2019-10-01_CAR_UK

Gremlins

arriving

like buses

Renault Megane RS

300 Trophy

Month 2

The story so far

We’re sure the new Megane RS is

good – but great? Not yet. Perhaps

the hardcore Trophy is the one

+Serious hot-hatch pedigree; quite

a chassis

• Not cheap; tough ride

Price £31,835 (£36,085 as tested)

Performance 1798cc turbocharged

four-cylinder, 296bhp, 5.7sec

0-62mph, 162mph Efficiency

34.4mpg (official), 26.8mpg (tested),

183g/km CO2 Energy cost 21.8p

per mile Miles this month 939

Total miles 4617

Logbook

Nothing for months,

then... By Ben Pulman

After half a year of meandering

about, the Volvo’s mileage has been

on the climb this month with trips

down to the New Forest, up to

Coventry, back to the New Forest,

around the Isle of Wight, up to

Yorkshire, across to Manchester,

back to Yorkshire, down to London,

out to the Cotswolds, and finally

home again.

And after half a year of being

infallible, the Volvo has had a fault

I love driving harder, faster versions
of hard, fast cars on press launches.
We’ll razz something like this
Megane RS Trophy around a
racetrack, maybe take in a great
European road, then toss back
the keys. Brilliant! But perhaps
not hugely comparable to what an
owner might experience. Which is
where these long-terms tests step in.
I’ve covered over 1000 miles in the

or two over the past month. The

camera under the passenger-side

door mirror went on the blink, the

360° view system dropping to a mere

270° facsimile of its former self, and

after heavy rain the driver’s mirror

now squeaks when folding in or out.

The central infotainment screen

also randomly rebooted when it

couldn’t compute an address.

Two of the three haven’t

happened again, though, and given

it’s summer the rain-afflicted mirror

fault won’t be rearing its head often.

One to worry about when I’ve done

all my other jobs...

models come with the firmer

Cup chassis that’s optional on a

standard RS, so it can feel quite

choppy – sometimes without any

real benefit – on the road and there’s

rowdy tyre noise, too. But I love

how tightly bodyroll is gathered up,

how that translates to such precise

steering response, and how nailed

down the front feels.

The rear end, by comparison,

is fantastically extrovert, partly

thanks to 4 Control rear-wheel

steering that’s more pronounced in

the Megane than any similar system

I’ve encountered. At first it seemed

too hyper, almost as if I was turning

into corners too early, but now I’ve

acclimatised I enjoy how seamlessly

it blends with the Megane’s natural

tendency to lift-off oversteer, like

it’s one fluid movement that’s as

natural as turning the steering

wheel to point the front wheels.

And because it does this at modest

speeds – okay, sometimes comically

low speeds – the rear end never

feels like it’s suddenly letting go. It’s

progressive and unintimidating.

It’s not all crazy tail-wagging,

though, and it’s pretty incredible

just how much urge the Trophy can

keep piling on through a constant

corner when you keep it tidy, say

accelerating through a larger

roundabout.

All this, and ride quality that’s

sufficiently passenger-friendly to

provoke precisely no complaints

from my kids on a tricky, if gently

taken, cross-country trip from the

Midlands to Manchester. Suits me.

@IamBenBarry

Volvo S90 T5

R-Design Pro

Month 8

Price £44,920 (£49,370 as

tested) Performance 1969cc

turbo four-cyl, 247bhp, 6.8sec

0-62mph, 140mph Efficiency

42.2mpg (official), 31.6mpg

(tested), 156g/km CO2 Energy

cost 18.7p per mile Miles this

month 1288 Total miles 4077

Logbook

The story so far

A big Volvo saloon slowly

proving itself as a practical

family car

+Quick, quiet cruiser with

comfy seats

• Three different faults

Megane Trophy, doing two-hour

airport trips, favourite B-roads and

even the school run. No surprise

that the hardcore Trophy is a

gnarlier proposition than a Golf

GTI, but I’m happy to say it balances

true excitement with a tolerable – if

never truly easy – temperament

when driven more gently.

Much of this is down to the

suspension set-up. All Trophy

Our cars

The unnatural, starting

to feel entirely natural

Rear-wheel steering? Sweet, says Ben Barry

‘Alright in

the back

kids?

Kids...?’

OCTOBER 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 139

Squeaky mirror?

Your definitive

first-world

problem