One of the biggest challenges facing car designers is how to find more space for passengers and luggage in a fixed set of external dimensions.

So it’s full marks to the team at Renault for achieving a top volume capacity of 1,600 litres in the most practical version of the Megane – and doing it without compromising the car’s sleek profile.

Standing wide and relatively low, this is a good looking vehicle with the flowing lines that live up to its Sport Tourer model name. But style doesn’t encroach on usefulness in a design that makes it a versatile workhorse with lots of potential for fleet use.

A surprising amount of room belies the fact that is a C-segment car and packing away small items like phones, spectacles and wallets is no problem thanks to ample storage space that includes two ‘secret’ compartments tucked under the front mats.

A 524-litre volume means there’s no shortage of space for luggage behind the rear seats and this extends to 1,600 litres when the backrests are folded in a single movement to provide an impressive load area for a car in this segment.

Given that it is an estate, the Sport Tourer has good handling characteristics irrespective of the weight it is carrying with power assistance that provides nicely weighted steering. 

And though it has a relatively modest output motor under its bonnet, strong pulling power at low revs give it a more sprightly performance than you’d expect from an engine developing 110bhp.

That makes another aspect of the latest dCi unit particularly significant. As the mileage increases in our test, economy returns seem to improve, with consistent averages on the better side of 62mpg from the last few fill-ups.

Maurice Glover