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| New Laguna |
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| Friday, 12 October 2007 | |
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Will it live up to Renault’s claims of ultra-reliability and comfort? Brian McCulloch checks out the New Laguna.  Laguna III or, to give its official title, New Laguna, is better looking in reality than in photos, but still not as good looking as its predecessor , which had one of the most stylish derrières on the road. Photos tend to emphasise the heavy-looking front end, but miss the curves down the side which make the car more interesting. Renault is sticking with the Laguna name for its new car, the third of its ilk, due in the show rooms this month. This is a bit of a risk because the feelings of owners of second-generation Renault Lagunas about their cars probably depends on when they were bought, and luck. The unlucky, including a relatively high percentage of people who bought the car in the two years after its launch, may have found nothing happened when the engine start button was pushed. Laguna II was one of the first cars to have a contact-free card-key system, but faults in early cards and software meant it did not always work.Large numbers of the Lagunas were sold to carhire firms, so reports of the problem spread like wildfire: thousands of people back at work must have recounted their battles to have their cars replaced in their stories about the holidays. Some owners, especially of 1.9-litre dCi models, had to wait at the side of the road for a garage lorry to come and take their cars after the turbo blew up (owners of Scenics and Meganes with the same motor had the same problems). For others, the garage service would reveal that a ball-and-socket joint in the steering, which should last a car’s lifetime, was showing dangerous signs of wear and had to be replaced. For the fortunate who had none of these problems, Laguna II cars are usually much loved, and the new Laguna aims to keep the good qualities. These include being light, spacious and comfortable, floating over the bumps, easy to drive, with a high level of equipment and a classy look. A huge amount has been invested in the car by chairman Carlos Ghosn. He has said the car will be in the top three in its category for reliability, judged by the number of faults which have to be fixed under guarantee in the first year. For the first time at Renault, the guarantee on the car will be three years, or 150,000km. The quality pledge has been extended from the mechanics to the cabin. Although the car is a little larger than its predecessor and has more equipment, it is 15kg lighter, thanks to the use of new glass in the windows and thinner, higher strength steel in the bodywork. Press tests were in a car with a 150HP version of the diesel engine matched to a manual six-speed gearbox and with the ‘Dynamic’ level of equipment in the cabin. For Renault that is the upper mid range, two down from the fully loaded models and costing just under €30,000. The cloth upholstery had leather side strips with big contrasting stitching, and nearly all the surfaces were of plastic or aluminium, pleasing to the touch. Rear-seat passengers benefit from the new scooped out back of the front seat, allowing more leg room, although the effect is cancelled out if the front seat is at its lowest height setting, and space for toes is limited. Test cars were fitted with optional 18-inch wheels, and these may have affected the ride over bumpy country roads, which, without being jarring, was bouncier than is common in French cars. Renault engineers say the New Laguna tilts less in corners than any other car in its class, and a lack of tilt is one of the keys to good road holding. On the autoroute it was a magic carpet ride, helped by a noise level which at legal speeds made talking normally easy. The engine, matched to a user-friendly six-speed gearbox, has so much torque at low levels that at first it was easy to find the car flirting dangerously with the speed limit. Official 0 to 100kph time is 9.5 seconds and the absence of noise and drama made it easy to accelerate and be surprised by the speedometer. Even on the motorway, at 130kph in sixth gear, the rev counter showed less than 2,000rpm. As is becoming the norm with French cars, the power does not necessarily mean more trips to the pump. The test car used 6 litres of diesel per 100km. Other engines include a 1.5-litre 110HP unit, which consumes just 5.1 litres per 100km and produced 136 grammes of CO2/km, one of the lowest levels in its class. The two-litre diesel engine also comes in 130HP and 175HP versions. Petrol engines start with a 1.6-litre 110HP unit and then move on to two-litre 140HP or 170HP models. An estate version and a sporty four-wheel-drive coupé are to follow. And in a sign that Renault may be deciding to abandon the larger Vel Satis, Laguna III is also slated to include models with the V6 3.5-litre petrol engine and the V6 three-litre diesel, both developed with Nissan. |
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