What's the news?
Another Renault reveal at Geneva, following an early peek before the show, is the Megane Sport Tourer. It will come in two guises, as the regular car and also as a slightly more focused Sport Tourer GT.
Exterior
We've already seen the design of the Megane Sport Tourer and it's an attractive machine, including a chrome trim that runs from the waistline up to the rear quarter-panel on all models. Matt-finish integrated aluminium roof bars will appear on every version but base grade models, while the GT gets a sportier countenance, with beefy bumpers, honeycomb mesh grilles, large air intakes and optional 18-inch diamond-cut alloys. It also benefits from a chromed exhaust pipe and a sculpted diffuser.
Interior
All Meganes come with an ergonomically improved driving position, with a colour head-up display, seven-inch TFT data screen and 8.7-inch 'R-Link 2' multimedia touchscreen technology forming an L-shape around the driver. Again, the GT is a cut above - bucket seats, blue stitching and chequered logos team up with blue trim strips and flashes in the instrument binnacle to reinforce the sportiness. There's also a sports steering wheel, aluminium pedals and paddle shifts.
Customers will buy the Megane Sport Tourer for its practicality benefits over the hatchback, though, so it's worth noting the 580-litre modular boot, wealth of cabin stowage compartments and its ability to carry 2,770mm-long items, thanks to 60:40 split rear seats and a front passenger chair that folds completely flat.
Mechanicals
Power ranges from 90- to 205hp, courtesy of the same powerplants that feature in its hatchback brother. For the normal Sport Tourer, there are three Energy TCe petrol drivetrains with either six-speed manual or seven-speed Efficient Dual Clutch (EDC) automatic transmissions, while the GT gets the TCe 205 with the EDC only.
However, there's a rapid diesel version too, if you like the GT's styling, as the top trim comes with the Energy dCi 165 unit paired to a six-speed EDC. For the rest of the Megane Sport Tourer range, it's three power outputs (90-, 110- and 130hp) with six-speed gearboxes only, manuals in the main, but the EDC can be had on the 110hp Renault.
Anything else?
Like its Scenic cousin, the Renault Megane Sport Tourer will have a mild diesel-electric hybrid model added to its line-up following the car's launch later in 2016; this Hybrid Assist version is slated to hit the roads in early 2017.