COMPACT estates such as the Ford Focus and the VW Golf defy a current trend for cars that offer a little more in the looks department.
Their styling is functional rather than possessing any noticeable degree of design flair.
In essence, it's what all estate cars were once about, an essential part of their design DNA as family-friendly load-luggers pure and simple.
If you wanted to be able to fit in a family of five, all your camping gear and luggage for a two-week break in the south of France you didn't expect to be driving around in something that was going to win design awards too.
There was also something comforting about a boxy looking big Volvo or a Vauxhall.
But somewhere along the way people expected a little more from their estates - or was it just a case of the designers rising to the challenge of injecting a touch of style into an otherwise basic blueprint.
While the 'lifestyle' estates that have become pretty much the norm when it comes to larger models can have fun with styling, making a C segment estate look svelte and sexy is something of a challenge, due to the restraints imposed by more compact dimensions.
The main strength of the new Renault Megane Sport Tourer is that it manages to achieve great looks without compromising practicality in any way whatsoever.
Stylish and spacious, it achieves both by dispensing altogether with those traditional size restraints by simply being far bigger than one might expect a C segment to ordinarily be.
Its cabin is capacious with the sort of room in the rear that would comfortably fit a couple of tall adults.
And its carrying capacity (1,567 litres of luggage space) is considerably in excess of any of its more box-like rivals such as the Golf or Focus too.
The interior styling is swish and contemporary and the integrated Renault Carminat Tom Tom navigation system which gives this model its name is a bonus and easy to use.
Under the skin the Megane tested featured a new 158bhp 2.0-litre diesel that is also available in the latest Grand Scenic and will soon be available across the Renault range.
It manages to be refined and potent, to the point where, when motorway cruising, its speed seemed to creep up all too easily in a deceptively good kind of way. With an impressively quick 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds it dispenses with the kind of diesel lag often encountered.
The Megane handles nicely, with a flat and composed feel on the road and with that punchy diesel under the bonnet becomes more of a driver's car than one might expect. An excellent all-rounder that looks good too.
FAST FACTS
Renault Megane Sport Tourer 1.9 dCi 130 Tom Tom Edition
Price: £20,440
Mechanical: 130bhp, 1,870cc, 4cyl diesel engine driving front wheels via 6-speed manual gearbox
Max speed: 127mph
0-62mph: 9.8 seconds
Combined mpg: 55.4
Insurance group: 9
CO2 emissions: 134g/km
BiK rating: 18%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles