Some eyesores on latest Scenic route
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- RENAULT SCENIC 2.0 dCi 160 DYNAMIQUE (Tom Tom model) £21,005 (Scenic prices from £14,395)
- Driving appeal ***
- Image ****
- Space *****
- Value ***
- Running costs ****
- Reliability ***
- How green? *****
- Road tax £175/year
- Best rival Citroën C4 Picasso
- DON’T LIKE: the clunky looking and poorly-finished dashboard – the ‘createur d’automobiles’ should do better
- NOT SURE: many buyers will see any advantage in specifying the ‘affordable’ factory-fitted sat nav
- REALLY LIKE: the Scenic’s overall functionality and levels of comfort – exactly what’s needed from an MPV
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 Renault Scenic
By Steve Loader
RENAULT would love us to believe that buying its Scenic compact MPV implies every journey will be a sensory pleasure – the ‘scenic route’.
And there is much about the new third generation car to uphold that, but some scenery jars on the senses.
The cabin on the five-seat version tested is spacious and enhanced by a big glazed area.
And our upmarket 2.0 dCi 160 Dynamique ‘Tom Tom’ model (£21,005) had a sunroof to the front and a glassy rear roof, adding to the virtual open air feel of the car.
However, the dashboard is one of the ugliest you will see and cabin materials are generally off the pace.
A long hood over an uninspiring and penny-pinching centre mounted digital display also fails to prevent some reflection on the screen of a much-vaunted factory-fitted sat nav that adds £350 to the price.
This system, developed with aftermarket sat nav leader Tom Tom to provide an admittedly more affordable alternative to often expensive yet inferior units fitted by carmakers, is a brave effort.
However, the excellent Tom-Tom touchscreen – the brand’s big selling point – is replaced by a clunky and unnecessary interface on the centre console. Just buy a portable Tom Tom and save a few hundred quid.
The sound system – apart from the excellent French-style steering column mounted controls – is also typically and needlessly complicated; surely, in this day and age, you should not have to refer to the manual just to perform the simplest tasks?
Fortunately though, as with the occasional eyesore on a long journey, such niggles should disappear with long term ownership and familiarity, leaving a better overall view of the latest Scenic launched in the summer.
For the car is sharply styled for an MPV – though the competition is also improving all the time – and has a wide tailgate for easy loading.
Flexibility is top notch; the three rear seats fold and slide easily, although I did receive some earache about the comfort levels when I took the family out...though I probably was driving too enthusiastically.
To be fair to the Scenic, I think its big virtue would be long distance cruising with a full load.
Few family users would complain about the location of three 12v sockets arranged to the front, middle and rear – the one in midships is actually mounted on the centre rear seat and perfect for plugging in games consoles, DVD players and so on.
A large sliding centre console and four under floor lockers add to the huge amount of stowage; unlike some rivals, this is an MPV that can carry people plus a lot of their luggage.
The refined 160bhp 2.0 diesel is also a delight, though using its ample power for sporty driving reveals a suspension better suited to the comfort requirements of a fully laden MPV rather than supermini antics.
Mainstream Scenic prices start from £13,595 and seven-seat Grand Scenic versions are available for a £1,500 premium.
This makes the car pretty competitive, but it has its work cut out in seeking to claw back the leadership it once had in the midi-MPV sector.
It was one created by the original Scenic, itself a scaled down follow-up from Renault’s pioneering Espace ‘people carrier’.
Unfortunately, the brand’s trendy French arch-rival Citroën then picked up the midi-MPV ball and ran with it after creating the Xsara Picasso, which went on to outsell the Scenic.
The Renault has a lot of ground to make up.
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