2017 Renault Megane GT-Line With 1.2 Turbo Sounds Great, Is Slow

To the uninitiated, the car in the video looks like the Megane GT, fitted with an Alcantara leather interior, sports suspension, and a body kit. However, it's actually the GT-Line faker.

With the previous generation Megane, the GT-Line models were quite popular. Much like Volkswagen's R-Line, they offer hot hatch looks in combination with frugal engines.

The bark is worse than the bite

However, there's a tradeoff to be made. Renault has gotten rid of all its big engines, and the small ones don't deliver the performance suggested by the output numbers.

Just take this acceleration test featuring the 1.2 TCe turbo, producing 132 PS (that's what the video says) and 205 Nm of torque. The other half of the powertrain is a 7-speed DCT gearbox, much like the one used by the real Megane GT.

This independent test is carried out by PDrive under much better weather conditions than Europe can offer right now. Despite this, the French car only managed 0 to 100 km/h in 9.79 seconds, which I'd describe as slow for a 130 horsepower compact. However, it's actually faster than the official claim of 10.3 seconds.

So could the GT-Line pack make the Megane faster? It certainly makes it sound better, with cool turbo sounds coming from the engine. That sports exhaust is a nice add-on, but we don't think they re-tuned the engine or introduced better rubber.

By no means are we saying that this is a bad car. Renault has done what it could with the 1.2-liter engine, and the weight of this new Megane version is acceptable: 1,235 kilograms. That's about three people's worth lighter than the Megane GT, which is burdened by that 4Control and some standard radar systems. But we just wish there was something in the 75 hp gap between this and the current flagship.