Laguna 'fastback' is a very accomplished load-carrier

The word ‘estate’ is deemed passé by many carmakers, so we have ‘tourer’ and ‘avant’ and ‘sportwagon’ to upgrade the perception. Renault have called their Laguna II Prestige a ‘fastback’.

By a stroke of luck I got to test drive the fastback Prestige for a second time, a big bonus as it was only with the greatest reluctance that I had handed it back the first time. And second time around I was further convinced.

It was a car I’d felt very much at home in right from the start. A real head turner. Long and sleek. Exuding style. And packed with the latest technology.

The sloping front is long and lean with big headlamps, latest technology xenons which help increase beam range by up to 30%. From the side, the car seems never-ending. The rear, too, is shapely with its steeped tailgate and scalloped rear window. The rear wiper comes on when you go into reverse, a nice practical touch.

I wasn’t too sure at first about the black/silver upholstery, kind of like Al Capone might have had a suit cut from in his snazzy days, but it grew on me. The bucket seats are excellent, comfy and supportive and it is easy to get a good driving position.

Head and legroom are ample for most sizes, and should you want to take the entire kitchen with you, not just the sink, it might almost hold that too, such is the space available, thanks to the 60/40 split and full fold rear seats which are standard across the range.

Armrests conceal surprisingly deep cubbies. Other goodies include cargo anchor hooks, and spare power points on the centre and rear consoles and in the boot.

Good too was the dotted area around the windscreen mirror to block out the sun and together with the extended visors, it does the job perfectly. The visors conceal good vanity mirrors with flaps and overhead lights.

Safety features include ABS with Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist; driver and passenger front airbags as well as side airbags on front seats and side curtain airbags front and rear. Three folding rear head rests allow a better rear view when there are no passengers behind. And this seems the right point to remind you that the Laguna II is so far the only car to get five stars in the Euro NCAP safety tests.

But it was the keyless central locking and ignition system that really took my fancy. This involves inserting a flat card key into a slot on the dashboard; when the car identifies the card, the security system releases the engine immobiliser and the electric steering column lock.

To drive away just press a start/stop button on the dash. No more rummaging in the handbag for a car key as the ‘card’ slips neatly into the zipped area in any handbag. This ‘key card’ also allows you to ‘blip’ lock and unlock all doors.

Despite its size, I soon found the Prestige super to drive and to manoeuvre in tightish places. The 1.6-litre engine in the review car has to be rather enthusiastically pushed in this particular application, as there’s a fair bit of metal to haul around, but once used to it, there is adequate response most of the time. The brakes were a bit sharp for me at first, but such things will happen when you change cars so often, and I quickly adapted.

As with most French cars - and an increasing number of others are following what was a Gallic innovation - radio controls are on the steering wheel, and this has to be one of the best safety ideas ever. The review car had air conditioning, again something that does its bit for safety in hot and trafficky conditions as it literally stops people getting hot under the collar.

Tyre pressure is something we’d often not rather think about, and most of the time we’re guilty of simply not checking that important thing. But these clever Renault people do the job for us by installing a tyre pressure monitor on each wheel. If a wheel needs air, the information pops up on the on-board computer. Neat.

Like its sibling hatchback Laguna II, the Prestige is available with a choice of different specification levels, including Sport and SuperSport versions plus a choice of 1.6 and 1.8-litre 16v petrol or 1.9 dci common rail turbo diesel engines. I’m looking forward to trying that last soon, and I’m willing to bet right now that it will nicely finish off a very accomplished car.