THERE’s a sense of optimism about the Renault marque at the moment that hasn’t been there for quite some time.
For the past few years, La Regie has struggled its way through low customer confidence levels, a poor service reputation and even doubts about its commitment to South Africa, but all its efforts and hard work have started to bear fruit.
For one, we’ve noticed a sharp dropoff in customer complaints sent to this magazine. Sales are pretty healthy, too – and they should be, because the latest Renault models are impressive.
Now the return to form should really pick up speed because Renault recently launched all-new versions of what could be termed its “bread and butter” models, the Mégane and its Scénic/Grand Scénic MPV spin-offs.
The first of these to get our test treatment is the seven-seat Grand Scénic, which on the local market is offered as a single model in the top-line Dynamique specification.
Visually, the newcomer follows in the line of other recent Renault models by offering a more “sculpted” and grown-up look than the bustle-butt designs that preceded it.
There are some interesting details, though, including boomerang-style tail-lamps, satin silver backing plates for the front foglamps and a rounded nose with a narrow air-intake slit.
Overall, new Grand Scénic is 70 mm longer than its predecessor, and rides on a wheelbase that is 34 mm longer. Inside it offers arguably the most impressive cabin we’ve yet seen in a compact MPV.
Up front the driver is faced with a truly smart “wave-like” facia design executed in high-quality, soft-touch and grained black plastic, accented by satin silver finishes for the minor controls, ventilation outlets etc. It comes across as really classy and we’re very impressed with the substantial feel, too.
The driver’s seat offers manual height adjustment and the steering wheel can be tweaked for rake and reach, meaning a very comfortable driving position should be easy to find for most drivers. The driver’s seat itself is superbly comfortable, too.
At CAR we’re not fans of centrally- mounted instrumentation, but Renault has come up with one of the better versions because the display screen is placed not in the middle and/or on top of the facia, but only slightly off-centre, closer to the driver’s line of sight. It works well.
The screen itself is also of interest, because it is fully customisable, allowing the driver to select its configuration, colour scheme etc. Sadly, the standard Carminat TomTom navigation screen is mounted too far to the left, and viewing requires taking your eyes off the road for too long.
As far as the standard specification is concerned, the Grand Scénic certainly offers a fullhouse of features including an impressive 140 watt 3D Sound by Arkamys audio system with eight speakers, Bluetooth compatibility and Plug&Music USB connectivity.
Other standard items include cruise control, dual-zone climate control, autoon wipers and headlamps and rear parking sensors. Ergonomically-speaking, becoming familiar with the Grand Scénic takes a while.
The iDrive-like controller for the navigation system requires some studying, and the tiring mission of discovery to find an on/off button for the system can lead to plenty of swearing.
In the end, we had to revert to the owner’s handbook – and press the sound system’s on/off button to turn the navigation system on or off…
Although we’re nit-picking, Renault really needs to do something about the design of its vehicles’ sunvisors – pulling them out of their clips requires immense power, and when they do let go you could hit yourself on the forehead, leading to more swearing…
However the piéce-de-résistance of the Grand Scénic is its practical and flexible interior. The second row is made up of three individually adjustable seats that can each be slid fore and aft over a range of 130 mm. They also offer seatbacks that can be reclined at five different angles.
The seats can be tilted, folded and, if needed, also completely removed. Access to the third row, which now offers two seats that according to Renault, can accommodate adults of up to 1,75 metres in height, has also been improved.
These seats fold completely flat into the floor. To accommodate really long objects, the front passenger seatback can be folded flat. With all seats taken we measured 160 dm³ of boot space which is not much but matches most other sevenseaters.
Fold the two rearmost seats down, however, and you can pack as much as 464 dm³ worth of luggage. Total utility space, without removing the middle row of seats, is 1 376 dm³.
As has come to be expected from Renault, there’s a raft of storage holes. In fact, Renault claims 92 dm³ of oddments stowage space scattered around the interior.
As before, the Grand Scénic (and its smaller Scénic sibling) is based on the underpinnings of the Mégane. With this new generation model, Renault says it has paid particular attention to handling composure under load, and has developed a more rigid suspension system.
At front the MacPherson struts are linked to a new subframe that is three times stiffer than before. At the rear, Renault has fitted electro-elastic lower wishbone mountings, new dampers and increased spring flexibility. It claims the result is better control of vertical body movement, especially under load.
Also sharpening up the Grand Scénic’s dynamics are all-new electrically power-assisted steering and an ESP system with understeer control.
Under the bonnet is a slightlyupdated version of the marque’s proven 1,9-litre turbodiesel engine, delivering 96 kW at 3 750 r/min and 300 N.m of torque at 1 750. The engine is mated with a six-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels.
It doesn’t quite pack the all-out punch of the 2,0-litre engine fitted to the Toyota Verso we tested last month, but still manages to sprint from standstill to 100 km/h in 11,86 seconds and has a top speed of 195 km/h. In terms of fl exibility, however, the Renault is arguably more impressive than its Japanese rival.
In terms of fuel economy it comes close to the Verso, too, achieving a calculated fuel index fi gure of 6,72 litres/100 km, translating to 14,88 km/litre and a tank range of almost 900 km.
The good news continues from behind the wheel. Although hardly a cutting-edge engine, the s-o-h-c, eight-valve engine only makes its diesel clatter particularly known at idling speeds, smoothing out pretty much as soon as you start driving.
The manual gearbox offers slick, quick shifts, but the placement of the lever was a bit of a reach for a few testers. Overall, however, the drivetrain was praised for its refi nement and fl exibility, only needing a downshift when presented with an overtaking situation while loaded with a full complement of occupants.
Ride quality was also highly praised, and although the steering was described as “remote” by some testers, a common complaint about electrically assisted systems, we feel the typical buyer/driver would not find this problematic.
Finally, in terms of safety the Grand Scénic makes another convincing case for itself, having recently achieved a five-star EuroNCAP crash rating.
It offers a package of six airbags, ABS with EBD and EBA, and ESP (including traction control). Each of the three middle row seats have Isofix child seat mountings.
The only disappointment appears to be the braking performance. With an average stopping time of 3,17 seconds in our punishing 10-stop 100 km/h-tozero test, the Grand Scénic just falls into the “poor” category.
TEST SUMMARY
At R290 000 the Renault Grand Scénic 1,9 dCi Dynamique offers immense value for money.
In terms of standard features it is unmatched in its segment, and the same can be argued for its interior design and overall comfort levels. Performance is good, and fuel economy impressive.
Add a confidence-boosting 5 years/100 000 km service plan to the deal, and it looks like Renault’s got a sure-fire winner on its hands.
