Given Renault’s long history in the market it’s no surprise that the Grand Scenic is one of the best mid-sized MPVs.
When it brought out the Espace, in 1984, Renault pretty much single-handedly created the people carrier market.
Now it’s enormous, with dozens of variants from tiny city MPVs such as Vauxhall’s Meriva to huge, sprawling Mercedes and Chryslers.
I drove the 1.9 dCi Dynamique Tom Tom version (I swear car names are getting longer) which weighs in at around £21,500. My test car had metallic paint, an upgraded stereo and the Convenience Pack, consisting of front and rear parking sensors, a sliding central storage unit and adaptable headrests. All of this raised the price to £22,800.
The second-from-top spec, the Dynamique comes with automatic headlights and wipers, Bluetooth, a hands-free card to open and start the car, cruise control, and Bluetooth connectivity as standard.
If you’re happy to have a more basic Grand Scenic, £16,970 will get you the entry level 1.6. All versions sold in the UK come with seven seats, the rearmost of which fold flat into the floor of the boot.RoomThey’re not much use for adults but will happily sit a couple of kids though you’re left with the old problem of where to put your luggage, as deploying all seven seats reduces space to a miserly 208 litres.
It’s probably best to treat the Grand Scenic as a five-seater with two extra seats for occasional use. There’s plenty of room for five adults and all the luggage they can carry.
Fold down all the rear seats and the Grand Scenic effectively becomes a van, with over 2000 litres of volume making it capable of swallowing fridge-freezers or small wardrobes.
The 1.9 litre turbodiesel is due to be replaced by a 1.6, which will be as powerful but more economical, but it doesn’t feel like an engine ready for the scrapheap.
There’s 130bhp, enough to get it cruising at 60mph in under 12 seconds, and economy is a pretty good 50.4mpg.
On a 200-mile journey to the west coast and back, the trip computer registered economy in the low 40s, and anyone who really tried could probably come close to matching the official figure.
The suspension is wonderfully soft and cosseting and there’s very little in the way of noise unless the wind is really howling outside.Roly-polyThe soft set-up makes it a bit roly-poly in the corners, but this isn’t the sort of car you’re going to buy if you want the last word in handling.
Inside, thanks to large windows and sunroof, there’s a light, airy ambience.
The French don’t yet seem to have the hang of ergonomics, and instead of easy-to-use heating and stereo controls there’s a baffling array of buttons presumably designed to make the car appear more technological.
I didn’t make use of the standard satellite navigation but my passenger who has two degrees and is an engineer had a go and managed to get the cursor stuck in one direction with the result that, before long, the map was sailing off the west coast of Scotland and over the Atlantic. He is American though, so possibly was just looking for home.
Overall, the Grand Scenic is one of the most impressive compact MPVs I’ve driven.
Its best rival is the Ford C-Max, which is sportier to drive but doesn’t have the Renault’s magic carpet ride.
Price: £21,4920-62mph: 11.9 secondsTop speed: 121mph. Economy: 50.4mpg CO2 emissions: 145g/km.