The Renault Megane facelift isn't just new headlights

Girls and boys, meet the new Renault Megane. The fourth-gen French hatchback has had a facelift and you must stay awake, because some interesting things have happened. Seriously.

Sure, it looks much like it did before, but there’s now a hybrid version, which garners much of our attention. The Megane E-Tech has technology which has filtered down from Formula 1, they say – TG’s chief brain Paul Horrell decoded it all here – and offers up to 40 miles of electric-only running, and a mixed 40g/km of CO2 emissions.

It’s the most interesting powertrain in normal Meganes, though if you want to stay conventional there are 1.3-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel options.

The rest of our interest is apportioned to the Megane RS hot hatch, which is now a heck of a lot easier to understand. All versions now get the full 296bhp version of RenaultSport’s 1.8-litre turbo – bringing parity between lowlier RSs and the Trophy – while the harder cored Cup chassis is no longer an option.

Instead, it’s standard-fit – and exclusively available – on the Trophy. So you can now have a standard, ‘Sport’ Megane with softer suspension, or the Trophy with tougher springs and a limited-slip differential on the front axle. Both get the option of manual or paddleshift automatic gearboxes, each with six speeds.

It’s an intelligent move; the now defunct middle option, a Cup-chassis’d Sport, couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. The staggering Trophy R special was reserved for pre-facelift Meganes, mind, and we expect it won’t get a second coming with the new LED head and tail lights that comprise the rest of the facelift.

Indeed, beyond new hybrids and rejigged RSs, the big news is the typical facelift fare that would have sent you anywhere else online if we’d put it at the top of the story. Those lights, fresh alloy wheel designs, the addition of door handle lighting…

Inside, there are freshened-up media screens, improved climate control ergonomics and a rimless rear-view mirror on the poshest trim levels. My word.

There continues to be a slightly befuddling range of screen sizes on offer, but crucially all of them have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is all that tends to matter these days. Renault also fits a wealth of driver assist technology that equates to Level 2 autonomy.

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