zone three-mode (soft-auto-fast) climate control,
- directional bi-Xenon headlamps,
- combined digital/analogue instrument display,
- new, colour-coded cruise control/speed limiter interface,
- 3D Sound by Arkamys® audio with TunePoint connectivity (USB, jack),
- Carminat TomTom® navigation, the market’s most competitively priced built-in sat-nav system,
- customised settings and activation/deactivation of certain functions (daytime running lights, volume of audible parking proximity warning).
A PERFECTLY SMOOTH RIDE
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet delivers the same high standard of driving precision as Mégane Hatchback and Mégane Coupé to provide an enjoyable, responsive ride:
– The MacPherson-type front suspension is attached to a ‘horned’ subframe, an arrangement that ensures a level of lateral rigidity that is three-times superior to that of the former-generation Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet.
– The rear suspension’s torsion beam features a lighter, closed-profile beam that delivers enhanced torsional stiffness.
– The new electric power steering system is more responsive and refined, and gives even more accurate feedback of information from the road.
The torsional rigidity of the body shell has been uprated by 80 per cent compared with Mégane II Coupé-Cabriolet in order to match the increased stiffness of the suspension and for even greater handling precision, whether the roof is up or down.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet is available with a choice of efficient, eco-friendly petrol and diesel powertrain configurations.
Petrol engines:
– The TCe 130 (Turbo Control efficiency) driving through a six-speed manual gearbox.
– The 2.0 16V 140hp engine available with the new continuously variable transmission (CVT) for even greater driving comfort thanks to smooth gearshifts.
The diesel engine range comprises the following Euro5-homologated powerplants:
– The dCi 110 FAP, mated either to the brand new six-speed EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) automatic dual-clutch transmission (see below) or to a manual six-speed gearbox.
– The dCi 130 FAP which drives through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Further engines are available in the GT version.
EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) dual-clutch automatic transmission
The six-speed EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) dual-clutch automatic transmission fits perfectly with Renault’s bid to combine ride comfort, driving pleasure and respect for the environment.
Based on DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) technology, it stands out as a genuine clean-break solution compared with conventional automatic transmissions thanks to:
- CO2 emissions and fuel consumption comparable to those of a vehicle equipped with a manual gearbox,
- fast, smooth, automatic gearshifts,
- instant response to the driver’s demands.
THE PLEASURE OF OPEN-TOP MOTORING IN TOTAL SAFETY
When it comes to safety, New Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet reaps the benefits of the brand’s extensive expertise in this field. Like all the models that make up the New Mégane range, it has been engineered to boast exemplary passive and active safety performance.
An extensive range of equipment is available to help drivers anticipate risk situations:
- front seatbelt warning lights,
- tyre pressure monitoring system,
- directional bi-Xenon headlamps
- cornering dipped beams,
- automatic headlamp activation,
- automatic windscreen wiper activation,
- cruise control
- speed limiter.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet comes with a comprehensive range of driving aids, too:
- ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution,
- emergency brake assist,
- ESP with understeer control.
New Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet’s key passive safety features are:
- programmed structural deformation designed to protect the cabin – and therefore occupants – in the case of a rollover, thanks to reinforcement of the windscreen pillars, body sides, sills and floor,
- automatic pyrotechnic deployment of the rollover hoops should dedicated sensors detect that a rollover is imminent,
- seatbelt pretensioners and load limiters,
- adaptive frontal airbags,
- dual-volume head/thorax/pelvis lateral airbags,
- anti-submarining airbags incorporated in the front seat cushions,
- side impact sensors,
- anti-whiplash head restraints,
- Isofix child seat anchorage for rear seats.
Further details, specification and pricing for the UK will be announced nearer the launch in the summer.
