Families taking Scenic route

Make:

Friday, May 28, 2010

Renault could possibly never have imagined when they introduced the original Espace that it would have kicked off a frenzy of imitators — across every market segment — as people, literally, jumped on the MPV bandwagon.

Of course, The Japanese lay claim to having invented the MPV, but Renault was the first European manufacturer to adopt the idea and produce a workable — and very saleable — practical family car that quickly found favour with a diverse community range of buyers.

Renault quickly diversified the concept, and, although they were nearly swallowed up by the welter of competitors desperately playing catch-up, they quickly came up with such as the Scenic, the Kangoo and the Modus, which were all various sized takes on the same theme.

Renault then further expanded their MPV stable by introducing a bigger version of the Scenic — the appropriately named Grand Scenic, which added an extra two seats to the original five-seat concept.

It was another good idea and the sales levels of the car very much justified their efforts.

Of course, by now, the Scenic and its larger brother were competing with a raft of imitators and any initial advantage the French outfit had initially was quickly whittled away as Ford, Opel, Peugeot, VW, Toyota, and any other serious manufacturer worth its salt, got in on the act.

Now, as we highlighted recently, Renault are getting very aggressive in the market right now, and, aside altogether from the special scrappage deals they are offering clientele, which are making their cars looking extremely attractive just on pricing alone, they are also beginning to throw additional extras, in specification terms, at their products, undoubtedly in the hope that the combination of the two factors will help attract more punters to their door.

And, judging by the most recent figures, their efforts are not being ignored by the public out there, as the various marketing wheezes appear to be doing the trick.

Undoubtedly, the Scenic is playing its part in this regard, and if, in some circles, the Ford S-Max is regarded as the best car to drive in this segment, and fellow French vehicle and rival, the Citroen C4 Picasso, is thought of as the mutt’s nuts for comfort levels, then it is probably fair to say that the Renault fits comfortably between the two.

The Scenic, as tested, was fitted with Renault’s familiar, 1.5-litre dCi turbodiesel, with some 106 bhp on tap and a rudely healthy 240 Nm of torque.

This is a very smooth engine and one which will propel the car to 100 kph from a standstill in just 13.4 seconds, and on to a top speed of 180 kph, which is good if not earth-shattering.

On the road, the car loses out against some rivals as a result of a firm ride, which can unsettle the car on rougher surfaces, and steering which is not as sharp feeling as it might be. That said, there is little body roll, which is not something many MPVs can boast and grip levels are generally good.

With a return of 5.1 litres per 100 km, the consumption level is good, but again not eye-popping.

However, for potential buyers who can take or leave all that performance guff, it is from here on that the Scenic gets really into its stride.

We tried the so called ‘Tom-Tom’ model, which, to those of you with any sort of a leaning towards gadgets, means that this has a really good sat. nav. system, which can even be displayed in 3D, if required.

Then, you also get automatic lights and wipers, air con., 17” alloys, cruise control, two picnic tables, sun blinds, which are integrated into the rear doors, all-round electric windows, electric mirrors, and a load more good gear.

I have one small quibble about all the extra electronic kit, however, and that involves its relative user-friendliness.

Some of the controls are very fiddly and take getting used to.

And, even if the cruise controls are sensibly mounted on the steering wheel, some of the other controls are not as easy to assimilate and utilise.

Elsewhere, though, the rear seats are movable individually and can slide back and forth, as and when more boot space or leg room is required, and the two rearmost seats do fold back into the floor.

Worth noting, too, is the fact that you need neither to be a midget nor a toddler to get into them, although six-footers might not find them particularly comfortable.

Pretty damn practical then, all told, is our Scenic, and, with Renault pressing plenty of the right buttons by giving as much added value as they can without causing terminal embarrassment to their less generous manufacturing colleagues, people will find a lot to like here.

If the essence of family motoring is providing good value for money, then the French company are certainly doing their best on that front and it will be interesting to see if their aggression in this area is taken on board by other companies.