Test drive by Renault Scenic 2003 - 2009 Minivan

Renault Scenic: The first microminiven in the second generation

The market of compact minivans spontaneously arose in the mid -90s, after Renault presented its novelty - a single -volume MEGANE SCENIC model. The car, at first a little embarrassed by its unusual forms, then very quickly, as they say, tried it, and he acquired a huge army of fans. And even a picky automobile press, he warmly accepted this unusual car - in his debut year, the scenes charged the honorary title of the car of the year! And now we have a second generation on the Renault Scenic test ...
What can we talk about when on the test - Renault? Of course, about design. Grace, dynamics, elegance ... You just forget that it is a car - and you just admire it as a work of art. Each line, every stroke is drawn with such love, with such inspiration ...
However, the shocking in the form in which Renault offers it, not everyone likes it: French cars have been too unusual and unusual recently. Sometimes it’s even good - remember Renault Avantime, and sometimes not very. For example, the new Renault Megane II hatchback - its attracting attention of the feed in many is surprising. But whoever does not risk, he does not drink champagne. Apparently, the French were guided by this principle, releasing a new scenic to the market, which almost one to one repeats the design of the hatchback Megan 2.
Anyway, despite the fact that the word Megan disappeared from the name of the single -combat (it was previously called Megan Scenik, and now it was just scenes), both of the nozzle are largely similar to each other. And it's not about design, because in fact the scenes are simply stylized under Megan, but they do not have a single common body of part. Only the platform, pendants, engines and chassis are identical, and the rest of the minivan body is completely original. But with the scenes very much resembles a Megan with a body of hatchback, especially behind. By the way, if in the hatchback of the food it turned out to be too convex, then in a single -volume model it looks more organic - perhaps the designers took into account their mistake, and decided in the future not to experiment on the appearance of serial models.
The interior is drawn no less carefully than the exterior, in it you can also find many stylistic finds. But the words beauty and functionality are not synonyms? Indeed, with all its beauty, the interior scenes does not shine with functionality. Although everything seems to be well -conceived: a large glove compartment, secret closing pockets on the armrests of the doors, voluminous departments at the bottom of the door ... But it is inconvenient to use: there is nowhere to put a mobile phone, so you have to use a cup holder as a stand. By the way, the brightest example of the isolation of French ergonomists from real life can serve as two small glove compartment, located on the floor in front of the back seats. Their shape and depth unobtrusively hint that only very small things or papers can be put there, but can you imagine what will happen to your documents after several people in wet, dirty shoes pass behind? Especially in winter, all the melted snow will accumulate in these floor boxes ...
The central box with two original armrests seemed much more useful and practical to us. Under his curtain, a rather roomy compartment is hidden, in which you can even fit a small backpack or a ladies' handbag - it is very convenient for tourists who do not want to leave valuable things in sight. In addition, the central box turned out to be a secret - we wondered for half a day, for which the button is intended, the pressing of which (it was heard) will unlock the electric gas. It turned out that the central box could move back and forth. Why - it’s not entirely clear, apparently, in this way, a driver or a front passenger in a close parking lot can go through another door.
This became possible because the gearbox lever is located not in the floor, like many competitors, but on the tide of the central console. And the lever itself is very small - like a joystick. True, its size did not affect anything - the clarity of the inclusion remained typically French. The cable drive gives only one advantage - it unleashes the gearbox lever from the vibrations of the engine, but only a few can achieve good clarity of inclusion. For example, on the Ford Focus C -Max, the gearbox drive works simply excellently, but in the stage - only a little better than on the previous generation model.
There are complaints to other governing bodies. The main one is to the digital panel of the devices. Not only is it located in the center, which in itself requires a certain period of adaptation, and almost all the information on it is transmitted in the form of columns, graphs and diagrams, which is also not the best solution. And there is too much information on this score: here you have a tachometer, a speedometer, and the testimony of the on -board computer, and the indicator of the uncovered door, and much more ...
But the climate control panel is the standard of convenience. Two small round control units in combination with the central circle, in which there is a small LCD indicating the temperature and direction of flows, give all the necessary information and allow you to quickly, without being distracted from the road, change the mode of operation of the ventilation system.
In general, there are no more claims to the ergonomics of the driver’s place: the landing is convenient, the seat has the necessary set of adjustments (including height), the steering column is also regulated. Landing is slightly higher than in an ordinary passenger car, but compared to ordinary megan, the difference is very small - the hatchback is also quite high. And when operating in the city, this is even for the better: sitting high, the driver has the opportunity to track the road environment on top of the roofs of cars and rebuild in advance into a more free row. And there are no problems with this: mirrors give a good picture, and it is almost impossible to lose a neighboring car in a blind zone. Although there is little use from the inner rear -view mirror - either the rear passenger or the head restraints of the second row is visible in it.
But what the minivan is really good is the possibility of transforming the salon. The trunk at the stage is very large, in the usual state it contains 430 liters! Moreover, the shape of the trunk is close to optimal: the wheeled arches do not protrude, the floor is even. And loading does not create problems, since the lower edge of the trunk is located at the bumper level. And if you completely fold the rear row of seats, then the beneficial volume of the luggage compartment will grow to 1840 liters.
Surprised - the owner of a passenger station wagon or hatchback will say. I have no less trunk in my car, and the seat can also be folded. Indeed, almost all passenger models can vary the volume of the luggage compartment, and often in much larger limits. But the stage also has its own feature - it has the rear seats are three separate chairs, each of which has individual adjustments. For example, each of the three passengers can adjust the angle of inclination of the back of their chair, without creating discomfort to their neighbors. In addition, any of the three chairs can be moved back and forth, and if necessary, folded (partially or completely, throwing it forward). If something is very large, then all three rear seats can be dismantled from the cabin, thus receiving a large cargo compartment. Moreover, there is no tool for dismantling the seats: they fold in three doses, and are also easily removed from the cabin. Although a chair in itself weighs a lot and it will be difficult for a woman to pull it out of the salon ...
The range of power units for the stage includes three gasoline and two turbodiesel engines. The basic version (in our market is not yet offered) is equipped with a 1.4-liter sixteen-valve 98-horsepower engine, which has already established itself well on our symbol model. Following it is a version with a 113-horsepower 1.6-liter engine, and the top version is equipped with a two-liter 135-horsepower engine.
The most affordable turbodiesel option has the following characteristics: the engine volume is only 1.5 liters, but due to the direct injection system of the Common Rail fuel, the power of this motor is increased to 82 hp. The second turbodiesel, also Common-Raylovsky, has a working volume of 1.9 liters, and its power is 120 hp. At the same time, the maximum indicator of the torque, whose peak is 2000 rpm, is 300 nm - almost twice as much as that of a gasoline two -liter engine. By the way, it is the top turbodiesel engines that are of the greatest interest for consumers - the magnificent dynamics of acceleration in them is combined with incredible efficiency.
But for the test, the dealer Renault provided a new scenes in the top version, with a two-liter gasoline engine and in the Privelege configuration, costing from 14.990 euros, excluding customs duties. Dear? Not at all: the configuration of the lead includes a very large list of standard equipment, so in this case the buyer pays more for the option of options, and not for the additional power of the motor.
More precisely, to pay, in fact, it is not necessary to pay: almost everything in this car. The body is painted in metallic, glass have a factory 15 percent tinting, the bumpers are painted in the color of the body, and foglights are installed in the front bumper. The two -liter version also has alloy wheels with an original rennown design.
In addition, the configuration of the lead includes the following equipment: athermal windshield, on-board computer, climate control, adaptive steering wheel amplifier, external electric mirrors (folding), pulsed front and rear electric windows with anti-war function, a driver's seat adjustable in height, panoramic Luke in the roof with electric drive, multifunctional seat seats, a component leather trim, luggage grid, audio system with CD with remote control on the steering wheel, rain sensor, central castle with d/y, key card Renault, lighting sensor, system of fastening children ISOFIX seats, anti -fry filter, cooled box and central dosper compartment on the runners.
Separate, crown for Renault Subject - security. Here they have something to boast: Renault Scenic II received the maximum score on the crash tests of the EURONCAP series - five stars. And this is not surprising, because the scenes are equipped with almost all the active security system used by Renault today. ABS and EBV (system of electronic distribution of brake force) are seemingly granted, because these bells are found in almost every modern car. But AFU (a help system for emergency braking) and ESP (the trajectory stabilization system) is already equipping very expensive models from the arsenal. In addition, the scenes have front and side air airbags for the driver and front passenger, as well as the rear eirbegs of the curtain type.
Our riding adventure with the stage began somehow very suddenly: a couple of minutes after the visit to the dealer center on the street. We sat machine-builders in the car, holding a key-card and a complete set of documents in our hands. Well, let's go to ride ...
The first impression of the new stage is a soft move and magnificent reactions to the movements of the steering wheel. Perhaps, to an ordinary car, Minivan in this sense is still far away, but in comparison with the previous generation - a clear step forward. A completely new platform, borrowed from Megan, made a single -combor more maneuverable and driver: it already has a desire to chew on it. True, all the shortcomings of vehicles with high centers of gravity are also available here, that is, transverse buildup of the body on irregularities and rolls of the body on turns. But despite this, in the turns of the stage, he reliably holds the trajectory - for the hook dough, we were not able to achieve any inadequacy from him. Easy demolition of the front axle is the only possible reaction of the car to speeding in the bend. True, with emergency braking with a change in the trajectory, the car feeds slightly, but this incorrect movement immediately stops the ESP exchange stability system. By the way, the same feature was noticed on the hechtbek of the second generation Megan ...
Another common feature of the hatchback and a single -racer is very sensitive brakes. A light touch of the pedal - and the car is already beginning to slow down. And if you drive a used car, the brake system of which is no longer effective and informative, then the scenes during the first trip can greatly surprise - in response to a normal, from your point of view, pressing the brake pedal, the car slows so sharply that even the emergency woman works.
But a two-liter 136-horsepower engine does not make a proper impression: it is too somehow phlegmatic. Acceleration seems to be normal: 10.3 seconds from a place to hundreds, but the reaction to the pressing of the gas pedal is very slurred. More precisely, the time period between pressing the pedal and the beginning of acceleration is quite large. It is clear that the ecological requirements of Euro -4 are to blame for this, which meet new engines - elasticity and traction are sacrificed by the purity of the exhaust. But still, this does not solve the problem. It is because of the braking of the engine that a two -liter scenes can hardly be considered a driver. Although the chassis, we repeat once again, is capable of a lot ...
Hatchback or a single -coat? - Our buyers, according to the salon managers, are very often asked such a question. Indeed, the competition between these models is very high. In terms of functional capabilities, both models - scenes and Megan -hatchback - are very close, at least with regard to the stock of space and the convenience of planting passengers. Yes, the hatchback is smaller and the trunk is smaller, and the passengers are not so convenient behind, but the advantages of a single -racer are expressed as a percentage - a little more, a little more convenient, a little more spacious, etc. Are customers ready to pay for these a little?
Judging by what lines in Europe for the stage and its classmates are clear. After all, the difference in the cost between the single -raised and minivan is a small, but compact minivan in any case will be more convenient and more functional. And, which is very important for Belarusian consumers, in price, single -combatants lose noticeably slower ...
Pavel Kozlovsky

Source: Auto -Gazeta / N 18 (457) dated 05/18/04