Megane vs. Golf vs. Focus

[R32UK]

Factor on the amount of time it will spend back at the dealers too 

Horrible horrible cars those renaults!!

This is all irrelevant, chaps! I give my opinion for free though! 

My budget is nearer half of £23k and TBH, bairns are likely to decrease that over the coming years 

if its around the 10k mark... i would opt for a nice mk4 r32. my advice also for free

[FamilyDub]

I would opt for a nice mk4 r32

I have actually considered the MKIV .:R32 idea already!

Clio 197 with cup chassis (but not a Clio Cup!) was another option, but we know your opinion on Renaults... 

[simonkit]

 Is the comparison quite valid...on price definitely but I'd say the GOLF R is really the one in the same "category" as the RS/Megane.

 I drove the 2.0 TCE Megane coupe recently (2008), which I think is more comparable with the GTI category wise. I had no biased either way as at the time I owned a Hyundai Coupe  

 For me the Renault felt low-rent, poor interior certainly not befitting a 20K "coupe". Feedback/handling whilst safe was numb & the power delivery from the 2.0 turbo very jerky. After driving my now MK V Golf GTI shortly afterwards the difference was significant & it was a no contest - to be fair the price difference was also significant !!

 What also concerned me was residuals & reliability - the Renault didn't look very promising on either. Of course these were not priorities from this particular test.

 Just a few of my thoughts..maybe relevant/maybe not  

 simon

[R32UK]

I would opt for a nice mk4 r32

I have actually considered the MKIV .:R32 idea already!

Clio 197 with cup chassis (but not a Clio Cup!) was another option, but we know your opinion on Renaults... 

the problems i had with renault were mainly electrical. the less of them the better! no one can deny the great drivability of cars such as the cup. what hothatches should all really be.

[FamilyDub]

the problems i had with renault were mainly electrical

Reno leccy can't be worse than Italian cars?!

I've had two Puntos; no wipers on a rainy Monday rush hour, no heating in -10c, no lights on a rural b-road... you name it! 

Sorry, OP... Back to topic! If we have a whip round and find me £10k I'll have a white Megane R.S. 250. Thanks.

[mac7]

Is the comparison quite valid...on price definitely but I'd say the GOLF R is really the one in the same "category" as the RS/Megane.

I'd say the Scirocco R would be the closest comparison against the other two.

Reno leccy can't be worse than Italian cars?!

French electrics are pretty awful to be honest.

[A7 UFO]

the problems i had with renault were mainly electrical. the less of them the better! no one can deny the great drivability of cars such as the cup. what hothatches should all really be.

if I wanted a low comfort/high fun factor hot hatch I'd prefer no electrics.  Not only can and do they go wrong...they also add weight.  The 106 and 306 rallye were the first to show the weight savings against their usual factory norm.

[herbie911]

I used to own a 106 rallye in the midnineties. Only 1.3litre cost my dad £8700 brand new with free insurance. Got nothing inside but bare metal. Despite this, one of the most entertaining car I ever owned. The only Peugeot I own with a 100% reliability record! (others 205 gti, 106gti)
Got a little bit old now, cannot live with cars with no luxuries!

[Snoopy]

You could not pay me to drive a renault. I have a mate whos a design QC guy at Nissan the amount of Renault parts off the shared platforms he has had to reject because of quality/saftey/reliability is just eye openning. The test results were scary.

A renault engine in the redbull had nothing to do with the review outcome i guess.

[DonnieDarko]

Stupid review in my eyes from (as they mentioned) a reviewer who is biased towards Renault

mark must have been surprised the renault engine lasted the whole test?