First Drive: 2012 Renault Mégane Coupe EDC [Review]

A direct descendant of the ill-fated Wisconsin-built Renault Encore, the third and latest installment of the Mégane was given a slight facelift for the 2012 model year to remain competitive in Europe against the ever-mighty Volkswagen Golf. In order to keep up with the Golf on all fronts, a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox dubbed Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) has recently become available in the Mégane lineup, including on the style-oriented coupe. Billed as a more efficient and more driver-oriented alternative to conventional automatic transmissions, the EDC is Renault's first mass-produced dual-clutch gearbox and it was developed jointly with German transmission expert Getrag. The dual-clutch transmission adds about €900 (about $1,125; all conversions are estimates) to the base price of a Mégane. The three-door lineup starts at €22,900 ($28,600) for a gasoline-powered base model and tops out at €31,100 ($38,900) for a top-of-the-line turbodiesel model in GT trim. Equipped with the Bose trim level, our test car retailed for €28,850 ($36,100). Specification sheet All versions of the Mégane are available exclusively with four-cylinder engines.  Our test car was powered by the time-tested 1.5-liter dCi turbodiesel mill that has been a part of the Renault lineup for over a decade.  It generates 110 horsepower and 177 foot-pounds of torque and is rated at 56 mpg in a mixed European cycle, which differs greatly from the EPA rating that is used in the United States. The 110 horsepower dCi is not the most powerful turbodiesel that can be fitted under the Megane's hood, but it is the only engine offered with the EDC dual-clutch gearbox.  Renault's logic is that since the dCi with 110 ponies is chosen by an overwhelming majority of buyers across Europe, so it makes the EDC gearbox available to a wider audience. The other available engines include a downsized 1.2-liter gas engine that is rated at 115 horsepower, a 160 horsepower variant of the dCi turbodiesel and a range-topping 2.0-liter gasoline-burning four-banger that churns out 180 horsepower. The Mégane Coupe measures 56 inches high, 71 inches wide and 169 inches long and it tips the scale at a svelte 2,656 lbs., which makes it almost 300 lbs. lighter than a three-door Golf hatchback. With the rear set of seats left up, the Mégane Coupe boasts 12.1 cubic feet of trunk space. A maximum of 34.9 cubic feet can be obtained by folding down the rear seats. Life aboard The best place to be in the Mégane Coupe is up front. The front passenger and the driver sit in supportive bucket seats and have plenty of space for their legs and their shoulders. The same can't be said about passengers that are relegated to the rear. While legroom is fine, headroom and shoulder room are both limited. This has always been the case with the Megane Coupe because, since its inception, it has been designed as a sporty alternative to the five-door hatch and it has always had a sleeker body. Another point of concern about the rear end of the car is that the hatchback's small window equates to a less-than-optimal rear visibility. This problem is largely solved by a rearview camera mounted above the rear license plate and that transmits images to the infotainment system's dash-mounted screen. Speaking of the infotainment system, it features Bluetooth connectivity, a TomTom GPS unit and a USB port that allows passengers to connect MP3 players and similar devices. Controlled by a switch panel mounted in between the front seats, it is not as user-friendly as the LG-designed touch-screen system found in the Dacia Lodgy that we tested late last month. Renault has promised that an all-new infotainment system will be inaugurated when the fourth-generation Clio bows. The instrument cluster is easy to read and is made up of an analog tachometer, a digital speedometer, gas and temperature gauges plus a small screen that functions as an odometer, a trip meter and a gear indicator. The Mégane Coupe is equipped with Renault's hands-free proximity entry system, which has trickled its way down the lineup and includes a console-mounted starter button. At the wheel Renault has had plenty of time to finetune the 1.5-liter dCi engine and the end result is a very smooth and remarkably quiet turbodiesel mill. The EDC gearbox is good at finding the right gear at the right time when left in automatic mode. By sliding the shift lever over to the manual mode, gear changes can be accomplished with almost no hesitation on the part of the gearbox. Unfortunately, steering wheel-mounted shift paddles are not available and the only way to change gears manually is with the tall shift lever. Despite the Mégane Coupe's performance-oriented positioning, the gearbox does not have a sport mode like some of VW's DSG-equipped models. When equipped with the EDC gearbox, the Mégane Coupe is a few tenths of a second quicker than a comparable model with a six-speed manual. However, the dCi lacks a bit of punch when driven aggressively, making it hard to exploit the full potential of the dual-clutch transmission. It's a shame because the Coupe's steering is not overly assisted and it has a very lively feel to it. The suspension is more oriented toward sport than all out comfort and the brakes are powerful. Most of the ingredients required to create a seriously capable hatchback are already there. Leftlane's bottom line Renault's dual-clutch EDC gearbox is infinitely more enjoyable to drive than the fully-automatic gearboxes that the automaker has offered in the past. However, the gearbox would be better-suited to a more powerful engine as the 110 horsepower dCi mill is just not gutsy enough. The EDC gearbox would be brilliant if it was mated to the 160 horsepower dCi, or even to certain members of Renault's performance-oriented R.S. lineup, especially with the addition of shift paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Words and photos by Ronan Glon.