Spring has sprung, and it seems we’ve finally put this long harsh winter behind us. So it’s probably not a bad time to start road testing convertibles once more.
Renault has bowed to the inevitable and put a folding steel roof on its Megane CC. With Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Volkswagen all having eschewed cloth tops, Renault clearly felt they had to get even with their rivals. Or even go one up.
That’s why the Megane CC has an enormous glass roof where its rivals have mere steel, or at best a pokey little sunroof.
It’s a stroke of genius. In a country where the weather dictates the vast majority of convertibles have their tops up the vast majority of the time, it gives the feeling of having the roof down even when you don’t.
Megane CC ownership starts at a touch over £20,000 and stretches to a little under £25,000 for the top spec GT Line version.
When it comes to engines, buyers are spoiled for choice. There are diesel units in 108bhp 1.5-litre, 128bhp 1.9-litre and 158bhp 2.0-litre forms, and three petrol engines a 128bhp 1.4-litre turbo, 138bhp 2.0-litre and 177bhp 2.0-litre turbo.
I drove the 128bhp diesel in second tier Dynamique trim, which weighs in at £21,865.
It’s always been my policy to drive every convertible I test with the roof down at least once. This isn’t always a great strategy, and more than once has seen me arrive home damp, cold, or both.
So it seemed it would be on this occasion. I had the Renault around two weeks ago, just as winter was giving us one last breath. As I left Glasgow on what would be my final morning with the car I still hadn’t been al fresco and the snow was hurrying down.
Just past Stirling, however, the clouds parted and the sun peeked out, allowing me to get some top-down miles under my belt on the final run-in to Dundee. I pulled over and lowered the hood. It comes down in 21 seconds and you have to hold the button down for the whole time.
I’d definitely specify the Megane CC with heated seats, which make top-down motoring comfortable even when it’s cold outside. Sadly, my car didn’t come with them, but with the heater blasting away on full it was relatively cosy inside.
With the hood stowed, boot space is reduced from a healthy 417 litres to a decidedly undernourished 211.
But then you didn’t buy this car for its practicality which is just as well, seeing as the back seats are useless for anyone with legs. If you want to cram in rear passengers, you have to haul the front seats pretty far forward to make room.
Although it’s no sports car, it’s a very decent drive. The suspension is particularly impressive, supple and absorbent, and when the top’s up it’s fairly quiet inside. Renault have done a good job of cutting out wind noise when the hood’s up, and when it’s down they’ve done an equally good job of cutting out wind penetration there’s a slight fluttering of the hair, rather than the type of gale that could drag Terry Wogan’s toupee from his head.
It’s not designed as a sports car and as such the Megane is not the most agile steed in the world. It’s a bit nose heavy, though part of this could be due to the weight of the big diesel engine and the petrol models may be slightly more nimble.
It’s a fine chariot for cruising and/or posing in, though, which is probably the limit of most buyers’ plans for the car.
Price: £21,865.0-62mph: 10.6sec.Top speed: 127mph. Economy: 48.7mpg. CO2 emissions: 149g/km.