What they said when the Renault Espace was new… (Feb 5 2003)
IT SITS low on the road with a wide stance; fat wheels and squat tyres fill the heavily sculpted, blistered wheel arches. Just what you'd expect from a high performance sports car.
Except this high performance car is an MPV. And this MPV is a high performance car.
Makes no sense? Well ask the nice man at your nearest Renault Premier Centre to take you for a spin in the new 3.5 litre V6 Renault Espace this weekend and it will all add up.
You would, of course, expect considerable grunt from an engine that size, so the 140mph top speed and sub-eight second 0-60 time will, perhaps, do little more than raise the eyebrows - bearing in mind that this is a very big vehicle indeed.
What will surprise you is the fact that in this latest generation Espace - and for the first time in any people carrier - Renault has actually devised a way to allow the driver to make use of all that available performance.
Here then, is the true GTI of the people mover world; an MPV which not only goes like a performance saloon but which handles like one too. A seven seater that can be thrown into corners with confidence and in complete safety ... and which, most importantly, can be driven enthusiastically without treating passengers to a ride akin to taking a trip in a tumble-drier.
The new Espace is based on the running gear of the Vel Satis and its front suspension has been reworked to provide that car-like handling, while at the rear there's a new torsion beam system with variable rate dampers. The benefits are really noticeable - apart from pin sharp road placement, roll angles are 25 per cent less than in the old Espace.
In terms of driving dynamics, the new Espace is spot-on. Strangely though, Renault is not making any great play over its performance and handling.
Instead, the French company's marketing people are aiming it squarely at the senior executive sector, pitching it as a viable alternative to those who would normally buy prestige brands and billing this fourth generation model as "the first luxury MPV".
And this is where the new Espace doesn't quite do what it says on the tin.
While Renault makes much play of the quality of the interior trim and design, luxury car buyers don't expect to find the kind of flimsy plastic lids which cover some of the multitude of interior storage compartments, nor would they be too happy with the wind noise from the mirrors at speed or the rather choppy ride on poor surfaces.
Perhaps, though, we're nit picking. For in every other respect the latest Espace takes the MPV into new territory.
And not a moment too soon. The Espace might have spawned the MPV trend when it was first launched 19 years ago, but it couldn't afford to sit on its laurels. After some pretty average attempts to better the Renault over the years, the competition is now improving fast, as proved by the latest Citroen C8, Peugeot 807 and Fiat Ulysse clones.
Just launched, they are very good cars indeed - but the new Espace leapfrogs the lot to retain its lead in this increasingly important sector of the market.
It comes in four trim levels, with a wide choice of petrol and diesel engines and in standard and "stretched" Grand Espace forms - the latter offering considerably more luggage space behind the rearmost seats.
All versions come with seven individual seats, each with built-in lap and diagonal belts. High levels of equipment are standard across the range. Even the least costly version comes with Renault's keyless central locking system, an automatic parking brake, auto headlamp illumination, ABS, traction control, a full compliment of front, side and curtain airbags, air-con, all-round electrically operated windows, powered and heated mirrors, trip computer, reach and rake adjustable leather steering wheel and a CD audio system with remote, column mounted controls.
While the 245bhp, V6 petrol model is clearly the performance flagship of the range, there's also a three-litre, V6 diesel which doesn't lag far behind in performance terms - 0-60 in just over ten seconds - but which offers considerable gains in fuel consumption, returning 29.7mpg on the urban cycle compared with the petrol engine's 23.2.
The V6s are only available in the top two levels of trim and with Renault's super-smooth sequential auto transmission, but further down the range there's a choice of normally aspirated or turbocharged two-litre petrol engines, plus turbodiesels of 1.9 and 2.2 litres displacement, each mated to a six speed manual shifter.
The latest Espace goes into the showrooms today (Friday February 7) with prices starting at £19,130 for the two-litre 16v Espace Authentique and rising to a whoppingly executive £33,735 for the 3.0dCi V6 Automatic Grand Espace Initiale.
That makes the starting price of the new Espace slightly more expensive than those of the latest pretenders to its throne ... but with its new-found performance pedigree it's right on the money to remain king of the MPV castle.
Words: David Whinyates
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