Megane Facelift

[Christina Smith]

TheRenault Mgane (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-smallfont-size:85%.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-smallfont-size:100%French pronunciation: [meɡan]), also spelled without the acute accent as Megane,[1] especially in languages other than French, and also known as the Renault Megavan for an LCV in Ireland, as the Renault Scala in Iran and as the Renault Mgane Grandcoup for the saloon in Israel, Palestinian Authority and Serbia for certain generations,[2][3][4][5] is a small family car produced by the French car manufacturer Renault for the 1996 model year, and was the successor to the Renault 19. The Mgane has been offered in three- and five-door hatchback, saloon, coup, convertible and estate bodystyles at various points in its lifetime, and having been through four generations is now in its fifth incarnation.

In November 1996, the Mgane Scnic compact MPV was introduced, using the same mechanical components as the hatchback Mgane. For 2002, the Mgane entered its second generation with a substantial redesign taking place, and was voted European Car of the Year for 2003, whilst also becoming the first car in its class to receive a five star Euro NCAP rating.

The Mgane entered its third generation in 2008, with another totally different design being used; the saloon version of the Mgane became known as the Renault Fluence for this generation, and it was introduced in 2009. The fourth-generation Mgane was launched in 2015, with sales commencing in 2016.

Development of the X64 began at the beginning of 1990, with the first sketches of X64 programme being drawn during the first six months of 1990. Very quickly, several themes were outlined and developed into four small scale (1/5) models by September 1990.

The designs retained were developed around four themes. Theme A: a six light version, evoking the Laguna; Theme B: a model with a markedly cuneiform line; Theme C: another design with ellipse shaped glasswork and rear notch; Theme D: a model with the same elliptical glazing and rounded rear.

In March 1991, all four styling proposals were developed into full scale (1:1). Theme C by Michel Jardin was chosen by Le Quement and frozen for production in April 1992. The first prototypes were built and presented to management in December 1992. Approximately 432 prototypes were built (at Rueil assembly) and destroyed during development.

In June 1993, Renault purchased production tooling for the X64, with the first test unit being assembled at the Douai plant in October 1994, and pre production units being constructed from December 1994 to the middle of 1995.

The Mgane I was unveiled in September 1995, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, as a replacement for the Renault 19. The car was essentially a reskin of its predecessor, and carried over the 19's floorpan, engines, transmissions and chassis design, albeit with much modification.

As with the 19 and the 11 before it, the Mgane was produced at Renault's Douai plant in northern France starting in July 1995, and at the Spanish plant of Palencia. Market launch began on 15 November 1995 in France, and 15 December 1995 for the coup. Sales in the United Kingdom commenced in April 1996.

The car also benefited from Renault's first "System for Restraint and Protection" (SRP), essentially a system of careful optimisation of occupant restraint by interaction of the seat, seatbelt, pretensioner, load limiter and airbag. The Mgane I achieved a best in class four star crash test rating in the 1998 round of testing by Euro NCAP.[9]

Power came from the Renault E type ("Energy") engine in 1.4 L and 1.6 L, and the F-type unit in both 1.9 L diesel and 2.0 L petrol forms, although this time around there was a wider variety of 16 valve derivatives. A 1.9 L diesel engine in both normally aspirated and turbocharged forms was also available.

Renault also produced a limited number of Renaultsport edition Phase 1's with the Renaultsport bodywork; however, these were very rare. The Renaultsport kit was available to purchase for a short time direct from Renault France, but has now been discontinued, thus their value has increased.

The estate version of the original Mgane was only available in LHD form, with no RHD variants built. This could be due to the greater popularity of the Scenic in those markets, limiting the potential sales of a compact estate. The estate was added with the facelift of 1999, although pre-facelifted Mgane estates were sold from September 1998 in Turkey, where it was manufactured by Oyak-Renault.[10][11][12]

In Japan, Renault was formerly licensed by Yanase Co., Ltd., but in 1999 Renault acquired a stake in Japanese automaker Nissan. As a result of Renault's purchase, Yanase canceled its licensing contract for all Renault models sold in Japan, including, but not limited to, the Mgane I, in 2000, and Nissan took over as the sole licensee for Renault cars.[citation needed]

A mild facelift in spring 1999 gave the Mgane I a modified grille, more advanced safety features and upgraded equipment, and 16 valve engines were used across the range. An Estate body style was also launched in mainland Europe with the facelift. The production continued for the Latin America Market, where it was sold alongside the Mgane II line at a considerably lower price until 2011.

In countries, such as Argentina and Colombia, the Mgane I was available until 2010, sold as a sedan and an estate, but in Venezuela, it was available only as a sedan. It features as the top line of the model the LA04 engine (16 valves, 1.6 litres and 110 HP), and was produced by both Renault Colombia and Renault Argentina, in where it was one of the best selling cars to date.

In Venezuela, it was only available in one version: Unique, with a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic one. Both of these were equipped with Abs and other extra equipment including driver and passenger front airbags, foglights, leather seats, electric mirrors and electric windows. In Argentina, not every version had features such as electric windows, electric mirrors or airbags.

During the 1990s, Renault Sport developed a rally car for the Formula 2 Kit Car regulations. This was the Clio Williams Maxi, which was the first car truly developed for the F2 Kit Car category, and first appeared in 1996. However, rivals such as Citron and Peugeot soon introduced bigger and more powerful cars, which resulted in Renault producing an F2 version of the Mgane in 1996. The Maxi Mgane officially represented the brand in French Championship rallies in 1996 and 1997 with drivers like Philippe Bugalski, Jean Ragnotti or Serge Jordan, and the British Rally Championship from 1996 to 1999, with Grgoire De Mvius, Alain Oreille, Robbie Head, Martin Rowe, and Tapio Laukkanen. Both the French and British rally teams also compete in the World Rally Championship.

After the works programme was discontinued, many privateers continued to use the car. It was also used in the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup, which Renault won in 1999.[13] The car used a special version of the Renault F7R engine, and had a seven speed Sequential manual transmission.

Its most notable result was an outright victory in the 1996 Tour de Corse in the hands of Philippe Bugalski and his co driver Jean-Paul Chiaroni (in a year where the Tour de Corse was a FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup only event);[14] but it also helped Renault to the FIA 2 Litre World Rally Cup of Manufacturer's title in 1999.[15]

In other high level competitions, Renault took back to back manufacturer's and driver's titles in the British Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999,[16][17] whilst they also took the European Rally Championship in 1999.[18]

The Mgane II was launched in September 2002 for the 2003 model year,[19] and marked a completely new fresh start. The two cars bear very little resemblance, the new vehicle having been inspired by the manufacturer's new design language first seen in the Avantime.

The new Mgane was voted European Car of the Year for 2003,[20] fighting off stiff competition from Japan's Mazda 3 and PSA's Citron C4, and achieved a five star safety rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests,[21] the first small family car to do so.

The Mgane II and the Laguna were both showcases for a great deal of innovative technologies Renault launched at the beginning of the 2000s; the Renault Card keyless ignition system, standard on the Mgane II, was a first in this class and has since been widely adopted.

Similarly, the option of a panoramic glass sunroof is another area in which Renault led where others followed. In June 2003, the first ever live crash test using a real driver rather than a crash test dummy featuring the Mgane II was conducted by Top Gear.[22]

In Brazil, Renault launched a flex fuel version, called "Hi-Flex", which is able to run either with unleaded gasoline (petrol) or ethanol. Like the Brazilian Scnic and Clio versions, the Mgane's engine can work with any mix of gasoline and ethanol, due to the use of an electronic control module.

As with the previous Mgane, the range of models is wide; there is a three and five door hatchback available, named "Sport Hatch" and "Hatch" respectively, there is a four-door saloon/sedan (Sport Saloon), a five-door estate (Sport Tourer / Grandtour), and to replace both the Mgane Coupe and Convertible, a new retractable hardtop coupe designed by Karmann. Unlike the previous model, the estate version was sold in RHD for the first time.

Unlike its predecessor, the Mgane II was not licensed by Yanase Co., Ltd. for the Japanese market, as Renault had acquired a stake in Nissan when the Mgane I was still in production. Instead, the Mgane II was licensed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and sold exclusively through Nissan Red Stage Store locations.

The Hatchback model was revised at Motor Show Brussels in January 2006, the Wagon and Convertible model was debut at Geneva Motor Show in March 2006, with changes in interior trim (e.g. a new revised instrument cluster with the speedometer moved to the right and the tachometer moved to the left), specification levels and most notably, a new front nose. A new front suspension system borrowed from the Mgane 2.0 225 PS (165 kW; 222 hp) was adopted, improving the driving performance.[23] Also, the Nissan Sentra B16 is based on the platform from 2006 of the Renault Mgane.

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