The Mégane II Owners' Club

Having had a 1.8 Diesel Focus for the last 4 years I was hooked on the looks of the Megane and went for the 1.6 petrol 2005 Dynamique VVT. After 2 weeks of ownership and a couple of dashes on the M1 motorway I would be grateful of any advice of members on the following queries.

Whilst on the motorway in fifth the revs at 70mph are 3500 rising to 4000, the engine doesnt sound "content" and seems like it is screaming for a sixth gear. When i had the Focus the revs at 70mph were about 2500 and there was no "edgy feel" to driving at that speed.

Not having owned a petrol car for quite a while I have noticed I am currently getting about 80 miles per £10 of unleaded. The car is very jerky in first gear and can be sluggish at traffic lights. It is hard to get a consistent smooth start when pulling away from a standing still position.

Any ideas/thoughts very welcome

all sounds normal to me,, there not mile munchers.
urban driving gets me 35miles per gallon...that sounds similar ballpark to 80miles per £10, also jerky standing starts are common on the megane..it is a "feature".

Hi Ebenezer, you've only had one reply so I thought I would stick my hooter in before this post disappears into the ether!
I have never driven a 1.6vvti Meg but I can say that a diesel will always be much higher-geared than a petrol-engined car. I suspect that your Focus was probably 1753cc, 89 bhp Ford Endura DI engine, a very "old-fashioned" unit, replaced by the TDCI. You would probably have found it difficult to drive below 45mph or even 50 in 5th gear but your urban mpg would have been around 35 with 50 on a run. Pretty economical in other words.
A gallon of petrol is, say £5 (more like £6 now!) thus your 80 miles for £10 works out easily at 40 mpg and I think that is quite good for such a "sporty" car.
I can't comment about the driving characteristics of your Meg but the Focus would have been gutless below 2500rpm and run out of revs at 4000rpm! It is only the later generation of common rail diesels that have loads of torque at low revs.
Whether or not your Meg proves to be as reliable as your old Ford remains to be seen. A year or two back I bought a mk 1 Mondeo TD with 212,000 on the clock, original engine, fuel pump and turbo. I scrapped it as it was as rotten as a pear! Didn't pay much for it and the parts came in handy when I broke it! (Legally you can't break your own cars now!)
How many Megs will reach even half that mileage without bankrupting their owners.....?
Has this rubbish been of any interest to you?

Happy Meg-motoring!
Mike

Cheers guys for your comments, much appreciated

also recently got a megane, 1.6 like ebeneezer, I had a focus, but petrol, then a brief stint with a saab 95 turbo (auto).... and at 19mpg it soon got outed.... I get the same as you say... 70mp seems like the cars screaming for another gear, get to 80 and the pitch changes... jerky and sluggish too in first... so guessing too this must be the normal...

mine does this too as previously stated this must be a 'feature' whoppee lol, it could do with a 6th gear but im quite impressed with the pull at 70 in fifth it seems to pull quite nice for a petrol, there are things that you can do to improve it, a big thing o nthe 1.6s is to clean out your throttle body many owners have said this has done wonders for theirperformance and economy, also resetting the injection computer could be a good idea..hope this helps..

Boys, have just sold a 1.6 after 7 years and 66 k miles. Can confirm its jerky in first (see other threads) and on mixed trip to work get 38 mpg. It is a good M way cruiser if alittle highly geared - 70 - 80 on the M6 is around 4000 rpm - but as the torque falls off you get very little return in mph for the increase in rpm. A 6th gear would only be useful after 80 mph ?

- still have 2006 cc in the family which has been little problem from the 2003/53 - dephaser/window regulator and incompetent stealerships