| A Week at the Wheel | Bucks, England | Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet dCi 130 Auto Privilege |

For what seems such a common sense combination, it's amazing it took so long for diesel, automatic and convertible to be all available in the same car. It seemed that if you wanted a convertible, it was assumed you wanted something sporty, which tended to rule out diesel. But times have changed, and with diesel-engined cars attracting lower road tax fund prices (due to lower CO₂ emissions), it's not surprising that now, the diesel engine is available everywhere. If you don't have a diesel option, you don't sell cars; it's as simple as that.

I didn't twig straight away that the Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet we had on test was powered by a diesel engine, it was that quiet, I drove up the road through a couple of gear changes and then noticed the rev counter didn't read that high. Ah, it's a diesel then. Renault's latest dCi in 130bhp 1.9-litre guise, and as hinted in paragraph one, it was mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox, one or two speeds light on the norm these days.

This latest version of the Mégane in convertible form has followed the trend for the folding hardtop, unlike the previous soft-top model. Customers like them, you get all the security of a closed car and an easy folding, electrically operated roof that turns the coupé into a cabriolet in a matter of seconds - 22 in this case. Better still, in the Mégane, the front section of the roof is mostly made of glass, making for a much airier interior than is the norm. Coupled with the beige dashboard, seats and steering wheel in our car (standard with Privilege specification), it was so light inside that only the lack of draught gave away that the roof was up.

Now most folding hardtop cars have seriously compromised styling, as it's not easy to design a roof that will fold and stow in the boot space without compromising the look. But the Mégane has been relatively successful; the long boot lid is in better proportion with the rest of the car than most of its ilk. That's because the Mégane is quite long, certainly compared to the dumpy looking Nissan Micra C+C and Mitsubishi Colt CZC. So someone please explain to me how this longer, better proportioned car has less rear leg room than either of those two smaller cars? Enough for a seven year old to complain - not as bad as in the Peugeot 206CC, but strictly for kids who won't want to travel far.

I didn't much like the Privilege trim colour scheme either; all this beige did the car's metallic beige (its called Quartz) no favours at all. Worse than that, the cloth seats look cheap and the hard plastic dashboard and steering feel even worse than they looked. I hadn't really paid any attention to the car when it was delivered and assumed straight off this was the entry level model. I cannot describe my surprise when I looked up what I was driving, as it is the top end of the range and costs £22,530 before extras! I'd guessed about £15k and thought the interior looked cheap at THAT price. Oh dear, we were not getting off to the best of starts.

And things got worse - it takes me ages to get the driving position just so, in any car. I'm constantly fidgeting, adjusting the recline until I get it right. But you can't do that in the Mégane, as the recline control on the seat is on the outside and there's not enough space to reach it with the door shut. Yes, maybe I should get it right before I move off, but I don't think it's uncommon to tweak your position on the move.

So just when you're thinking "he's going to turn round and give it back straight away", I went for a drive. No, it's not stunningly quick, the 130bhp diesel engine and four-speed automatic gearbox would be a big clue to that. But if there's one thing Renault has done well in recent times, it's make great handling cars. Thank the Lord, the Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet falls into that group. It rides with the sort of comfort that makes you think it will all go slushy when the first corner arrives, but when you reach that corner, it turns in eagerly, stays taut and hits that apex just perfectly. And the next one, and the one after that, and ooh dear we're building up some pace now...

I didn't see that coming. I started out despising the Mégane and ended up rather fond of it. The Mégane suited my mood, whatever my mood happened to be at the time. If I wasn't in a hurry, the Mégane was a relaxing and cosseting companion. If I wanted some fun, it handled everything the road and I could throw at it. What a pleasant surprise.

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2007 Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet range overview

Model	UK (£ on-the-road)	Ireland: (€ on-the-road)
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Extreme 1.6 VVT 111	£17,840	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111	£18,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S 1.6 VVT 111	£18,610	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique dCi 106 6-Speed	£19,330	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 1.6 VVT 111 Auto	£19,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 2.0 VVT 136	£19,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège 1.6 VVT 111	£19,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S dCi 106	£19,600	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S 1.6 VVT 111 Auto	£19,610	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S 2.0 VVT 136	£19,610	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège dCi 106 6-Speed	£20,330	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 2.0 VVT 136 Auto	£20,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège 1.6 VVT 111 Auto	£20,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège 2.0 VVT 136	£20,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique dCi 130 6 Speed	£20,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 2.0 Turbo 165	£20,540	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S 2.0 VVT 136 Auto	£20,610	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S dCi 130	£20,800	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S 2.0 Turbo 165	£20,810	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège 2.0 VVT 136 Auto	£21,340	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique dCi 130 FAP Auto	£21,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique dCi 150 6 Speed	£21,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège dCi 130 6 Speed	£21,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège 2.0 Turbo 165	£21,540	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S dCi 130 Auto	£21,800	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique S dCi 150	£21,800	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège dCi 130 FAP Auto	£22,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Privilège dCi 150 6 Speed	£22,530	n/a
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique 1.6 16v	n/a	€34,900
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Monace II 1.6 16v	n/a	€35,000
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet La Creme 1.6 16v	n/a	€35,700
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet Dynamique Auto 1.6 16v	n/a	€36,750
Renault Mégane Coupé-Cabriolet La Creme Auto 1.6 16v	n/a	€37,550