Hi chaps, I currently drive a Honda Civic FK2 (1.8 petrol). It's my first car (bought at the age of 32), which I have had for a little over 2 years now and is coming up to 60k miles and 10 years old. It's been brilliant as a first car; it has all the toys necessary, a lovely interior, is immensely practical, is cheap to run and performs adequately. However, it is not without its flaws. The ride is quite simply dreadful and it is beginning to feel its age. I've been hankering for something that is quicker, rides and handles better whilst retaining an element of practicality for a while. Over the past couple of weeks I've tested a few cars including a 275 non Cup, a 308 GTI, a Clio 200 non Cup and a 265 Cup. After much deliberation, I put down a deposit on this 265 Cup over the weekend. It's a 2012 car that is fully loaded (Recaros, sat nav, HID lights etc) and is a lovely pearlescent white. My impressions of the car are that it is in incredible condition for its age and that it looks and feels like a new car. I don't know if the previous owner is a member, but he appears to have taken exceptional care of the car. I intend to do the same. I'll likely pick it up next weekend. Exciting!
Good stuff - welcome along What power was the 1.8 Honda? Should be a fair step up I'd guess. The ride can be pretty hard though. You sure it'll be better than the Civic?
Thanks guys The Honda pushes out an enormous 138bhp at 6300rpm and 175nm at 4300rpm. The 265bhp at 5500rpm and 360nm at 3000prm of the Megane is huge in comparison. I will respect the car! The issue with the suspension and ride in the Civic is that it is very crashy and a huge amount of noise and vibration is transmitted into the cabin. Essentially the damping is awful. I was considering replacing the suspension, but the temptation of a new car was too much. I drove some of the same roads on my test drive as I did when approaching the dealership so I had a direct comparison between the 2 cars. There is no doubt that the Megane rides firmly, but the quality of the damping is something else.
HV12 appears to have been used by Renault UK and the one I have a deposit down on was owned by them for the first year. Cars with very similar number plates went out as review cars. For instance: http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/73080-renaultsport-megan-265-cup-car-review http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/renault/megane/18724/renaultsport-megane-cup-265
I collected the car over the weekend and am hugely impressed with it. However, I did only achieve 34mpg on the drive from Bristol to Hampshire whilst using cruise set at 72mph on the motorway and 65mph on the A roads where possible. The Civic would do mid/high 40s!
Welcome. I remember seeing that car on Auto Trader and thought it looked nice. My sister had a 1.8 Civic like yours, though hers was an awful gold colour. I borrowed it for a while when she was overseas and the ride was certainly interesting. I worked with someone who had done some work on improving the ride of the facelift model and they said that, because of pedestrian protection rules, the front strut towers were very low which meant it spent quite a lot of it's life sitting on the bump stops at the front, hence the poor ride. Good on fuel for a 1.8 petrol though. Loved how the rear seats folded down too. Enjoy the Megane!
Economy is the price you pay for the performance. They will do a lot less than 34 when pushed! Glad you're liking the 265. It may take a little while to 'get in to' if this is only your second car, but once you do, you'll be hooked, and be dammed with the fuel economy
