Renault Laguna 2002 Review

Isn't it amazing how your opinion of something can change based on the news it carries. Up until this month (March, 2002), Australian manufacturers and importers had a gentlemens' agreement not to mention that dreaded Euro-NCAP word.

Euro-NCAP stands for European New Car Assessment Program. It is an independent body that crashes new cars with the aim of telling us, the consumer, how safe they are. As Euro-NCAP tells it, all cars must pass a certain minimum safety standard before they are allowed to be sold to consumers, but this doesn't mean that all cars are equally safe. Far from it.

So car manufacturers would rather you know that their vehicle meets the minimum safety requirements, and not necessarily how far it exceeds them by. Because, while Renault may do very well in one category with one vehicle, it may perform relatively poorly in another. Hence the gentlemen's agreement not to mention NCAP.

The Renault Laguna is the first - and still the only - passenger car to be awarded a perfect five stars in Euro-NCAP's front and side impact crash testing. And it is this little fact that Renault Australia will push, in the hope of encouraging hundred of Aussies to buy the Laguna - the safest car in the world. And so the Gentlemen's agreement goes out the window.

As Renault's Leon Daphne tells it: "Safety is a major plank for Renault. Any story about Renault can't be told without concentrating on Euro-NCAP."

That's fair enough, but surely there's more to the new Renault Laguna than just an inpenetrable cage? Let's take a closer look.

The Australian Laguna range consists of five models, spread across hatch and wagon bodystyles, which Renault calls saloon and estate. Pricing starts off with the Laguna Authentique saloon at $46,990 and extends to the Privilege LX saloon at $57,990. Later this year a cheaper four cylinder version will arrive, powered by a 2.0-litre engine, and probably priced under $40,000.

Until then, all Australian Lagunas get their power from a very smooth 152kW 3.0litre V6 engine mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission. During our brief acquaintance with the Laguna at the launch in March, 2002, the automatic gearbox seemed a weak point in the car's repertoire. It uses 'fly-by-wire' technology to get driver throttle inputs to the engine. In other words, there's no throttle cable, it's all zeros and ones. And it's easily fooled.

Sharp inputs on the throttle, followed half a second later by a change of mind, sees the gearbox madly hunting up and down the gears, while some gearchanges - for no apparent reason - can really bang through, upsetting the otherwise smooth ride.

Other gearchanges can be accompanied by engine over-revving, the kind you haven't heard since teaching your oldest to drive a stick shift.

Regardless, the engine is a strong if slow performer, accelerating acceptably. But the engine's relentlessness and consistency right across the rev range is what really appealed to us. The Laguna's not a sporty car, no matter what the salesman says, but it is quick enough to give its circa-$50k rivals a hard time.

Renault's aiming the Laguna at the very crowded medium/large prestige car market, targeting everything with a $50k-ish price tag. That segment is led by the Holden Statesman, Ford Fairlane, Nissan Maxima, Audi A4, and BMW 3 Series. Secondary players include the Honda Accord, Saab 93 and Mitsubishi Verada. The wagon - Estate - plays in a much less crowded market, but will have its work cut out for it taking market share from Volvo.

Physically the Laguna is about 100mm longer, 40mm wider and 10mm taller than the BMW 3 Series - an advantage that feels like it's maintained inside.

The Laguna's cabin makes good use of lighter colours to impart a roomy, airy feel, while maintaining a level of quality you'd expect from a $50,000 motor vehicle. There's plenty of headroom in the front and rear, and legroom is up there with the best in class. Overall, the cabin is typically French, with some interesting, innovative features like the fold down radio & compartment cover. It's also unecessarily difficult at times, like the trip computer that operates via a stalk-end mounted button, (not the button right beside it), and the simplified to the point of insanity radio fascia. These really are minor quibbles, though, and quickly class=maintext>Overall Renault is hoping for a relatively small sales volume of 1550 cars to the end of the year. That's around 150 per month, split 70 percent saloon, and 30 percent estate. The strongest selling point for the Laguna, apart from its obvious French styling and heritage, is the comprehensive equipment levels.

All models come standard with keyless card entry system. About the size of a credit card, four times thicker, the card contains the controls for remote central locking, and slots into the dash to enable the vehicle's systems. Drivers then push a button to start and stop the motor. The card also stores seat and mirror positions for the driver.

Dual zone climate control air-conditioning is standard across the Laguna range, as is a CD stereo, cruise control with speed limiter, trip computer and leather steering wheel. Safety features on Laguna include dual front airbags, side airbags front and rear, anti-lock brakes with emergency brake assist and traction control.

Rain sensors, power seats, high performance Xenon headlights, and parking proximity sensors are also available on the more expensive models.