That Petrol Emotion

What is it? It’s the Mazda 6 Estate, the load-carrying version of the Japanese company’s latest take on its stylish mid-range motor. The version M.E.N. Motoring road-tested was the 2.5-litre petrol-engined Sport.
What’s new? The latest generation Mazda 6 makes the outgoing car, which was a definite looker, seem dowdy by comparison. The new motor is larger than its predecessor, with a truly sculptural front end treatment that is continued in the generally muscular lines of the car. The Sport designation means that the car has an extra body pack (rear spoiler, deeper front and rear bumpers, side skirts, privacy glass for rear side windows) which makes for an even more athletic design.
What are the options? There are five levels in the range, starting at S and going through to Sports Luxury and a range of five engines, three petrol and two 2.2-litre diesels. Equipment includes driver, front-passenger, side and curtain airbags, daytime running lights, traction control, sophisticated air con and eight-speaker sound system.
What’s it for? People who want an estate that’s a world away from the box-on-the-back style of yesteryear. The coupe-like roofline of the 6 Estate means you won’t be carrying any tall loads, and the swooping rear tailgate takes a pinch off the loadspace, but there’s still more than enough room for most estate-users. There’s a clever rear-seat folding system, too, that makes accessing that space a doddle.
What’s it like to drive? Handling characteristics are sporty and responsive, with well-weighted steering, a crisp six-speed manual gearchange, light clutch and good driving position. Most welcome in the recent cold snap were the heated front seats!
What else do I need to know? The motor has a feeling of quality engineering and the car is well put-together inside about it. Inside, the car is well put-together, with good quality plastics and the test car sported half-leather trim. Value is a strong point, with prices starting at £14,891.
Frank Turner

THERE’S a button on the dash of the Renault Laguna Coupe which can be used to lock and unlock the doors.
It has a picture of it of a car with all four side doors in the open position.
Trouble is, the Renault Laguna Coupe only has two.
So either I’m locking and unlocking two invisible doors; two have fallen off and I didn’t notice; or this is the same button fitted to any old Renault which rolls out of the factory.
And that’s a real shame because this isn’t any old Renault.
It’s about the most eye-catching, extraordinary, ‘no, you’re kidding me’ car with a diamond on the front ever which has probably ever been built.
And it’s on its knees pleading with you, beating it’s chest and offering to wash your socks forever, so long as you’ll believe that it’s something more than another Renault.
But when it comes to the attention to detail which you’d find in other similarly positioned cars – , however, among them BMWs, Mercedes and even Fords – that little switch lets the car down badly.
I’m left wondering what else might not be quite right.
Fingers crossed, but there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious.
There’s nothing on the outside. This is a car which suggests Aston Martin or Jaguar – no, seriously – rather than functional French mode of family transport.
Its rear haunches and light cluster could have been scalpeled straight from the back of a Vantage and the front has a feel of Fiat’s cult Barchetta about it.
It’s a car which you could easily describe as being desirable, sexy even, and it’s a long time since I’ve thought that about anything Renault. Not Well, not since Nicole persuaded her papa to buy her a Clio, in fact.
If you hadn’t guessed (the clue’s in the name) this car is based on the Laguna saloon.
That means it comes with quite a bit of space in the cabin, which is slightly more capacious than the average 2+2 coupe, and a lay-out and level of luxury in keeping with Renault’s more upmarket new design design style.
The boot’s big too – and the dash And the boot’s big too.
The dash – always a good litmus test when it comes to assessing a car’s quality quotient – could have come straight out of a BMW.
The car is nowhere as clever as its German counterpart, there aren’t so many gadgets and such, but it still has an upmarket feel about it.
And one of the things I really love about it is the funny little tune it plays should you forget to leave the credit card shaped key in the ignition.
So what’s not to like?
I can live without electronic parking brakes (what’s wrong with a good old fashioned handbrake) and the steering wheel should be a little smaller if this wants to be a proper sporty car.
Perversely, it has possibly the hardest ride of anything I’ve ridden since I took my old skinny wheeled racing bike down a cobbled street.
As far as I can tell, there’s no way of tweaking the chassis to soften things up, which once again might be the price you pay when you downshift brands from something more upmarket.
There isn’t even an electronic button to move the seats back and forward
But I suppose that’s being a little picky about a car which marks a real step in the right direction for Renault, especially when it comes to styling and build quality.
There are six engines to choose from (two of them petrol – 2litre turbo and 3.5litre V6) and four diesel (2litre dCi 150, 2litre dCi 150 Auto FAP, 2litre dCi 180 and 3litre V6 dCi 235).
The petrol-heads among you will probably steer towards the V6 petrol, but that V6 dCi, which I haven’t yet driven, looks to be a stonker and makes the most sense on paper should you be looking to match the car’s looks with its performance.
Not only is it the quickest to 60mph, but it boasts emissions of only 192 g/km and will do more than 10 miles per gallon more than the petrol V6.
Cleanest and all round cheapest to run, should you like the looks more than the idea of going quickly, is the 2litre dCi 150.
The car I’ve been driving was the V6 petrol and it really is very smooth indeed.
It has an automatic gearbox but once again seems let down by the lack of a sport setting.
So that’s the Renault Laguna Coupe: a surprisingly good new car… which is so very nearly brilliant.
….
TECH SPEC
Model: Renault Laguna Coupe 3.5 GT V6
Price: £27,445
0 to 62 mph: 7.4 secs
Top Speed: 151.2 mph
Insurance: N/A
Consumption: 28.2 mpg (combined)
Emissions: 238 g/km
Simon Donohue