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By
EWAN KENNEDY
23 June 2008
Renault has been quiet over the last couple of years in Australia,
chiefly due to a dearth of new models. While the French marque has
introduced some interesting niche products in the high-performance
field, mainstream cars have been lagging. That’s about to
change, with a rush of new cars on the way, led by the just
released Laguna hatchback with which we have just spent an
interesting couple of days.
The
French are famed for styling and Renault has been way out in some
of its shapes in recent times, particularly with the Megane range.
But new Laguna manages to stand out without being too radical in
its lines. Sleek, with a fair dash of elegance from the flowing
front, over the long cabin to the kicked up tail, it really is a
delight to the eyes.
And
if you think the body looks good, pop down to your local Renault
dealer to view the interior. Featuring a lowset dash finished to a
high standard and using a number of complementary colours it works
well visually, as well as in real driving terms.
Better
still, Renault's designers have managed to keep Laguna's
windscreen pillars relatively slim. Thus robbing the driver of as
little visibility as possible, while still having a car that has
scored one of the highest results ever in European NCAP crash
testing.
There
is one drawback to the interior, though. Despite being bigger than
ever before, with a length not far short of that of a Commodore or
Falcon, Laguna doesn’t have a lot of area in the back seat. To
the extent that if I place my 1.82-metre frame behind itself I
have less legroom than I like and come pretty close to the roof.
Balancing
that out if you plan to use the Renault as a family car is a huge
load area under the big rear hatch.
Width
is up substantially on the previous Laguna and there's good elbow
room in the front and good space for two adults or three children
across the rear.
At
this time only a turbo-diesel engine is offered in Australian
Lagunas. A turbo-petrol is due for release here in September. The
2.0-litre dCi diesel powerplant is already familiar to us from
other Renault vehicles. It’s a quiet unit, for a diesel that is,
with 110 kW, and 340 Nm at 2000 revs. It has been tested at just
6.0 litres per hundred kilometres in six-speed manual format,
though that rises quite sharply when the six-speed automatic
transmission is chosen, when the consumption is 7.0 litres per
hundred.
All
our initial testing at the Laguna's press launch out of Adelaide
was done on an auto. It proved to have plenty of performance
without too much throttle and turbo lag. Overtaking is safe and
easy and the Renault gets up hills without trying overhard.
Body
rigidity and overall quietness is impressive, with the Laguna
handling our notorious coarse-chip surfaces with a minimal
increase in cabin noise or vibration. Some of the big name German
marques should have a look at how the French chassis engineers
have achieved this…
Handling
is good, with little feel that this is a nose-heavy
front-wheel-drive machine. It’s not a sports sedan, and is not
intended to be, yet is capable of handling bends at high cornering
speeds with plenty of stability, safety and feedback to the
driver.
Renault
Laguna is priced from $41,990 for a manual turbo-diesel
Expression, to $50,690 for a Laguna Privilege automatic diesel.
Note that the manual gearbox won’t go on sale in Australia until
September.
Also
due in September is an estate wagon Laguna variant. We have sat in
a wagon, but have not yet been able to drive one. It’s very easy
to use thanks to a one-lever fold down system that gives you a
flat luggage space capable of carrying long items with ease. More
news on it when we drive it later in the year.
Renault
Australia has surprised its competitors by increasing the warranty
distance from 100,000 kilometres to 150,000 on this new car. The
time limit remains at three years. The same warranty increase will
apply to all new generation Renault models as they are released.
The
complete Laguna range, with prices (excluding on-road costs) is:
Expression 2.0-litre diesel five-door hatch: $41,990 (manual),
$44,490 (automatic)
Expression 2.0-litre petrol five-door hatch: $41,990 (manual)
Privilege 2.0-litre petrol five-door hatch: $48,690 (manual),
$50,690 (automatic)
Expression 2.0-litre petrol five-door wagon: $45,490 (automatic)
Expression 2.0-litre diesel five-door wagon: $47,490 (automatic)
Dynamique 2.0-litre diesel five-door wagon: $50,690 (automatic)
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Marque Publishing Company
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