Test drive by Renault Laguna 2001 - 2005 hatchback

French revolution

Despite the fact that most of our compatriots bow to the works of the German automobile industry, even they could not help but notice that over the past decade, the French automakers simply stepped over a couple of steps in the automotive hierarchy. Especially in this regard, Renault was distinguished. And even if serial popular small -leafers like Clio Symbol do not attract you, and instead of the original design, you prefer German stiffness, then, which has become a legend before its appearance, Velsatis, you must admit, is a really outstanding car. With about such thoughts, I was driving to take the new Renault Laguna for the test. The car, previously seen only in the pictures, seemed quite attractive, but in comparison with the flagship of the company, he definitely rested. However, after several kilometers of traveling on it, I am a radically changed opinion, but more on that below.
 
Outwardly, Laguna-hatchback is very similar to the sedan, and this is a big plus. The French have long been using such a focus, remember at least Safrane. To many Europeans, judging by the volume of sales, this decision likes. It is no secret that many would prefer a more universal hatchback of an imaginary prestigious sedan, but the appearance of some models with such a body already causes associations with workhorses in advance. The new Laguna is far from the same - even with the body of the station wagon, and you could see such a car at the 2001 engine, it looks very prestigious. Even an analogy with Mercedes E-class suggests itself, whose station wagons are more expensive than sedan even in a used form. I would like to compare with Mercedes the interior of the new Renault Laguna - the quality of the finish and the materials used is such that it is already wrong to talk about this car about this car, as just a representative of the middle class.
 
At least I would like to attribute it to the prestigious models of this market sector, although among its main competitors, and this is still all the same Ford Mondeo, VW Passat and others like them, the new Laguna is far from a leader in terms of cost - an exact retail price Not yet defined, but according to the representative of the company, the price of the new Renault Laguna will begin with the twelve figure. It’s not bad, especially when you consider that today it is the latest model in this class. But even if you do not take into account such an important trump card of the new Laguna as an outstanding appearance, which in our days is a rarity in itself, it still has something to surprise the future owner. Take at least the key is the iron product that we are used to constantly carrying with us. He is completely absent in Renault Laguna, and all his duties are performed by a small plastic card like a telephone. She heads both the central castle and immobilizer, and even performs some functions of the ignition lock, which, as you know, in view of the absence of the key, there is also no Laguna either. A little unusual, of course, but the engine starts process is approximately as follows: insert the card into a special slot, and then using the button give the command to launch the engine. It seems like a cunning is small, but you know, starting a car with a button, as it turned out, is very interesting, especially since there is no need to keep it - I pressed it, and then the computer will start the engine.
 
After each launch of the engine, the car diagnoses itself, while on the screen of the on -board computer, replacing each other, a lot of useful information is displayed, starting from the oil level in the engine and ending with pressure in each of the tires, except for the spare, naturally. If everything is in order, a large inscription OK lights up, although in order to start moving, this signal is not necessary to wait. It happened that you accelerate at the limit and at the moment when the speedometer arrow crosses the hundredth mark, you notice how the computer writes OK - you can, they say, go ... And thank you.
 
At the moment, several gasoline and diesel power units are offered for the new Renault Laguna, an automatic or mechanical transmission to choose from and almost all of what a modern middle -class car can have.
 
The test was far from the most sophisticated modification - a 1.8 -liter engine in combination with mechanics, a velor salon, etc. There were electric windows, air conditioning, a CD-resort and much more useful, but, frankly, in modern cars this gradually turns from custom equipment into a standard one, so we will not focus on the configuration. Personally, it was much more interesting for me to find out how this four -cylinder power unit feels under the hood of a relatively heavy car. After all, as practice shows, our buyers are also slowly starting to adopt the customs of their Western neighbors - despite the presence of powerful, high -speed and well -equipped, but very expensive modifications, most buyers, especially if the car is acquired for personal use, and not for The company stops just on relatively affordable and economical versions. Moreover, even it can be equipped with almost all the bells and whistles, which are offered for the new Laguna.
 
Despite its relative low-power, and the new 1.8-liter engine with four valves on the cylinder develops 125 hp, the power unit provides the new Laguna with quite decent dynamics. A little sluggish on the bottoms, closer to 3000 rpm, the engine reaches the peak of torque, and thanks to this, Laguna is very good and cheerfully gaining speed, regardless of the serial number of the transmission turned on. And they, like most French cars, are very long here, which allows, if necessary, to stretch through the city banned by cars on one, for example, the third transfer of almost the entire route. The dynamics in this mode, of course, is not amazing, but it is very convenient. But if you really put pressure on, then even with a 1.8-liter power unit Laguna turned out to be very capable of much, especially within the city-you will not accelerate above a hundred, but at a lower speed, if you use the first and second, even six-cylinder bimmers Sometimes lagging behind.
 
It got to the point that even people who themselves operating cars Renault, having tried to travel to Laguna, stated that under the hood there was something 2.2-2.3-liter, a minimum-just 2.0-liter. Accelerated dynamics, and most importantly, the engine's painfulness at low and at high speeds really create the illusion of the presence of a powerful engine. Moreover, by car at such moments you can’t say at all that it works in full force: and the engine does not roar, and the car itself retains some kind of Mercedes equanimity. It is strange, of course, but I can’t compare the new Laguna with any other brand - even the smoothness of the French beauty at the same level as the famous German limousines. She generally ignores small defects in the road surface, and large pits seem to become less when they pass to Renault Laguna. I have one, so to speak, a reference road, although judging by the quality of the coating, you can only call it with a very big stretch. Even on her potholes, which we sometimes took a whisper on the SUVs, Laguna walked like along the middle lousy road of local significance. I specifically drove there twice to make sure of my conclusions correctly, and the smoothness of the course really struck me. Although the assumption that such a comfortable car will be poorly expressed on steep turns was incorrect.
 
On Borovoy, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, none of those present, and on the test there were people with different style and driving experience, did not make claims regarding Laguna stability in corners. Well, in this case, it is necessary to state the fact that if just excellent specialists of their business were responsible for the car, then in the department that he developed the suspension, some kind of unique works, because in other ways, except as the presence of some Cunning devices, explaining such stability and comfort Laguna is very difficult. Sometimes it seems that the French designers managed to defeat some laws of physics: other turns can be included at a speed of a hundred, despite not the best feedback, the driver feels perfectly and controls the car. It was from the scope of 100 arrow of the speedometer that we fit into the turn on Borovaya in front of the post on the Moscow highway - who drives there, let him try somehow. Only for the consequences, Chur, we do not bear any responsibility.
 
In general, going to Renault Laguna is a complete pleasure. Of course, the new car is always good, but in this case, even in the most regular traffic modes, for example, in ring at a speed of 70 km/h, it’s simply interesting to go. The car not only looks, it also drives somehow in a special way-in a word, a typical Frenchwoman. It is possible that a certain share of this pleasure from driving is manifested from the fact that you begin to realize in which safe car you are going. Air airbags for the driver and passenger, ABS, belt pretense - all this is and will probably not let you down at the decisive moment. But the matter is different. The creators of Laguna made maximum efforts in order to prevent the very incident of the accident. I suspect that even such a bias in the direction of comfort, they made it precisely with the aim of protecting the driver from mistakes. After all, it is far from a secret that all charged high -speed cars, the creators of which are so proud of the reference control of their offspring, require the appropriate preparation of the driver - not the fact that if the car can do something, then you are able to cope with this.
 
In Laguna, everything is a little wrong: even if you made a mistake in driving a car, then soft and, as if stretched in time, the car reactions will allow you to fix it. Say, if due to exceeding the speed, the machine does not fit into the turn elementary, then the first natural reaction of the driver will be a blow to the brake pedal and a sharp ruler of the steering wheel. In different cars, this can end in different ways: one will continue to slide the face out of the turn until the speed falls to the one he knows, the other can simply break into the skid, turning around the road and taking the rear axle into the oncoming lane or curb . As you know, both situations are unpleasant. We travel on real roads, and the oncoming car can make very large adjustments to our plans. Renault Laguna behaves differently in such situations: in the case when the speed is higher than it should, it simply begins to slowly and almost soundlessly slipping from the trajectory with the entire body, returning to the intended arc with the slightest discharge of gas. The most interesting thing is that the sound insulation in the new Laguna has reached such a level that even the sharp sounds made in the bend of tires are barely audible in the cabin, and the engine seemed to be not at all. Not everyone, maybe, will like it, but I liked Laguna, and when I like something, it is extremely difficult to be just a calm tester.
 
But it turned out to be the most difficult ... to find a shortage of my new henchief is a subjective opinion. Maybe this is from an excess of impressions, so I ask you not to perceive this material as terribly professional, but the only thing I could put into the minus of this car is a very light, but completely non -informative clutch. Otherwise, if not to an excellent degree, then at least no worse than the rest of the representatives of this class. Ergonomics, the quality of the finish, the convenience of planting -planting, the accuracy of the manufacture of small parts - everything, as they say, is at the level. But in addition to the full package of amenities and advantages, the buyer of the new Renault Laguna also receives a particle of what we call the French charm. A thing, although not measured by any devices and is not offered as additional equipment, has recently been appreciated by amateurs and experts more and more. In our age of globalization and unification, all new serial cars become similar to each other like two drops of water, and Laguna against their background looks like an attractive original. So if, in the end, in the level of sales in our market, the new Renault Laguna will not be at least in the top three winners, we can safely talk about our customers of elementary automotive culture and taste in general. We hope that this will not be so, and Laguna herself, especially the impressions of driving on it, gives a reason to think differently ...
 
Subjective opinion:
 
(+) Non -trivial design of the body and interior, the quality of the cabin is an order of magnitude higher, a large supply of space, good sound insulation, rich equipment of the basic version, an interesting price.
 
(-) Light, but non-informative grip.
 
Text: Pavel Kozlovsky
 

A source: Autogazet / N 25 (328) dated 08.22.01