...and so far, well chuffed with it.
First impressions are of a very smooth, responsive, comfortable and ridiculously well kitted out car which is good to drive in a comfy, kids in the back, short shifting kind of way.
The 1.9dCi engine is a belter. It's smooth, very responsive and pulls well from 1500 RPM or so. It's the refinement of the thing that gets me though - it's hard to believe this and the Mondeo run on the same fuel. The Renault engine is a little clattery under load when cold, but once warm it's smoother and quieter than the 1.6 petrol we also drove and in a different league to the admittedly olde worlde Mondeo. It has none of the rumble of a Ford or VAG diesel, just a slightly "ticky" background hum overlaid with the odd whistle from the turbo. Absolutely no vibration can be felt through the steering wheel, pedals or gearlever at any revs. Following SWMBO earlier, I noticed it barely smokes at all either. A barely visible puff in response to heavy throttle, but that's it. All over and done in a few tenths of a second.
Although this isn't a quick car by any stretch of the imagination, so deceptively does it gain speed, and with such little apparent effort, that it's easy to stray a few mph over the limit. The digital speedo works well, but the rev counter is a token effort really, and is difficult to read at a glance. The rest of the instruments, although a little gimmicky on first encounter are actually brilliantly effective. I found not having dials in front of me a little odd at first, but the big LCD panel works far better than I was expecting. The panel contains the aforementioned speedo and rev counter, plus bar gauges for fuel and coolant temperature, and a text information panel which relays information from the trip computer, as well as any service errors. .
Dynamically it's not so great. The steering deserves the first mention because quite honestly it's dreadful. Rubbery, completely devoid of feel, and with a horrible springy self centring action. This has done nothing to change my view that electric PAS, for all its efficiency and eco benefits, absolutely stinks. The car flows across country well enough at "seven tenths", which lets face it is the most you'll ever do with kids in the car. I have no inclination to explore the handling limits further from what I have discovered. so far. It just ain't that kinda car. The gearbox however is slick and surprisingly short of throw.
Equipment levels are astonishing. This is a Dynamique model which is one down from the top of the line Privilege model. This however being a demonstrator in its past life, has a great spec. For instance, I really like the Mercedes style proximity "cardkeys" which do not need to touch the car to enable it to start. As long as they're on your person, the car will unlock, and can be started just by pressing the starter button. At the other end of your journey, simply pressing the little flush mount button on the drivers door handle will lock the car as well as wind the sunroof and any open windows shut. Kit is very generous - 4 electric windows, ABS, EBD, ESP, a full complement of airbags, air-con and double sunroof, CD multichanger, refrigerated glovebox, electric folding mirrors, alloys.....you name it. And yes, it all works. For now! :-)
Faults? It's popped its offside headlight bulb at some stage this afternoon, (AAAARRGHH) and there's a bit of wind rustle from the sunroof around 80 mph (didn't get past 60-65 on the test drive). On closer inspection, the drivers side rear corner of the panel is not quite sitting flush with the surround. I suspect this is the issue. I'll get it into Renault for a warranty claim anyway
Average so far on the trip computer is 39 mpg, but that did involve a pretty mad sprint down the M1 coming back. The previous owner reckoned 42 ish was a good average,
Will post more detailed impressions once I get to know it a bit better.
Cheers
DP
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