Renault Scenic II 1.5 DCI

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Renault have long been the pioneers of "people carrier" transport, stealing a march on the competition in the mid-eightees with their innovative Espace, which is still arguably the best MPV around, and then - as the competitors caught up with the French manufacturer's flagship people carrier, they caught everybody by surprise and launched the Scenic, a mini-MPV based on the successful Megane chassis.

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...a clever concept that allowed Renault to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum but did bring problems of its own. The interior design left little to be desired and, because of the shape of the interior, it simply looked from the inside as if they had taken a Megane interior and stretched it upwards, resulting in the driver having to stretch long distances to reach vital controls, including temperature and, bizarrely, the gearbox or handbrake. It ... more

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Before I go any further, it's important to point out that this review is for the Authentique trim version of the car with the 1.6 litre 115bhp VVT engine. Ciao have only got the 1.5 DCi engine listed and for the life of me I could not get the site to allow me to suggest a product; however, engine aside the review is for pretty much the same car.

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Renault have long been the pioneers of "people carrier" transport, stealing a march on the competition in the mid-eightees with their innovative Espace, which is still arguably the best MPV around, and then - as the competitors caught up with the French manufacturer's flagship people carrier, they caught everybody by surprise and launched the Scenic, a mini-MPV based on the successful Megane chassis.

As time has moved on, so has the competition and everybody from Citroen to Seat, Ford to Fiat, has produced their own mini-MPV derivative and the successful little Scenic was beginning to look a bit tired. Even a face lift just over three years ago failed to do much more than prolong the life of the car while development on the Scenic II took place.

Originally, the Scenic was built and based purely on the Megane hatchback, a clever concept that allowed Renault to keep manufacturing costs to a minimum but did bring problems of its own. The interior design left little to be desired and, because of the shape of the interior, it simply looked from the inside as if they had taken a Megane interior and stretched it upwards, resulting in the driver having to stretch long distances to reach vital controls, including temperature and, bizarrely, the gearbox or handbrake. It made for a comfortable long distance cruiser, but unless you had an automatic driving around town and having to change gears was a bit of a stretch. Its face-lifted sibling looked French and quirky but much of the interior problems were kept in the design; a nice touch on some of the better specification models, however, included a mini-cooler that kept cans and sweets at a nice temperature thanks to the air conditioning inlet. Switches for fog lights were moved into more bizarre locations than they had been before, however, and the general drive was still a little bit tiresome with the driver still having to take their eyes off the road in order to find the right control.

Last year, however, along came the Scenic II, a completely new build with its own chassis, still based on the Megane's, but designed to better carry the Scenic's specific requirements. As a result, the Scenic II is immediately a better all-round car than its predecessor. Additionally, Renault have - for a while now - been challenging the might of the more executive manufacturers by introducing technology onto their cars that you would expect to find on much more expensive marques, and the new Scenic is no exception.

In fact, the technological experience starts before you even get near the car - it begins with the key. Or lack of one, to be more precise. Modern day Renaults use a keycard system similar to that which you would find on a Mercedes or, better still, in a hotel room. Rather than having an ignition key, you have a coded, credit-card-sized device which simply fits into a slot underneath a snazzy Start/Stop button; again, a feature found on exotic sports cars rather than sub-fifteen thousand pound family runners. The original idea, embraced in France and other continental countries, is that you shouldn't even need to put the keycard into your car to start it. Simply having it in your pocket should be enough to send a signal to a transponder in the car, allowing it to recognise the fact that you were in the proximity and therefore let you start the car with nothing more than a touch of the button. Sadly, British insurance companies vetoed this idea and the UK versions of the car require you to insert the card before it can be started.

Looking at the car from the outside also gives you a feel of technology and an impression of approaching something that hasn't yet been designed; a car from the future. Several years ago Renault decided that they were going to move away from the conventional designs adopted by other mainstream manufacturers and implement a very French design. Like the Lloyds building in London, Renault's new design philosophy is a statement of modern art with a hint of the Gallic. Starting with the doomed Avantime and Vel Satis and moving down steadily through the ranks of their cars, the latest bold and daring statement started with the Megane and its bizarre shaped rear and similar sentiments have been picked up in the New Scenic.

The futuristic design and technological repurcussions are reflected on the interior too, with a large, easy-to-read centrally mounted digital dashboard and funky two-tier heating controls placed at the front of a large, clear and airy interior cabin. The initial design, inside and out, is bold, brash and modern, a Picasso of the modern motorcar (even though Citroen already have a vehicle of that name) and, like Marmite, you will either love it or hate it.

Personally, whilst I hate Marmite, I do enjoy Renault's new design philosophy and the current crop of cars all appeal to me, though the central dashboard did annoy me greatly and I really wish manufacturers would revert to type and put the dashboard back where it should be: in front of the driver. I'm unsure as to where the desire to put the dash in the middle has come from, but Nissan, Fiat, Toyota, Citroen and Renault, to name but a few, are doing it on all or some of the cars in their range and, other than being a cost-saving exercise for building right- and left-hand drive cars, I can see no benefit to it.

The dashboard is clear and easy to read, mind you, with a large display giving you information (from right to left as the driver sits) on the radio station, external temperature, speed, rev counter, fuel gauge, on-board computer featuring trip data, fuel consumption, average speed etc., and finally engine temperature. Included in the dash is also an image of the car with warning lights to show which doors are open, seatbelts not done up, lamp-bulbs not working and so on. The information would be very readable if it was right in front of the driver and I was assured by Renault that I would quickly get used to it. However, after a couple of days of driving the vehicle I was still staring at a blank piece of plastic behind the steering wheel to check my speed even when I returned the car to the dealership.

Dashboard aside, however, the feel of the car compared to the old one is much better; it would have been disappointing if it wasn't. While the older version had the driving position of a van, with steering wheel slanted away from the driver, the newer vehicle has a much better range of adjustment giving a much better, more car-like feel to the controls. With a better design to work from as well, all the controls are in easy reach of the driver, including the gearstick which is now mounted on the central column and is a simple wrist movement away from the steering wheel. To disguise the blandness behind the steering wheel left by the absence of a correctly positioned dashboard, Renault have made the steering column boxier and then shortened the indicator and wiper stalks so that they have a neat and modern feel and appearance; they're quite stubby but in a cute, late-nineties Ford manner.

Renault have kept their excellent stereo controls exactly where they are and, with the exception of modernising the buttons slightly, the principle and operation of the controls is exactly the same as it has been for over a decade. Two buttons within a finger's reach to operate the volume controls, behind which is a small rotary switch that shifts up and down radio presets, and just behind that are two buttons that allow the driver to select the music source, be it radio or CD. I have long been a fan of Renault's on-wheel stereo controls and despite having driven bigger, better and more expensive cars still feel that the Renault approach is the best. It is simple and intuitive. Having said that, on the modern car you cannot see the controls at all behind the shape of the steering wheel and somebody not familiar with them would have to keep moving their head to glance at them while they familiarise themselves with their operation; on the 1997 Scenic that my wife and I own the operation is exactly the same, but the switches can be seen meaning a new driver would easily be able to get used to them without having to turn move their head.

The controls for the heating are much easier to each as well, and a large central knob operates the temperature while another knob mounted on top of this operates the fan speed. It looks as modern and funky as the rest of the car but, in comparison to all the other switches, this two-tier approach feels cheap and tacky in your hand when you turn the dials and the controls feel a little loose to the touch. Every other switch in the car feels solid and well made, but this one lets the side down badly.

The seat is exceptionally adjustable, allowing the driver to select from length, height, lumbar support and much more, to find the perfect driving position, and all five seats are comfortable and capable of supporting fully grown adults, even side-by-side. On the older Scenics the rear seats were fully adjustable with slide and tilt features as well as being able to be completely removed; on the version I had the slide and tilt feature didn't seem to be there, although it might be a feature on more expensive models. As with Scenics of old, hostess trays are mounted into the back of the front seats, allowing passengers in the rear somewhere to rest a drink or a novel while travelling.

Boot space is vast and more than capable of carrying a family's luggage and, typically Renault Scenic, storage compartments are mounted into the floor of the rear footwells while underseat trays are mounted beneath both the driver and passenger seats.

The specification on even this entry-level model is quite impressive, with a CD player and air conditioning included as standard, plus electric front windows and remote central locking that also automatically opens the boot from the keyfob if needed. Also included are heated electric mirrors.

From the inside, the car feels large and spacious and visibility from the driver's perspective is marred only by the headrest of the central rear seat; if you're not carrying a middle adult passenger on a regular basis, however, simply remove this headrest and you'll have a clear view of all the angles you need from your driving position.

The ride is incredibly good too, much better than expected and far more car-like than earlier Scenics. Whereas older models were prone to wayward handling and body roll thanks to their high position and low centre of gravity, the New Scenic is much more pleasant and even encourages the driver to feel that it's a bit chuckable - bring on the corners! Coupled to the 115bhp sixteen valve 1.6litre VVT engine, this little car drives incredibly well and feels a bit of a pocket-rocket. The 1.6 engine wails a bit at high speeds but it's an eager operator and was as capable of keeping up with a bigger 1.8 Volvo V40 and a two litre diesel Vectra estate when the two larger cars tried to show it who was boss. The Volvo lost but the Vectra and the Scenic were a fairly equal match. To make the drive even more enjoyable the perfectly weighted power-steering and the gearbox with its close-ratio and sporty feel give the car an enjoyable demeanour that is equally relaxing on a motorway cruise.

For young fathers who've had to sell their sporty hatchback to accommodate a new family, the New Scenic offers a sensible compromise, especially if you take one of the larger, more powerful engine options.

For the penny-pinching, cash-conscious or fuel-frugal amongst you, the Renault Scenic also returns a very pound-pleasing level of economy. Renault's combined figures show the car should return an average of 39.2 miles per gallon, though manufacturer's figures should be taken with a pinch of salt - they are set under very stringent tests. With my clod-hoppers on and my propensity for racing much bigger cars, the little engine still managed to return a very respectable 32mpg and the brand new engine offered little complaint whilst doing so.

With all of this funky design and technology you'd think that Renault have been focusing their efforts on the wrong priorities, but as well as making an entertaining small MPV for the masses, it's easily one of the safest too. The technology keeps coming, with optional tyre pressure monitoring services and computers to control understeer and oversteer as well as traction control to help prevent you having an accident, and anti-lock brakes as standard, not to mention the ISOFIX child-seat fixing points in not just the two rear-outer seats but also the passenger seat too, or the driver, passenger and side airbags all part of the package. On top of all this, the New Renault Scenic also scores a maximum five out of five in the famed Euro NCAP crash test ratings, making it one of the safest little cars to write off in an accident.

I wouldn't really recommend doing that, mind you, and I'll leave it to you to decide whether - like Marmite - you love it or hate it. 

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