Shapes and styles in the volume car business have a limited shelf life. It seems no time since Renault launched its fairly radical-looking second generation Megane, but in fact it was 2002 and since then around 2.4 million have been produced.
In Europe Megane II has dominated the small family car C segment which accounts for one third of all European car sales.
Four years on, a facelift has been deemed appropriate, not so much because Megane II is ageing, more because of increasing competition from Ford with the Focus, Volkswagen with the Golf and Honda with its dramatically-shaped Civic.
The profile is still recognisably Megane but the facelift has meant more tapered headlamps, a revised grille and bumpers, translucent rear lights and six alloy wheel designs. There are new fresher colours, revised and brighter interior trims, easier-to-read dials that are backlit with white light and a dash and centre console that are meant to look more harmonious.
Essential elements like the reasonably generous boot haven't changed: the Ford Focus can still offer more boot space. Parking can be easier through the fitting of rear sensors although they will still be an option. A carbon filter has been fitted to the air conditioning to stop unwanted smells getting into the cabin.
The big news under the bonnet is the arrival of a new 2.0 litre turbo-diesel engine that offers performance akin to that of hot hatches. The 2.0 dCi 150bhp unit is the fruit of the Renault-Nissan alliance. In the Irish context, its application to the revised Megane is a bit academic: Megane Irish sales are mostly petrol with 1.4 and 1.6 litre power units.
The real significance of this new engine is that it will do service in future bigger-sized Renaults and Nissans.
A test drive last week in France showed that it's a well-engineered example of thoroughly modern common-rail diesel technology.
The six speed manual gearbox was able to exploit a broader useable rev band, developing a maximum 340Nm of torque at 2,000rpm. It was acoustically comfortable too: the diesel noise at all times was a murmur rather than a clatter. Renault claim consumption of just 5.41/100km in the combined cycle (53.3mpg) with the sprint from zero to 100kph taking 8.7 seconds.
In Ireland the first application of this engine will be in the Espace MPV at the end of this year. In 2007 it is scheduled to go in the new Laguna and a Renault-badged 4x4 that was developed through Samsung.
Jerr Nolan for Renault Ireland sees the new engine as playing an important part in the future line-up of Renault. "It's Euro 4 standard and state-of-the-art diesel in terms of its economy, performance and emissions."