| First Drive | Valencia, Spain | Renault Mégane GT |

The Renault Clio GT is one of the best little hatches we've driven recently, with its lovely combination of 'rag me to death, please' dynamics, reasonable running costs, and day-to-day user-friendliness (you know: a soft ride, decent boot - that sort of thing.)

This Mégane GT should serve up more of the same. It promises much, having been comprehensively gone over by the fast folk at Renaultsport.

In the Metal

The GT borrows much from the Renaultsport Mégane 250 proper, with a nice set of chunky 18-inch grey alloys, GT badges dotted about, grey mirror caps and a low stance. The sporty aesthetic works well on the three-door coupé, though not so well on the Sport Tourer version, which looks a little aftermarket.

Inside there's a set of thick bucket seats - comfy ones, too - more GT badges and some fairly cheap looking grey plastic strips running across the dash and door handles.

What you get for your Money

GT cars are powered by either the 158bhp dCi 2.0-litre diesel engine, or a 178bhp TCe 2.0-litre petrol unit, the former commanding £23,475 in Coupé form, the latter £22,410. Add £500 for the Sport Tourer...

But then consider that the brilliant, stripped out Renaultsport 250 Cup costs £23,160. That unravels things a little, although a full-fat Mégane RS250 with the full complement of equipment plus Recaro seats and the Cup chassis commands £26,060. Phew.

Compared to the standard Mégane, the GT gets a 12mm ride height drop and its dampers are tuned by Renaultsport. The electric steering rack is recalibrated, the brakes uprated and the wheels shod in the same grippy Dunlop tyres as the Mégane RS250.

Weirdly, though, the GT doesn't get satellite navigation as standard, whereas the lower-level Dynamique TomTom does. It does have everything else of the lower spec car, though, including climate control, parking sensors and Bluetooth. Renault's trim logic can be baffling sometimes.

Driving it

We haven't tried the diesel, but the TCe petrol GT is very close to hot hatch territory in the power stakes - and deep in the heart of it dynamically. The 178bhp four-cylinder turbo motor dishes up a 7.8-second sprint to 62mph, but the GT feels faster than that. It's a lot to do with the responsiveness from low revs, and the hard-edged, metallic crescendo at high ones.

Unlike the Clio GT, which is so softly sprung that you need to dig deep to discover the chassis' talent, the Mégane is set up firmly, in a similar vein to the RS250. It's not unbearable, but it is easily ruffled by less than smooth tarmac. The trade-off for that is feel: there's a far greater level of communication between road, tyre, wheel and driver than in the standard car - exactly as it should be.

What there isn't, though, is endless grip; the front tyres let go of their bite and wash into understeer surprisingly early. They do so predictably and communicatively, though, which can actually make the car more involving. The gearbox is the only minor weak link in the chain. There's not much bad about it, but it's a little too slack across the gate, too light, and sixth could maybe do with being a little taller to reduce engine drone on the motorway.

Worth Noting

Renault has also introduced a 'GT Line' trim level, available with all engines - something else to get confused about in the dealership. It's essentially a dilution of the GT concept, which is itself a dilution of the Renaultsport one. Predictably then, it's a little weak, offering none of the GT-specific chassis changes with its GT-aping aesthetic. The GT Line five-door hatch and ST estate do sit on the 'sport chassis' developed for the Mégane Coupé, however, though the GT Line Coupé-Cabriolet doesn't. All versions get sport seats, specific alloys and GT Line badges.

Summary

Not too long ago 178bhp would have been considered a pretty butch power output; now it's been relegated to the tepid bench. However, don't let that put you off the petrol GT, because it's a fine, fun thing to drive quickly and doesn't lack poke. It's expensive to buy though, and with 37.2mpg economy and 178g/km it's not going to be cheap to run if you drive it hard. That's where the diesel might come in...we'll let you know.