The Renault Laguna II was not a car I was immediately comfortable in. But maybe many things in life are better that way, because it gives time to learn nice things gradually. And maybe the other kind of things too. With the new Laguna, it wasn’t too long an ‘eventually’ before I was completely won over.
It was so even with the looks. At first I thought it somewhat overstyled, perhaps easily dated. But after letting the detail sink in, the sculpting settle in my conscienceness, I decided it was a more than handsome car. Indeed, in many ways quite beautiful. There is an elegance in the way the front quarter panel is pressed, for instance, that is an industrial example of French chic.
Again, I thought in the beginning that the Prestige, the wagon version, had a strong styling edge over its hatchback sibling. And maybe I still do, such impressions being entirely subjective. But the hatchback is not in any way diminished in execution by the Prestige, and has one of the best rears in the class.
Laguna II is entirely different from its predecessor. But there are styling cues which were retained and incorporated into the new car, a reflection of the brand values which Laguna I built up in the fickle world of motordom. The most prominent is the grille, with a new version of the ‘droop’ effect in the bonnet edge. Once more - and I’m not alone - I thought it initially a bit fussy, and then grew to appreciate how it makes the Laguna II stand out from its rivals.
Just like relationships, coming to terms with Laguna II takes a little work. Enjoyable work, of course.
Laguna I was above all sumptuous inside, a lesson in creating comfort. And perhaps here is the root of my original discomfort. I’m not a liker of deep-supporting seats, and in both versions I drove, the front seats were so enveloping in side support that I always felt I had to climb out of them. Once in, of course, they WERE comfortable. But I’d like a little less clingy. People in the back are served more to my preference. Quality of materials throughout is high.
The dashboard is, like the overall car, highly styled and curvaceous. The radio station and door-open warning are housed in a recess in the centre top, while the main instruments cluster puts the temperature and fuel gauges in direct line of sight, flanked by pleasantly large mph and rev displays.
Which reminds me. When writing about the first Laguna over the year, I remarked that the blue ‘high-beam’ warning light was obscured by my left hand on the wheel, causing me occasional embarrassment as I inadvertently dazzled oncomers. They’ve moved it in this latest incarnation ... and now it is obscured by my RIGHT hand. Oh well, Laguna III will probably get it right.
Anyway, to more interesting bits. Renault have a new gizmo that takes the place of a key, an electronic card which allows ‘blip’ locking and unlocking and which slots into a space on the centre console to allow the car to function. A ‘start/stop’ button lights and douses the ignition electrics, which takes a little getting used to. The card certainly does away with one pocket holemaker, and from my point of view found an out-of-car home very comfortably in my shirt pocket. I think we’ll be seeing more of this kind of thing.
The review cars were both powered by the entry-level 1.6-litre engine, and this again took a little getting used to, because there really is quite a lot of metal being pulled around. In this specification, the Laguna II needs to be worked through the gears to get fairly decent acceleration. The nice thing is that it is a smooth engine even when treated in this way, never becoming raucous. The provision of an engine of this size is strategic on Renault’s part, because in their latest versions Ford’s Mondeo and Toyota’s Avensis both start with 1.8s. A 1.8 is also available for the Laguna II, and I’d very much like to drive the 2-litre diesel version, because I suspect it is a sweet car indeed.
But back to what we had, and motoring the car through the gears as required was no chore, with a tidy gearshift (nicely big , too) and decent clutch action. While on the pedal, I thought the brakes a bit grabby when first biting, though these are things you get used to when you own any car.
Steering was nothing sporty, but pleasant for the kind of use most owners will require - the last thing a family driver will want is something which requires constant correction while driving the length of the country on a motorway (we’re talking France here, just in case you might think a miracle had crept up on us at home overnight).
French suspensions are traditionally on the slightly soft side, and the Laguna II is no exception here, but that’s no hardship.
In accommodation terms, there’s ample leg and headroom fore and aft. Some of the details are good ... the armrest in the back seats has a big storage area. As far as the Prestige is concerned, I didn’t do the measurements, but I suspect that it doesn’t have the rear cargo capacity of the former car, because of the raked back screen design. Then again, how often do we load these things fully?
Every time I looked back at the car parked, I grew to like it more and more. As I said at the beginning, this wasn’t love at first sight ... but it had the makings of an enduring relationship even before I had to hand it back. And if it does seem that I’ve been carping rather about some details, it is only because I came to like it warts and all. And there aren’t many real warts.
July 2001
by Brian Byrne