|
Petrol: | 1.4 L
E7J I4 | 1.4 L
K4J I4 | 1.6 L
K7M I4 | 1.6 L
K4M I4 | 2.0 L
F3R I4 | 2.0 L
F5R I4 | 2.0 L
F7R I4 |
Diesel: | 1.9 L
F8Q D I4 | 1.9 L
F8Q dT I4 | 1.9 L
F9Q dTi I4 | 1.9 L
F9Q dCi I4 }} | Hatchback: | Sedan: | Wagon: | Coupé: | Convertible: }} }} 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 Mégane name, meaning "eyeglasses" in Japanese, was coined by
Manfred Gotta. The designs retained were developed around four themes. Theme A: a six light version, evoking the Laguna; Theme B: a model with a markedly ; 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 Mégane 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. Taking its name from a Renault concept car shown in 1988, the Mégane further developed the new corporate styling theme introduced by Patrick Le Quément on the
Laguna, most notably the "bird beak" front grille – a styling cue borrowed from the
Renault 16 of the 1960s. Renault decided to add an
acute accent to the vehicle name (M
égane), in order to assert its European identity, in a context of growing competition of newer car manufacturers coming from Japan. As with the 19 and the
11 before it, the Mégane 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 coupé. Sales in the United Kingdom commenced in April 1996. Safety was a key focus of the Mégane I, Renault's first car reflecting their new focus of selling on safety. It featured a pillar mounted three-point seatbelt for the middle rear occupant (replacing the common 'lap strap'), standard front belt pre tensioners and load limiters, driver's
airbag (passenger airbag from 1996) and an impressive safety structure – a specification ahead of all rivals in 1995, e.g. VW Golf Mk 3, Opel Astra F, Ford Escort etc. Some features, such as the three-point middle belt, had debuted on the Renault 19 safety concept vehicle (and this feature entered production on the Renault Laguna before the Mégane). 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 Mégane I achieved a best in class four star crash test rating in the 1998 round of testing by
Euro NCAP. November 1996 saw the introduction of the
Mégane Scénic compact MPV. 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 Mégane 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 Mégane estates were sold from September 1998 in Turkey, where it was manufactured by
Oyak-Renault. 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 Mégane I, in 2000, and Nissan took over as the sole licensee for Renault cars.
Facelift A mild facelift in spring 1999 gave the Mégane 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 Mégane II line at a considerably lower price until 2011. File:Renault Mégane I Phase I Fünftürer Heck.JPG|Pre-facelift Renault Mégane five-door File:Renault Mégane Classic Century Heck.JPG|Pre-facelift Renault Mégane Classic sedan File:Renault Mégane Coach Phase I 16V Montecarlo Heck.JPG|Pre-facelift Renault Mégane Coupé File:Renault Mégane 1gen inside 20120206.jpg|Pre-facelift interior File:2002 Renault Megane Fidji 16V Automatic 1.6 Front.jpg|Post-facelift Renault Mégane five-door (hatchback) File:2002 Renault Megane Fidji 16V Automatic 1.6 Rear.jpg|Post-facelift Renault Mégane five-door (hatchback) File:2003 Renault Mégane (X64) Privilege convertible (20889553963).jpg|Post-facelift Renault Mégane (convertible) File:Renault Mégane I Phase II Grandtour 1.4 16V Fairway Heck.JPG|Post-facelift Renault Mégane (estate) File:Renault Megane Classic (22819836430).jpg|alt=|Post-facelift Renault Mégane Classic sedan File:Post-lift Renault Megane Coupe.jpg|Post-facelift 1999 Renault Megane Coupe
South America In countries, such as Argentina and Colombia, the Mégane 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. It is a car with more advanced safety features, upgraded equipment and more. The Mégane I had a lower price than the Mégane II. 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.
Engines Maxi Mégane 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
Citroën and
Peugeot soon introduced bigger and more powerful cars, which resulted in Renault producing an F2 version of the Mégane in 1996. The Maxi Mégane 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
Grégoire De Mévius,
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. 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); but it also helped Renault to the FIA 2 Litre World Rally Cup of Manufacturer's title in 1999. 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, whilst they also took the
European Rally Championship in
1999. ==Second generation (X84; 2002)==