Wagon finally joins Renault's Laguna range

Renault's Laguna hatch has sold just 26 cars to date this year (compared to 99 for the same period last year), but the importer is about to pick up some incremental sales volume with new variants joining the range. The Laguna Estate and turbo petrol variants were launched today, to supplement the existing diesel lineup.

These new variants are accompanied by a price drop of as much as $4000 (in the case of the entry-level turbodiesel Expression hatch), as well as a new unlimited kilometer clause in the three-year warranty.

Price reductions apply to other Laguna models too: The Privilege diesel auto hatch is now $1500 lower, while the new diesel Dynamique Estate is $3500 less than the price flagged by Renault Australia when announcing it in June 2008, prior to its arrival.

The new Laguna Estate is available in base Expression form with petrol or diesel engines hooking up to a six-speed auto transmission, and in diesel/auto-only Dynamique trim.

The new petrol engine is fitted in auto-only form to Expression and Privilege hatch models. Only one manual transmission -- a six-speeder -- is available, fitted to the diesel Expression hatch.

The 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine is available only in six-speed "Pro-active" auto form and produces 125kW, along with 270Nm of torque. Renault claims an average fuel consumption figure of 8.9L/100km, and a CO2 figure of 210g/km.

This compares with the diesel's 110kW/340Nm, and average fuel economy of 6.0L/100km in manual form (7.0L/100km as a six-speed auto).

The new Estate wagon rides on the same 2760mm wheelbase as the sedan, but measures longer overall at 4.8 metres.

All the extra centimetres go into the rear overhang, helping the new wagon to offer a load capacity, with all seats in place, of 501 litres. This expands to 1593 litres with the split-fold back seat lowered.

In base Expression form, the Estate -- like the hatchback -- offers a pretty inclusive lineup of equipment. Standard gear includes stability control, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake distribution, traction control, dual front and rear side airbags and curtain airbags, 16-inch alloy wheels, auto headlights, rain sensing wipers, heated external rearview mirrors, front and rear fog lights, "See Me Home" headlights, cruise control with speed limiter, automatic parking brake, leather steering wheel and gearshift, rear side door sunblinds, dual-zone climate control with carbon and odour filter and a single CD, AM/FM radio with MP3 CD reader.

The Privilege hatch adds "active" xenon headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, tyre pressure monitors, heated leather seats with power adjustment on the front (Alcantara fabric upholstery is optionally available), auto-dipping rearview mirror, folding side mirrors, chrome side window surrounds and a more powerful audio system including a six-disc CD stacker.

The Dynamique Estate comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, auto-folding side mirrors, six-disc CD changer, chrome side window surrounds and tyre pressure monitors.

Watch out for our review in coming days.

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