Overview

Not too much to compare here, I'm affraid. We're considering two fairly different vehicles in this case. Even though they belong to the same vehicle segment, their purpose might be slightly different with Fluence being a sedan while Megane, on the other hand, is a wagon. Another thing to consider here is the number of doors each one of them offers. The first one is a 4-door, allowing access to both front and rear seats. The other one though is a 5-door, allowing access to both front and rear seats and a usefull hatch on the rear end as well.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Fluence offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Renault displays lower than average breakdown numbers, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Renault with an average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Fluence as average reliability-wise, and Megane 18% above the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Fluence rank it on average as 4.3, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Megane is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 190 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Fluence, averaging around 4.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (61 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 15% difference compared to Megane.

Verdict

Megane appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Fluence offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Megane being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Fluence. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.