Written by: Martin Ward
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 

Renault has introduced the 5 seat version after the 7 seat which is already on sale. This is an unusual way to do it but now both the Scenic and Grand Scenic are available.

 

The equation to differentiate the two is simple: Scenic + Grand badge + 22cm + £1,400 + 2 seats = Grand Scenic.

Renault see pricing in this sector as ultra important and they have priced the Scenic range to undercut all of their key rivals. These include the Citroen C4 Picasso, Vauxhall Zafira, VW Touran, Ford C-Max, Seat Altea and the forthcoming Peugeot 3008. Prices for the new Scenic 5 seat start at £13,595 and go up to £22,295, which is up to £2,060 less than the current model so it does indeed look to be good value for money.

 

We drove the Scenic on a variety of roads around Paris and found it to be adequate on all road surfaces. It is very comfortable, the brakes are good and the steering is positive but like most people carriers, it does not offer any excitement. It is a practical car and has not been designed for sporty handling but nevertheless, it does have a solid feel to it. It is the interior that customers buy this car for as it is practical, with more space than the previous Scenic. The rear individual seats slide fore/aft by 130mm and there are five positions for the reclining seat backs. The rear seats can also be folded or completely removed and by tipping the front passenger seat back and folding the rear seats, it enables luggage up to 2.5m in length to be carried. The new Scenic has grown by 80mm over the current car, making it 4344mm in length. The extra room has been used to provide more rear legroom. All the five seats are comfortable and by having them all as individuals, adds to the comfort.

 

This is the third generation Scenic, with the first one being launched in 1996 and since then over 3.3 million units have been sold. The new Scenic is built at Renault’s plant in Douai in Northern France and this is where the production of the first two generations of Scenic models was carried out. There are five models in the new Scenic range: Extreme, Expression, Dynamique, TomTom Edition (based on Dynamique) and Privilege; another confusing range from Renault. There are eight engines to choose from at launch: three petrol and five diesel, ranging from 86hp to 160hp.

 

We drove a car with the Carminat TomTom satellite navigation fitted and although it was easy to use and programme, there was a lot of reflection on the nav screen from the top corner of the windscreen. This made it almost impossible to see the map and instructions.

 

Renault are offering a good package with the new Scenic and Grand Scenic. It looks to be good value, it is well put together and there is a good choice of economical engines. The quality and practicality has also improved.

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