Renault Laguna test drive since 2007 hatchback

Cinema and Germans

Two previous generations of Renault Laguna solid family horses far from design passions. In the current, the third reading, the car comes out in a new appearance with another image, and in size, and in terms of equipment close to the business class. But Down with boring gray ties and uncomfortable varnished shoes to manage Laguna will be in a sports jacket and light sneakers. After all, the French manufacturer himself calls his brainchild a real driver lighter!
 
This year will be a landmark in the history of the Renault Nissan Empire. It could be noted as VIP on the calendar of Carlos Gon, the president of the united concern, and there are many reasons for this: it was in 2008 that Europe allowed official access to the Infinity luxury brand (Nissan division), then the premiere of another player of the elite division from the Renault Laguna brand in the back of the coupe. This car came to the general public under the closure of the Cannes Film Festival, and the cinema premiere, furnished in a wide foot, testified - Renault Laguna is trying on the image of the car for the sophisticated and successful. And it seems that he suits her.
Today in my hands is not so pathos, but no less interesting representative of the new Laguna family in the back of the hatchback. Although it is more correct to call an elevator behind: despite the presence of the fifth door, the car stubbornly mows under the sedan with a protruding trunk. The back of Laguna is generally outstanding: both in the direct and figurative sense. Tall, with a substete on the sidewalls, it visually makes the car heavier and higher. It looks, of course, not as defiant as a compartment, but quite fresh and stylish.
Made in France with German accuracy - I recall an advertising slogan, and sit in a wide driver's seat. The German accuracy (and at the same time the reference concepts of ergonomics) did not affect him: excessively soft, without significant lateral support, it looks much better than his immediate responsibilities. But the materials of the upholstery, and at the same time with it, the plastic of the salon, the highest quality - is no worse than that of the same Volkswagen. There are no other complaints about the driver's workplace either. A short lever of a six -speed manual box is raised high, and you can control it only slightly bending your hand at the elbow, and a chubby steering wheel, trimmed with perforated skin, lies perfectly in the palm of your hand. In addition, the steering wheel is slightly scored from below (the fashion that came from the tuning studio of Italy), and even in the extreme position of the column does not interfere with the legs. I would like to sit at the back, if the flowing roof had not so intensively rubbed the crown. What to do for dynamic design
 
Prices
Despite the fact that Renault offers a traditionally long list of options, there is a certain discrimination on a motor feature. The most affordable version with the 1.6 engine (115 hp) is offered in two different sets Expression (from 694 625 rubles) and Dynamique (from 742 325 rubles), but only with a mechanical gearbox. In the first case, the base will have fog, air conditioning, audio system with Chenger, ABS+terminal stability and 6 airbags. Dynamique equipment will be complemented by chrome body elements, alloy wheels 16, rain sensor and separate climate control. The version with the 2.0 motor (140 hp) is available only with a mechanical box, and costs from 758 225. Rub. If you want a car with an automatic machine, you will have to take Renault Laguna 2.0t (170 hp) from 841,700 rubles.
You can pay metallic for paint (12,700 rubles), parking sensors+folding mirrors (15,500 rubles), panoramic hatch (35,000 rubles)
The model in the back of the station wagon is available only in the Dynamique configuration and costs about 40,000 rubles. The hatchback is more expensive.
A car warranty is 3 years or 100,000 km of run.
Laguna is a large car, a kind of middle class excess, pumped with testosterone. There is no way to quickly get used to controlling the dimensions of the car from the driver’s place. Exclamations related to the design of the back (how much, in men's looks!) Founded in a way, as soon as I looked into the salon mirror, and examine the narrow rear window boiler. As if not to scratch the elongated side of the car dead the zone in the area of \u200b\u200bthe rear wings is very large. I had to trust the Pilikani Parktrika with habit, and carefully get out of a dense parking lot. The left turn signal, right ah, what is the right one of the levers and regulators! And the point is not that I was bought for pleasant tones that accompany the inclusion of rotation indicators, computer information or radio survey, soundless climate control or sound, it seems, are pressed with a slightly perceptible, pleasant click. Breed? No, just good engineering work!
Perhaps the Renault traits in this car are a few and this is for the better. Most of all I did not want to stumble upon a bored with a radio control unit with chess buttons, which roams from Symbol to Megane unchanged. It’s otherwise than competitors in almost business classes for themselves liberties like such unification practically do not allow.
Renault Laguna 1.6 manual transmission
(manufacturer data):
Dimensions, mm (length x width x height) 4695x1811x1445
Road clearance, mm 172
Equipped mass, kg 1355
Trunk volume, l 450
Engine volume and power, L (L.S./at rpm) 1.6 (115/6000)
Maximum torque, Nm (for/q/min) 151/4250
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p. 11.5
Maximum speed, km/h 197
Fuel consumption (city/highway) l/100 km 10.4/6.3
 
The front console in terms of plastic from which it is made, in comparison with the same Mazda 6, looks magnificent croissant against the background of Roll Sushi. But its architecture is so airy and sought out that there is no mention of a hint of heaviness. The screens of the climatic system and route computer are well read, and to get used to fairly small keys on the middle console, a couple of minutes is enough.
One of the missions of this machine is to allow its owner to be distracted by the wheel from the bustle of working days. How to do it? The answer lies, not in the powerful characteristics of the motor, they are just quite modest, but rather in the chassis settings. From the very beginning, engineers tried to make a car delicious in management. Pact stability stabilizers became tougher than on Laguna 2, 50% from behind and 80% in front. This allowed you to go faster and less disturb the system course stability.
In addition, the electrical power has (however, only with a 2.0 l engine) prescribing the operating modes from sports to soft. And although with our modest 1.6 under the hood we had to be content with a demo version, without adjustments, we did not have to complain about an insufficiently sharp steering wheel. But 115 hp. Under the hood for 1355 kg of equipped mass, frankly lacking. Moreover, this is felt not only for rather severe acceleration, but also by lack of traction on the bottoms. It is worth choosing a third gear where the second is more likely to the motor and the car instantly loses in the dynamics, the mournful howling of the motor, demanding to be more closely. But the modest engine does not annoy the noise to either 40 or 140 km/h Acoustic comfort in Laguna at a height.
 
The desire of the machine to follow the rail trajectory, I noticed already in the city of Laguna perfectly the helm, and is not inclined to either the rolls or to transverse buildup. Eh, there would have been a frozen engine here, and my unusual combination in clothes of a jacket and sneakers would have been a complete excuse. And it is necessary to look at the gasoline version 2.0 (140 and 170 hp), or wait for the middle of the summer of 2008. It was then that they promise to bring the turbodiesel 150-horsepower Renault Laguna to Russia, it certainly will certainly fully convey the incendiary message of the new model.
The car was provided for the test company Autoprodix, the official dealer Renault
 
Text: Alexander Mikhailov
Photo: Roman Ostanin

 
 

 

A source: Wheel magazine [June 2008]