Test drive by Renault Laguna 2001 - 2005 hatchback

All photos Renault Laguna 2001 - 2005

The price of tenderness

I think she will be cherished and cherished. Show on the best rubber, wash on the most contactless sink and on March 8 as a gift to rub the most expensive polish. After all, it is so natural to try to do something pleasant to the one who loves you so much and so cares about you disinterestedly, selflessly and delicately. Like the new Renault Laguna.

Before meeting with the lagoon, my ideas about it have already been almost formed. I saw photos, studied a whole stack of literature on it, and longed for a personal meeting to confirm his expectations with adequate impressions. But everything went according to her scenario.

The exquisite appearance of the machine is misleading. Well, can altruism be characteristic of such a beauty? A real Frenchwoman who is building work on her appearance in religion! I am ready to argue that many will buy the lagoon for its appearance alone. The hood overlapping, connecting large sharp headlights, and divided into two floors of a body with a panoramic rear window are imprinted in memory at first glance. A significant front overhang with unexpectedly short food gives the silhouette of the car swiftness: it seems that the car body is trying to overtake the wheels. By the way, the class D is a typical French idea in itself. The idea is very successful: from the point of view of practicality, a bicobobrum body wins the sedan, which is a particularly valuable quality for a family car.

You can get into the car in two ways. The first is very similar to the generally accepted: the doors are unlocked by pressing the button with the corresponding symbol, which is located on the device called Renault Card. The number two is even more simple: you just have to take up the outer handle, as the IR element built into it will determine what the owner came, and the car, interviewing the SIM-Sim card, will allow the doors to open. The card should not be removed far: it will come in handy in the very near future.

Even in the banal closure of the doors, Lagunov’s tenderness is felt. At first, you even doubt whether they are tightly closed so silently and easily everything happens. Maybe there are suction cups here? Not at all. Apparently, the French worked on noise insulation for glory, we will check this when the engine is running.
The interior design of the lagoon is rather laconic than simple. At first, there was a feeling that something was missing, but after a careful study of the central console, everything fell into place. Rather, everything is already in its place, only hidden under a large lid, which, when pressed on it, goes into the bowels of the beard, exposing the CD player. The question is: is it possible to conduct with a closed panel? You can control the main functions of the audio system hid behind the wheel. A funny thing is all adjustments on the back of the remote control: the choice of a radio station is a wide wheel, and the volume is adjusted with the extreme keys.

A distinctive feature of modern Renault should be recognized as a raised landing, thanks to which some drivers, who are driving a car, begin to complex about their excessive growth. In the new lagoon, this drawback is not so pronounced, the benefit of the front seats have height adjustment. Nevertheless, in the back seat, the passenger with an increase above the middle ceiling will seem excessively low. Closing the theme of life behind, it should be noted another feature of the ergonomics of the machine. Be careful if you sat down behind a tall driver or passenger who, setting up a chair for yourself, reaches for the handle of vertical adjustment. When moving down the front seat lies right on his feet, turning into a kind of trap.

Let's go back. The steering wheel sheathed with skin seems large, but quite convenient. Later, after looking at the pictures of the salon in various sources, I found that there are three steering options in total. The one that was in our car with a massive hub and a bifurcated lower knitting needle left the most pleasant impression in terms of design. The steering column is regulated in two directions, but one more was not enough: when everything seems to be configured and fitted, I want to move the steering wheel a little to the left or, in extreme cases, to transfer closer to the door. However, it is easy to get used to such a landing.

But the main feeling that you experience in the Laguna salon is security. Ahead, the central panel goes to the windshield horizon, the upholstery materials are all completely soft and pleasant to the touch; And wherever you throw a look, everywhere you come across soothing inscriptions: Airbag, ISOFIX. Renault Laguna The first car, which received the maximum five stars as a result of the crash tests of the European EURONCAP program. The car care of passengers grew into self -sacrifice.

And now attention! The Renault card enters the game. We place it in a slot near the lever gearbox and Laguna come to life. Music turns on, the backlight is light up to the key to the start? And then the gaze falls on a large button with the inscription Start/Stop. I recall that there is no key and at all for the implementation of further actions with the car is quite simply the presence of Renault Card in its place. A single press on the button turns on the ignition initialization of the dashboard. The engine starts with repeated press.

Or does not start? It is incomprehensible but the tachometer arrow raised and when playing the accelerator pedal, it soars up. Indeed, noise insulation is made at the highest level!

And what is Laguna in motion?

In our market, the assortment of engines for the lagoon is limited to three engines, two of which (1.8 and 2.0) have four cylinders, and the most powerful three -liter six. Under the hood of our car, a two-liter 140-horsepower engine was hidden, which was accompanied by a proactive machine.
Laguna accelerates quickly, but smoothly. At first, it even seems that it is too smooth: the programs switch early and somewhat slower than we would like. But after some time, during which the driver is trying to stir up the car, the machine recalls his adaptive essence, and everything changes. The tachometer arrow is prescribed closer to the maximum speed, and braking by the engine becomes an effective way to drive a car. Moreover, the manners of the car are still tender, the French tradition of stretching the programs was transferred to this machine. In manual mode of operation, the connection between the motor and wheels is even tougher, Laguna acquires abuse and even aggressiveness, but at the same time a certain nervousness that does not fit into the intelligent image of the machine.

All of the above epithets are fully treated with lagoon controllability. A comfortable suspension reassured the car, you will not get any sharpness of reactions. The steering wheel here is light, airy, but the reactions of the car are likely soft and in a whims are verified. I was also pleased with the perfectly balanced smoothness: the suspension plays playfully with the small and average problems of the road surface, does not graze in front of large craters, and at the same time does not allow the development of vertical buildup of the body on gentle waves.

Renault Laguna surrounds you with care and tenderness. Everything that this car does, he does calmly and softly. But such softness is not a consequence of a lack of character. On the contrary, this is his brightest feature. And this is the power of the lagoon of her amazing patience and tact bribe the more, the longer you spend the very affectionate car at the wheel of this very affectionate car.

Love her. She deserves this.

The car is provided by the Petrovsky Autocenter.
During the test, the car is insured by LLC Nation Center.

Text: Kirill Brevdo
Photo: Vsevolod Konovalov