Road Test

Your Say

Renault Laguna 2.0 dCi 150

Test date 07 November 2007 Price as tested £20,475

For High class interior, accurate steering, high speed engine refinement

AgainstBrake pedal location, choppy ride, so-so styling, off-boost lethargy

The new Renault Laguna may have one very simple task to perform – to attract as many fleet sales as it can away from the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra, VW Passat et al. But, as Renault knows only too well from bitter experience, writing the mission statement is one thing, and achieving the task within such a competitive, not to mention shrinking market place, is another.

Renault’s world boss Carlos Ghosn claims, however, that the new Laguna is more than up to the task because, this time, it’s been designed specifically with the fleet market in mind. So it’s not quirky and doesn’t rely on its Gallic idiosyncrasies to define itself. Instead the Laguna 3 is, according to Renault, an unusually high quality, extremely well equipped family car that’s as stylish as it is entertaining to drive but – and this is important – without shouting about such abilities from the rooftops.

It’s a more subtle attempt to put one over on Ford, VW and Vauxhall, in other words, and above all else it is, claims Renault, the most reliable, well made Laguna there has ever been.

The version we test here is the £19,700 2.0-litre dCi in Dynamique S trim, fitted with the 150bhp engine. This is one rung above the marginally cheaper, marginally less well equipped Dynamique version, which is expected to be the biggest selling model in the range.

This car’s roots can be traced way back beyond the Renault 21 of the ‘80s, yet the first car to wear the Laguna badge was actually launched in 1994. By the next year the Laguna’s market share had risen to 10 per cent, making it the third highest seller in the class behind the Vectra and Mondeo.

The next all new model – Laguna 2 – appeared in 2000, and a handsome thing it was, too, adding the Sport Tourer model to the range. Laguna 3, this car, was first unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt show in Septemer. Once again it is competing head on with same cars as the Mk I; Mondeo, Vectra and Passat.